Virtual Team Management & Organisational Identification : A Mixed Method Study

Abstract: The rapid development of information technology has enabled the use of virtual teams, which are teams whose members use IT to coordinate their activities from a dispersed setting. The phenomenon of virtual teams raises questions regarding issues related to this type of work, i.e. organisational identification and other problems related to virtual work. We have investigated how to best manage these teams in order for managers to be successful in the virtual environment by studying the advantages and disadvantages as well as success factors. The study has used a mixed methodology, where we have interviewed 8 managers that are active in virtual work and we have also conducted a survey to investigate how members of virtual teams perceives issues of organisational identification and issues related to virtual work. One of the most important findings of this study is that there was a positive relationship between level of organisational identification and level of virtuality, member involvement, and previous experience. The strongest predictor for organisational identification was although the level of member involvement. We can conclude that the main advantages of virtual work were cost reduction and the access to competence. The main disadvantage of virtual work was identified as lack of interpersonal relations in the workplace. Other disadvantages were found as unorganised meetings, unprioritised work as well as technological issues. The most important success factors were found to be Clear roles and Responsibilities, Pre-agreement/time plan, Defined Strategies. These three factors could be summarised as "What needs to be done, when and by who‟. Moreover, clear and distinct communication within the team in order to avoid misunderstandings, followed by User-friendly technology and to have previous experience of technology used was also identified as important factors in virtual work. Other success factors identified was the use of Face-to-Face meetings.