Virtuality and Team Performance: Understanding the Impact of Variety of Practices

Abstract

In many corporations today, it is common to have teams with members located in different geographic locations, different time zones, and even different countries. These virtual teams are strategically important to organizations as they adapt to constantly changing market and political conditions such as global outsourcing. Despite the research and investment in technologies supporting virtual work, it remains unclear how virtuality, or the conditions under which virtual teams work, affects performance. Prior research suggests performance of virtual teams runs the gamete from failure to success. A global understanding of the specific impacts of virtual work on performance, positive or negative, remains elusive because researchers have not yet ascertained which aspects of virtuality are especially relevant in a given setting.In this study conducted at Intel Corporation, we examine how different components of virtuality influence specific aspects of performance of virtual teams. We use both quantitative and qualitative data in our analysis. Our findings indicate that variety of practice creates significant negative influence on several aspects of performance, including communication and trust in team members, and ability to meet commitments and complete projects on time. Also, members experiencing more variety of practice perceived less risk-taking in their teams and less ability to focus the team on the right questions for the projects being undertaken.