Professional Documents
Culture Documents
T
he latter part of the 20th century has provided Rapid globalization, advances
a dramatic change in work team structures by in technology, flatter organizational
moving from centralized, co-located teams to structures, synergistic cooperation
among firms, and a shift to knowledge
decentralized, dispersed, or virtual teams, which elim- work environments have led to the
inate the need for physical proximity among team increasing use of virtual teams in orga-
members (Beranek, 2000, as cited in Webster & Wong, nizations. Selecting, training, and so-
2008; Haywood, 1998; Henry & Hartzler, 1997; Powell, cializing employees in virtual team-
work has therefore become an impor-
Galvin, & Piccoli, 2006; Townsend, DeMarie, & Hen- tant human resource function. This
drickson, 1998). This increase arises from forces such article provides an overview of the re-
as interorganizational alliances, globalization, out- search on trust in virtual teams, its
sourcing, and alternative work arrangements, such as importance, and how to overcome
some challenges of trust development
job sharing and telecommuting (Saunders, 2000). Vir- in virtual teams. Recommendations for
tual teams are often constructed because organizations virtual team developers and human
require skills, local knowledge, experience, resources, resources professionals are presented.
or expertise from employees who are distributed.
Information and communication technologies (ICTs) have contributed
greatly to shifting the arrangement of team membership beyond the physical
and geographical boundaries of the workplace (Ahuja & Carley, 1999).
Today, teams are popular forms of work design in the United States
(D’Souza & Colarelli, 2010). Approximately 50–80% of U.S. organizations
use teams of some sort (Devine, Clayton, Philips, Dunford, & Melner, 1999;
D’Souza & Colarelli, 2010; Gordon, 1992). Although statistics on the exact
number of virtual teams currently in existence are unavailable (Cascio &
Shurygailo, 2003; Schweitzer & Duxbury, 2010), a study commissioned by
WorldCom in 2001 reports that 61% of employees in large companies have
worked on virtual teams (Martins, Gilson, & Maynard, 2004). In the United
States only, 8.4 million employees were estimated to work in virtual teams or
groups (Furst, Reeves, Rosen, & Blackburn, 2004). Already, more than 50% of
companies employing more than 5,000 workers make use of virtual teams.
For instance, Nortel Networks Corp., with employees located in 150
countries around the world, and Price Waterhouse, with 45,000 employees
in 120 different countries around the world, make extensive use of
virtual teams (Gerber, 1995; Solomon, 2001). In 1999, Hewlett-Packard’s
29
1998 McKnight, The belief and the willingness to depend Dependence on others
Cummings, & on another party Disposition to trust (faith)
Chervany Interpersonal-intergroup
trust
Institution-based trust
1979 Luhmann Risk is a prerequisite in the choice to trust Risk taking
1972 Zand The individual willingness to become Vulnerability
vulnerable
1988 Gambetta Belief that others will act in a way that is Positive action from
beneficial or at least not detrimental for others
the relationship
1996 Lewicki & Trust involves not only expectations Expectations of others
Bunker about other people’s motives and Risk taking
intentions, but also considerations about
the situation and the risks associated with
acting on such expectations
2002 Webber ‘‘The shared perception ... that individuals Positive expectations of
in the team will perform particular actions others
important to its members and ... will
recognize and protect the rights and
interests of all the team members
engaged in their joint endeavor’’ (p. 205)
Introduce yourself. Members of a strong team will get to know each other a little before beginning work. A good
introduction includes: (1) information about yourself and your background, (2) your past job experiences, (3) your
current focus of study, (4) why you chose to study this subject, and (5) what are your aspirations. In addition, you
should address any skills you have that might help your team solve this problem. Also, you should raise any concerns
you have about the successful completion of the project.
Strategy: Expressing positive emotions throughout the project will help your team succeed. For example, ‘‘I am
looking forward to working with you all’’ would be a good comment to include.
The ‘‘Introduction’’ message template includes several individual prompts: ‘‘Provide a little information about
yourself and your background,’’ ‘‘How often you plan to check the system for new messages (early and often is
better),’’ ‘‘Times you will not be available to communicate during the course of this project,’’ and ‘‘Address any skills
you have that might help your team solve this problem. Also, you should raise any concerns you have about the
successful completion of the project.’’ Each of these prompts is followed by fields for users to enter their answer.
Begin the problem-solving process by sharing your understanding of the goals. Adopt a role that will help your team
reach its goal and begin acting the part of that role.
Strategy: It is a good practice to state positive feelings about the project or the work of team members. For example,
‘‘Well done’’ or ‘‘I like this group’’ are good comments to include. In addition, it is best to do what you can to get the
project started early and to keep it moving through regular communication with your teammates.
Discuss how often you would like to communicate with your teammates and any other communication practices
you would like to see everyone use.
Strategy: Expressions of enthusiasm are always a good thing to include in your messages. For example, ‘‘I think we are
going to win,’’ or related statements help your teammates feel good about their work.
Suggest deadlines and milestones for completing the task (e.g., ‘‘I think we can get this done by Tuesday.’’).
5. Feedback Template
You can use this option to reply to any message that your teammates have posted. Good feedback goes beyond
simple statements such as ‘‘okay’’ and ‘‘looks good.’’ It includes thoughtful compliments, critiques, edits, and
additions.
Strategy: Expressions of social greeting and positive statements are good items to include in your feedback
statements (e.g., ‘‘Hi everyone, I think we can win this.’’).
6. Issue/Conflict Template
Use this option to address any concerns about the process being followed or the participation of others. If a team
member is not participating and you feel that is hurting the team, it is important to address it in front of the entire
team.
Strategy: It is better to address concerns in the open, even if they lead to conflict. For example, if you do not hear from
someone, it is good to address it in front of the entire team (e.g., ‘‘Where is Joe?’’).
If you have completed a task or have questions about something, select this option. For example, if you wish to post
individual or final team rankings of the items in the problem, this is the option you should choose. You also can take
advantage of the ability to compile your results in Microsoft Word or Excel and attach these files to messages.
Strategy: Social greetings included in messages are a good way to keep team members feeling close to each other
and to keep your team functioning well (e.g., ‘‘I like working in this team’’). In addition, expressions of enthusiasm are
always a good thing to include in your messages, and they help keep your team working well.
Source. Adapted from Remidez et al., 2007.
References
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experimental psychology (pp. 267–299). New York, NY: Academic Press.
Ahuja, M., & Carley, K. (1999). Network structure in virtual organizations. Organization
Science, 10(6), 741–757.
Argyris, C. (1999). On organizational learning (2nd ed.). Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell.
Ashforth, B., & Lee, R. (1990). Defensive behavior in organizations: A preliminary model.
Human Relations, 43, 621–648.
Ashleigh, M. J., & Nandhakumar, J. (2007). Trust and technologies: Implications for
organizational work practices. Decision Support Systems, 43(2), 607–617.
doi:10.1016/j.dss.2005.05.018
Atwater, L. E. (1988). The relative importance of situational and individual variables in
predicting leader behavior: The surprising impact of subordinate trust. Group &
Organization Studies, 13, 290–310.
Aubert, B., & Kelsey, B. (2003). Further understanding of trust and performance in virtual
teams. Small Group Research, 34(5), 575–618. doi:10.1177/1046496403256011
Bandow, D. (2001). Time to create sound teamwork. Journal for Quality and Participation,
24(2), 41.
Beranek, P. M. (2000). The impacts of relational and trust development training on virtual
teams: An exploratory investigation. Proceedings of 33rd Hawai’i International
Conference on System Sciences, Maui, Hawaii.
Beranek, P. M., & Martz, B. (2005). Making virtual teams more effective: Improving relational
links. Team Performance Management, 11, 5–6.
Bijlsma-Frankema, K., de Jong, B., & van de Bunt, G. (2008). Heed, a missing link between
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MARIE-LINE GERMAIN
Marie-Line Germain, PhD, is an assistant professor of human resources
and leadership at Western Carolina University (a University of North
Carolina campus). Her PhD concentration area is in human resource
development. She has been the recipient of the Malcolm S. Knowles
Dissertation of the Year award from the Academy of Human Resource
Development (AHRD), a Cutting Edge Research Award, and a research grant
funded by AHRD. She is the author of numerous conference papers and book
chapters, and her research has been published in several peer-reviewed
journals. She has received four teaching awards and several best reviewer
awards. Her current research interest focuses on human expertise and
leadership. Mailing address: Department of Human Services, Western
Carolina University (University of North Carolina), One University Drive,
Killian Building, Office 226C, Cullowhee, NC 28723.
E-mail: mgermain@wcu.edu