Sustainable Virtual Teams: Promoting Well-Being through Affect Management Training and Openness to Experience Configurations

Abstract

A disruptive digitalization recently occurred that led to the fast adoption of virtual teams. However, membership diversity and team virtuality threaten members’ well-being, especially if faultlines appear (i.e., subgroups). Considering the job demands–resources model and the role of group affect in shaping members’ perceptions of well-being, we test the effectiveness of a short-term affect management training for increasing members’ eudaimonic well-being. Moreover, based on the trait activation theory and the contingent configuration approach, we draw on the personality composition literature to test how different openness to experience configurations of team level and diversity together moderate the effect of the training. Hypotheses were tested using a pre–post design in an online randomized controlled trial in an educational context in Spain, with a sample of 52 virtual teams with faultlines. Results show that affect management training increased eudaimonic well-being. Furthermore, there was a moderation effect (three-way interaction) of openness to experience configurations, so that the training was more effective in teams with high levels and low diversity in openness to experience. We discuss implications for training, well-being, and personality composition literature. This study helps organizations develop sustainable virtual teams with engaged members through affect management training and selection processes based on the openness to experience trait.

Fostering University Students’ Engagement in Teamwork and Innovation Behaviors through Game-Based Learning (GBL)

“…On the other hand, HEIs are also organizations in which sustainability must be integrated into their strategy. Therefore, HEIs should pay attention not only to training in skills, behaviors, and values in terms of their contribution to sustainable and competitive organizations [12][13][14], but also promoting educational strategies and methodologies oriented to pursue their own sustainability as organizations [15].…”

“…Organizations must also address a wide range of practices and procedures that allow them to approach and deal effectively with the demands of the environment in which they operate while ensuring the safety and well-being of their members [16][17][18]. Under this background, some key issues have been highlighted by the organizations [14,17,[19][20][21][22][23] such as the promotion of innovative work behaviors, work commitment, and teamwork in a sustainable way [6]. Thus, for HEIs the challenge is even greater: they must be the driving force in the training of future professionals and members of organizations in terms of both hard and soft skills.…”

Post COVID-19: The effect of virtual workplace practices on social sustainable development policy

“…The research of these authors has focused primarily on social issues of VW, such as the psychological consequences for individuals, the increased social isolation, and virtual leadership during virtual communications (Bavel et al, 2020;Karl, Peluchette, & Aghakhani, 2022;Waizenegger, McKenna, Cai, & Bendz, 2020;Wiederhold, 2020). González-Anta, Orengo, Zornoza, Peñarroja, and Gamero (2021) argued that the sustainability of virtual work depends primarily on the development of employee well-being. Brunelle and Fortin (2021) found that virtual organizations play a substantial role in employees' satisfaction, where autonomy to perform tasks, competence to manage duties efficiently, and relatedness and connectedness with co-workers are valued concepts.…”

The Benefits of Employing Global Virtual Teams in International Business

“…It is noticeable that there is a significant growth in international business, and that the increase in the number of multinationals and the multiplicity of their branches is one of the manifestations of this growth. On the other hand, the dependence of multinational companies on global virtual teams is increasing dramatically, especially with the increasing development of information and communication technology due to its great advantages (Ben Sedrine et al, 2020;Mysirlaki & Paraskeva, 2020;Han et al, 2020;Glikson & Erez, 2020;Soon & Salamzadeh, 2020;Müller & Antoni, 2020;Garro-Abarca et al, 2021;González-Anta et al, 2021;Shaik et al, 2021;Zhang et al, 2022;Lin & Roan, 2021;Mayer et al, 2020). Statistics indicate an increasing growth of remote work in the virtual work method.…”