New HR research on virtual team challenges
Stumble It!The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) reports in a very short article on a “Meta Analysis of Virtual Teams” by Sheila Simsarian Webber which highlights both the opportunities and challenges facing virtual teams:
Top Challenges facing virtual teams
- Virtual teams consistently take longer to complete tasks than face-to-face teams
- Complex judgment tasks resulted in the lowest performance for virtual teams versus face-to-face teams
Top Opportunities for virtual teams
- If team members are familiar with each other prior to becoming part of the team, they are able to perform almost as effectively as face-to-face teams
- Virtual team communication improves when meetings are synchronous allowing a continuous exchange of information
The article also briefly discusses the implications of these challenges and opportunities
It worth noting however that some of findings are at odds with other research I have seen.
The reader will have to decide for themselves which research they choose to trust in these contentious areas.
Perhaps some more research is required!
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