The Communication Characteristics of Virtual Teams: A Case Study
Abstract
Organizations are encountering novel external
environments requiring flexible structures. A number of organizations
have used virtual teams to provide the customer responsiveness,
human resource flexibility, and speed in project completion these
environments demand. Virtual teams create significant communication
challenges for its leaders and members. This research analyzed the
communication technologies that the Customer Support Virtual Team
(CST) of International Consulting Systems (ICS), the pseudonym for a
Fortune 500 organization, uses to support team interaction, the degree
to which ICS systems and culture supported CST, and finally, the CST
members’ mindset toward communication and the methods its leader
used to create the trust required for effective team interaction. Interviews revealed that ICS mission, strategy, tasks, reward
systems, and attitudes toward technology supported virtual team
structure. CST members were provided a suite of robust technologies
to facilitate interaction; however, they relied heavily on voice mail
and a large number of team, project, and organizational databases
supported by Lotus Notes to generate a common language that
facilitated task completion. CST members saw communication,
particularly media choice, as a strategic activity that had to be
planned daily. Finally, to build and maintain team trust, the CST
leader used a face-to-face, three-day project kickoff, a mentoring
program, and an ICS culture that promoted information sharing,
team-based rewards, and employee development.
Description
IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication, 44, 3, pp.174-187, 2001.
Rights
This publication is a work of the U.S. Government as defined in Title 17, United States Code, Section 101. Copyright protection is not available for this work in the United States.Collections
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