Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Strategies for Success in Virtual Collaboration: Structures and Norms for Meetings, Workflow, and Technological Platforms

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Strategies for Team Science Success

Abstract

Science is moving increasingly to team collaboration at distance (Olson et al. Scientific collaboration on the internet. 2008; Olson and Olson. Synt Lect Hum Center Inform 6:1–151, 2013), or “virtual collaboration” (Jarvenpaa et al. J Manag Inform Syst 14:29–64, 1998). Organization science has studied virtual collaboration and can provide a variety of useful insights. In this chapter, we draw on findings from this research to help scientists increase the likelihood of leading successful, effective virtual collaboration. In particular, we emphasize how discussion (in the form of conference calls and emails) is, on the one hand, a critical, valuable, and unavoidable mechanism for coordinating virtual collaborations. However, discussion is often the primary mode of coordination, and this can be problematic. Virtual collaborations absolutely need to mitigate these negative consequences of discussion-based coordination in order to thrive.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 129.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    For scholarly reviews of this abundant literature, see Gilson et al. 2015; see also Powell et al. 2004; Hertel et al. 2005; D’Urso et al. 2015; Scott and Wildman 2015.

  2. 2.

    http://distributedscience.ischool.utexas.edu/

  3. 3.

    http://hanalab.ics.uci.edu/wizard/

References

  • Ahuja MK, Galletta DF, Carley KM. Individual centrality and performance in virtual R&D groups: an empirical study. Manag Sci. 2003;49(1):21–38.

    Google Scholar 

  • Baldwin CY, Clark KB. Design rules: the power of modularity, vol. Vol. 1. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press; 2000.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bell BS, Kozlowski SW. A typology of virtual teams implications for effective leadership. Group Org Manag. 2002;27(1):14–49.

    Google Scholar 

  • Berente N, Vandenbosch B, Aubert B. Information flows and business process integration. Bus Process Manag J. 2009;15(1):119–41.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bikhchandani S, Hirshleifer D, Welch I. A theory of fads, fashion, custom, and cultural change as informational cascades. J Polit Econ. 1992;100:992–1026.

    Google Scholar 

  • Boh WF, Ren Y, Kiesler S, Bussjaeger R. Expertise and collaboration in the geographically dispersed organization. Organ Sci. 2007;18(4):595–612.

    Google Scholar 

  • Choi SY, Lee H, Yoo Y. The impact of information technology and transactive memory systems on knowledge sharing, application, and team performance: a field study. MIS Q. 2010;34:855–70.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cialdini RB, Goldstein NJ. Social influence: compliance and conformity. Annu Rev Psychol. 2004;55:591–621.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cramton CD, Hinds PJ. Subgroup dynamics in internationally distributed teams: ethnocentrism or cross-national learning? Res Organ Behav. 2004;26:231–63.

    Google Scholar 

  • Crowston K, Wei K, Howison J, Wiggins A. Free (Libre) open source software development: what we know and what we do not know. ACM Comput Surv. 2012;44(2):7.

    Google Scholar 

  • Crowston K, Howison J, Eseryel UY, Masango C. The role of face-to-face meetings in technology-supported self-organizing distributed teams. IEEE Trans Prof Commun. 2007;50(3):185–203.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cummings JN, Kiesler S, Zadeh RB, Balakrishnan AD. Group heterogeneity increases the risks of large group size a longitudinal study of productivity in research groups. Psychol Sci. 2013;24(6):880–90.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Dabbish LA, Kraut RE. Email overload at work: an analysis of factors associated with email strain. In: Proceedings of the 2006 20th Anniversary Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work. New York, NY: ACM; 2006. p. 431–40.

    Google Scholar 

  • Danziger S, Levav J, Avnaim-Pesso L. Extraneous factors in judicial decisions. Proc Natl Acad Sci. 2011;108(17):6889–92. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1018033108.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • DeSanctis G, Poole MS. Capturing the complexity in advanced technology use: adaptive structuration theory. Organ Sci. 1994;5(2):121–47.

    Google Scholar 

  • D’Urso PA, Graham D, Krell R, Maul JP, Pernsteiner C, Shelton DK, Piercy GW. An Exploration of Organizational Structure and Strategy in Virtual Organizations: A Literature Review. J Perspectives in Organizational Behavior, Management, & Leadership, 2015;1(1):25–40.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ferrazzi K. Getting virtual teams right. Harvard business review. 2014.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fiol CM, O’Connor EJ. Identification in face-to-face, hybrid, and pure virtual teams: untangling the contradictions. Organ Sci. 2005;16(1):19–32.

    Google Scholar 

  • Garud R, Jain S, Kumaraswamy A. Institutional entrepreneurship in the sponsorship of common technological standards: the case of sun microsystems and java. Acad Manag J. 2002;45(1):196–214.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gilson LL, Maynard MT, Young NCJ, Vartiainen M, Hakonen M. Virtual teams research 10 years, 10 themes, and 10 opportunities. J Manag. 2015;41(5):1313–37.

    Google Scholar 

  • Grudin J. Why CSCW applications fail: problems in the design and evaluation of organizational interfaces. In: Proceedings of the 1988 ACM Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work. New York, NY: ACM; 1988. p. 85–93.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hertel G, Geister S, Konradt U. Managing virtual teams: a review of current empirical research. Hum Resour Manag Rev. 2005;15(1):69–95.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hinds PJ, Mortensen M. Understanding conflict in geographically distributed teams: the moderating effects of shared identity, shared context, and spontaneous communication. Organ Sci. 2005;16(3):290–307.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hoch JE, Kozlowski SW. Leading virtual teams: hierarchical leadership, structural supports, and shared team leadership. J Appl Psychol. 2014;99(3):390.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hoegl M, Gemuenden HG. Teamwork quality and the success of innovative projects: a theoretical concept and empirical evidence. Organ Sci. 2001;12(4):435–49.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hoegl M, Parboteeah KP. Goal setting and team performance in innovative projects: on the moderating role of teamwork quality. Small Group Res. 2003;34(1):3–19.

    Google Scholar 

  • Howison J, Crowston K. Collaboration through open superposition: a theory of the open source way. MIS Q. 2014;38(1):29–50.

    Google Scholar 

  • Iacono CS, Weisband S. Developing trust in virtual teams. In: System Sciences, 1997, Proceedings of the Thirtieth Hawaii International Conference on (Vol. 2). Piscataway, NJ: IEEE; 1997. p. 412–20.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jarvenpaa SL, Knoll K, Leidner DE. Is anybody out there? Antecedents of trust in global virtual teams. J Manag Inf Syst. 1998;14(4):29–64.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kanawattanachai P, Yoo Y. The impact of knowledge coordination on virtual team performance over time. MIS Q. 2007;31:783–808.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lapointe L, Rivard S. A multilevel model of resistance to information technology implementation. MIS Q. 2005;29:461–91.

    Google Scholar 

  • MacCormack A, Rusnak J, Baldwin CY. Exploring the structure of complex software designs: an empirical study of open source and proprietary code. Manag Sci. 2006;52(7):1015–30.

    Google Scholar 

  • Maznevski ML, Chudoba KM. Bridging space over time: global virtual team dynamics and effectiveness. Organ Sci. 2000;11(5):473–92.

    Google Scholar 

  • Malone TW, Crowston K. The interdisciplinary study of coordination. ACM Computing Surveys (CSUR). 1994;26(1):87–119.

    Google Scholar 

  • March JG, Simon HA. Organizations. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign’s Academy for Entrepreneurial Leadership Historical Research Reference in Entrepreneurship. 1958.

    Google Scholar 

  • Maruping LM, Magni M. Motivating employees to explore collaboration technology in team contexts. MIS Q. 2015;39(1):1–16.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mintzberg H. Structuring of organizations: a synthesis of the research. In: Mintzberg H, editor. Theory of management policy series. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall; 1979.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mitchell A, Zigurs I. Trust in virtual teams: solved or still a mystery? ACM SIGMIS Database. 2009;40(3):61–83.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nguyen-Duc A, Cruzes DS, Conradi R. The impact of global dispersion on coordination, team performance and software quality–a systematic literature review. Inf Softw Technol. 2015;57:277–94.

    Google Scholar 

  • O’Leary MB, Cummings JN. The spatial, temporal, and configurational characteristics of geographic dispersion in teams. MIS Q. 2007;31(3):433–52.

    Google Scholar 

  • O’Leary MB, Mortensen M. Go (con) figure: subgroups, imbalance, and isolates in geographically dispersed teams. Organ Sci. 2010;21(1):115–31.

    Google Scholar 

  • O’Leary MB, Wilson JM, Metiu A. Beyond being there: the symbolic role of communication and identification in perceptions of proximity to geographically dispersed colleagues. MIS Q. 2014;38(4):1219–43.

    Google Scholar 

  • Olson GM, Zimmerman A, Bos N. Scientific collaboration on the internet. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press; 2008.

    Google Scholar 

  • Olson JS, Olson GM. Working together apart: collaboration over the internet. Synt Lect Human Centered Inform. 2013;6(5):1–151.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pentland BT, Feldman MS, Becker MC, Liu P. Dynamics of organizational routines: a generative model. J Manag Stud. 2012;49(8):1484–508.

    Google Scholar 

  • PMBOK. Project management body of knowledge (PMBOK® GUIDE). In Project Management Institute. 2001.

    Google Scholar 

  • Potter RE, Balthazard PA. Virtual team interaction styles: assessment and effects. Int J Hum Comput Stud. 2002;56(4):423–43.

    Google Scholar 

  • Powell A, Piccoli G, Ives B. Virtual teams: a review of current literature and directions for future research. ACM Sigmis Database. 2004;35(1):6–36.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sarker S, Sahay S. Understanding virtual team development: an interpretive study. J Assoc Inf Syst. 2003;4(1):1.

    Google Scholar 

  • Scott CP, Wildman JL. Culture, communication, and conflict: a review of the global virtual team literature. In: Leading global teams. New York, NY: Springer; 2015. p. 13–32.

    Google Scholar 

  • Simon HA. The architecture of complexity. Proc Am Philos Soc. 1962;106(6):467–82.

    Google Scholar 

  • Srikanth K, Puranam P. Integrating distributed work: comparing task design, communication, and tacit coordination mechanisms. Strateg Manag J. 2011;32(8):849–75.

    Google Scholar 

  • Steinhardt SB. Breaking down while building up: design and decline in emerging infrastructures. In: Proceedings of the 2016 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. New York, NY: ACM; 2016. p. 2198–208. https://doi.org/10.1145/2858036.2858420.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Steinhardt SB, Jackson SJ. Reconciling rhythms: plans and temporal alignment in collaborative scientific work. In: Proceedings of the 17th ACM Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work & Social Computing. New York, NY: ACM; 2014. p. 134–45. https://doi.org/10.1145/2531602.2531736.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Turner JR, Cochrane RA. Goals-and-methods matrix: coping with projects with ill defined goals and/or methods of achieving them. Int J Proj Manag. 1993;11(2):93–102.

    Google Scholar 

  • Turner JR. Do you manage work, deliverables or resources? Int J Proj Manag. 2000;18(2):83–4.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wasson C. Multitasking during virtual meetings. People Strategy. 2004;27(4):47.

    Google Scholar 

  • Whittaker S, Sidner C. Email overload: exploring personal information management of email. In: Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. New York, NY: ACM; 1996. p. 276–83.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Mendoza College of Business, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN, USA

    Nicholas Berente

  2. School of Information, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA

    James Howison

Authors
  1. Nicholas Berente
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. James Howison
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Nicholas Berente .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA

    Kara L. Hall

  2. Clinical Monitoring Research Program Directorate, Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research Sponsored by the National Cancer Institute, Frederick, MD, USA

    Amanda L. Vogel

  3. Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA

    Robert T. Croyle

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Berente, N., Howison, J. (2019). Strategies for Success in Virtual Collaboration: Structures and Norms for Meetings, Workflow, and Technological Platforms. In: Hall, K., Vogel, A., Croyle, R. (eds) Strategies for Team Science Success. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-20992-6_43

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation