How to Conduct a Study on Virtual Teams

4 Virtual Teams Introduction With the arrival of the Digital Age, the possibility of teams collaborating over great distances as virtual teams has emerged. Through the use of technological means, team members collaborate and communicate via digital communications. Virtual teams can help to save costs associated with travel, relocation, and transportation. However, there is a gap in the literature regarding the effectiveness of collaboration technology on virtual teams’ success.

Andriessen (2012) notes that both positive and negative effects have been linked to collaboration technology which could ultimately impact the efficiency and productivity of virtual teams and the corporations for which they are working. Gilson, Maynard and Young (2015) show that virtual teams require more study so that organizations can successfully manage productivity, and Fan, Chen and Wang (2015) state that virtual teams may lead to “creativity and idea generation performance” issues based on the methods used to drive them: some teams will focus on creativity and others on following orders (p. 421).

Fan et al. (2015) also point out that “direction-giving instructions generate more ideas under the demanding feedback approach” and that “receiving instructions with more empathetic language” will tend to lead to “higher creativity performance under the encouraging feedback approach” (p. 421). In other words, how virtual teams are managed and utilized will also impact their effectiveness on organizational outcomes. Problem Statement Organizations must identify the extent to which collaboration technology can support the efficiency and productivity of virtual teams so that they are neither over-reliant on these teams nor under-utilizing their potential.

Research Question What is the impact of management on the effectiveness of virtual teams? What is the effect of virtual teams on organizational productivity? Hypothesis 1 The effectiveness of virtual teams will depend on team leaders, the way in which they are managed and the degree to which the time is united in terms of working together to achieve a clearly defined and realistic goal. Hypothesis 2 Virtual teams can be an effective means of achieving productivity for an organization.

Methodology A quantitative approach to obtaining data for this study can be achieved by using the survey method. An experimental design would necessitate a far larger process in which an independent variable and a dependent variable are tested, which is beyond the scope of this study. A survey of virtual team members, however, could provide quantitative data using the Likert scale, which could be analyzed statistically. Population The survey method would target virtual team members.

Participants could be identified on social networking platforms like LinkedIn, and snowball sampling could be used to obtain the desired population size for sampling. The sample should consist of 50 participants willing to take the survey. Using the Likert scale will allow survey responses to be statistically analyzed as responses are given on a 1-5 scale, with 1 indicating disagreement with the survey statement and 5 indicating complete agreement. These results can then indicate how virtual team members see themselves, see problems and see solutions. Recommendations could be given based on this analysis.

Analysis Using the Likert scale and survey method to obtain quantitative data on virtual teams has been used by other researchers in studies. Peñarroja, Orengo, Zornoza, Sánchez and Ripoll (2015) used a 5-point Likert scale to evaluate variables in their study on virtual teams. Krumm, Kanthak, Hartmann and Hertel (2016) used a 7-point Likert scale to measure factors in their virtual team study.

Reliability Quality and reliability can be ensured by piloting the survey before using it the study to ensure it can actually obtain the information that is being desired. Regression analysis can be conducted in order to analyze the quantitative data obtained using the Likert scale survey responses. Target Audience The target audiences for these findings would include all organizational stakeholders who might.