Rethinking the Role of Technology in Virtual Teams in Light of COVID-19
This addresses the challenge for organizations in effectively managing virtual teams, especially post-COVID-19, but it is incremental as it builds on existing research.
The paper tackles the problem of understanding virtual teams by proposing a new paradigm that integrates technology as an inherent part of teams, rather than just a substitute for face-to-face interaction, using an innovation framework.
The use of virtual teams by organisations has grown tremendously as a strategic response to COVID-19. However, the concept of virtual teams is not something new, with many businesses over the past three decades gradually incorporating virtual and/or dispersed teams into their processes. Research on virtual teams has followed that of co-located face-to-face teams through lenses such as trust, communication, teamwork, leadership and collaboration. This paper introduces a new paradigm for examining the development of virtual teams, arguably one that would facilitate the consideration of technology as part of a virtual team rather than simply as an alternate to face-to-face teams. That is, viewing the development of virtual teams with embedded technology within an organisation through an innovation framework.