Improving the Effectiveness of Virtual Teams by Adapting Team Processes

Abstract

Results are presented from a study on virtual teams and whether appropriate early training can positively influence their effectiveness. Sixteen teams that worked together for periods ranging from three months to three years were studied. Team processes that emerged naturally from long-duration teams were formalized and taught to shorter duration teams. These shorter duration teams comprised three different cohorts, each of which received different levels of training. It was found that the adoption of formal procedures and structured processes significantly increased the effectiveness of virtual teams. Tasks that lend themselves to a structured approach were most effectively accomplished during virtual meetings, whereas face-to-face interactions were better for relatively unstructured, discussion intensive tasks. The performance of a virtual team was significantly improved when team processes were adapted to the affordances of the CMC environment. It is shown that this adaptation can occur very rapidly if teams are trained on the technology as well as on work processes that best exploit it.

Virtual R&D Teams: A New Model for Product Development

“…Asynchronous interactions using a collaborative workspace, such as e-mail, instant messaging, and synchronous interactions using a system which incorporates desktop video conferencing, shared workspace, chat and other features (Rice, Davidson1, Dannenhoffer, & Gay, 2007). Extended enterprise concept in parallel with the concurrent enterprising looks for ways to add value to the product by incorporating knowledge and expertise from all participants on the product value chain (Sorli, Stokic, Gorostiza, & Campos, 2006).…”

“…Creates and disperses improved business processes across organizations, Greater client satisfaction (Jain & Sobek, 2006) 10 Reduced relocation time and costs (Biuk-Aghai, 2003;Boudreau, Loch, Robey, & Straub, 1998;Kankanhalli et al, 2006;Lipnack & Stamps, 2000;Liu & Liu, 2007;McDonough et al, 2001;Olson-Buchanan, Rechner, Sanchez, & Schmidtke, 2007;Prasad & Akhilesh, 2002;Rice et al, 2007) 11 Reduced travel costs (Bergiel et al, 2008;Wayne F. Cascio, 2000;Hardin et al, 2007) 12 More effective R&D continuation decisions (Cummings & Teng, 2003;Schmidt et al, 2001) 13 Able to tap selectively into centres of excellence, using the best talent regardless of location (Badrinarayanan & Arnett, 2008;Boudreau et al, 1998;Boutellier, Gassmann, Macho, & Roux, 1998;Wayne F. Cascio, 2000;Criscuolo, 2005;Furst, Reeves, Rosen, & Blackburn, 2004;Prasad & Akhilesh, 2002;Samarah, Paul, & Tadisina, 2007) Chen, 2008;Guniš et al, 2007;Hunsaker & Hunsaker, 2008;Liu & Liu, 2007;Piccoli et al, 2004;Pihkala, Varamaki, & Vesalainen, 1999;Powell et al, 2004;Prasad & Akhilesh, 2002) 17 Respond quickly to changing business environments (Bergiel et al, 2008;Mulebeke & Zheng, 2006) 18 Sharing knowledge and experiences (Furst et al, 2004;Lipnack & Stamps, 2000;…”

Geographically Distributed Sensemaking: Developing Understanding in Forum-Based Software Development Teams

“…Where an individual's model of understanding differs from their teammates', confusion and disruption can occur. More effective teams develop social systems that help them negotiate these conflicts [5], [17], [18].…”

Performance Evaluation for Global Virtual Teams (GVTs): Application of Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA)

“…Managers in charge of GVTs lack an effective managerial tool namely the ability of exerting direct control and observational supervision (Hosseini & Chileshe, 2013a, Rice et al, 2007, which could be one of the major challenges they face (Haywood, 1998, Bell & Kozlowski, 2002. To resolve the mentioned issue, some published works have proposed supervision policies built on the idea of empowerment of team members in GVTs (Walvoord et al, 2008, Kirkman et al, 2004.…”