Leading Virtual Teams

Abstract

Collaborative information technologies have changed the way we conduct business. Now, virtual teams - teams whose members are geographically dispersed and must rely on email, voice mail, instant messaging, or other technologies to communicate - are more prevalent. This growing prevalence has motivated greater scrutiny of team leader effectiveness in virtual working environments. Surveys were administered via an online protocol to nineteen virtual teams of fifty-three engineers. The teams were comprised of working professionals across the country in graduate programs at two universities. Results indicate that those teams led by individuals who clarified roles and task requirements, and recognized the strengths and individual needs of teams members performed better on their assigned tasks. Recommendations for virtual team leaders include communicating in such a way that allows team members to fully understand what is required of them, and delegating specific tasks to individuals.

Meeting Name

27th Annual National Conference of the American Society for Engineering Management (2006: Oct. 25-28, Huntsville, AL)

Department(s)

Engineering Management and Systems Engineering

Second Department

Psychological Science

Keywords and Phrases

Collaborative information technologies; Graduate program; Instant messaging; Leadership; Technological change; Virtual team; Working environment; Working professionals; Information technology; Personal communication systems; Management

International Standard Book Number (ISBN)

978-1604237146

Document Type

Article - Conference proceedings

Document Version

Citation

File Type

text

Language(s)

English

Rights

© 2006 American Society for Engineering Management, All rights reserved.

Publication Date

28 Oct 2006

This document is currently not available here.

Share

 
COinS