Time Management and Temporal Dissonance in Global Virtual Teams

Despite popular expectation that use of time management techniques will improve team performance, virtual teams still fail to perform well in practice. Past research has produced mixed results for the efficacy of time management on team performance. In this preliminary study, we investigate the effect of time management on virtual team performance. Using the punctuated equilibrium model of group development as a starting point, we show how a team\u27s process conflict and affect conflict mediate the effect of time management on team performance. We define a new construct, Temporal Dissonance, which moderates the effect of time management on team conflict, explaining previous conflicting results. We then suggest scientific and practical implications of this research

Conflict Management Training in Video-Based Teams

In the wake of an emerging economy that demands organizational agility, globalization and an increasing number of independent contractors, corporations have exponentially incorporated virtual teams in their organizations. However, despite their financial and geographical convenience, research has indicated that virtual teams have consistently experienced more conflict and lowered performance and satisfaction levels than that of their traditional counterparts. The present study sought to examine whether conflict management training could help video based virtual teams demonstrate more positive conflict handling techniques and less negative techniques, which would result in higher group process and group outcome satisfaction. This study did not find evidence to support these hypotheses, however at an individual level, participants in the training condition did experience higher group process and group outcome satisfaction

The Impact of Effective Leadership in Cross-functional New Product Development Virtual Teams

The emergence of covid-19 has forced a lot of companies to move to virtual remote work. New product development cross-functional teams who meet often or few times in a year are now compelled to transition fully into virtual remote workplace. The question is how they can function effectively with maximum performance as they did in the traditional environment. This paper\u27s main objective of this paper is to investigate and understand how effective leadership management can influence performance, conflict, and knowledge sharing while enhancing cross-functional new product development virtual teams. An in-depth analysis of literature has been conducted in this to determine the successful leadership management elements that facilitate knowledge sharing in cross-functional virtual teams. Three interviews were conducted to understand and fill in the gap in limited research on this topic. The findings highlighted the correlation between knowledge sharing and conflict and how they can affect the performance of a cross-functional virtual team. Democratic leadership style used by all the interviewees is a mediator and positively impacts communication within the team. Further research is required to address the findings from these interviews by sampling a large audience from engineering, pharmaceuticals, and construction. Industries that are saturated with new product development cross-functional team to see if the process of effective leadership is the same or different for industries

Афективно изпълнение - изследване въздействието на индивидуалните нагласи, емоции и удовлетвореност върху ефективността на виртуалните екипи

ABSTRACT: The report analyzes the critical factors that influence the emotional attitudes and determine the behavior patterns of the participants in virtual teams. The focus of the research is on individual satisfaction, which includes attitudes, motivation, values, relationships and preferences that shape the behavior of team members in a virtual context and determine the effectiveness of processes and the immediate results of the activity. Difficulties in monitoring and evaluating affective performance through the lens of effectiveness have been identified. The measurement of individual satisfaction is limited by the specifics of virtuality and the complexity of assessing intangible outcomes. The main factors and tools for affective performance in a virtual context are systematized - trust and information management; motivational attitudes and interactions; e-leadership and conflict management. When these conditions are adequately balanced, virtual structures have the potential to realize high levels of team effectiveness, including individual job satisfaction and organizational commitment. Then they are transformed into a unique tool for competitive advantage of global organizations in a dynamic VUCA-environment and continuous pressure for change

Conflict in Virtual Teams: a bibliometric analysis, systematic review, and research agenda

Design/methodology/approach: A dataset of 107 relevant papers on the topic was retrieved using the Web of Science Core Collection database covering a period ranging from 2001 to 2019. A comparative bibliometric analysis consisting of the integration of results from the citation, co-citation, and bibliographic coupling was performed to identify the most influential papers. The systematic literature review complemented the bibliometric results by clustering the most influential papers. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to map the intellectual structure of the research concerning conflict and conflict management in virtual teams (VT), to contribute to the further integration of knowledge among different streams of research, and to develop an interpretative framework to stimulate future research. Findings: The results revealed different intellectual structures across several types of analyses. Despite such differences, 41 papers resulted as the most impactful and provided evidence of the emergence of five thematic clusters: trust, performance, cultural diversity, knowledge management, and team management. Research limitations/implications: Based on the bibliometric analyses an interpretative research agenda has been developed that unveils the main future research avenues. The paper also offers important theoretical contributions by systematizing knowledge on conflict in identifying VTs. Managerial contributions in the form of the identification of best practices are also developed to guide conflict management in VTs. Originality/value: The uniqueness of this paper is related to its effort in studying, mapping, and systematizing the knowledge concerning the topic of handling conflicts in VTs. Considering the current contingencies this research is particularly timely

Cultural diversity and information and communication technology impacts on global virtual teams: An exploratory study.

Modern organizations face many significant challenges because of turbulent environments and a competitive global economy. Among these challenges are the use of information and communication technology (ICT), a multicultural workforce, and organizational designs that involve global virtual teams. Ad hoc teams create both opportunities and challenges for organizations and many organizations are trying to understand how the virtual environment affects team effectiveness. Our exploratory study focused on the effects of cultural diversity and ICT on team effectiveness. Interviews with 41 team members from nine countries employed by a Fortune 500 corporation were analyzed. Results suggested that cultural diversity had a positive influence on decision‐making and a negative influence on communication. ICT mitigated the negative impact on intercultural communication and supported the positive impact on decision making. Effective technologies for intercultural communication included e‐mail, teleconferencing combined with e‐Meetings, and team rooms. Cultural diversity influenced selection of the communication media

A Cost-Benefit Analysis of Face-to-Face and Virtual Communication: Overcoming the Challenges

Virtual communication has become the norm for many organizations (Baltes, Dickson, Sherman, Bauer, & LaGanke, 2002; Bergiel, Bergiel, & Balsmeier, 2008; Hertel, Geister, & Konradt, 2005). As technology has evolved, time and distance barriers have dissolved, allowing for access to experts worldwide. The reality of business today demands the use of virtual communication for at least some work, and many professionals will sit on a virtual team at some point (Dewar, 2006). Although virtual communication offers many advantages, it is not without challenges. This article examines the costs and benefits associated with virtual and face-to-face communication, and identifies strategies to overcome virtual communication\u27s challenges

Building an Ethical Small Group (Chapter 9 of Meeting the Ethical Challenges of Leadership)

This chapter examines ethical leadership in the small-group context. To help create groups that brighten rather than darken the lives of participants, leaders must foster individual ethical accountability among group members, ensure ethical group interaction, avoid moral pitfalls, and establish ethical relationships with other groups. In his metaphor of the leader\u27s light or shadow, Parker Palmer emphasizes that leaders shape the settings or contexts around them. According to Palmer, leaders are people who have an unusual degree of power to create the conditions under which other people must live and move and have their being, conditions that can either be as illuminating as heaven or as shadowy as hell. 1 In this final section of the text, I\u27ll describe some of the ways we can create conditions that illuminate the lives of followers in small-group, organizational, global, and crisis settings. Shedding light means both resisting and exerting influence. We must fend off pressures to engage in unethical behavior while actively seeking to create healthier moral environments

Necessary skills and practices required for effective participation in high bandwidth design team activities

Technology is continually changing, and evolving, throughout the entire construction industry; and particularly in the design process. One of the principal manifestations of this is a move away from team working in a shared work space to team working in a virtual space, using increasingly sophisticated electronic media. Due to the significant operating differences when working in shared and virtual spaces adjustments to generic skills utilised by members is a necessity when moving between the two conditions. This paper reports an aspect of a CRC-CI research project based on research of ‘generic skills’ used by individuals and teams when engaging with high bandwidth information and communication technologies (ICT). It aligns with the project’s other two aspects of collaboration in virtual environments: ‘processes’ and ‘models’. The entire project focuses on the early stages of a project (i.e. design) in which models for the project are being developed and revised. The paper summarises the first stage of the research project which reviews literature to identify factors of virtual teaming which may affect team member skills. It concludes that design team participants require ‘appropriate skills’ to function efficiently and effectively, and that the introduction of high band-width technologies reinforces the need for skills mapping and measurement

Virtual Teams: Work/Life Challenges - Keeping Remote Employees Engaged

Remotely located employees are quickly becoming a norm in the modern workplace in response to evidence that telecommuters save on costs and produce more efficiently. There are many intangible benefits also felt with the increasing prevalence of remote employees. Telecommuters are more satisfied with their work/life balance and report lower rates of job burnout. Though there are also many well-identified setbacks remotely located managers and employees may face. Employers see the most success with telecommuting by first recruiting the people best fit to fill these remote roles. However, the process of developing remote employees is a process that requires constant monitoring. The purpose of this paper is to identify the best practices being used by companies to keep remote employees engaged while simultaneously avoiding burnout