Tag: trust

Why Team Building Retreats Don’t Improve Team Work

In a study of virtual teams, Stanford management science professor Pamela Hinds found that 6 months after virtual team members participated in an intense week-long team building retreat there was zero correlation to their ability to work together.  Hinds believes that in order to increase a group’s relational coordination or ability to…

Virtual Team Paradox #1: Physical Presence Is Necessary

It’s no big secret that virtual teams need to meet face-to-face.  As mentioned in an earlier post, a study completed by Dubé and Robey found that the most prevalent contradiction or tension in virtual teams is the necessity for face-to-face presence. There’s something important about corporeality that allows us to…

What’s So Special About Virtual Teams?

If we’re talking purely about their goals and functions…nothing, really. Like all other teams they are formed to solve a problem, do a project, perform a service, or come up with some answers.  What makes them so  special is that they are able to pool together talent and expertise from…

Video Conferencing and Trust

Milton discussed in some earlier posts the importance of smiling and eye contact in facilitating video mediated communication.  At the heart of these issues is the issue of building video trust. The Research On Video Trust The good news is that according to video trust studies, people using only video…