Title

Communication challenges perceived by leaders of different sized virtual teams, and how they are managed: Experiences from leaders within Swedish organizations

Authors

Daniella Larsson & Matilda Wahlgren

Level

Master thesis, 30 credits

Key words

Virtual teams, Communication challenges, Virtual leadership

Background

The recent years’ rapid technological development has made it possible to communicate solely through technological channels, and thus enabled organizations to implement virtual teams into their businesses. Virtual teams are allowing organizations to have the most qualified members in their teams, regardless of their geographical location. New ways of working entails for new challenges, not least regarding communication. Awareness of these challenges, and how they can be managed, provide the prerequisites to succeed with the virtual leadership.

Research Questions

• Which communication challenges do leaders, of different sized virtual teams within Swedish organizations, perceive?
• How do the leaders manage the perceived communication challenges?

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to describe and understand leaders' perception and management of communication challenges in leading different sized virtual teams within Swedish organizations. Further, the aim is to broaden the academic field of virtual teams by adding valuable contributions to the scarce research. This, by suggesting a developed theoretical framework, based on the experiences from leaders within Swedish organizations.

Method

The study follows a qualitative research method and abductive approach. Semi-structured interviews with twelve leaders of different sized virtual teams were executed. The chosen organizations are of various industries to retain generalizability.

Frame of Reference

Four theoretical blocks constitute the frame of reference. The first block is leadership, which includes e-leadership and competencies. The second block is group development theories, with insights from two different approaches. The third grouping, communication, involves theories both regarding conventional and virtual teams. The fourth and final provides insights regarding trust.

Findings

The findings of this study show that all virtual leaders perceive communication challenges within their leadership. The identified challenges are teambuilding and relationship creation, miscommunication, inclusion, performance follow-ups, communication overload and technology. The findings also reveal that the identified challenges are managed in different ways. Further, some deviances were found, regarding how the leaders perceive and manage these communication challenges, depending on the team’s size.