Peggy M. Beranek

Training to improve virtual team communication

Abstract. Organizations are utilizing virtual teams, comprising workgroup members who communicate and collaborate with technology, to accomplish tasks. These teams are geographically distributed and communicate via computer‐mediated communication systems (CMCS), and may never or rarely meet face‐to‐face. Relational links among team members have been found to be a significant contributor to the effectiveness of information exchange in the use of CMCS. In most cases, team members receive little or no training to improve the effectiveness of this form of communication. When training is used, it often focuses on software utilization skills, not on interpersonal communication dynamics. This paper discusses the effect of virtual team communication training on group interactions, especially for enhancing these relational links and thereby improving communication and information exchange in virtual teams. It was found that teams that were given appropriate training exhibited improved perceptions of the interaction process over time, specifically with regard to trust, commitment and frank expression between members. Discussion of the role of training on virtual team processes and outcomes is discussed and future research implications are presented.

Issues and concerns about computer-supported meetings: the facilitator's perspective

In an effort to boost meeting productivity and success, managers may employ trained group facilitators. They may also implement group support systems (GSS) for the same reason. The two approaches can be taken separately or together. In this study, in depth interviews with 37 practicing facilitators provided their perspectives on critical factors that influence meeting success and potential benefits and concerns with the use of GSS. Respondents focused on a core of communication and group process skills as critical for facilitator success. Overall, the respondents observed or anticipated more efficient and effective task performance as benefits of GSS technology. Their concerns focused on technology related issues: participant anxiety, systems inflexibility, and systems reliability. Views of facilitators with high and low levels of GSS experience are largely consistent. High experience GSS facilitators viewed technical issues as more central to meeting success, while low experience GSS facilitators focused more heavily on attributes of the group. The paper concludes by offering suggestions for identifying and training GSS facilitators and comments on key issues of importance to GSS designers, based on the facilitators perspective.

The impacts of relational and trust development training on virtual teams: an exploratory investigation

Virtual teams are becoming common place in many organizations. These teams are geographically distributed and communicate via computer-mediated communication systems. Two factors have been shown to affect virtual team communications, the development of relational links and the amount of trust between team members. However, most virtual team members do not receive training on how to effectively promote the development of relational links or trust. This paper reports on a study on the effects of relational link and trust development training on group interactions. Forty-eight teams interacted to solve a series of tasks over an eight-week period. Training on establishing relational links and trust was developed from previous literature and administered to selected teams. Surveys measuring trust and relational links were administered initially and after each task. The analysis of these measurements indicates that groups receiving training did develop higher levels of relational links and trust than teams not receiving training.

An intelligent agent community approach to knowledge sharing

Abstract This paper illustrates a community of intelligent agents and how they facilitate knowledge sharing in the process of environmental scanning. The main components of the distributive feature of the agent community are a manager that controls all processes at a node, a server to handle the inter-node communication requests and services, a planner to provide an efficient plan of communication, and a scheduler to use the resources effectively. Methodologically, these are detailed from a software engineering perspective as we present an example of the agent community in use: supporting a group working in disparate units of the organization. These units include new business acquisition at the strategic level and new services to increase market share units at the tactical level of the organization.

Facilitation issues in distributed group support systems

Local area networks and related computer and communication technologies are opening up new possibilities for performing group tasks in organizations. This paper provides background on the evolving use of information technology to support distributed group meetings. It identifies facilitation as a key factor in the success of group meetings. Thirty-four professional facilitators of face-to-face meetings are interviewed regarding the impacts of a distributed setting on meetings. Opinions regarding distributed meetings include concerns for group process and task accomplishment, observations of changes in the role of the facilitator, and potential impacts on how the organization functions. Concerns regarding the design of specific technologies for implementing distributed meetings are also identified.

A Comparison of Relational and Trust Training Techniques for Virtual Team Communication: How Much Training is Enough?

As virtual teams become common place in organizations as well as educational institutions concern over preparing members to work more effectively in a virtual environment raises. There are many factors that can affect how well team members communicate and how well they work together. Two of these factors are relational links and trust. Both of these factors are summarized from the current literature and we report on a study that compared training techniques based on both of these factors. Forty eight teams interacted over a semester to work on a series of tasks. Two different training programs were established based on the relational links and trust literature and administered to subsets of teams. A comparison was made on the effectiveness of each of the training techniques as well as compared to no training.

THE RELATIONSHIP OF CONTROL AND LEARNING TO PROJECT PERFORMANCE

ABSTRACT Management controls can be divided into two types that can have opposite effects on organizational learning: behavioral controls, which promote efficiency but also stifle much of the learning opportunity, and outcome controls, which foster interaction among stakeholders can add to the learning environment. This article reports on a study that confirms these observations and explores the nature of their direct and indirect influences on project performance. Data from a sample of software development professionals confirms that behavioral controls and learning directly influence project performance, while outcome controls contribute only indirectly through their impact on learning.

The Impact of Training on Virtual Project Teams: A TIP Investigation

As organizations adapt to competitive pressure and simultaneously leverage scarce resources, workers are increasingly operating in virtual project teams where members may never meet face to face. One of the factors that can affect how well virtual project teams communicate is relational links. This study explores the effects of relational link development training on group interactions by administering training to selected groups and tracking measurements of their cohesiveness, perceptions of the process, satisfaction with outcomes over time, and tracking group communications using McGraths TIP theory as a framework. This project compared virtual project teams trained in the concept of relational links with teams that received no training. All electronic communications between team members were recorded and analyzed using McGraths time, interaction, and performance TIP framework and all teams completed pre and post surveys measuring their levels of cohesion, perceptions of the process and satisfaction with outcomes. It was found that teams that received training spent more time in the member support function, more time in the inception mode, and less time in the conflict resolution mode. In addition, teams receiving training had higher ending levels of cohesion, perception of the process and satisfaction with outcomes.

Facilitating technology-supported group work: a new category of IS personnel

This paper discusses the group support systems facilitator as a new category of IS personnel, in terms of background, skills, and training, and how facilitation might be related to existing IS personnel categories, particularly that of the systems analyst. A study is then presented which aims to increase our understanding of the role of the human facilitator, by documenting and comparing skills, experiences, and perceptions of group process facilitators who have used GSS and those who have not.