Effective Virtual Teamwork: A Socio-Cognitive and Motivational Model

Abstract

While much of the work on virtual teams is grounded in the assumptions that teams are concrete entities, this chapter conceptualizes teams as psychological entities, existing in the minds of teams’ members and stakeholders. Drawing from interviews with 40 experts in virtual team building and two focus groups, we offer four principles for the existence of a virtual team: the awareness of its members that they are a “team,” identification with the team, commitment to the team goals, and accountability for team success. We then build upon that base to discuss how teams can be made more “intelligent.”