Virtual Teams in Times of Pandemic: Factors That Influence Performance

Abstract

In the digital age, the global software development sector has been a forerunner in implementing new ways and configurations for remote teamwork using information and communication technologies on a widespread basis. Crises and technological advances have influenced each other to bring about changes in the ways of working. In the 70’s of the last century, in the middle of the so-called oil crisis, the concept of teleworking was defined using remote computer equipment to access office equipment and thus avoid moving around using traditional vehicles. Then from the 90s, with the advent of communications and the widespread use of the Internet, the first virtual work teams were implemented in software development companies that already had some of the important characteristics needed to work in this way, such as, cultural diversity, characterized tasks, geographical distribution of members, communication, interdependence of tasks, leadership, cohesion, empowerment, confidence, virtuality. This manuscript groups the main factors into different models proposed by the literature and also analyzes the results of a study conducted in the midst of the Covid-19 crisis on 317 software development teams that had to work in virtual teams (VT). The results of the quantitative methodology with structural equation modeling based on variance using the partial least squares route method are analyzed. The results of the research focus on some determinants that can directly affect the performance of the virtual team. A first determinant is communication in relation to the tasks. The second is trust in relation to leadership, empowerment and cohesion. The results of virtual teams provide information that can serve as a basis for future research lines for the implementation of virtual work strategies in post-pandemic work.

Leading Innovative Work-Behavior in Times of COVID-19: Relationship Between Leadership Style, Innovative Work-Behavior, Work-Related Flow, and IT-Enabled Presence Awareness During the First and Second Wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…This result is at odds with the extant literature that advocates the influence of IT-enabled presence awareness in a remote work context ( Malhotra and Majchrzak’s, 2014 ; Lim, 2018 ). However, the companies in our study may have matured in their use of informational technology over the past years, and many employees, while being challenged with lower communication richness, were already familiar with the use of IT-facilitated communication ( Garro-Abarca et al, 2021 ) before the COVID-19 pandemic. This may explain why IT-enabled presence awareness did not play a significant role in the relationship between leadership and work-related flow in both phases of the lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic.…”

“…Third, regarding a possible moderating influence of IT-enabled presence awareness on the relationships between leadership, and work-related flow our study did not find significant relationships despite prior research ascribing an important role to the construct in home-based working ( Majchrzak et al, 2000 ; Malhotra and Majchrzak’s, 2014 ; Lim, 2018 ). Decreasing communication richness during the COVID-19 pandemic, however, has been an important challenge within organizations ( Garro-Abarca et al, 2021 ). Future studies could include and control more contextual factors that might explain employees’ perceptions regarding IT-enabled presence awareness, such as shared team contexts ( Hinds and Mortensen, 2005 ), degree of familiarity between members prior to working from home ( Gruenfeld et al, 1996 ), alternative IT channels through which leadership behavior can be conveyed ( Lim, 2018 ), and differences in geographic contexts ( Hinds and Weisband, 2003 ).…”

“…While the restrictions to avoid infection with the coronavirus decreased the communication richness within the workforce ( Martins et al, 2004 ; Garro-Abarca et al, 2021 ), employees who work from home and are not co-located may adapt to the new technology and ways of working as time passes ( Majchrzak et al, 2000 ). According to Axtell et al (2004) , relations between employees working together through technology-enabled communication could adapt and be equal to face-to-face if granted enough time.…”

Virtual Regional Fisheries Management Meetings in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean Region: A Preliminary Appraisal of Performance and Fit

“…Differences in the planning, length, and composition of virtual RFM agendas compared to equivalent past face-to-face meetings, and the absence of relationship-building informal side events or impromptu meetings normally associated with face-toface meetings may have influenced these results. Issues of trust (e.g., interpersonal, technology, service provision, facilitation) are a key researchable issue in the "e-business" literature (Naquin and Paulson, 2003;Turel and Yuan, 2008;Garro-Abarca et al, 2021), and have been linked to sentiments about communication effectiveness and outcome satisfaction (Purdy et al, 2000).…”

Scrum Team Competence Based on Knowledge, Skills, Attitude in Global Software Development

“…Various time zones in the software engineers' residence allow system development to execute 24 hours (Kroll et al, 2018). Besides, GSD has provided software development continuity solutions as the COVID-19 pandemic necessitates governments to enforce physical distancing (Garro-Abarca et al, 2021).…”