I did not enjoy the article, Learning about Information Technologies and Social Change: The Contribution of Social Informatics by Rob Kling, until the last paragraph when he stated, “social informatics research also investigates intriguing new social phenomena that emerge when people use information technology, such as the ways in which people develop trust in virtual teams”.
This point is notable because as a human resources professional, I seek new techniques for corporate development. I tend to wonder if new trends, like virtual teams, would be a competitive advantage, or rather, a disadvantage. I learned a little bit about these teams in my class, organizational behaviour, and am in the process of learning more about their strengths and weaknesses at work. In this blog, I will discuss what I do know about virtual teams and see if I can’t relate this term back to our class discussions and the readings.
Virtual teams can be defined as, “teams whose members operate across space, time, and organizational boundaries and are linked through information technologies to achieve organizational tasks” (McShane, 263). So basically, like a conventional team, the virtual team will interact and influence each other to align their goals with the organization’s objectives.
Dissimilarly, virtual teams are separated geographically and are highly dependent upon information technologies, whereas conventional teams may use information technology, but are typically located in one area and meet face-to-face several times a day.
Why do you think virtual teams are a new trend? I can think of a few reasons, but please, if you have any other ideas, let me know. First, I would argue that today, information technologies are more common. Computer connectivity has strengthened bonds among individuals in different locations via the internet, intranet, instant messaging, forums, social communities and video conferencing, making communication and coordination easier. Secondly, the economy has shifted from manufacturing to knowledge, which permits one to access ideas better. These ideas and information tend to equate to a competitive advantage within an organization. Lastly, I could never leave out globalization. With business abroad, companies must be able to communicate with team members and form alliances with local organizations so as to increase support and productivity.
Can these virtual teams be considered a community? I don’t necessarily think that the team is a community, but rather, the group of people are a team within a community. This raises a second question. How would a company design a high performance virtual team so as to support the overall community, aka the corporation?
Well, I said before that several communication channels would be of utmost importance so as to offset the lack of face-to-face communication and non-verbal cues, as well as to coordinate work tasks. Those tasks would probably have to be very structured rather than complex or ambiguous. The team would probably have to be smaller and cyber literate since information technology is the main form of communication. Virtual team members would probably also require greater cross-cultural awareness to enhance the cohesiveness of the team.
Virtual teams may be a competitive advantage, but further research has revealed that while initially trust within these teams is high, it is very fragile and temporal. Sherida defined trust as, “an expectation that others will behave in a predictable way and a willingness to be vulnerable during the trust situation”. She asserted that there are three types of trust, which are: dispositional/history-based trust, rule and role-based trust, and identity-based trust. Trust in virtual teams is fragile because it is based on assumptions rather than established experience. Any violation of trust will decrease faith in the team. In any group clear communication (including the non-verbal cues) is important and thus this would be particular challenge for virtual teams.
Clearly social informatics, trust and community development are interconnected. A virtual team is a specific example of social informatics, since social informatics is the study of the design, uses and consequences of information technologies that takes into account their interaction with institutional and cultural contexts. While a team may not exactly be a community, its development does include, “social solidarity, material production and consumptions (at times), law making and symbolic processes of collective experience and cultural meaning” (Fernback, 2007). Any team formed within an organization is for corporate development and improvement. However, a virtual team’s trust is challenged and thus the question remains, is a virtual team a competitive advantage?
Some links for you to enjoy...
1.Communication and Trust in Global Virtual Teams (Article) http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol3/issue4/jarvenpaa.html
2.Fragile Trust in Virtual Teams Threatens Business Performance – Research Identifies New Rules for Communication (Article) http://newsroom.cisco.com/dlls/2006/prod_091906.html
3.Virtual Teams (Video) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrN8PjZXkPM
4.Virtual Teams (Video) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1NyIBiYuFQ&feature=related (Very Interesting)
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