Impact of Technology and Leadership in Virtual Team Performance within the Construction Industry

Abstract: Background: The construction industry is usually regarded as a traditional sector, owing to its specificities, within which the implementation of advanced technology and online work procedures is difficult and consequently, virtuality is perceived as detrimental to team performance. However, the COVID-19 outbreak has forced the whole sector to a rapid transition to remote working.  Objectives: The main purpose of this study is to understand how communication and collaborative online technologies, along with different leadership and managerial skills, influence virtual hybrid team performance within the construction industry. In addition, the analysis is intended to validate the conclusions of previous studies on factors impacting hybrid team effectiveness in construction projects.  Methodology: The research process has been carried out through quantitative methods and the use of an online survey that has obtained more than 300 responses from engineers and architects. The data have been statistically analyzed through Structural Equation Model (SEM) following a Partial Least Squares (PLS) approach. Finally, a short number of direct questions have been included in the questionnaire, to contrast the results and verify their validity.  Results: First, the analysis has not supported that virtuality is detrimental to team performance. Second, technology has been confirmed as a decisive factor to ensure leadership effectiveness in virtual environments. Third, the study demonstrates that technology and leadership act as moderators between virtuality and team performance when applied together. Fourth, the influence on team performance is more positive for conferencing and collaborative tools, followed by project management and BIM platforms, and basic communication tools. Fifth, all four internal leadership roles are important to achieve team performance; the mentor and facilitator roles are deemed more influential, followed by the coordinator role, and finally, the monitor role. Last, the usage of adequate technologies and effective leadership impacts more decisively on quality and client satisfaction.  Conclusions: The main conclusion is the realization that virtuality is less influential to team performance than expected. Another interesting finding is the general agreement on the feasibility of a higher amount of remote work which opens the door to new organizational procedures. The analysis has also shown that, to date, the poor implementation of BIM platforms has not allowed virtual hybrid teams to take advantage of this technology. Further, future construction leaders will require special training to achieve high performance in virtual environments. Finally, the search for quality in the sector, as a prerequisite for profitability, demands special care be taken in any decision regarding technology and leadership.  Recommendations for future research: A similar study following qualitative methods would be of interest to validate the results of the analysis. Likewise, the repetition of the study, once the COVID-19 pandemic has finished, will allow future researchers to verify its conclusions under ‘normal’ circumstances. Finally, the generalization of the results can be achieved by enlarging the study to other countries and continents, and also, to other groups of professionals that take part in construction projects.