Virtual team trust: task, communication and sequence

Interactive Effects of Team Virtuality and Work Design on Team Functioning

This review study aimed to investigate how team work design shapes the impact of team virtuality on team functioning. Based on 48 studies, we identified key work design variables that influence both team functioning, that is, team performance and intermediary outcomes (i.e., team processes and emergent states), under conditions of high virtuality (or in interaction with virtuality). First, while outcome interdependence showed positive effects on the functioning of virtual teams, particularly via motivational increases, task interdependence showed mixed results. Second, high levels of knowledge characteristics (e.g., task complexity) appear to worsen team functioning within virtual contexts, likely because these characteristics add to the demands of an already demanding context. Third, job resources (e.g., feedback) showed positive associations with team functioning, suggesting these variables might buffer the high demands of virtual work. Given these results, more investigations that explicitly examine the interaction between work design and team virtuality are needed.

The space between – linking trust with individual and team performance in virtual teams

Purpose

Understanding the relationship between performance and trust in virtual teams is receiving significant attention due to “connected” virtual team contexts becoming more prevalent. This paper reports on new findings relating to the dynamics of trust and performance in virtual team contexts. The study aims to explore the evolution of trust and its mediating role in determining the performance of virtual teams, as well as to investigate if and how performance itself affected trust.

Design/methodology/approach

The study is based on a longitudinal quantitative survey of 71 international virtual student teams working in four universities in Finland, Estonia, Latvia and Russia.

Findings

In line with swift trust and social norms theory, the authors found that relatively high levels of initial trust did not change over the period of the teams’ projects in general, but in teams where feedback on performance was negative, both trust and trustworthiness declined significantly. Trust had a small mediating effect between group performances in two consecutive measurement points, meaning that past performance had an impact on trust, which in turn impacted the teams’ next performance. However, no mediating effect was present between individual and team performance.

Practical implications

The authors conclude that managing virtual teams should concentrate on team actions and achieving and recognising small quick wins at least as much as dealing with trust, specifically. Negative performance feedback should not deteriorate members’ perception of benevolence and integrity in the team.

Originality/value

The paper distinguishes the dynamics of two trust components and tests new models with these as partial mediators in determining virtual team performance. Importantly, the authors challenge the notion that emotional component of trust, perceived trustworthiness, is less relevant in virtual teams.

The Mediating Effect of Interpersonal Trust on Virtual Team's Collaboration

This article examines the relationship between task-communication and five collaborative processes by exploring the mediating effect of interpersonal trust in a virtual team's environment. A multiple mediation model was developed to examine this relationship where cognitive-based trust and affective-based trust are defined as mediation variables between task-communication and the five processes of collaboration. The main results of this study show a significant correlation with a large effect size between task communication, trust and collaboration. Also, interpersonal trust is playing an important role as a mediating element in the relationship between task communication and collaboration. This is where the emotional side of trust is no less important than the rational side, if not even more, in some collaborative processes.

Exploring communication in project-based interventions

Purpose

The authors explore several aspects of communications theory to identify their relevance to managing a project-based productivity improvement intervention. The literature on communication accommodation theory, groupthink and trust appear to have important implications for improvements. The purpose of this paper is to develop a research methodology used in conducting empirical data collection in the field to test the developed conceptual framework. The authors emphasize the importance of management theory to project-based interventions. The focus of this work is summarized by the research question: “what facets of communication impact on the success of a project-based improvement intervention?”.

Design/methodology/approach

Following a focused literature review, learnings from specific research were used to identify a series of propositions. The scope of the work was established to limit the range of issues under review. Next, a conceptual framework was designed that allowed a case study to be tested with regard to validity of the propositions. Further testing will be undertaken in a single company.

Findings

There is clear evidence showing the relevance of effective communication when executing an intervention to seek performance improvement. In particular, understanding the need of stakeholders’ is paramount that allows the design of a communications strategy. Each phase in a project-based intervention requires different styles of communication. There is also a need to have varying degrees of trust. Total unchallenged trust invariably leads to groupthink that hinders critical decision making.

Research limitations/implications

The work contributes to the understanding of the application of communication theory to project-based interventions – that invariably aim at performance improvement initiatives. While currently the work is in the early stages of research, it does nevertheless show some useful early findings. Clearly further work is needed in international projects in the context of multi-cultural teams and external stakeholders.

Practical implications

With many interventions failing to meet their planned objectives there is a need to isolate possible reasons and to rectify or mitigate the causes. Project management and change management training should include a comprehensive understanding of management theories. This research will contribute to this knowledge base.

Social implications

Project-based activities are used in most walks of life; the need for excellent management is therefore important. Invariably interventions involve considerable capital investment and their success advances productivity of nations. Understanding and integrating communication theories to their management, therefore, has significant social benefits.

Originality/value

The importance of communications is identified in the project management literature and adjunct disciplines. Professional associations and leading bodies in performance and project management, while emphasizing the need for excellent communication, have not adequately addressed underpinning theories. There is little research focusing on communication accommodation theory, groupthink and risk in the context of project management. The authors’ have not been able to identify any research on an integrated framework that combines these theories with managing a project-based performance improvement intervention.

Harper S. The interactive influences of conflict, task interdependence and cooperation on perceptions of virtualness in co-located teams

Purpose

– This paper aims to explore the interactive influence of conflict, task interdependence and cooperation on individual perceptions of team virtualness levels. The study attempts to provide additional insight regarding how or why virtual structures might develop in teams with co-located team members.

Design/methodology/approach

– Data were collected from 355 upper-level business students assigned to the same team in four class integrated business courses. Moderated hierarchical regression was utilized in examining the moderating role of cooperation with conflict and task interdependence in predicting virtualness.

Findings

– Cooperation positively moderates the relationships between relationship conflict and perceived virtualness and between perceived task interdependence and perceived virtualness. In addition, conditional support exists for a cooperation and process conflict interaction in predicting virtualness.

Originality/value

– Many teams are mandated to be virtual either by management direction, task and resource requirements or by necessity due to being geographically dispersed. However, additional factors may influence the level of virtualness in teams with co-located members. This study provides preliminary evidence that an individual’s experiences in teams influences the individual’s views regarding the virtual structure of his or her team.

Distributed People and Distributed Information

The theoretical framework of vigilant interaction theory is used to examine information exchange and decision-making quality in virtual teams. Groups completed a hidden profile task in one of three geographic dispersion conditions: all members colocated, isolated, or mixed with two colocated and two isolated members. Vigilant interaction—discussion of task information, attention to other group members’ information, discussion of positive and negative attributes of the alternatives, and systematic information processing—predicted decision quality. Explicit reminders of information differences predicted pooling of unique information. No evidence was found for difficulties in interaction and task performance due to subgroup faultline dynamics; instead vigilant interaction was highest in groups with mixed distributions, suggesting they exerted compensatory effort. Exploratory analyses suggested that temporal vigilance was lowest in completely distributed groups. Implications for new dimensions of the vigilant interaction theory framework are discussed.