Virtual teams: work processes, communication, and team development

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to understand the work processes, task and social communication, and team development of virtual teams. Virtual teams are groups of geographically dispersed co-workers that work together using information technologies to communicate. The study uses a grounded theory approach. To meet the demands of global competition, organizational structures are changing and becoming more flexible. The new organizational workplace will not be bound by geography, time, or organizational boundaries, but will be more of a virtual workplace where productivity, flexibility, and team collaboration are critical for success. Therefore, the number of organizations using virtual teams is growing dramatically and there is every indication that this new form of team will continue. The research on virtual teams has focused on 1) communication in virtual teams, 2) decision making in virtual teams, 3) interpersonal relations in virtual teams, 4) trust in virtual teams, and 5) development of virtual teams. The virtual teams in this study were MBA distance education students assigned to complete a communication audit as a class project. The teams were responsible for administering the audit, analyzing the results, and writing a report. The research involved analyzing the on-line team meetings to understand how the teams worked together, communicated, and developed as teams. Five common work processes were identified for the teams participating in this project. The work processes were 1) self-management, 2) volunteerism, 3) an absence of conflict, 4) similar decision making processes, and 5) similar team protocols. All of the teams spent significantly more time in task communication compared to social communication. However, the social communication did increase the longer the teams worked together. The teams in this study followed the stages of team development as proposed by research on co-located teams. Although each team progressed at a different rate they all moved through at least three stages of task and process development. The teams moved through more stages of task development than social development. This project confirmed prior research on virtual team communication and developed knowledge on how virtual teams work together and develop.