If you need a fresh perspective on Virtual Team effectiveness now that we’re all going to be doing even more of it – this research may help that Polarity Partnerships, LLC did in collaboration with:
- Jean Brittain Leslie, Emily Hoole, and Rebecca Anderson, Center for Creative Leadership
- Margaret Luciano, Ph.D., Arizona State University
- John Mathieu, Ph.D., University of Connecticut
- SHRM Foundation may help.
Essentially, the research shows that (from conclusion):
“the team’s ability to leverage polarities positively relates to team effectiveness indicators including team performance as well as individual team members’ satisfaction, trust, commitment, professional development, learning, sustainability/viability (intent to remain). Organizations should provide increased education about polarity management, coupled with increased emphasis on information sharing between team members. This is particularly important to the extent to which team members are spread out across time zones (more geographic dispersion) and use more asynchronous virtual tools (such as to email and online collaborative websites) to coordinate and execute team processes. Finally, organizations should carefully consider how many virtual teams each member works on. Team structural “togetherness” (i.e., hours per week spent on this team) and team attitudinal “togetherness” (i.e., team commitment) were key drivers of polarities.”
Reference: Creating and Sustaining Virtual Teamwork Effectiveness Final Research Report by the Center for Creative Leadership
