Anu Sivunen

Team leaders' technology choice in virtual teams

Virtual teams face challenges arising from geographical distance, cultural differences, and differing modes of interaction. Team leaders in particular face these challenges because they are primarily responsible for efficient team management. Technology choices made by leaders have become a focus of interest in communication studies, but questions regarding media choice in virtual teams have not been widely studied. This article describes an in-depth, ethnographic exploration of Finnish virtual team leaders who work in natural teams in organizational contexts. The principal goal was to examine their choice of communication technologies in daily work. The results indicate that the choice was based on four factors. First, there are two factors that are person-related: ACCESSIBILITY and SOCIAL DISTANCE. Accessibility refers to peoples ease of access through a particular medium, and social distance suggests that the technology selection is based on the social distance between the persons involved. Second, there are two task-related factors: idea sharing and informing. These factors describe team leaders media selection by the nature of the task at hand. The findings suggest that team leaders technology choice can be partly explained by traditional media selection theories, but in virtual contexts, accessibility becomes an important determinant of which technology is chosen.

Professional Virtual Worlds Supporting Computer-Mediated Communication, Collaboration, and Learning in Geographically Distributed Contexts

Research problem: Although much research exists on virtual worlds, very few studies focus on professional virtual worlds used for working in a global setting. Research questions: (1) How do global managers currently use and experience professional virtual worlds (Virtual Worlds) as a communication media for global work? and (2) How do these Virtual Worlds support global and professional communication in a geographically distributed context? Literature review: We reviewed Virtual World literature in the area of social sciences, education, and games. Little research has been conducted on Virtual Worlds for workgroups. But those studies support the assumption that Virtual Worlds are suitable for global distributed work as a collaboration and communication medium. Methodology: With an explorative and qualitative interview research approach, we conducted 47 semi-structured interviews with virtual world vendors, researchers, and managers using virtual worlds in their work. Data were analyzed based on Grounded Theory Analysis methods. Results and conclusions: The results show four different use cases applied for professional Virtual Worlds: small team meetings, trainings, community building, and conferences. Furthermore, our findings confirm Virtual World literature that states that the professional Virtual World as a communication and collaboration tool supports geographically distributed work as well as visualization and learning in a global context.

Social presence as a multi-dimensional group construct in 3D virtual environments

One of the key challenges of distributed teams is the lack of social presence resulting from multiple work locations. Virtual environments (VEs) have been viewed as a collaboration tool for distributed teams that can enhance social presence via shared collaboration space and avatars. We observed, recorded, and analyzed the VE meetings of a globally distributed team. Data were analyzed through quantitative and qualitative content analysis. Our findings show that in the meetings, social presence was a situational phenomenon that constantly varied in strength. Social presence occurred as either a subgroup or group phenomenon, which at times coexisted at both levels. In particular, 2 of the 3 subdimensions of social presence, psychological involvement and behavioral engagement, were observable in team interaction.

Who shouts louder?: exerting power across distance and culture

Despite the increasing attention to multi-cultural collaboration, power in global distributed teams is hardly discussed in research. We used a qualitative, interpretive research method to study four multi-cultural teams from three globally distributed companies in the electronics and software industry in Asia, US, and Europe. Geographic distance hindered remote leaders power and achieving task compliance by creating competing lines of authority and diminishing visibility and awareness of team conditions. Cultural distance between leaders and team members challenged leaders in adapting leadership behavior according to cultural differences. Cultural awareness and language skills both in lingua franca and local language increased the power of remote leaders.

Virtual Worlds Supporting Collaborative Creativity

In this chapter, we discuss virtual worlds’ potential to act as a platform for team-level creative collaboration. The proliferation of geographically distributed teams striving towards innovative results calls for technologies that nourish team creativity. 3D3C worlds represent such emergent tools. Using our previous studies as a foundation, we outline seven virtual world affordances that foster team creativity. (1) The use of 3D avatars allow team members to express themselves and their insights to others. The perceived feeling of (2) co-presence and (3) immersion engage users in collaborative activities. These activities can occur in a context of (4) simulated reality, which can be modified to change (5) the users’ frame of reference. Finally, (6) multimodal communication channels and (7) rich visual information enhance users’ abilities to creatively collaborate. The essence of affordances is discussed in a reflection on a case study experiment. We also present avenues for further research efforts and insights for practitioners engaged in virtual world collaboration.

The Role of Flexwork Frequency on Work-Home Border Permeability and ICT Use in Non-Work Hours

Flexible work can take many forms, is facilitated by the widespread adoption of organizational information and communication technologies (ICTs), and can have many possible benefits and disadvantag...