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The Leading Virtually Digest, March 21, 2008

Here are some of the latest news or articles about virtual teams that we have come across. What: CIO Whitepaper: Next-generation Collaboration (Novell sponsored IDG Research Report; registration required; also see PR Press Release). Report based on survey responses of 100 senior IT executives. Bottom line: Though it is critical for individuals in their company to collaborate securely within and… Read more →

Virtual Teams – Beneficial or Detrimental?

Recently the Leading Virtually team came across an article by several academic researchers that broadly discusses whether virtual teams have potential for organizations. Their discussion was based on a research study they conducted. The authors found that virtual teams of short duration have lower performance, lower satisfaction, and a lower results-to-effort ratio. Meanwhile, one can find new articles each week… Read more →

Manipulate Perceptions to Improve Virtual Team Performance

Betsy’s last post on the power of self-efficacy perceptions reminded me of a recent study by Professor Ellen Langer of Harvard University. I am fascinated by Prof. Langer’s ability to conduct provocative research and have used her ideas in my research on the illusion of control in spreadsheet-based decision making. Prof. Langer’s recent study, which showed that perceptions can be… Read more →

Leading to Increase Commitment in Virtual World Collaboration

It has been almost impossible in the past year to avoid the media hype about virtual worlds and virtual teams. Virtual worlds such as Second Life have received a lot of press claiming that their existence will revolutionize the way we interact and do business. A number of high-ranked universities, including Harvard, have set up campuses and are conducting classes… Read more →

Implicit Communication and Culture: What it Means for Leading Virtual Teams

I came back from a short trip to India about two weeks ago. I made some observations during this trip which might be relevant to leaders of virtual teams. Many virtual team leaders are leading work that is accomplished partly or fully in India due to outsourcing or offshoring arrangements. I have heard from such leaders about the challenges that… Read more →

The Future of Virtual Teams: Collaboration in 3D Web

A new report from Forrester Research is encouraging businesses to consider virtual worlds as a necessary next step in helping collaboration among team members and businesses. Reports such as this strengthen our conviction that, just as the Internet revolutionized the way we communicate and collaborate with each other, virtual worlds and the 3D world wide web will soon have the same transformational effects on the way we communicate and collaborate.

Overcoming Virtual Team Challenges: After Action Review

Fittingly, “Leading Virtually” has been operating as a virtual team over the past several weeks. I am currently in New York City, while each of the other team members are located in various parts of New York State and Pennsylvania. The whole team has not had a chance to get together for some time as everyone works on their own… Read more →

Lessons from the Military for Collaboration in Virtual Teams

When the rest of the LeadingVirtually.com team asked me to contribute to this blog, I was initially at a loss as to what I should write about. There was not much, I thought, I could say about virtual teams. As an officer in the Korean military, I thought, “I am a military man who is trained to fight.” My team… Read more →

Motivation in Virtual Teams: Lessons from Virtual Worlds

Last week I read a report called Leadership in Games and at Work: Implications for the Enterprise of Massively Multiplayer Online Role-playing Games (MMOGs), put out by an organization called Seriosity (condensed report, full report). Their study investigated the lessons that MMOGs might have for leadership in the workplace, with the suggestion that experience in MMOGs or virtual worlds crosses… Read more →