Leadership and Communication in Virtual Teams
Hyvönen, Melissa; Utoslahti, Ella (2021)
2021
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Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2021053112718
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2021053112718
Tiivistelmä
The purpose of the thesis was to find out how to excellence leadership, the benefits and the challenges when it comes to communicating with geographically dispersed teams. The thesis research was carried out by reviewing relevant existing literature. The study aimed to explore different variables and characteristics of leadership, communication and virtual teams in order to conclude where efforts are needed and what already works well.
Furthermore, the thesis was inspired by the ongoing pandemic, as many in 2020 were forced to work remotely and quickly adapt into new working habits.
From the theoretical aspect, the thesis explores various leadership and communication theories in virtual teams, the thesis is based on a three-part theoretical framework. The following principal subject matters are included and presented: the definition and characteristics of virtual teams, communication in virtual teams and virtual team leadership.
The empirical part of this study uses quantitative research method. Moreover, the empirical study was based upon the framework. The primary data collection was collected on May 3rd, 2021. The target group of the survey were remote working individuals, either part time or full time. The total sample size consisted of 109 respondents who took part in the online survey conducted via Google Forms. The survey respondents participation was voluntarily and confidential. The respondents answered 13 survey questions. The results of the data were analyzed via Excel, further, the findings are presented in percentages and numerical figures. The desired outcome was to provide meaningful suggestions and recommendations based on the primary data collection.
In conclusion, the findings proved that the biggest issues in virtual teams are the lack of receiving support within the team, cultural differences, communication problems with transparency and trust and the absence of feedback from the management. Based on these, the thesis suggests the following recommendations for virtual teams: transparency in communication, encouragement and individual feedback from team leaders and finding the right virtual applications to use towards better teamwork.
Furthermore, the thesis was inspired by the ongoing pandemic, as many in 2020 were forced to work remotely and quickly adapt into new working habits.
From the theoretical aspect, the thesis explores various leadership and communication theories in virtual teams, the thesis is based on a three-part theoretical framework. The following principal subject matters are included and presented: the definition and characteristics of virtual teams, communication in virtual teams and virtual team leadership.
The empirical part of this study uses quantitative research method. Moreover, the empirical study was based upon the framework. The primary data collection was collected on May 3rd, 2021. The target group of the survey were remote working individuals, either part time or full time. The total sample size consisted of 109 respondents who took part in the online survey conducted via Google Forms. The survey respondents participation was voluntarily and confidential. The respondents answered 13 survey questions. The results of the data were analyzed via Excel, further, the findings are presented in percentages and numerical figures. The desired outcome was to provide meaningful suggestions and recommendations based on the primary data collection.
In conclusion, the findings proved that the biggest issues in virtual teams are the lack of receiving support within the team, cultural differences, communication problems with transparency and trust and the absence of feedback from the management. Based on these, the thesis suggests the following recommendations for virtual teams: transparency in communication, encouragement and individual feedback from team leaders and finding the right virtual applications to use towards better teamwork.