The Influence of Trust on Virtual Team Performance

In recent years the work environment has become increasingly dynamic due to globalisation, decentralisation of work processes and due to the progress in information and communication technology. In order to adapt to these changes, organisations have adopted more flexible structures and processes one of which being virtual distributed teams. However, working with people from different continents, particularly in communication which is mainly computer mediated and does not transmit the same feelings and emotions as face-to-face communication does. Some of the challenges lie in developing and maintaining intra-team trust. Since trust smooths the path for an easier collaboration, conflict resolution, team integration and effective knowledge sharing, this ultimately might lead to higher effectiveness.

The aim of this essay is to provide a comprehensive view on the impact of trust on the efficiency of a virtual distributed team based on results of previous empirical research.

Virtual teams are groups of geographically dispersed co-workers coordinated through a combination of telecommunications and information technologies to accomplish an organizational task. On the one hand, it may seem like a dream team that offers flexibility and diversity that in turn promotes creativity and synergy due to a more open-minded work environment. On the other hand, the lack of crucial personal elements such as intra-team trust, a personal relationship and cross-cultural competences, often is a compelling argument against this work setup as this aspect fosters a safe and proactive work environment. A virtual work environment, which depends on computer-mediated communication (CMC) does indeed stimulate more small talk, for the members do have the intention of getting to know their co-workers better; it is nevertheless not enough for building relationships and developing trust. In a study on communication, Mehrabian (1967) determined that 55% of our communication is nonverbal and only 38% is vocal. Therefore, virtual teams cannot rely on aspects such as body posture, clothes, smell, gestic or need for personal space which have a greater impact on our perception about somebody, in order to analyze whether a person is trustworthy or not. Communication is thus another significant factor of influence on building trust and on the effectiveness of a team; however, I will not focus on developing this aspect, as the central matter of the essay is the influence of trust on the effectiveness of a team.

Since virtual distributed teams have been introduced to the work scene, intra-team trust has remained a hot topic for researchers as new means for building trust are being discovered and evaluated. For example, Handy on his research back in 1995, concluded that trust is simply not present or cannot be maintained in global virtual teams and Alshara et al. in 2017 demonstrated that there are other ways to develop and maintain trust in a virtual setting. Their studies have shown that knowledge sharing is a key requirement for distributed teams to achieve trust and thereby performance. Knowledge sharing refers to a generalised social exchange, wherein individuals share their knowledge without expecting nothing more in return than the promise of a long term collaborative relationship. In other words, if people are willing to share their learnings in order to help the team reach a certain performance level, expecting nothing more than respect and appreciation in return, then a team is on the right path to building trust. Yet knowledge sharing is closely related to the availability of the team members. While performing research on other dimensions of trust Iacono and Weisband (1997) defined availability, initiation and responsiveness as “action forms” that also have an impact on the process of building trust. Virtual teams may not benefit, as on-site teams do, from the advantage of just going over to your team member’s desk and asking him about the problems you are facing or requesting clarification. These issues lead to frustration and a feeling of helplessness which in turn generates losses in motivation or even conflicts as the team would not be able to deliver appropriate results in the specified time frame.

Nonetheless, global teams have come a long way and managers have had to always rely on different methods to build trust among members. Recent studies have shown that virtual teams do share some sort of trust. It is a combination of affective and cognitive trust, but with a high emphasis on the cognitive type. Affective trust refers to emotional connections and reflects beliefs about reciprocated care and concerns. Cognitive trust, more prone to be developed in a virtual environment, is objective, without bias as it does not consider personal or emotional aspects and is based solely on performance, contribution and reliability. In an impartial environment team members might express themselves more freely, without fear of personal judgment which stimulates a higher motivation to learn new things and contribute proactively to the success of the team. When co-workers trust each other they also tend to collaborate more. Alsharo et al. (2017) demonstrated in their studies that in virtual settings, collaboration among members increases the effectiveness of the entire team. Collaboration stems from the key behavior, mentioned earlier, essential for the development of trust in a virtual setting: knowledge sharing. Numerous studies have shown that knowledge sharing which positively influences trust among members is quintessential to the performance of a globally distributed groups. As a result, trust does have a impact on the performance of virtual teams. Mitchell and Zigurs have conducted a study in 2009 on the implications of trust in virtual teams and came to the conclusion that trust does directly influence team performance. Other researchers such as Jarvenpaa (2004) and Kuo and Yu (2009) have also concluded that any form of trust affects the effectiveness of global teams.

Although countless studies have contradictory outcomes, some which do indicate a positive relation between trust and effectiveness and others that only confirm an indirect connection between the two variables, trust in virtual teams remains an important aspect among researchers. Developing or maintaining trust is, nevertheless dependent on the actions of the team members. They must engage in always finding new patterns for knowledge sharing and communication that allows them to become better acquainted with their co-workers and fosters the safe development of intra-trust, thus trust does positively influence the team’s performance. In today’s rapidly changing environment virtual teams will not disappear, on the contrary, their number will keep increasing, yet the virtuality will change, as a consequence of the increasing technological advancement.