Interpersonal
Communication
in Virtual Teams
BACHELOR DEGREE PROJECT THESIS WITHIN: Business Administration NUMBER OF CREDITS: 15 ECTS
PROGRAMME OF STUDY: International Management
AUTHORS: Adam Bhiladvala & Alexander Johansson JÖNKÖPING May 2020
A qualitative research exploring the influence
Interpersonal Communication has on the motivation and
trust in a virtual team
Bachelor Thesis in Business Administration
Title: Interpersonal Communication in Virtual TeamsAuthors: Bhiladvala, A. & Johansson, A. Tutor: Katrine Sonnenschein
Date: 2020-05-14
Key terms: Virtual Teams, Interpersonal Communication, Workplace Motivation, Trust, Interpersonal Relations
Abstract
Today’s globalized world and the internationalization of many companies have put pressure on companies to change their communication patterns, both external and internal. The way of operating has also changed. The technological advancements made during the past decades have allowed employees to have almost unlimited possibilities to communicate with each other, no matter the distance. This has led to a new phenomenon, Virtual Teams. Working virtually has become more common in recent time, while the COVID-19 pandemic has forced many companies and teams to adapt to a virtual environment. The purpose of this thesis is to explore the influence Interpersonal Communication has on the employees’ trust and motivation in Virtual Teams. The research was of a qualitative nature and the collection of primary data was made through semi-structured in-depth interviews with mainly open-ended questions. The participants consisted of five (5) employees and one (1) manager from the same virtual team, with the members located across the globe. The findings showed that Interpersonal
Communication has a positive influence on the employees’ motivation and trust, mostly through
the establishment of Interpersonal Relations, Sense of Belonging and Level of Involvement. Many of the findings are supported by previous literature and research. The authors argue that the level of influence interpersonal communication has is dependent on the experience and seniority of the members, as well as it having the strongest influence in the beginning of a team. The thesis has contributed to previous and current literature and research, while having implications for future research, managers and virtual teams.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to say thank you and express the sincerest appreciation to those who have motivated, supported and helped us through the entire process.
Firstly, a big thank you to our tutor Katrine Sonnenschein, who has helped and guided us from start to finish with her expertise and knowledge. Katrine has given us great and continuous feedback that has helped us improve and create the final product. We are very grateful for all her help.
Secondly. we want to say thank you to all fellow students for their hard work, that during the schedule seminars have provided us with valuable insights and feedback. A special thank you to Anton Medbo, Simon Cederholm and Matilda Varvne.
Lastly, we want to say a really big thank you to all of our participants. You have provided us with your thoughts, knowledge and expertise. This thesis would not have been possible without you. For this, we want to express our deepest gratitude.
Thank you all!
Table of Contents
... 1
Acknowledgements ... ii
1.
Introduction ... 1
1.1 Definitions ... 1 1.1.1 Interpersonal communication ... 11.1.2 Motivation and Job Satisfaction ... 2
1.1.3 Interpersonal Skills & Managerial Interpersonal Skills ... 2
1.1.4 Virtual Team ... 2 1.1.5 Interpersonal Relations... 3 1.1.6 Trust ... 3 1.1.7 Level of involvement ... 3 1.1.8 Sense of Belonging... 3 1.2 Background ... 4 1.2.1Globalization ... 4 1.2.2 Technological Advancements ... 5
1.2.3 Changing communication patterns ... 5
1.3 Problem discussion ... 6
1.4 Purpose statement ... 8
2.
Literature Review ... 9
2.1 Frame of Reference Method ... 9
2.2 Interpersonal Skills ... 9
2.3 Interpersonal Communication ... 11
2.4 Virtual Teams & Their Communication ... 12
2.5 Discussion ... 14
2.6 Identifying Gaps ... 14
3.
Methodology ... 15
3.1 Research Philosophy ... 15
3.2 Research Approach ... 16
3.3 Purpose of Research Desgin ... 17
3.4 Research Method ... 17
3.5 Data Collection ... 18
3.5.1 Primary and Secondary Data ... 18
3.5.2 Sampling Method ... 18
3.5.3 Team & Company description ... 19
3.5.4 Semi-Structured in-depth interviews ... 19
3.5.5 Reliability and Validity ... 20
3.6 Data Analysis ... 22 3.7 Ethical Considerations ... 22
4.
Empirical Findings... 23
4.1 Interpersonal Relations ... 23 4.2 Sense of Belonging ... 24 4.3 Level of Involvement ... 25 4.4 Trust ... 26 4.5 Motivation ... 27 4.6 Other Findings ... 275.
Analysis; Interpretation ... 29
5.1 Interpersonal Relations & Sense of Belonging ... 29
5.2 Level of Involvement ... 30 5.3 Trust ... 31 5.4 Motivation ... 32
6.
Conclusion ... 35
7.
Discussion ... 37
7.1 Limitations ... 377.2 Proposals for further Research ... 38
8.
Reference list ... 40
9.
Appendices ... 46
9.1 Appendix 1 ... 46
9.2 47 9.2 Appendix 2 ... 47
1. Introduction
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This section provides the reader with important definitions and clarifications regarding concepts that will be brought up frequently through the paper. Furthermore, the section introduces the audience to the subject of communication, as well as a brief overview of historical development of Communication, Globalization and technological
advancements. It also includes a problem discussion, purpose statement and it presents the reader with the chosen research question.
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1.1 Definitions
1.1.1 Interpersonal communication
For the purpose of this thesis and for the reader’s understanding of the findings it is important to clarify what is meant by Interpersonal Communication. At present date, there is not much consensus regarding the meaning of Interpersonal Communication (Burleson, 2010). Some popular definitions of Interpersonal Communication are the
Developmental perspective and the Interactional Perspective (Burleson, 2010). However,
for the purpose of this thesis, the authors will follow the Situational Perspective, brought forward by Miller in the late 1970s. The situational perspective puts a lot of focus on the number of communicators, the physical distance between the communicators, the communication channels (especially non-verbal ones) as well as the availability of the immediate feedback (Burleson, 2010). Therefore, the definition of Interpersonal communication used for this thesis is;
“Interpersonal Communication (typically) transpires between two people engaged in face-to-face interactions who both use verbal and non-verbal channels and have access to immediate feedback” (Burleson, 2010)
Due to that the purpose of this thesis is to explore virtual teams and their limited possibilities for face-to-face interactions, the chosen definition provides valuable help with investigating this.
1.1.2 Motivation and Job Satisfaction
Motivation: “Work motivation is a condition and energy that drives self-directed or
directed employees to achieve organizational goals of the company” (Ramadanty & Martinus 2016).
Job Satisfaction: “Job satisfaction is simply how people feel about their jobs and different
aspects of their jobs. It is the extent to which people like (satisfaction) or dislike (dissatisfaction) their jobs.” (Spector, 1997).
Throughout this thesis these two concepts will be discussed frequently. The two concepts are strongly interrelated with one another. A quantitative study conducted by Sing & Tiwari (2011) conducted on 45 white-collar workers found that there is a positive correlation between Job Satisfaction and Motivation. Meaning that job satisfaction increases with an increase in Motivation, and vice versa.
Furthermore, several empirical findings suggest that job satisfaction are strongly related to motivation (Baard, Deci & Ryan, 2004; Harrison et al., 2006). Therefore, the authors assume that any increase in job satisfaction will increase the motivation of the employee, and vice versa.
1.1.3 Interpersonal Skills & Managerial Interpersonal Skills
Interpersonal skills may be defined as “the skills employed when persons interact with
each other” (Klein et al., 2006). In turn, managerial interpersonal skills within the
workplace can be defined as “competencies that help managers understand,
communicate with, motivate and influence others, and resolve conflicts in goal-directed organizational settings” (Riggio & Tan, 2013
1.1.4 Virtual Team
Starting off with defining ‘Virtual’, there are many definitions of it. A commonly used definition explains it as that ‘Virtual’ is related to something “having the essence or the effect but not the appearance or the form of….” (Dictionary, 2009). Jarvenpaa et al. (1998) defines ‘virtual’ in relation to team as teams that are created with members from various locations to solve problems. They are not operating physically in the same
location but appear as a team. An evolved definition of virtual team, and the one this study will use;
“A group of people who can be separated by space, time and organizations, and work closely together supported by information and communication technologies” (Ivanaj &
Bozon, 2016)
1.1.5 Interpersonal Relations
The definition that will be used for Interpersonal Relations in this study is; “An
association between two or more people that may range from fleeting to enduring. This association may be based on inference, love, solidarity, regular business interactions, or some other type of social commitment” (Velmurugan, 2016). Furthermore, the
interpersonal relations usually incorporate interdependence to some extent (Velmurugan, 2016).
1.1.6 Trust
Whitener et al. (1998) defines trust as an “attitude held by one individual, the truster,
toward another individual, the trustee. Trust in individuals is an expectation or belief that actions from another party will be motivated by good intentions”.
1.1.7 Level of involvement
“A participative process to use the entire capacity of workers, designed to encourage employee commitment to organizational success. This process typically comes about by giving employees some combination of information, influence, and/or incentives”
(Cotton, 1993).
1.1.8 Sense of Belonging
“Addresses the trust and security component of membership and the extent to which individuals in a group are well-known to each other and willing to help each other; in essence, the “feeling of acceptance by the group and a willingness to sacrifice for the group” (McMillan and Chavis, 1986).
1.2 Background
1.2.1Globalization
According to Young (1987) internationalization of companies as well as the role of international business has been and is important. Companies offshoring or moving production overseas, and exporting is not a new phenomenon. During the 20th century, and especially during the 21st century - globalization and internationalization of companies are increasing rapidly.
Almost all studies of international business are conducted with the fundamental assumption that international business is good for companies. Farok J. Contractor (2007) researched this statement and came to the same conclusion. Suggesting several benefits for companies, such as deriving knowledge from abroad, accessing or arbitraging cheaper inputs, accumulation of global market power, and several more. However, internationalization for companies implies changing state and it requires dynamic change (Buckley, 2006).
Many companies have entered the international stage to some extent. Companies who are operating on the international stage need to be able to adjust several strategies in order to be competitively successful. They need to take into account language barriers, cultural differences as well as legal aspects (Deresky, 2017). These, alongside the potentially vast distances between countries that a company operates in - leads to an often-mandatory change in communication strategy. Partially, communication strategies have been changed to adapt to certain cultures, but most importantly to have efficient and accurate internal communication to stay competitively relevant (Quirke, 2012).
This paper will focus on, and research company communication within virtual teams. Virtual teams have been a steadily increased phenomenon, with different communication possibilities, where the chances for interpersonal communication are limited (Ivanaj & Bozon, 2016).
1.2.2 Technological Advancements
“All that can be digitized, will get digitized” (Snickars, 2017). Alongside globalization,
continuous technological advancements have been made over the last decades. This has in turn changed the communication possibilities within companies drastically (Kuusisto, 2017). Aula and Heinonen (2016) discusses that the communication research that the existing literature is built on, was mainly conducted during a time where communication possibilities were different. Even though some companies have been very quick on adapting to the new digital environment, many companies are still years behind the frontrunners. Mainly due to how fast the technological possibilities are changing and how hard it is to understand the implications of this (Aula and Heinonen, 2016).
In the early 90’s, larger companies started to have access to the Internet, and in a few years, it was also introduced to private households. This revolutionized how management and employees could communicate with one another. Email was a groundbreaking step, allowing a completely different and more efficient way of transferring information (Quirke, 2012).
Though the internet changed the rules of the game for many companies, it was not immediately adopted and accepted as the future of communication. One particular example of this is when the Swedish communication minister from 1994-1998 Ines Uusman during an interview suggested that the Internet will soon to be a “has-been” (Treijs, 2016). Since then, the use of the internet as a communication platform exploded, both in the business and social context (Aula and Heinonen, 2016).
Large developments have been made during each decade and the use of communication on digital platforms has constantly progressed (Kuusisto, 2017). Early research on the topic of communication was conducted at a time where communication strategies were limited. Nowadays, coworkers have almost unlimited digital possibilities for communicating, no matter the distance (Longhurst, 2013).
1.2.3 Changing communication patterns
Naisbitt & Aburdene (1985) identified that future organizations in a rapidly changing market environment face the need for employees to quickly learn, adapt to change and
face new challenges. This implicates that organizations have a need for a well-functioning internal communication. Successful internal communication is dependent on the employee’s perceptions of the person sending the message and the message itself (Peterfreund, 1970). Cameron & McCollum (1993) did in turn argue that the receiver of message is more likely to share the same beliefs as the sender, if they feel more involved in the communication. Spaho (2010) investigated employee satisfaction of internal communication within organizations and found that employees are in general dissatisfied with the organizational communication.
As discussed earlier, the technological advancements and a changing global environment has led to more computer-mediated communication (CMC). Lee (2011) identified that employees are more prone to use CMC when communicating between different areas and timezones. CMC was less frequently used when communicating about sensitive issues, and CMC did not show the same positive effects on relationship building as face-to-face communication. However, the digital advancements have led to changing communication patterns, leading to less interpersonal communication (Bala, 2014).
Rajhan (2012) argues that organizational communication recently has become far more complex, as it has been recognized as a key determinant for organizational success. Rajhan (2012) further concludes that good communication has a lasting effect on employee motivation. Effective communication leads to the feeling of satisfaction and increased trust and commitment to the organization. This will likely lead to better performance of the employees. Sony & Mekoth (2016) also state that the higher the level of job satisfaction of employees, the better is the level of expected performance.
1.3 Problem discussion
Globalization’s effect on the distance between coworkers, have forced managers to take use of other than traditional face-to-face communication (Quirke, 2012). Furthermore, the digital advancements made, have in turn made organizations try to find more efficient ways to communicate (Conrad & Poole, 2012). Alongside this, virtual teams amongst international companies have become a more common phenomenon. Previous literature shows that the efficiency of communication is a key determinant for employee satisfaction and motivation, which in turn leads to a better expected job performance
(Ivanaj & Bozon, 2016). Furthermore, a close relationship and collaboration between leaders and employees builds a relationship between them, which increases job satisfaction. Good supervising from leaders will lead to better satisfied employees and vice versa (Jo & Shim, 2005) Earlier research have discussed the importance of effective communication and aspects such as trust and relationship-building within virtual teams. These are important aspects that are proven to influence motivation and job performance, and they are especially important in virtual teams (Ivanaj & Bozon, 2016). However, the authors have not been able to find literature discussing the importance of interpersonal communication in relation to these aspects. According to the authors, it is highly relevant to investigate how motivation, alongside other aspects, is affected when the possibility of interpersonal communication is limited for virtual teams. Since the study is being conducted in the age of globalization and quick technological process, the authors deem it to be highly relevant and important to investigate.
The research and study will take place on a virtual team, operating for a Swedish international company. This choice has been made due to one primary reason; The author’s familiarity to Sweden and the availability to a Swedish company. Even though the study is conducted on a virtual team operating for a Swedish company, the members are located throughout the world with different nationalities and cultures. Therefore, the authors consider this research to not be limited to a certain national culture.
1.4 Purpose statement
The purpose of this study is to investigate and provide valuable insight on the influence interpersonal communication has on employee motivation and trust in virtual teams. This will be investigated by analyzing the empirical data collected in relation and comparison to previous literature. The research will be conducted on a Swedish based multinational company, examining a virtual team with members located throughout the world.
The authors will be exploring the influence interpersonal communication has on virtual team members’ motivation and trust, with the aim to contribute to existing research and open up for future research on the topic. Therefore, the thesis will answer the following research question;
RQ: How is motivation and trust within a virtual team influenced by
interpersonal communication?
2. Literature Review
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This section will present the reader with how the authors have conducted the literature review. Secondly the reader will be presented with previous research related to the topic of this paper. Traits of interpersonal skills will be presented, as well as existing literature on Interpersonal communication and challenges in communication for virtual teams. Finally, the authors are discussing the collected secondary data and identifies gaps for further research.
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2.1 Frame of Reference Method
The secondary data collected for this study is retrieved from peer-reviewed articles. This data provides a body of knowledge to the frame of reference, presenting relevant literature and existing research relevant to the topic. Also, books have been used to provide a deeper knowledge, mainly in the background and methodology section. The peer-reviewed articles have been found using online databases such as Jönköping University's library database Primo and Google Scholar. A combination of keywords was pre-selected for the searching process and was also continuously adjusted to find as suitable as possible. The main keywords that was searched for was: *Interpersonal Communication*, *Face to face communication*, *Motivation in workplace*, *Workplace Communication*, *Communication and technological advancements*, *Interpersonal Skills*, *Virtual teams*, *Workplace trust* *Trust in Virtual teams*. Once enough information was gathered, the authors identified a gap and saw a potential for further research. From this, the authors created the research question, frame of reference and conducted interviews. No certain time frame of the articles publishing year was selected. However, the older sources that have been used, have by the authors’ judgement been considered as reliable till this day and these have also been referred to, and deemed as trustworthy by more recent research.
2.2 Interpersonal Skills
Management and leadership theories are foremost focused on the hard skills that need to be developed for remaining successful in a business context, such as expertise knowledge within certain relevant sections of the company (Riggio & Tan, 2013). This is however, a very small element of the leadership that occurs in the workplace. Little is taught about
the soft side of management and leadership. A side which is requiring good interpersonal skills. There exist few generally accepted definitions or models that accomplish to categorize the soft skills a leader might maintain. Meanwhile it is uncertain where hard and soft skills begin and respectively ends (Riggio & Tan, 2013). It is generally accepted that interpersonal-skilled managers receive more success and that these are necessary core skills for managers (Dierdorff et al., 2009). Kossek & Pichler (2007) argues that the increasing diversity of organizations are likely to enhance the importance of these skills. These competencies are also a key factor for success in the field of teamwork and working in groups (e.g., Hackman, 1987; Kozlowski & Ilgen, 2006).
Research has to a large extent failed to agree upon on which the different managerial interpersonal skills of leadership are (Riggio & Tan, 2013). More research exists regarding interpersonal skills socially outside the workplace domain, where different views have been presented. Mayer & Salovey (1997) took a trait-based approach suggesting that social and emotional intelligence are leading to interpersonal skills. Other research suggests more specific skills, such as communication skills (Klein et al., 2006). Riggio & Tan (2013) does however claim that even though these theories are useful, they are not fully applicable to the relation between leaders and subordinates in an organization.
Some of the more recognizable research attempts to establish certain skills have been carried out by Hogan & Lock (1995). In 2006, Klein did alongside colleagues, review 58 different theoretical frameworks including discussions on skills that in nature can be classified as interpersonal. Their purpose was to uncover some core interpersonal skills in the workplace. Klein et al. (2006) argued that their research offered a more comprehensive and descriptive view on interpersonal skills than earlier research. Their study managed to address twelve specific Interpersonal workplace skills, which are classified into two themes, Interpersonal communication skills, and relationship-building skills.
Klein et al. (2006) argues that all twelve skills are related to successful job performance as well as other outcomes such as productivity and customer satisfaction. Riggio & Tan (2013) finds Klein's research as a large step forward but suggests that it can be narrowed
down even further to find room for measuring interpersonal skills and serve as a basis for training interpersonal skills.
2.3 Interpersonal Communication
As mentioned in the previous part, Klein et al. (2006) named twelve specific managerial Interpersonal skills. Many of these skills can be exercised both through face to face interaction as well as through computer-mediated forms. Interpersonal Communication significance to these skills is not discussed. However, Hewitt (2006) found that computer-mediated forms of communication are less influential compared to Interpersonal communication that takes place face to face. The computer mediated forms of communication do, however, have some distinct advantages. Interpersonal communication is lacking in the potential to provide the same equality of participation as computer mediated form. Forms such as email might help reduce social barriers (Bordia, 1997), while it does also help increase efficiency and productivity (Asiamah et al., 2018)
Lee (2011) discovered that Interpersonal Communication was considerably more appreciated by employees, compared to mediated forms of communication. Particularly when sensitive issues were communicated and also throughout the phase of relationship building. This view is shared by others, such as Jo and Shim (2005) arguing that Interpersonal Communication has a positive influence on trust and relationship-building as well as obtaining a better ability to transfer information. However, Chilcoat and DeWine (1985) findings showed that visual contact can harm communication when the primary focus is information sharing. Yet, even when the primary purpose is information sharing, it is essential to be aware of that communication occurring between superior and subordinate, will always include some type of relationship building. Therefore, the relational message of communication is important (Penley & Hawkins, 1985). According to Cameron & McCollum (1993), employees do prefer to receive Interpersonal Communication over mediated communication. Employees tend to form a better trusting attitude when Interpersonal Communication is used by their managers (Jo & Shim, 2005). This is confirmed by more recent research pointing out that Interpersonal Communication is the most effective type of internal communication and perceived to be more trustworthy than other forms. Employees have a desire for face to face communication as it is the more “communication-rich channel” and increase personal influence (White et al., 2010).
Numerous studies have managed to prove that employee’s job satisfaction and in turn performance is increasing when they feel involved in the internal communication (Gray & Laidlaw, 2002; Bartoo & Sias, 2004; Rosenfeld, Richman, & May, 2004). Several empirical findings suggest that job satisfaction are strongly related to motivation (Baard, Deci & Ryan, 2004; Harrison et al., 2006). Ghofar et al. (2019) did in turn, on his research on public service quality conclude that the level of involvement and commitment employees feel towards their job was positively related to the level of Interpersonal Communication used by management. Putri (2018) did through a quantitative study try to find a correlation between Interpersonal Communication and employee satisfaction & performance. The research findings suggested that a positive relationship do exist between the factors.
Employees do tend to form better trusting attitudes towards their managers when Interpersonal Communication is used (Jo and Shim, 2005). According to Creed & Miles (1996) and McKnight et al. (1998), the beginning of the relationship is a critical time regarding the development of trust within a organization. This matches with the psychological research that states that an advantage of Interpersonal Communication is that it is the better medium for Relationship-building (Lee, 2011). Furthermore, research conducted by White et. Al. (2010) shows that employees are more satisfied with the information they receive and feel a stronger responsibility towards their organization when they have a personal relationship with the sender of the information and top management. Rožman et al. (2017) investigated how motivation and job satisfaction are depending on the age of the employee. They concluded that older and more experienced employees tended to be motivated by for example autonomy at work and interpersonal relationships.
2.4 Virtual Teams & Their Communication
Virtual teams are as discussed in the background section, a natural consequence and a requirement for many organizations in a globalized society. Technological advancement has improved the possibilities for how management can assess their employees in different areas and time zones (Ivanaj & Bozon, 2016). Due to the lack of personal interactions between managers and the virtual teams, measurement systems must be
established to measure the performance of the virtual teams to ensure their efficiency (Rico et al., 2011). Ferreira et al. (2012) argue that “performance measurement systems
are a part of a wider system including goal setting, feedback and reward systems”.
Performance rewards should be established to boost the incentives of performance for the virtual teams (Ferreira et al, 2012). However, despite that advanced measurement systems do exists, performance is hard to measure fairly between teams. The feedback of performance assessment will not remain meaningful for all the virtual teams if the assessment only relies on the measurement system indicators. Misunderstandings within virtual teams may lead to conflict between team members and worsen efficiency and performance. Therefore, it is essential to optimize communication technologies within the organization that will assist the measurement systems (Ivanaj & Bozon, 2016).
A key driver for good performance within virtual teams is to smoothen the dispersion within the team and enable a trustful sense of presence (De Leo et al., 2011). A perceived sense of presence can be referred to as a sense of belonging to a team despite the distance between the members. An essential factor to create a stronger sense of presence is effective communication within the team (Trzcielinski & Wypych-Zolthowska, 2008). The sense of presence is also directly influencing the employee's task motivation. This shows the importance of establishing the necessary conditions for fulfilling the
employees' sense of presence (Lount et al., 2008). Rico et al. (2011) found a relationship
indicating that independent tasks are reducing interpersonal relationships which in turn, negatively affects work motivation and task performance. The theories of sense of presence are similar to Breuer et al. (2016) findings suggesting that team-trust was an even more important factor for effectiveness within virtual teams compared to traditional teams. Ivanaj & Bozon (2016) suggests that more extensive research is needed to be conducted to better understand direct or indirect links between virtuality and performance. Tse et al. (2008) inquire about research to deepen the understanding of the role of emotions in motivating team members, especially in virtual teams where much interaction between team members is computer mediated.
2.5 Discussion
When reviewing the literature, some recurring themes appear. It stands clear that managerial skills are a key factor for organizational success. The interpersonal skills that Klein et al. (2006) identified are possible to exercise both face to face and with mediated forms. Though the importance of interpersonal communication on the influence of these skills is not mentioned, other research does clearly state interpersonal communication has a few major advantages compared to mediated forms. Interpersonal communication seems to build better trusting-attitudes towards the employer and is the more effective type of medium for creating stronger relationships. Interpersonal communication does also have a better tendency to increase the personal influence and involvement of the employees. In turn, employees that feel involved are in general experiencing a greater job satisfaction and motivation.
Challenges for virtual teams that especially stand out is the importance of trust within the team to accomplish a high performance. Establishing sufficient technological systems to ensure the sense of presence for the members is a key challenge when teams are working virtually with less face-to-face interactions. If this implementation is to some extent failing, it will lead to a less motivated team and decrease the team performance.
2.6 Identifying Gaps
Much research has examined performance in virtual teams, where a sense of presence and trust towards the team is essential (Breuer et al., 2016, De Leo et al., 2011). However, previous research has requested more research on understanding the factors influencing performance in virtual teams (Ivanaj & Bozon, 2016). Specifically, the role of emotions when motivating the members of virtual teams, where possibilities for face-to-face interactions are different, have been pointed out as a possibility for future studies (Tse et.al, 2008). Hence, the authors see a possibility to conduct research that will contribute to the understanding of how motivation in virtual teams is influenced by the use of interpersonal communication. Also, there is a need to examine how trust, which is crucial for the performance of a virtual team, is influenced by the use of interpersonal communication. This will contribute to existing literature by examining the implications for virtual teams, where the specific circumstances limit the possibilities of interpersonal communication. Also, managerial wise, this will help virtual team managers understand if it is necessary to put a higher emphasis on interpersonal communication.
3. Methodology
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This section will give the reader an understanding for the methodology, and the chosen methods applied to this research. In detail, the reader will be presented to how the research is conducted, approached and designed, followed by ethical issues and considerations.
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3.1 Research Philosophy
The definition of a research philosophy is “A set or system of beliefs stemming from the
study of the fundamental nature of knowledge, reality and existence” (Collis & Hussey,
2014). To simplify this definition, a research philosophy is the knowledge in a field or subject (Saunders, Lewis, & Thornhill, 2016). A research paradigm is a philosophical standpoint and its goal is to act as a director on how a study or research should be conducted. There are two major research paradigms, interpretivism and positivism.
Positivism is derived from natural science and is rooted in realism. Interpretivism, on the
other hand, is derived from the philosophy of idealism and originates from social sciences (Collis & Hussey, 2014).
The first step for this research is to choose a research paradigm, to know which philosophies and assumptions the authors operate under. The authors have chosen that the philosophical stance for this research will be based on an interpretivist paradigm. Interpretivism was developed due to the criticism that positivism had endured, arguing that positivism failed to meet the need of social scientists (Collis & Hussey, 2014). The purpose of a study under a interpretivist paradigm, as well as the author's purpose, is to create new understandings of social science and it’s foundations. The paradigm follows a belief that under different circumstances, different people with different cultures and under different times will act and interpret meanings differently. An important part of an interpretivist study is that the authors can understand and create reasonable meanings
about the thoughts that are expressed on the topic. Even though these are thoughts that are constructed both socially and subjectively (Saunders, Lewis, & Thornhill, 2016).
According to Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill (2016), a study under an interpretivist paradigm is suitable for a research conducted within the field of business and management, due to that the nature of many topics are within social science. This is directly applicable to the study at hand. With this in mind, the choice by the authors to follow a interpretivist paradigm as a philosophical stance, is a viable choice. There are several aspects/challenges that the authors will need to take into consideration. One of them being, according to Saunders, Lewis & Thornhill (2016), that the authors need fully understand the interviewees and the participant’s understanding of the social world. Therefore, it is crucial for the authors to put heavy weight into the interpretation and analysis of the data collected from the participants.
3.2 Research Approach
There are two different dimensions related to the research approach. The approaches that can be adopted are deductive research and inductive research. There is a high need to decide upon what research approach to adapt early in the process of collecting data. Once the decision has been taken about the research approach, it will simplify the decision making on what methods that will be used for the data collection and the following analysis (Li, Easterby-Smith & Bartunek, 2009). Deductive research is built on a developed theoretical structure forming a specific hypothesis tested by empirical observations. Inductive research, emerges on social science, compared to the deductive that often takes place in scientific research. The inductive research is using individual observations to make statements of general patterns, with this approach, a theory section will be developed from the detailed observations (Collis & Hussey, 2014). The authors argue that this study follows an inductive research approach. The study is not aiming at answering any certain particular hypotheses built on general knowledge. Instead, the authors analyzed existing literature to get a general knowledge on the topic, some themes did appear which helped on forming questions for the interviews. Thereafter, interviews were conducted. At this point, the authors found that trust was very relevant due to the answers received in the interviews. From this, trust was added to the research question and the frame of reference was reworked accordingly.
3.3 Purpose of Research Design
Research is most often classified by its purpose. There are several categories, including exploratory, descriptive and analytical/explanatory or predictive (Collis & Hussey, 2014). This research, aligning with most undergraduate level research (Collis & Hussey, 2014), will incorporate an exploratory and descriptive purpose.
The aim with this research, following the general aim with exploratory research, is to look for patterns and ideas within a topic (Collis & Hussey, 2014), as well as contributing to the goal of understanding a certain phenomenon or problem (Saunders, Lewis, & Thornhill, 2016). The authors need to gain insight and understand how interpersonal communication might influence the motivation and trust of employees, which is where an exploratory approach is highly suitable (Saunders, Lewis, & Thornhill, 2016). This will be achieved by conducting semi-structured interviews with majority open-ended questions, following an inductive approach. The questions during an interview are most likely to start with “What” or “How” in order as much insight as possible into the phenomena researched. A great benefit that the authors derive from an exploratory research, is that the research is adaptable to potential changes (Saunders, Lewis, & Thornhill, 2016).
3.4 Research Method
Research can be conducted using either a qualitative or a quantitative method. The difference between qualitative and quantitative collected data is mainly that qualitative data gets presented in non-numerical form while the quantitative data is presented in numerical form. Also, the qualitative data is analyzed by interpretative methods while the quantitative data mostly are using statistical methods (Collis & Hussey, 2014). The data collected for this paper is of the qualitative nature. The purpose with conducting a qualitative method is to provide a detailed explanation of meanings from the observations (Saunders, Lewis & Thornhill, 2016). This corresponds well with the purpose of this paper which is to provide a further richness of the existing knowledge on the topic. The data collection will be made through in-depth interviews, which will provide rich data that will enable the authors to analyze, find patterns and relationship with the purpose and
topic of this paper. Also, as this study holds a interpretivist paradigm the qualitative method is the most suitable.
If need be, this study will also incorporate descriptive research. This would be in order to being fully able to describe accurate and specific problems or phenomena (Collis & Hussey, 2014). A descriptive research however will only be applied if the authors deem it necessary due to lack of findings. The exploratory approach allows the authors to collect data that is rich in detail, in order to fully understand the phenomena research. Due to the abstract and subjective nature of the topic at hand, an exploratory approach is beneficial. A final note; the authors cannot guarantee that the findings of this paper meets a need or solves a problem but can rather contribute to current literature and open up possibilities for future research.
3.5 Data Collection
3.5.1 Primary and Secondary Data
The data collected for this study consists of both primary and secondary data. Collis and Hussey (2014) are defining primary data as information that are retrieved from an original source. In this thesis primary data is collected through personal in-depth interviews with members of the selected virtual team. Secondary sources are instead collected from already existing sources (Collis & Hussey, 2014). For this study, a large amount of secondary data has been retrieved from pre-existing sources such as peer-reviewed journals and books. These sources will contribute to the development of the frame of reference, provide valuable help in the empirical analysis and provide a high validity to build conclusion on regarding the researched topic.
3.5.2 Sampling Method
A population can be described as a collection of people. In turn, a subset of a population is called a sample. A sample is often used when it is impractical or impossible to reach out to the entire population (Saunders, Lewis & Thornhill, 2016). In the case of this study, it is not realistic to reach the entire population, and the authors will therefore use a sampling method.
The authors have decided upon using purposive sampling. This means that the authors have chosen participants working in a virtual team, and therefore suits the needs of the study (Saunders, Lewis & Thornhill, 2016). The sample for this study, consist of five employees and one manager working as a part of a virtual team, with members located all around the world. The virtual team itself is part of a Swedish-based company. The study's purpose demanded that interviews were conducted with members of a virtual team. Therefore, it was important to get in contact with a multinational corporation. Already established network connections allowed the authors to be put in touch with a manager of a virtual team. From this, the manager provided contact information to suitable people within his team. Contact with the participants were made while requesting an interview with the manager. The members and the manager became the authors sample, chosen to suit the purpose of the thesis.
3.5.3 Team & Company description
The chosen sample to participate in the interviews for this study did all belong to the same virtual team. The six participants are located in four different countries. Participant #1 is considered as the manager of the team while the rest have equal roles in the specific regions, working with global sourcing. All of the participants have a high level of seniority, with a minimum of 20 years of professional working experience. The company, referred to as ‘Company X’ in this study, is a multinational corporation within the information and technology industry. The headquarter is based in Sweden, while the company is operating actively around the globe.
3.5.4 Semi-Structured in-depth interviews
Research interviews is described as a conversation that takes places between at least two people. An interviewer asks questions towards the interviewee who in turn responds. The interviews’ aim is to result in valid data relevant to the researched topic (Saunders, Lewis & Thornhill, 2016). The authors have for this study decided upon conducting in-depth interviews that are semi-structured and open-ended questions. The interviews will work as a primary source and contribute to the empirical findings. Collis & Hussey (2014) states that open-ended questions are contributing to better developed answers. The same goes with a structure that is semi-structured, as it inspires the respondent to talk freely
and develop more detailed answers. It does also provide the interviewer with the possibility to during the interview follow up with new questions. The authors deem that there is a need to understand “the interviewees world” and establish a personal contact to be able to create conclusions within the phenomena. This are some of the major benefits of using a semi-structured in-depth interview method (Collis & Hussey, 2014). This method is also very helpful to understand background and context of the acquired data, which is highly appropriated for the purpose of this thesis. The next step after the interviews is to evaluate the data and find patterns between the interviewee’s answers.
The interviews for this study were built by a number of open-ended questions. The questions posed looked the same for all of the participants except one, the manager in the team, participant #1. The questions for the manager were customized with a purpose to explore how the team operates and difficulties as a manager. The questions can be found in Appendix 1 & 2. Apart from the prepared questions, follow up questions occurred based on the participants’ answers. The interviews were recorded and then later transcribed.
3.5.5 Reliability and Validity
Reliability and Validity are aspects of credibility when it comes to research, are they are essential in ensuring the quality of the research, as well as judgments (Saunders, Lewis & Thornhill, 2016). Furthermore, Collis & Hussey (2014) defines reliability as “[...] the
accuracy and precision of the measurement and the absence of differences in the results if the research were repeated”. While Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill (2016) defines
validity as “[...] the appropriateness of the measures used, accuracy of the analysis of the
results and generalizability of the findings”.
Starting off with Validity, one can investigate the validity of a research by considering questions such as “Are the measures used, appropriate for the intended purpose of the study?”, “What do the research findings reflect?” or “Is the analysis of the findings highly accurate?” (Saunders, Lewis & Thornhill. 2016). Errors have the potential to weaken the validity of a research, it may for example be misleading measurements or obtaining a poor sample (Collis and Hussey, 2014). Furthermore, Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill
(2016) discusses that in-depth and semi-structured interviews conducted within a qualitative research brings a high level of validity, as it gives the interviewee the possibility to talk freely and give elaborate data. It is important that the interviews conducted are conducted in a careful manner with clear questions, allowing the authors to explore different aspects and angles of responses. Based on this discussion of validity and the authors choice of conducting semi-structured interviews, the authors argue that they have followed the general guidelines for ensuring strong validity. This has been ensured by a careful selection of questions. That allows the interviewee a chance to express their opinions and also try to elaborate on the factors behind it. The authors were very careful during the interviews to not provide any sort of incitement or insinuate any answers. The authors deem the research to have a high degree of validity concerning the data collection and execution.
Reliability is an essential component when examining the research quality (Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, 2016). An important note is that reliability and sometimes even validity can be interpret differently depending on whether it is within a interpretivist or positivist study (Collis & Hussey, 2014). This research is of a qualitative nature with interpretations that are created subjectively. Since this study is conducted under an interpretivist paradigm, the need for consistency and replication is not as important as that these socially constructed interpretations are understood (Collis & Hussey, 2014). To simplify this, to ensure reliability, it is not as important for this research to be able to be replicated with similar results, but rather that the answers and results are understood. One measure to take to establish internal reliability, is that more than one researcher conduct the interviews and analyze the data. Including more than one researcher in data collection and analysis, will provide more viewpoints, interpretations and to a better extent remove one-sided biases. The authors have been very careful regarding this, and all of the analysis have been discussed and looked at by both of the authors. This research is qualitative and is conducted with semi-structured interviews incorporating open-ended questions based on the reality of the participants. It is therefore not realistic to ensure that this study can be replicated in the future, which is supported by Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill (2016). The authors present a specific research design, alongside argued methods and strategic choices, this will strengthen the reliability (Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, 2016).
3.6 Data Analysis
When both the primary and secondary data are collected it will be further analyzed. Miles and Huberman (1994) suggests that it exists a three-step process when analyzing qualitative data. To begin with, the data must be reduced. For the reduction of the data, the authors have chosen and simplified the data collected, as well as summarized, organized and transformed the notes and transcriptions. In simpler terms, the authors have gone through the data collected, and removed unnecessary data in order to single out the relevant data to analyze and connect to the research question. In the second step, the authors displayed the relevant data in a document. A document, which is described by Collis & Hussey (2014) as “a visual format that presents information systematically”. This display of data allowed the authors to draw conclusion and to detect possible patterns, and notice similarities or similarities between the literature and empirical findings. The final step is to draw conclusions based on the patterns, similarities or dissimilarities of the data.
Furthermore, in the presentation of the analysis, the author will present the reader with three factors that have a clear influence on motivation and trust; Interpersonal Relations,
Sense of Belonging and level of involvement. With these factors, relevant literature will
also be discussed to highlight similarities or dissimilarities. In the last steps of the analysis, the authors will discuss the factors influence on motivation and trust and present the reader with the influence Interpersonal communication has on the factors identified, and the implications for virtual teams.
3.7 Ethical Considerations
Ethical considerations and the intended use of the data is always highly important when conducting research and writing a report. Since this study requires it, the authors will collect information and data from an enterprise and individuals. It is therefore crucial that for the authors to ensure that all participants are aware of what is requested of them, and the intended use of the data. (Collis & Hussey, 2014). All participants have voluntarily agreed to participate, and they have received information regarding why the authors would like them to participate, what the authors expect from them, approximately how much time it will take and the purpose of the thesis. The company itself, as well as all participants will be anonymous throughout the entire thesis. The authors feel
that anonymity is essential for allowing the participant to speak freely and get reliable data. Therefore, the participants will be referred to as Participant #1-7 and the company will be referred to as “Company X.”.
4. Empirical Findings
______________________________________________________________________
Following section will present the reader with a summarization of the most relevant collected data. The data will be presented one by one, for each factor. The reader will get introduced to the participants answers regarding Interpersonal communication, Interpersonal Relations, Sense of Belonging, Level of involvement, Motivation and Trust.
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Interpersonal Relations, Sense of Belonging and Level of Involvement are factors that
have been pointed out in both the primary and secondary data collected, to be subjective to and different in a virtual environment. These factors also have a relation to interpersonal communication as well as motivation and trust. Therefore, the Empirical Findings and Analysis will be structured accordingly.
4.1 Interpersonal Relations
From the collected data, two things regarding Interpersonal Relations can be seen. Firstly, that almost all of the participants agreed to that Interpersonal communication do have an important and strong influence in the early/building phase of good interpersonal relations;
Participant #6 “When working with new people, both coworkers and customers, we tend
to always meet face to face. To get to know each other. It is important to build up relations at the start. Then, it is possible to work virtually.”
Participant #2 “Of course interpersonal communication is an important factor. But there are also many other factors that influence”
Participant #3 “It’s not the same for someone that is new in a team, because for that person it is essential to have those face to face interactions. That's the way I got to know the people I've been working with very much”
The second finding is that these interpersonal relations, in turn, has an influence on the level of motivation and job satisfaction the members felt in their work;
Participant #2 “Relations are key, especially when working virtually. We are very lucky
in our team. It is a quite unique mix of personalities and we get along very well. When we see each other, we have a lot of fun, so it is a very good atmosphere. “
Participant #3 “For me personally, I think that the interpersonal relations has an influence on my satisfaction. I know myself and I can be very transparent. For me the feeling that my work is valued and that it is appreciated is important for me…”
Participant #5 “I think it's extremely important that I know that I've had the opportunity
to really get to know these people and I feel like we all work hard for the same mission”
4.2 Sense of Belonging
The findings derived from the data collected show that Interpersonal communication has a strong influence on the sense of belonging the members feel towards their team, and that sense of belonging is an important factor for them to feel satisfied.
Participant #5 “Absolutely, I believe that interpersonal communication helps the sense of
belonging. I like to feel that people know me […] there’s this trust and rapport and it brings the team tighter, definitely”
Participant #4 “Being able to meet with my colleague once a week in the office and have
a coffee. I feel close to him, even out of the office we send each other jokes etc. It is important for the sense of belonging to a certain group”
Participant #6 “Earlier you did much more face to face. You travelled to be there and
meet, and then you get even more sense of belonging.”
Furthermore, the findings and interviews can be interpreted to show that interpersonal
4.3 Level of Involvement
Regarding the level of involvement, the findings do show that the use of interpersonal communication do have an important part and strong influence in establishing that the members feel a high level of involvement;
Participant #2 - “The more interpersonal communication the better level of involvement”
Participant #6 - “We have one or two times a year we meet face to face and that have
helped us a lot.”
Participant #3 - “I think that interpersonal communication helps a lot. It's a reinforces
the trust and also keep the level of team spirit and so forth”
Furthermore, the findings also suggest that a high level of involvement has a positive influence on the motivation the members feel;
Participant #3 “Yeah, I do think that the level of involvement helps the motivation”
Participant #5 “[...]If I have an opinion on a subject then to me it's motivating too feel
like my voice is not only heard but that it has weight and merit[...]”
Participant #2 “As a rule I do think that the level of involvement helps the motivation.
There are other things influencing motivation, but that is one.”
Participant #5 “It can be harder to achieve a high level of involvement in a virtual team
if not managed correctly. The manager needs to find a way to bridge those gaps that occur, so people do not feel disconnected”
The above findings were generally agreed on by all participants. However, one interesting finding relating to the level of involvement, and especially expressed by one participant, is that clear deliverables within a team can be a good way of achieving a high level of involvement;
Participant #4 “Humans are evolving, technology is evolving, and humans are evolving
along with that. We are developing different ways of trusting each other and measure the trust level. We are adapting, humans adapt to change.
”
Participant #4 “If you have deliverables for the team, let's say you have a project and the project is run virtually. How can you measure that person is involved? By deliverables, right? If you don’t specify them and what is expected, it is going to be hard to measure that”
This also became transparent in discussions with other participants, when discussing the importance of structure in virtual teams. They all agreed on that a clear division of labor and responsibility is crucial.
Participant #5 “I think that having who is accountable for what and by what deadline is important. I think clear deliverables is needed. Everybody needs to understand what they're responsible to deliver and the output of their work”
Participant #1 “You need to be very precise in your communication and have an entirely
different operational plan. You need to clarify for everyone what is expected, from who it is expected and when it is expected. You don’t have the same possibility to follow-up on everything on a daily basis when working virtually”
4.4 Trust
Trust is the one factor that was discovered as highly important in the interviews. All participants brought up trust as an important factor when working in a virtual team, and furthermore that trust was built through interpersonal communication and the building of interpersonal relations.
Participant #5 “I think it’s easier when you have those moments like Afterwork or a dinner
or the hallway grabbing a coffee. That for me is sometimes more important than the meetings itself. In those moments that you find commonality, you talk about personal interests and that's the time that you really start building that trust”
Participant #5 - “There's that level of trust there because of when we were together.”
Participant #2 - “A key factor in my opinion is trust. We also get on very well because we
trust each other. Because there is no one that disrupt the team in any way. If we have things to do, we do it. These things are very important, especially when working virtually.”
4.5 Motivation
Most of what can be seen with motivation is covered in the above parts. However, in discussion with the manager of the team, he gave his view on when he believes the members are motivated;
Participant #1 “The physical meetings. That’s when the motivation excels”
Participant #1 “I definitely think the physical meetings play their part in helping us
achieve this high level of motivation.”
While following this up with a general statement;
Participant #1 “The organization that does not have the physical meetings with the entire
team, a lot of them feel ‘off’ when they sit in their corners of the world. I have not had that problem, but I know that many organizations have the problem with motivation.”
4.6 Other Findings
During the interviews and while looking at the findings, there is one important aspect of the participants and the nature of the team that became clear. That is, that all of the participants are senior and experienced workers, while the team is well-established, and the members know each other well. All of the participants believe that their answers are subjective to this and that it would be different for inexperienced or junior workers. Some examples;
Participant #5 “I think early professionals typically work better as non-virtual where they
are all there together”
Participant #2 “When you don’t know the other person, it is much better to communicate
face to face. Because you see their reactions and what’s going on”
Participant #4 “It would be a different experience working virtually if you are a junior
worker. To keep you motivated, ongoing and really connected you need to do those connections more frequently. You need to talk to your senior manager more frequently”
Furthermore, all of the participants were unanimous that they are highly motivated by being given the autonomy and freedom that this type of virtual work provides;
Participate #6 “I would get irritated by micromanagement and my manager looking in
details. This would have been different in the beginning of my career. Then I would have appreciated the guidance.”
Participant #2 “It is a culture of freedom and responsibility, that is what motivates me the
most”
Participant #3 “Freedom for me is essential. As I said from the very beginning of this
conversation, it would be very difficult for me to have a manager that is controlling or is telling me what to do or how to do it.”
5. Analysis; Interpretation
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In this section of the thesis, the reader will be presented with the author’s analysis of the findings with help of current literature. As previously mentioned, Interpersonal Relations, Level of Involvement and Sense of belonging will be analyzed to investigate how these factors are influenced by interpersonal communication, and how they in turn, influence motivation and trust. These factors have been selected because they have been pointed out in both primary and secondary data as important in a virtual environment.
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5.1 Interpersonal Relations & Sense of Belonging
When looking into the literature, and analyzing the findings, it is clear that Interpersonal Communication is an important part in building interpersonal relations. All of the interview participants did unanimously agree on that the use of interpersonal communication and face-to-face interactions are crucial when building an interpersonal relationship with a colleague. This is supported by Lee (2011) and Jo & Shim (2005), both arguing that interpersonal communication is an important part of relationship building. Lee (2011) further concludes that the advantage of interpersonal communication is that it is a better medium for building relations. Most of the participants, expressed that they would prefer to take sensitive issues, personal or otherwise, through face-to-face interaction, which was also found by Lee (2011), concluding that interpersonal communication was more appreciated, especially when sensitive issues were communicated.
All participants did clearly state that they found the meetings, when they all meet up once or twice per year, to have been a key factor for building the strong interpersonal relations they all consider that the team is having. They all believe that the possibility to get to know each other face-to-face gives them a better possibility to know each other in person, which later positively affect their relations when working remotely. They did all, however, believe that the amount of time they spent together were enough to maintain the relations they already have. It stands clear that it is not so much about the frequency, but rather that they do meet from time to time. However, most of them also stated that a new
