A conceptual model to improve performance in virtual teams

Abstract

Background: The vast improvement in communication technologies and sophisticated project management tools, methods and techniques has allowed geographically and culturally diverse groups to operate and function in a virtual environment. To succeed in this virtual environment where time and space are becoming increasingly irrelevant, organisations must define new ways of implementing initiatives. This virtual environment phenomenon has brought about the formation of virtual project teams that allow organisations to harness the skills and knowhow of the best resources, irrespective of their location.Objectives: The aim of this article was to investigate performance criteria and develop a conceptual model which can be applied to enhance the success of virtual project teams. There are no clear guidelines of the performance criteria in managing virtual project teams.Method: A qualitative research methodology was used in this article. The purpose of content analysis was to explore the literature to understand the concept of performance in virtual project teams and to summarise the findings of the literature reviewed.Results: The research identified a set of performance criteria for the virtual project teams as follows: leadership, trust, communication, team cooperation, reliability, motivation, comfort and social interaction. These were used to conceptualise the model.Conclusion: The conceptual model can be used in a holistic way to determine the overall performance of the virtual project team, but each factor can be analysed individually to determine the impact on the overall performance. The knowledge of performance criteria for virtual project teams could aid project managers in enhancing the success of these teams and taking a different approach to better manage and coordinate them.

A conceptual framework of virtual team effectiveness from the socio-technical perspective

“…Technology can support good virtual teamwork and in the virtual team, the agreed and committed working processes are more important to team success (Ebrahim, 2015). Dube and Marnewick (2016) affirmed that in a virtual team, technology usage is an important aspect while team members use technology to coordinate and execute team activities. In an effort of developing the theory and offering new directions to virtual team research, with the goal of making efforts to inform organizations of enhancing the effectiveness of virtual team, they classified virtual team's mediators into four types: cognitive processes (e.g., team cognition and cognitive climate), motivational processes (e.g., teamwork engagement), affective processes (e.g., team cohesion) and behavioral processes (e.g., shared leadership, communication, and technology usage).…”

Manifestation of emotional intelligence and Transformational leadership in virtual teams: Case study of Nairobi technology hub

“…Siebers et al (2008) support this notion by observing that operational management focuses on systems like ICT, total quality management and lean production practices among other factors to increase efficiency. However, Dube and Marnewick (2016) offers that even though there has been an increased interest in virtual project teams, there is not much data that shows how such team's performance can be improved.…”

Ảnh hưởng của việc sử dụng phương tiện truyền thông điện tử lên thành quả công việc trong các đội gia công phần mềm từ xa - Một khảo sát tại Việt Nam

“…Ngoài các ứng dụng công nghệ thông tin (CNTT) phục vụ cho việc phát triển sản phẩm phần mềm, các đội GCPM từ xa cũng sử dụng các PTTTĐT để phục vụ cho việc giao tiếp và cộng tác. PTTTĐT được đề cập trong các tài liệu bằng nhiều thuật ngữ khác nhau, như "công nghệ cộng tác" (Santillan & Horwitz, 2016;Solomon, 2016), "công nghệ cộng tác và truyền thông/giao tiếp điện tử", "CNTT và truyền thông/giao tiếp" (Dube & Marnewick, 2016), "công nghệ truyền thông/giao tiếp thông qua máy tính trung gian" (Lipnack & Stamps, 2000), "công nghệ truyền thông/giao tiếp" (Chaves et al, 2016), "công nghệ ảo" (Greer, Luethge, & Robinson, 2017), "CNTT" (Griffith, Sawyer, & Neale, 2003) hay "công nghệ" nói chung (Wise, 2016)… Nhiều bằng chứng cho thấy trong đội ảo, việc tương tác gián tiếp thông qua công nghệ sẽ dẫn đến nhiều hệ lụy về mặt xã hội như sự hiểu lầm, tổn thương, xung đột, tranh giành quyền lực, thiếu tin cậy… (Ebrahim, Ahmed, & Taha, 2011;Kayworth & Leidner, 2002;Ocker & Fjermestad, 2008). Bên cạnh đó, đôi khi đội ảo đòi hỏi ứng dụng PTTTĐT phức tạp (Bergiel, Bergiel, & Balsmeier, 2008), không phù hợp thói quen, không làm thành viên đội hài lòng, vì vậy họ không có ý định sử dụng, không chấp nhận ngay từ đầu hoặc giảm sử dụng theo thời gian (Godin et al, 2017).…”