Distribution Of Groups Research Articles

Learning Sequence “Learning | Growing | Working”: A Helpful Approach to Facilitate the Entry into the IT Faculty

Virtual teams and digital collaborative work have become an integral part of modern university teaching. The demand for suitable methods for group formation in virtual formats has increased, not least due to Covid-19. Even though students at the university have become more confident in using digital exchange options during this time, it has become apparent in recent semesters that first-year students in particular need support during the transition into higher education, with the learning process and with virtual group work. This paper describes how the digital self-oriented learning approach called the learning sequence “Learning | Growing | Working” was set up and used on the LMS platform Ilias, and how it supports students in learning alone and in groups, collaborating online, building group cohesion, pursuing goals and learning to network. The sequence focuses on intensive exchange and networking. The learning sequence has been designed for first-semester students as a twelve-week guided group focusing in different tools and methods to support students in these subjects. The research methodology used to evaluate and analyse the outcomes of the learning sequence was the observational method, the empirical evaluation of the behaviour and constant comparison approach of the structured collected observation notes and responses of the participants. The results indicate positive outcomes, showing growth in goal setting, networking capabilities, attitudes towards learning, and critical reflection. Both participants and project stakeholders recognise the potential of the sequence to support students' personal development. Strategies for future implementation are suggested to enhance the learning experience. Among others, clear guidance on goal setting, emphasising non-academic goals for motivation and maximising engagement within the allotted time, facilitating discussions on interesting topics and addressing group dynamics challenges were observed as suggested approaches.

“That was one of my most difficult and biggest challenges”: experiences, preconditions and preventive measures of health-oriented leadership in virtual teams – A qualitative study with virtual leaders

BackgroundHealth-oriented leadership (HoL) has a positive impact on health- and work-related outcomes of employees in face-to-face settings. Increased digitization during the COVID-19 pandemic has led to many changes and increased job demands. According to current state of research, HoL in virtual teamwork is insufficiently researched. The aim of the study is to examine the experiences of virtual leaders during the COVID-19 pandemic and to identify preconditions and preventive measures for promoting HoL.MethodUsing a qualitative study design, semi-structured, guide-based telephone interviews were conducted with 16 German virtual leaders between May and July 2021. The collected data were inductively analyzed and interpreted using qualitative content analysis according to Mayring. Explorative analyses of differences between leaders with and without pre-pandemic experiences with virtual leadership were made.ResultsResults indicated that leaders, regardless of pre-pandemic experiences with virtual leadership, faced diverse challenges in implementing HoL in virtual teamwork during the COVID-19 pandemic. Virtual leaders perceived personal preconditions (e.g., leaders’ characteristics or behaviors), organizational preconditions (support by management or open-minded corporate culture), social preconditions (e.g., social support by team) and technical preconditions (e.g., sufficient technical equipment) as conducive to implementation of HoL. Almost all leaders with pre-pandemic experience identified a need for structural preventive measures, whereas almost all leaders without pre-pandemic experience reported a need for behavioral preventive measures in order to promote HoL in virtual teams.ConclusionsThis study suggests that implementing HoL in virtual teamwork is challenging, complex and requires adjustments in leadership behavior. Thereby, the study provides initial empirical findings for a holistic approach to HoL implementation in virtual teams, considering beneficial multilevel preconditions. Due to a limited generalization of present results, longitudinal and interventional studies will be necessary for the analysis of causal relationships in future research. In particular, a holistic research perspective in order to understand the complex, contextual interdependencies of leadership is recommended. In practice, based on a differentiated needs analysis, structural preventive measures for a holistic organizational development as well as behavioral preventive measures for ongoing personnel development are recommended.

Remote yet connected: two focus areas for elevating organisational belonging in virtual teams

Purpose This viewpoint paper aims to provide recommendations in two key leadership areas to improve belonging and connectedness in remote teams. Design/methodology/approach This paper synthesises recent academic and contextual literature regarding virtual teams, organisational belonging and generations coupled with the authors’ practical experience as a leader within a multi-national organisation. Findings Two focus areas related to leaders as critical actors in organisations and the improvement of leaders’ social skills to drive improved socialisation, connection and belonging in the workplace. Originality/value In the changing working landscape of continued remote working, wider workforce demographics and declining organisational engagement this paper contributes to literature by presenting two key areas coupled with practical recommendations for HR professionals, leaders, and organisations to focus on to improve belonging.

Developing virtual collaborative health team educational environments

In this short paper we introduce a conceptual framework that is under development to create virtual educational environments to simulate collaborative health team experiences. Building on our work of developing virtual environments for authentic Paramedicine education scenarios, we are extending the concept across the seven health disciplines at the university, beginning initially with a prototype involving three health discipline teams: Paramedicine, Nursing, and Physiotherapy. Using a design based research methodology we are developing prototypes of immersive simulated environments to simulate the real - world interaction between these three health teams for our students. We leverage a low cost mobile BYOD approach enabling rapid prototyping and development of these scenarios.

Being tolerated as a minority group member: an experimental study with virtual teams

ABSTRACT Research on the experience of being tolerated has focused on single events, ignoring the important question of whether the experience of being tolerated depends on previous experiences. We examined whether the experience of being tolerated has a negative impact on minority team members depending on whether they had previously been rejected or fully accepted. In a pre-registered study with 440 participants, we used a recently developed experimental paradigm to simulate workstyle minority status in virtual teams. These participants were randomly assigned to experience rejection or acceptance followed by being tolerated. Experiencing tolerance after rejection was strongly positive, reducing negative well-being, increasing positive future expectations about interactions with majority team members, and reducing people’s intention to withdraw from their teams. By contrast, experiencing tolerance after acceptance was weakly but consistently negative, with increased negative well-being, increased negative future expectations, and increased withdrawal intentions. Lastly, despite tolerance being more harmful than acceptance, that harmfulness did not translate into greater willingness to raise one’s voice and express discontent about not being valued.

We’re in This Together: Visible Social Support Actions in Virtual Teams Using Enterprise Social Media

Enterprise social networks (ESNs) are a communication standard within virtual teams. Among other affordances, ESNs enable colleagues to provide each other with social support. In this paper, we analyzed the message logs of virtual teams in a large open-source software project to determine how virtual teams use ESNs to provide particular forms of social support to each other and, secondly, to determine how the visibility of these interaction patterns influences team functioning. Our findings reveal distinct ESN use patterns in relation to four types of social support, each described using a metaphor: a dynamic notice board for information sharing, a community of practice for teaching and knowledge sharing, a team huddle for emotional support, and a job board for instrumental support. The findings provide structure to the diverse set of social support actions in this context and identify the higher-order functions that the visibility of social support produces.

Robotic ambulatory colorectal resections: a systematic review.

Colorectal surgery has progressed greatly via minimally invasive techniques, laparoscopic and robotic. With the advent of ERAS protocols, patient recovery times have greatly shortened, allowing for same day discharges (SDD). Although SDD have been explored through laparoscopic colectomy reviews, no reviews surrounding robotic ambulatory colorectal resections (RACrR) exist to date. A systematic search was carried out across three databases and internet searches. Data were selected and extracted by two independent reviewers. Inclusion criteria included robotic colorectal resections with a length of hospital stay of less than one day or 24h. 4 studies comprising 136 patients were retrieved. 56% of patients were female and were aged between 21 and 89years. Main surgery indications were colorectal cancer and recurrent sigmoid diverticulitis (43% each). Most patients had low anterior resections (48%). Overall, there was a 4% complication rate postoperatively, with only 1 patient requiring readmission due to postoperative urinary retention (< 1%). Patient selection criteria involved ASA score cut-offs, nutritional status, and specific health conditions. Protocols employed shared similarities including ERAS education, transabdominal plane blocks, early removal of urinary catheters, an opioid-sparing regime, and encouraged early oral intake and ambulation prior to discharge. All 4 studies had various follow-up methods involving telemedicine, face-to-face consultations, and virtual ward teams. RACrRs is safe and feasible in a highly specific patient population; however, further high-quality studies with larger sample sizes are needed to draw more significant conclusions. Several limitations included small sample size and the potential of recall bias due to retrospective nature of 2 studies.

How H R Practices can be optimized for effective management of remote and virtual team in IT industry

exploring ways to enhance HR practices for the efficient administration of IT sector remote and virtual teams Analysing methods for efficient virtual team management, HR optimised the rise of remote work. Topics covered include technology developments, globalisation, shifting labour demographics, pandemics, and corporate cost savings as drivers of remote work's ascent. Issues with communication, trust-building, time zone differences, accountability, and productivity are some of the difficulties discussed in the article as they pertain to virtual team management and remote work. Future trends in remote work, including hybrid work models, the gig economy, and artificial intelligence, are also covered in the article. It also discusses methods for managing virtual teams effectively, ways to collaborate, and case studies of successful remote work implementation. In light of the fact that remote work is constantly changing the way organisations function, manage teams, and collaborate, the conclusion stresses the need of constant adaptation and learning. Key Words Remote IT team management: HR practices, challenges, strategies, future trends

Intercultural Communicative Competence in Virtual and Face-to-Face Teamwork: A Quantitative Analysis of Culturally Diverse Teams

Abstract Purpose Owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, the importance of virtual teams has increased during this period. There is a gap in current literature about the transformation of cultural diversity, how it appears in face-to-face interactions, and how it does in virtual teamwork. Global, virtual coworking requires different skills in order to communicate efficiently and understand the team members. This paper analyzes the importance of intercultural communicative competence in virtual and face-to-face teamwork. Methodology The research was conducted with a quantitative methodology to see the pattern regarding teamwork throughout culturally diverse teams. A total of 133 questionnaires were obtained for the data analysis. The collected data were then analyzed by using the IBM SPSS Statistics 27 program. Findings The results found that intercultural communicative competence is crucial in virtual teams. With better intercultural competence, cultural differences can be identified and considered during project management. However, in face-to-face teamwork, it seems to be more complex. Willingness to discover another culture and eagerness to understand fellow teammates makes a higher priority than being temporarily effective due to intercultural competence. Conclusion Intercultural communicative competence is a crucial workplace requirement in today’s globalized world, regardless of branch, profession, or geographic location. The ability to understand people with different cultural backgrounds is an increasingly important competency both virtually and in face-to-face interactions.

“Should I Introduce myself?”: Asynchronous semi-guided professional introductions for enhanced perceived team effectiveness in new virtual dyadic teams

Achieving effective collaboration and trust has been shown to be harder for virtual vs. in-person teams. Related work has confirmed that introductions are a key mechanism to form trust in newly-formed teams. The rise of remote work necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the need for accelerating the development of effective collaboration in virtual teams. In response to this need, based on the research around introductions and trust in team settings, we have developed a novel approach for virtual introductions. This is what we term as asynchronous, semi-guided, professional introductions. Participants pre-record an introduction that uses a set of professionally-focused questions and watch these introductions prior to the meeting. Our study examines the impact of these introductions on virtual teams in three conditions: video, text, and no introduction. In this study, we used the Team Diagnostic Survey post-task completion to assess team effectiveness and interpersonal processes of 28 dyads. Thematic coding was used to collect dyads’ experience and engagement. The introduction conditions demonstrated significantly improved collaboration, effectiveness, and engagement amongst participants. Notably, the video condition was particularly well-received by participants and resulted in higher levels of engagement and effectiveness compared to the text and no introduction conditions. Ultimately, the use of these introductions led to a marked increase in trust and collaboration amongst participants. We reflect on the effects of this finding in the mainstream and propose further research to support newly-formed virtual dyadic teams to increase team effectiveness. This study contributes to the existing literature by introducing a novel asynchronous, semi-guided approach to virtual dyadic team introductions, offering insights crucial for contemporary remote work dynamics.

Enhancing Team Performance in The Digital Age: Impact of Technologically Moderated Communication in The Interplay of E-Leadership &amp; Trust

As the COVID-19 pandemic concluded, anticipating future health crises underscores the urgency of effective management and adaptable organizations. This paper draws from existing literature on e-leadership, virtual teams, and organizations, and conceptualizes a foundation to explore e-leadership challenges in virtual contexts. Emphasizing the pivotal role of e-leadership competencies in bridging technology-mediated interactions and effective leadership, the study addresses communication, trust, and coordination issues within virtual teams. It illuminates the impact of technology and assesses how diversity shapes the link between employee engagement and performance. The paper contributes to theoretical knowledge in the field, highlighting the importance of trust-building, relationship cultivation, and clear communication. Moreover, its practical implications offer insights into organizational practices and guide leaders in navigating challenges and opportunities posed by virtual teams and organizations.

Managerial challenges in the conditions of digitalisation. A review of the book “Management for digital transformation” (Springer, 2024)

The active processes of digitalisation of socio-economic systems require modifications of managerial activities which should be facilitated by relevant scientific developments. This article is a review of the monograph devoted to peculiarities of management in the conditions of digital transformation and written by the international team of specialists. The work includes 9 main chapters which address very different aspects of the problem and particularly control during digitalisation, technology transfer, talent management, interaction with customers, marketing tools, e-commerce, functioning of virtual teams, inter-organisational collaboration, management of digital waste. Generally, it is found that despite the fact that digitalisation opens new perspectives for managerial activities, it also forms significant difficulties, and its effects are ambivalent or can often be negative. The considered research field seems to be rather poorly studied, and the monograph successfully poses new questions for the subsequent investigations. The reviewed work demonstrates the mosaic composition; nonetheless, it is informative and offers an original view of the problem. It contains a lot of interesting conceptual constructs and is rich in factual materials. Also, the edition is distinguished by a substantial number of terms, and the available subject index facilitates better orientation in the latter. The style is purely academic, but the potential readership seems to be wide. Despite a few minor deficiencies, the monograph, undoubtedly, will be interesting to Russian specialists.

Psychological safety in interdisciplinary virtual student project teams: A validation study

Psychological safety is an important variable for understanding teams, as it is positively associated with team performance, team learning, and creativity. A large body of research has been conducted on psychological safety in teams that work face-to-face. The aim of this study was to investigate the construct validity of Edmondson's Team Psychological Safety Scale in the context of virtual student teams working on a joint project. The sample used in this study consisted of 344 students who took part in an interdisciplinary project-based master's course at a Norwegian university. The data were analyzed with single-level confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and multilevel CFA (MCFA). Reliability was investigated with intra-class correlation coefficients, in addition to Cronbach's alpha and McDonald's omega. Overall, the reliability estimates and goodness-of-fit estimates from the CFAs demonstrated an adequately good level of fit for the one-factor structure of psychological safety in the context of virtual student project teams. The Team Psychological Safety Scale was shown to have acceptable levels of construct validity for the virtual student project teams.

A meta-review of global virtual team research: thematic insights and future directions

PurposeThis study provides a meta-review of global virtual team (GVT)–related reviews, creating a resource that highlights dominant themes, research trends and shifts in topics over time culminating in a summary of opportunities for future research. By analyzing and grouping the evidence presented in previous research, this meta-review provides key insights toward future research and managerial implications.Design/methodology/approachThis meta-review identifies 35 existing GVT-related reviews across 32 publication outlets, providing a longitudinal and cross-disciplinary view of GVT research to date.FindingsResults of the analysis reveal over time that there has been a largely adopted reconceptualization of the GVT paradigm toward a continuum of virtuality. There has been a shift in the view of the cross-cultural and global components of GVTs toward a recognition that a greater variance of dimensionality exists. Additionally, popular themes across the literature emerge, notably, virtuality, concepts of culture, trust, leadership and communication technology.Originality/valueAs a multidisciplinary GVT-focused meta-review, this study complements previous efforts by taking a tour across this wide topic and is dedicated to those who are researching, teaching, working and managing GVT-related strategies. The reviews selected represent work published across multiple literature streams, providing a comprehensive and forward thinking perspective.

Trust building strategies for virtual leaders in the post pandemic era

The coronavirus pandemic has sent an important message that future project teams need to be trained to work under virtual conditions, which has already become the new norm in organizations across the world. As organizations increasingly rely on virtual teams to achieve project objectives, it is essential to comprehend how leadership functions in virtual project teams. The purpose of this research is to analyze the leadership strategies used by project managers for building trust in virtual project teams. This convergent parallel mixed method research was conducted by surveying 185 virtual leaders and conducting a semi-structured interview with 13 senior virtual leaders involved in managing projects across the industry sectors. The research findings indicate that establishing trust was ranked as significant challenges in leading virtual project teams in the post-pandemic era. Additionally, the research findings recommend that virtual leaders need to strive to build a high-trust environment to improve the effectiveness of virtual project teams. As the project management profession struggles with low project success rates, mixed-method research aims to contribute to the knowledge in the growing research area of virtual project leadership. This research contributes to the knowledge by offering first-person accounts from senior virtual leaders on the innovative strategies they had implemented for building trust in the virtual project when there were limited opportunities for face-to-face interaction on account of the pandemic.

Wellbeing in the age of virtual teams and workplace automation – a systematic review and future research agenda

Purpose In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic organisations are adapting to a new environment of global talent shortages, economic uncertainty and geo-political turmoil. As an outcome, the organisational strategies of digital transformation and remote working have been accelerated in the race to boost innovation, competitivity and attract staff. This has led to the rise of two new organisational dynamics: the increase of virtual teams (VTs) and focus on widespread work automation. However, despite the rise of these two related phenomena, literature does not connect them as one research area, and there is a gap in the understanding of the new employee wellbeing needs they form and how to respond to them. This paper aims to bridge this gap through a systematic literature across these areas. Design/methodology/approach This paper conducts a systematic literature review across the areas of leadership, VTs and automation over the past three years. Findings In this review, a number of newly arising employee wellbeing needs are identified such as fear of job displacement, a lack of self-efficacy and social cohesion, poor relationships with leaders and more. In addition, this paper recommends three fundamental research gaps to be addressed by future studies: 1. How to build and cultivate the new leadership skills needed to support VTs and workplace automation? 2. How to design work in a way that caters for employee wellbeing needs when operating in VTs or hybrid teams and working on or with workplace automation? 3. How to design work in a way that builds and emphasises the new employee skillsets to support augmentation and solves for the new employee wellbeing needs experienced by workplace automation? Originality/value This paper provides a novel contribution to literature by centralising current schools of thought across the cross-disciplinary themes and synthesising literature to recommend new wellbeing and leadership skills for organisations to focus on, alongside producing a new research agenda for scholars to focus.

Fostering Innovative Learning and Satisfaction in Virtual Teamwork: Shedding Light on Apprentices

Purpose: The digital transformation and the increased use of technologies have changed the world of work severely. With it, collaboration and cooperation methods among employees. Therefore, new ways of working together must be applied to work in an international and digital working environment. For Vocational Education and Training (VET), developing new (transversal) competencies to engage in virtual teamwork is necessary to adequately prepare young professionals for the present and future labor market. However, there is little research on the current situation in VET regarding virtual teamwork. Approach: We deployed a cross-sectional design and collected data from N = 181 commercial apprentices in Germany regarding virtual teamwork. We analyze our data using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) to examine the interrelationships between input, process, and outcome variables to foster satisfaction and innovative learning in virtual teams as desired targets of VET. To assess these results regarding virtuality, the complexity of tasks, gender of the apprentices, and the size of the training firms, we derived a multigroup analysis (MGA) of our model. Findings: The results indicate that organizational factors have the most significant influence concerning the relationship between input and process factors. Surprisingly, the technical affinity of individuals has only a minor effect. Regarding the relationship between process and outcome factors, motivation and responsibility have the highest impact on innovative learning, whilst communication culture severely affects the perceived satisfaction in virtual teamwork. Conclusion: The findings lead to valuable insights on factors influencing virtual teamwork in VET and can help to design learning programs to prepare young professionals to smoothly transition to and successfully master their future working environments by using new ways of collaboration and cooperation. This is particularly relevant for VET, as prior research has focused primarily on primary and secondary education. Lastly, we identify potential scales and items that help capture some of the inherent constructs of virtual teamwork.

Effect of transformational leadership on virtual team performance: the mediating role of knowledge sharing

In today's world, many companies have employees from different countries, and they work together as virtual teams using technology. The leaders of these teams need to know how to manage their teams well, understand their unique skills and overcome challenges. Accordingly, we want to study the specific leadership style and its effects on virtual teams' success. Data for the study was collected from various companies that have online activities. Team members participated in surveys, providing information on how their leaders effectively motivated them to be productive and satisfied in their jobs. Additionally, the surveys examined team members' knowledge-sharing levels in their leaders and organizations. Based on the analyses, we found that transformational leadership positively affects virtual team performance but not knowledge sharing; however, knowledge sharing positively improves team performance.

Accommodation Strategy of PT Inko Forwarding in Building a Cross-Cultural Virtual Team with Taiwanese Companies

Advancements in communication technology have opened up opportunities for companies to engage in virtual business collaborations. Establishing cross-cultural virtual teams and devising effective strategies for their operation can significantly benefit companies. The research aims to explore the challenges and hurdles faced when working in cross-cultural virtual teams, strategies for forming and managing such teams, as well as communication accommodation strategies within them. Communication Accommodation Theory serves as the theoretical framework, utilizing a descriptive qualitative approach through case study methodology. In-depth interviews were conducted for data collection. Findings reveal the implementation of convergence accommodation strategies by each virtual team studied, particularly exemplified by Inko Forwarding. The company aims to nurture business relationships with agents to achieve specific objectives by establishing networks. To succeed in these endeavors, understanding cultural nuances and employing Communication Accommodation Theory strategies to enhance communication quality within virtual teams are crucial.

Virtual teams and software project management success in a developing country: an empirical study

Virtual teams and software project management success in a developing country: an empirical study