Virtual Teams: As Telecommunications Technology Makes It Possible to Assemble Teams Made Up of Individuals Dispersed across the Globe, It Becomes Essential to Understand How Teams Function Differently When They Don't Meet Face to Face

Abstract

The ability to assemble highly flexible and effective virtual teams is becoming essential. In the purest terms, virtual teams are individuals working together who have never met each other in person and probably will not meet face-to-face during the assigned project. Hybrids of the virtual team include teams with some of the members in one location working with other members in other different global locations and teams with members who have met each other at some point in time but don't see each other on a frequent basis. Each type of team has attributes that are specific to the team composition. The cultural and process dynamics of virtual teams, and hybrid teams, drive the need to work in different ways. IRI's Research-on-Research working group on virtual teams is exploring the best practices that differentiate successful virtual teams, including hybrid virtual teams, from ineffective virtual teams. We are exploring the matrix of characteristics that make virtual teams different from and perhaps even more effective than co-located teams. There is an abundance of literature on the topic of virtual teams. Several group members are reviewing the literature to determine important characteristics of effective teams that will form the dimensions of the matrix comparing differences between virtual, hybrid, and colocated teams. While this is still a work in progress, several common themes are emerging as key differences that may be critical for success for virtual teams. These include: 1. Trust. Trust generally develops from a history of interpersonal interactions through which people come to know one another. In virtual teams, trust must be established through other means since team members may have no past experience to draw on and no future to reference. Greenberg, Greenberg, and Antonucci (2007) provide a breakout of three components of trust (ability, integrity, and benevolence) and relate the importance of each to the virtual team's stage in the team life cycle. 2. Cultural differences. Cultural and language differences become magnified in virtual teams because it is much easier to hide errors and problems and make wrong assumptions (Ross 2006). Unintended non-inclusive behaviors based on cultural norms can be interpreted as rudeness or intimidation. Fostering cultural understanding breaks down the barriers that can hamper success and leads to more effective virtual teams. 3. Communication. Communication issues for virtual teams include both the tools or technologies for communication and the rules of engagement. Both are critical for virtual team success and what works well for co-located teams is generally not effective for virtual teams. A review of the literature found conflicting results as to whether tools such as e-mail and videoconferencing were beneficial or distracting and ineffective for virtual teams. Shared electronic work spaces such as shared websites on an intranet are preferred communication tools for virtual teams (Majchrzak et al. …