Practical Coach: Management Skills for Everyday Life, The

Social Dynamics in Distributed Teams

Researchers have focused on four social processes that influence the effectiveness of virtual teams. These include team members' ability to:

• Communicate effectively with each other

• Develop feelings of belonging and cohesion

• Encourage team members to express minority opinions (that is, opinions that conflict with the dominant thinking in the team)

• Manage status effects

Communication

Science and technology multiply around us. To an increasing extent they dictate the languages in which we speak and think. Either we use those languages, or we remain mute.

—J.G. Ballard, English novelist

Effective communication is central to team productivity. It is the means by which “all speakers and hearers attempt to construct ...