Building Effective Virtual Teams Dane M. Partridge, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Management University of Southern Indiana Presented to the River Cities

Building Effective Virtual Teams

Dane M. Partridge, Ph.D.Associate Professor of Management

University of Southern IndianaPresented to the River Cities Chapter of the

American Society for Training and Development (ASTD)

February 2002

Building Effective Virtual Teams

Presentation based on research related to Indiana Partnership for Statewide Education Course Development Grant Web Based Team Training Module Project Director, Nancy Kovanic, Lead

Consultant, OPD Group, USI

What Is Meant by Term “Team”?

Collection of individuals Interdependent in tasks Share responsibility for outcomes See themselves and are seen by others as intact

social entity embedded in larger social system(s) Manage relationships across organizational

boundaries (Cohen and Bailey, 1997)

Threshold Work Design Questions

Is team necessary to accomplish task? If so, then what type of team?

(Kline, 1999)

Organizational Context

Performance management/reward system Must evolve from individually-based performance

appraisal process toward focus on team development, team member contributions, and overall team performance (Yeatts and Hyten, 1998)

Reward system must support team-based work design Skill-based, gainsharing Team-based reward systems don’t always produce intended

results (e.g., Levi Strauss) (Orsburn and Moran, 2000)

Team Characteristics

Goal Clarity and Adoption Helping teams set goals highly effective intervention in team

building (Kline, 1999). Role Clarity

Role conflict (for example, being a member of multiple teams), ambiguity (establish clear expectations as to what each member must do by when).

Team Efficacy Team’s belief in itself to accomplish work. Can be increased by

identifying team members’ capabilities, identifying ways to better achieve goals, aligning team goals with organizational goals (Kline, 1999).

Member Dispositions (Individual Characteristics)

Members do not necessarily have to like one another to work well together. Kline (1999)

Team-Player Ability Degree to which individuals positively predisposed to

working on team. Cooperativeness

Positively related to attitudes and performance of project teams (Cohen and Bailey, 1997).

Member Dispositions

Team-Player Style Contributor (task-oriented, setting

goals, priorities, solving problems) Collaborator (goal-oriented) Communicator (team process) Challenger

Kline (1999)

Work Process Effectiveness (Decision Making)

Is team right size? Social loafing

(Yeatts and Hyten, 1998)

Does team have necessary interpersonal communication skills?

Does team have necessary task-relevant skills? Is there allowance for diversity of opinion?

Team norms impact participation, communication, conflict management, meeting management, problem solving, and decision making (Duarte and Snyder, 1999).

Work Process Effectiveness (Decision Making)

Does team assess alternatives before accomplishing work?

Are there understood performance norms? Does team assess work progress before

completion (goal accomplishment)? Does team allow for modifications in process

if alternative suggested?

Holding Effective Meetings

Technical advances such as groupware can assist teams in meeting without having to get together in person.

Increased use @USI of Blackboard (e-learning software platform) Mngt 305, Management of Organizational

Behavior, virtual team projects

Effective Virtual Teams

Importance of trust “People tend to trust others who perform

competently, act with integrity, and display concern for the well-being of others” (Duarte and Snyder, 1999, p. 140).

Important to have members who have high propensity to trust (Jarvenpaa et al., 1998).


Team Building Engage in team building activities as virtual team is initially

created so as to develop sense of trust, cohesiveness, awareness of each other’s differences (Kayworth and Leidner, 2000)

Virtual ice-breaker. First impressions especially important in VTs (Cascio, 2000)

May be cultural bias to common team-building activities (e.g., sharing personal information, discussing results of personality inventories, competitive games). Uncomfortable for those from collective cultures? (Duarte and Snyder, 1999).


Trust negatively impacted by lack of social introduction lack of enthusiasm unequally distributed communication shallow ideas lack of task focus lack of individual initiative little feedback

(Jarvenpaa and Leidner, 1999)


Trust positively impacted by early social exchanges predictable communication pattern strong individual initiative (and initiative from multiple

members) substantive feedback (responses to initiatives may be even

more important than initiatives themselves) (Jarvenpaa and Leidner, 1999)

Timely follow-through on commitments important to establishing perceived competence (Duarte and Snyder, 1999)


Computer-mediated communication may alleviate cross-cultural communication issues lack of nonverbal cues eliminates evidence of cultural differences asynchronous mode may reduce language errors

(Jarvenpaa and Leidner, 1999)

However, computer-mediated communication can negatively impact perceived concern for others, given that evidence indicates computer-mediated groups communicate more negative messages than face-to-face groups do (Duarte and Snyder, 1999, p. 154)


Virtual Collaboration Behaviors Ability to exchange ideas without criticism Develop working document in which various

members’ ideas are summarized Exchange working document among members for

editing Track comments in working document with initials Agree on activities Meet deadlines

(Knoll and Jarvenpaa, 1998).


Virtual Socialization Behaviors [process norms?] Ability to communicate with other members immediately Solicit feedback on process team is using to accomplish tasks Express appreciation for ideas and completed tasks Apologize for mistakes Volunteer for roles Acknowledge role assignments

(Knoll and Jarvenpaa, 1998) Initiative, results orientation, and integrity highly important

(Jarvenpaa et al., 1998).


Virtual Communication Behaviors Given inherent lack of rich face-to-face communication,

groups must attempt to communicate frequently and consistently with constant feedback from team leaders. Setting specific agendas for discussion may be helpful. (Kayworth and Leidner, 2000)

Ability to rephrase unclear sentences to achieve clarity, use e-mail typography to convey emotion. (Knoll and Jarvenpaa, 1998)


Perceived integrity of members Integrity of co-workers is evaluated on basis of reputation,

in the event actual performance cannot be consistently observed.

Positive reputation is function of consistent actions, fulfilled promises, consideration of others’ schedules, and prompt responses to phone-mail and e-mail.

Persons working in teams, especially virtual teams, must be attentive to way in which they are perceived by others. (Kezsbom, 1999).

Is this “virtual EQ”?


Self-limiting Behaviors Based on literature on teams in general. Includes

presence of someone with [perceived/proclaimed?] expertise presentation of compelling argument lack of confidence in one’s ability to contribute pressures to conform to team’s decision [how is virtual groupthink

expressed?] Process observations from Mngt 305 students

dysfunctional decision-making climate (Cascio, 2000).

Re: OD: virtual process consultation?


Matching technology with task Technology: synchronous and asynchronous. Tasks: generating ideas and plans, solving routine problems,

solving complex problems, negotiating conflicts. Technology also impacts personal connection, information

richness, and historical record of interactions. E-mail most useful for generating ideas and plans, and

collecting data; useful for routine problems; least useful for complex problems and negotiations.

Face-to-face best for negotiations. (Duarte and Snyder, 1999)


Determinants of Outcomes: Satisfaction Some evidence that women more satisfied with

VT experience than men. Possibly due to nature of computer-mediated

communication: lack of nonverbal cues and structure allowed for more equal group participation. (Lind, 1999)

Documents

Building Effective Virtual Teams Dane M. Partridge, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Management University of Southern Indiana Presented to the River Cities