Organizational Identification: Perspectives of Dispersed Social Workers

Innovative Strategies for Building Community Among Faculty Who Teach in Virtual Environments

“…Finally, organizations need to incorporate networking opportunities to create a web of trust across the larger community using strategies that can include small group projects, meetings, displaying the faces and bios of distributed workers on the organization's webpage, and organizing in-person small group visits (Wenger et al, 2002). These recommendations echo suggestions by other authors acknowledging the necessity of creating pathways for virtual employees to informally and formally communicate with each other in order to build trust, develop community, create opportunities for employee development, operationalize best practices, and achieve organizational outcomes (Adedoyin, 2016;Akkirman & Harris, 2005;Cooper & Kurland, 2002;Milton et al, 2016).…”

“…Recent and emerging literature informs us that virtual faculty are largely satisfied with their instruction, particularly appreciating the flexibility, work-life balance, and student diversity in the virtual classroom (Huang & Hsiao, 2012;Peach & Bieber, 2015;Schwartz, Wiley, & Kaplan, 2016). Challenges identified by virtual faculty include technology comfort level, availability of support and training, and feelings of alienation from peers and the larger organization (Curry, 2016;Dolan, 2011;Levin, Whitsett, & Wood, 2013;Lloyd, Byrne, & McCoy, 2012;Milton, Sinclair, & Vakalahi, 2016;Smith, 2015). Given social work's emphasis on the person-in-environment perspective, it is imperative to consider the experiences of those individuals responsible for executing virtual technologysupported programs and delivering education via virtual platforms.…”

“…Drawing a parallel to organizational workplaces beyond institutions of education, one of the most pressing challenges facing managers of dispersed virtual workspaces is building an environment that promotes trust, connection, and a sense of belonging among distributed employees (Milton et al, 2016;Wenger, McDermott, & Snyder, 2002). A defining feature of working in virtual teams is that communication primarily occurs through the use of virtual tools as modes of communication, which can influence outcomes and experiences in a number of ways related to frequency of interaction, quantity of information shared, timeliness of communication, and engagement with colleagues (Marlow, Lacerenza, & Sales, 2017;Sardeshmukh, Sharma, & Golden, 2012).…”