Objective Communication Patterns Associated With Team Member Effectiveness in Real-World Virtual Teams

OBJECTIVE

We explore the relationships between objective communication patterns displayed during virtual team meetings and established, qualitative measures of team member effectiveness.

BACKGROUND

A key component of teamwork is communication. Automated measures of objective communication patterns are becoming more feasible and offer the ability to measure and monitor communication in a scalable, consistent and continuous manner. However, their validity in reflecting meaningful measures of teamwork processes are not well established, especially in real-world settings.

METHOD

We studied real-world virtual student teams working on semester-long projects. We captured virtual team meetings using the Zoom video conferencing platform throughout the semester and periodic surveys comprising peer ratings of team member effectiveness. Leveraging audio transcripts, we examined relationships between objective measures of speaking time, silence gap duration and vocal turn-taking and peer ratings of team member effectiveness.

RESULTS

Speaking time, speaking turn count, degree centrality and (marginally) speaking turn duration, but not silence gap duration, were positively related to individual-level team member effectiveness. Time in dyadic interactions and interaction count, but not interaction length, were positively related to dyad-level team member effectiveness.

CONCLUSION

Our study highlights the relevance of objective measures of speaking time and vocal turn-taking to team member effectiveness in virtual project-based teams, supporting the validity of these objective measures and their use in future research.

APPLICATION

Our approach offers a scalable, easy-to-use method for measuring communication patterns and team member effectiveness in virtual teams and opens the opportunity to study these patterns in a more continuous and dynamic manner.

Stage 2: Visual information and communication context as modulators of interpersonal coordination in face-to-face and videoconference-based interactions

Interpersonal coordination of body movement-or similarity in patterning and timing of body movement between interaction partners-is well documented in face-to-face (FTF) conversation. Here, we investigated the degree to which interpersonal coordination is impacted by the amount of visual information available and the type of interaction conversation partners are having. To do so within a naturalistic context, we took advantage of the increased familiarity with videoconferencing (VC) platforms and with limited visual information in FTF conversation due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Pairs of participants communicated in one of three ways: FTF in a laboratory setting while socially distanced and wearing face masks; VC in a laboratory setting with a view of one another's full movements; or VC in a remote setting with a view of one another's face and shoulders. Each pair held three conversations: affiliative, argumentative, and cooperative task-based. We quantified interpersonal coordination as the relationship between the two participants' overall body movement using nonlinear time series analyses. Coordination changed as a function of the contextual constraints, and these constraints interacted with coordination patterns to affect subjective conversation outcomes. Importantly, we found patterns of results that were distinct from previous research; we hypothesize that these differences may be due to changes in the broader social context from COVID-19. Taken together, our results are consistent with a dynamical systems view of social phenomena, with interpersonal coordination emerging from the interaction between components, constraints, and history of the system.

Trust and commitment; a comparative study of virtual team communication across industries

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to investigate virtual team (VT) member’s perception of trust and commitment when using computer-mediated communication (CMC).

Design/methodology/approach

A nonexperimental quantitative research methodology was used to survey full-time employees in education, health care and telecommunications industries. Participants were on VTs using CMC. A factorial, between groups, multivariate analysis of variance was used to examine whether the mean scores of trust and commitment, as dependent variables, significantly differed between VT members across industries, that make up one of the independent variables (type of industry) using different CMC with the CMC methods being the second independent variable.

Findings

When the variable of type of industry was held constant, CMC resulted in statistically significant differences in the mean scores of the linear variate of trust and commitment. However, when the variable of CMC was held constant, type of industry did not result in a statistically significant difference in the mean scores of the linear variate of trust and commitment. Additionally, the interaction of the variables CMC and type of industry resulted in a statistically significant difference in the mean scores of the linear variate of trust and commitment.

Originality/value

Findings suggest organizations should adopt best practices to maximize benefits of the visual component of VT communication. This study provides evidence to support a potential relationship between trust and visual CMC. Findings aid organizational leaders in evaluating communication tools, specifically for complex tasks requiring trust among members.

The effect of distributive justice climate on virtual team performance: A moderated mediation model

Based on the social interdependence theory, we proposed that the distributive justice climate affects virtual team performance via high-quality relationships, and then we investigated the boundary effect of team proactive personality. The data used in this study were collected in China, including 327 virtual team members that belonged to 75 teams. The following results are obtained: (1) Distributive justice climate and high-quality relationships have significant positive effects on virtual team performance. (2) High-quality relationships mediate the relationship between the distributive justice climate and virtual team performance. (3) Team proactive personality strengthens the direct effect of the distributive justice climate on high-quality relationships. (4) Team proactive personality strengthens the indirect effect of the distributive justice climate on virtual team performance through high-quality relationships. These empirical results have important theoretical significance for team climate construction, personnel selection, and team performance promotion.

Life After COVID-19: What if We Never go Back to the Office?

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a substantial increase in the use of remote work for occupations where this modality is feasible. This paper speculates on the likely outcome of this unplanned experiment by asking what might happen if we never go back to the office. I predict that: (1) managers will find an adjustment to permanent remote work difficult, (2) some tasks will become increasingly difficult to perform, (3) female employees will suffer, (4) many employees will respond positively to doing away with the office, but this response will be far from universal, and (5) organizations will thrive, particularly organizations that are already rich and powerful.

Unpacking the Role of Feedback in Virtual Team Effectiveness

Feedback is a cornerstone of human development. Not surprisingly, it plays a vital role in team development. However, the literature examining the specific role of feedback in virtual team effectiveness remains scattered. To improve our understanding of feedback in virtual teams, we identified 59 studies that examine how different feedback characteristics (content, source, and level) impact virtual team effectiveness. Our findings suggest that virtual teams benefit particularly from feedback that (a) combines performance-related information with information on team processes and/or psychological states, (b) stems from an objective source, and (c) targets the team as a whole. By integrating the existing knowledge, we point researchers in the direction of the most pressing research needs, as well as the practices that are most likely to pay off when designing feedback interventions in virtual teams.

Towards the Three Dimensions of Sustainability for International Research Team Collaboration: Learnings from the Sustainable and Healthy Food Systems Research Programme

This paper highlights the potential for learning and virtual collaboration in international research teams to contribute towards sustainability goals. Previous research confirmed the environmental benefits of carbon savings from international virtual conferences. This paper adds the social and economic dimensions by using a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods to measure the constraints and benefits for personal development, economic costs, efficiency and team learning of holding international virtual conferences (VCs). Using the Sustainable and Healthy Food Systems (SHEFS) research programme as a case study, we analysed VC participant survey data to identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of VCs. We estimated 'saved' GHG emissions, costs, and time, of using VCs as an alternative for a planned in-person meeting in Chennai, India. Hosting VCs reduced North-South, gender, and researcher inclusivity concerns, financial and travelling time costs, and substantially reduced emissions. For one international meeting with 107 participants, changing to a virtual format reduced the per capita GHG emissions to half the annual global average, and avoided 60% of travel costs. The benefits of VCs outweighed weaknesses. The main strengths were inclusivity and access, with 20% more early/mid-career researchers attending. This study identified opportunities for international research partnerships to mitigate their carbon footprint (environmental benefit) and enhance inclusivity of early/mid-career, women and Global South participants (social benefit), whilst continuing to deliver effective collaborative research meetings (economic benefit). In doing so, we present a holistic view of sustainability opportunities for virtual collaboration.

Visual information and communication context as modulators of interpersonal coordination in face-to-face and videoconference-based interactions

Interpersonal coordination of body movement-or the similarity in patterning and timing of body movement between interaction partners over time-is a well-documented phenomenon in face-to-face (FTF) conversation. The present study will investigate the degree to which interpersonal coordination is impacted by the amount of visual information available and the type of interaction conversation partners are having. To do so within a naturalistic context, we take advantage of changes induced by the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic has changed communication, with mitigation efforts having forced nearly everyone to engage over videoconferencing (VC) platforms (which limit body visibility but not face visibility) or to meet FTF with public health constraints (which limit face visibility but not body visibility). We will ask 69 pairs of participants to communicate in one of three ways: (1) socially distanced FTF while wearing masks; (2) VC in a laboratory where each partner will see one another's full torso; or (3) VC in a remote setting where each partner will see only one another's face and shoulders. Each pair will hold three conversations: (a) affiliative, (b) argumentative, and (c) task-based. We will quantify interpersonal coordination by extracting overall amounts of movement from videos of the participants using well-validated computer vision methods and then calculating the relationship between the two participants' movement using nonlinear time series analyses. In doing so, we will be able to identify the degree to which visual information and conversational context shape the emergence of interpersonal coordination within now-naturalistic modes of interaction.

The Symphony of Team Flow in Virtual Teams. Using Artificial Intelligence for Its Recognition and Promotion

More and more teams are collaborating virtually across the globe, and the COVID-19 pandemic has further encouraged the dissemination of virtual teamwork. However, there are challenges for virtual teams – such as reduced informal communication – with implications for team effectiveness. Team flow is a concept with high potential for promoting team effectiveness, however its measurement and promotion are challenging. Traditional team flow measurements rely on self-report questionnaires that require interrupting the team process. Approaches in artificial intelligence, i.e., machine learning, offer methods to identify an algorithm based on behavioral and sensor data that is able to identify team flow and its dynamics over time without interrupting the process. Thus, in this article we present an approach to identify team flow in virtual teams, using machine learning methods. First of all, based on a literature review, we provide a model of team flow characteristics, composed of characteristics that are shared with individual flow and characteristics that are unique for team flow. It is argued that those characteristics that are unique for team flow are represented by the concept of collective communication. Based on that, we present physiological and behavioral correlates of team flow which are suitable – but not limited to – being assessed in virtual teams and which can be used as input data for a machine learning system to assess team flow in real time. Finally, we suggest interventions to support team flow that can be implemented in real time, in virtual environments and controlled by artificial intelligence. This article thus contributes to finding indicators and dynamics of team flow in virtual teams, to stimulate future research and to promote team effectiveness.

Shouting across the digital divide: the import of social interactions in virtual teams

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to extend the current understanding of virtual team (VT) workers’ willingness to continue working in VTs and the forces driving their affective reactions to teamwork. Specifically, this paper applies the input-mediator-output-input (IMOI) literature to investigate the influence of workers’ perceptions of their peers’ skills and peers’ interactions on perceptions of the teamwork process and subsequent affective reactions.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper draws on a sample of 997 virtual and face-to-face (FtF) students embedded in 242 project teams to test the hypotheses using multi-group comparisons in structural equation modeling (SEM).

Findings

Results support the assertion that team processes are essential in translating team skills and interactions into satisfaction with the team. Further, this paper finds that skills are more influential on teammate satisfaction for FtFs than they are for VTs; and, conversely, that VTs’ interactions are more pivotal regarding teammate satisfaction through VT processes than they are in FtFs.

Research limitations/implications

The effort contributes to the IMOI literature by showing how teams overcome virtuality to perform effectively and how team-embedded members react differently across VT and FtF contexts.

Originality/value

These findings are particularly notable given that prior research has suggested VT performance may not be contingent on social bonds within the team. Although this is possibly true for performance, the findings suggest that social interactions are, in fact, crucial to teams’ affective reactions.

Virtuality and teams: Dealing with crises and catastrophes

BACKGROUND: This article bridges the gap between theory and practice and elaborates, for practitioners, how to convert the COVID-19 and other similar crises into opportunities for keeping their business on track for growth. It shows how movement to virtual modes of working, especially virtual teams, can help practitioners meet the current crisis effectively and also prepare for future crisis efficiently. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this article is to show how the concept of virtuality can help design practices which enable managers/practitioners in effectively managing necessary transitions to virtual work. METHODS: The article reviews and integrates essential literature on virtuality and virtual teams. It enumerates the benefits and challenges which accompany a sudden and necessary movement to virtual work in teams. Also used are the recently developed theoretical frameworks of teams as essential emergent states and its implications on virtual work. RESULTS: By distilling insights from past literature, the article advises managers on how to deal with the present and prepare for future disruptions. Usage of overarching frameworks rather than industry/work specific literature enables managers to move away from specific recommendations and focus on general characteristics for wider impact. CONCLUSIONS: The article demonstrates how organizations can meet disruptive challenges successfully and also prepare for future challenges sustainably using virtuality as a starting point.

The contribution of social media to project management

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to determine the social media (SM) tools that are the most prevalent for project management activities, ascertain the areas of project management that are most benefited by SM, elucidate enablers and inhibitors to adoption of SM and identify the implications for virtual teams.

Design/methodology/approach

A Delphi study was used to explore why and how SM is being utilized in projects. In total, 32 participants contributed to three rounds of Delphi study, comprising two rounds of questionnaire followed by confirmatory interviews. The vulnerabilities and difficulties associated with the use of SM were examined by qualitative interviews.

Findings

Information sharing SM tools, such as YouTube, Dropbox, SlideShare, flickr, CrowdStorm and Instagram, are the most advantageous to project management. However, the tools utilized differ at different stages of the project lifecycle. The major benefit of SM is that it enables project teams to communicate efficiently and positively affects virtual team dynamics. Adoption can be inhibited by the absence of infrastructure in rural areas and differing preferences for SM tools in global regions. There is also a perceived lack of maturity of policies and procedures to govern SM adoption and use.

Research limitations/implications

The research was conducted based on the Project Management Body of Knowledge version 5 project management processes.

Practical implications

The findings will enable practitioners to select SM tools that are suitable for project activities and forewarn about potential shortfalls. The findings also facilitate a qualitative analysis of SM attributes and their effect on project management.

Social implications

Project practitioners can use the findings to adopt SM for their project management.

Originality/value

This study extends the literature concerning the use of SM for project management, provides a foundation for future research and may present as a useful guide for the adoption of relevant SM tools.

A comparison of problem identification interviews conducted face-to-face and via videoconferencing using the consultation analysis record

School psychologists who experience challenges delivering face-to-face consultation may utilize videoconferencing to facilitate their consultation activities. Videoconferencing has been found to be an effective method of service delivery in related fields and emerging research suggests that it may be effective for providing teacher training and support in school settings. In this exploratory investigation, we used the Consultation Analysis Record (Bergan & Tombari, 1975) and its four indices to assess the effectiveness of conducting problem identification interviews via videoconferencing versus face-to-face. Overall, findings indicated significant differences across these two conditions, with videoconference interviews coded as having higher indices of content relevance, process effectiveness, and message control, but lower content focus, compared to face-to-face interviews. As these indices have been positively associated with favorable consultation outcomes, the results provide initial support for the effectiveness of consultation delivered via videoconferencing.