Challenges, trust and performance in virtual teams: examining the role of openness to experience and preference for virtual teams

Can performance of modern virtual teams measure up to co-located teams?

Purpose

Global virtual teams are omnipresent entities within the majority of international companies. Ongoing research debate presents multiple open questions on the impact of virtuality. Especially whether virtual teams can be as effective as their co-located counterparts. This paper aims to address the performance aspects of fully and semi-virtual in comparison with co-located teams.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper presents quantitative research based on computer logged data sets tracking the behaviour of individuals in multiple virtual, semi-virtual and co-located teams. The analysis features a comparison of key performance indicators and evaluates teamwork results while putting the observations into the context of virtual organisational behaviour.

Findings

Findings based on a sample of 42,168 work items from 48 teams of various virtuality levels show that co-located teams still outperform the virtual ones despite technological advances. This comes as an important reminder and practical implication during times of rapid shift towards virtual work in recent years.

Originality/value

Drawn conclusions are valuable, mainly due to the nature of data set extraction (unbiased and error-free source) from a real business environment with a unique combination of various cross-cultural compositions. The sample includes teams from the same company working on similar tasks, allowing control for many factors limiting previously published papers on virtual team performance.

Identifying the development stages of virtual teams – An application of social network analysis

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to explore some quantitative indicators from the social network analysis, observe the variations of these indicators over time and determine whether these indicators fit into the traditional team development stages model or theory. The primary focus is on the perspective of social interaction rather than the suitability of the indicator, i.e. the authors will not determine the optimal indicators nor compare the performance of different indicators. This study aims to propose a quantitative method to identify the development stages of virtual teams.

Design/methodology/approach

Two phases were designed in this study. The first phase was a simple study to prove the preliminary ideas and explore which quantitative indicators would be suitable for analysis. In total, 16 undergraduates were randomly assigned to two virtual teams. They were required to complete an information system (IS) project through virtual teamwork and use information and communications technologies (ICTs) to communicate with each other. After proving the preliminary ideas, the authors collected communication data of the 30 virtual teams working on IS projects in the second phase. The total duration of this process was two months.

Findings

The findings practically identified three stages, which were found to be consistent with that of the previous qualitative studies. In the initial (inclusion) stage, intensity had an upward trend. In the second (control) stage, centralization had an upward trend. In the final (affection) stage, intensity and density had upward trends and centralization had a downward trend. Both density and centralization also became smooth in this final stage. The conclusion can serve as a basis for further studies in virtual team development.

Originality/value

A successful virtual team will help industries to reduce their costs and increase performance and benefits. The findings will help industries quickly and objectively identify which stage they are at. This quantified approach will provide managers and leaders with a simple, useful way to highlight the needs for managing different aspects of team behavior at each stage of development. After establishing this approach, managers and leaders will be able to make plans to improve existing processes, set priorities, provide suitable principles and guidelines, etc., and eventually improve virtual team performance.

Extroversion and Conscientiousness Predict Deteriorating Job Outcomes During the COVID-19 Transition to Enforced Remote Work

At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, organizations around the world rapidly transitioned to enforced remote work. We examined the relationship between personality and within-person changes in five job outcomes (self-reported performance, engagement, job satisfaction, burnout, and turnover intentions) during this transition. We conducted a four-wave longitudinal study, from May to August 2020, of employees working from home due to COVID-19, N = 974. On average, self-reported performance decreased over the course of the study, whereas the other outcomes remained stable. There was also significant between-person variability in job outcomes. Extroversion and conscientiousness, two traits traditionally associated with desirable outcomes, were associated with deteriorating outcomes over time. Extroverted employees and conscientious employees became less productive, less engaged, and less satisfied with their jobs; and extroverted employees reported increasing burnout. These results add to our understanding of how personality predicts within-person changes in performance, well-being, and turnover intentions during the pandemic.