The emergence of a communication climate in global virtual teams

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Abstract

Focusing on the micro-dynamics of intercultural communication in global virtual teams, we hypothesize that relationally-oriented content, communicated in the first message, and exchanged in the early stage of team formation, facilitates the emergence of psychologically safe communication climate, which in turn improves team performance. We test our hypotheses by examining early asynchronous communication in sixty global virtual teams of MBA students and measuring team communication climate and performance. Our findings support the hypotheses and reveal the anchoring role of the first message exchanged between team members, extending previous research on intercultural communication and relationally-oriented content within global virtual teams.

Introduction

The development of global markets and technological advancements have accelerated the presence of culturally diverse and globally dispersed virtual teams (global virtual teams – GVTs) in multinational organizations (Connaughton & Shuffler, 2007; Gibson, Huang, Kirkman, & Shapiro, 2014). Despite the potential benefits of GVTs, which utilize their latent diverse sources of knowledge and expertise, their effectiveness is often not fully realized (Hinds & Bailey, 2003; Mesmer-Magnus, DeChurch, Jimenez-Rodriguez, Wildman, & Shuffler, 2011; Neeley, Hinds, & Cramton, 2012; Polzer, Crisp, Jarvenpaa, & Kim, 2006; Stahl, Mäkelä, Zander, & Maznevski, 2010; Stahl, Maznevski, Voigt, & Jonsen, 2010; Stahl & Tung, 2014).

The multicultural context in which GVTs operate introduces formidable challenges for intercultural communication (Adair, Buchan, Chen, & Liu, 2016; Jimenez, Boehe, Taras, & Caprar, 2017; Mannix & Neale, 2005). The range of cross-cultural differences within a global team portends a high level of complexity and uncertainty with regard to intercultural communication norms in such teams (Gibson et al., 2014). The level of uncertainty is especially high in the early work stages of newly formed GVTs, when there is no prior familiarity among team members (Haas & Cummings, 2015). Understanding the communicational factors that enable improvement of interpersonal relationships within GVTs may assist in overcoming GVTs’ challenges and enhancing their performance (Chua, Morris, & Mor, 2012; Dahlin, Weingart, & Hinds, 2005; Hinds & Mortensen, 2005; Zander, Mockaitis, & Butler, 2012; Zimmermann, 2011).

Scholars have rarely examined the communication aspects that facilitate the emergence of positive relations in GVTs (Gilson, Maynard, Jones Young, Vartiainen, & Hakonen, 2014). Specifically, whereas the issues of media use and language proficiency have gained increasing attention (Brannen, Piekkari, & Tietze, 2014; Kirkman, Cordery, Mathieu, Rosen, & Kukenberger, 2013; Klitmøller & Lauring, 2013; Neeley et al., 2012; Powell, Piccoli, & Ives, 2004), the content of interpersonal communication among team members remains mostly unexplored (for recent review, see Marlow, Lacerenza, & Salas, 2017).

Keyton (1999) defined two content types of communication – relationally-oriented (i.e., communication that promotes relationships between and among team members (p. 192) and task-oriented content (instrumental communication aimed at accomplishing a task). Studies that analyzed the communication content exchanged among team members have mostly focused on the task-oriented content of team communication and its effect on team outcomes (Kanawattanachai & Yoo, 2008; Woolley, 2009). The relational content of communication has generally been overlooked, as it has been considered to relate only tangentially to team performance (Keyton, 2000; Von Glinow, Shapiro, & Brett, 2004). Nevertheless, sharing relational content could be a valuable means for effective intercultural communication (Chua et al., 2012; Hajro, Gibson, & Pudelko, 2017). Based on Uncertainty Reduction Theory (URT; Berger & Calabrese, 1975; Bradac, 2001; Gudykunst & Nishida, 1984), we suggest that the exchange of relational content in the introductory phase of communication may reduce the levels of uncertainty, which are driven by GVT members’ lack of familiarity and cultural diversity, allowing the process of relationship building. Relational content may also reduce stereotypical thinking and facilitate a sense of inclusion and shared understanding (Lisak, Erez, Sui, & Lee, 2016; Stahl & Tung, 2014).

Following the call of the Journal of World Business (2017) to address the intercultural communication processes that facilitate team performance and recognizing the limited research available on the content of intercultural communication, we examine the effect of relational content on GVT members’ interpersonal relationships and performance.

To study the effect of the content of team communication on the emergence of positive relationships within GVTs, we adopted the dynamic approach to team processes. This approach considers the timeline of team development and suggests that the effectiveness of diverse teams, including GVTs, depends on the unfolding dynamics among team members (Gardner, Gino, & Staats, 2012; Peterson, Srikanth, & Harvey, 2016). Specifically, the dynamic approach argues that interactions in the early stage of team formation foster the emergence of certain states, which in turn help team members overcome the challenges of diversity (Crisp & Jarvenpaa, 2013; Kanawattanachai & Yoo, 2002; Maznevski & Chudoba, 2000; Peterson & Behfar, 2003). One such emergent state is the team’s psychologically safe communication climate (Gibson & Gibbs, 2006; Kirkman et al., 2013).

A psychologically safe communication climate (PSCC) refers to the positive interpersonal relations within GVTs that enable team members to openly share knowledge and information, without being threatened by possible criticism or the other members’ taking advantage of the knowledge for their own benefit. Gibson and Gibbs (2006) defined PSCC as a team climate that allows “raising different opinions, engaging in spontaneous and informal communication, and bridging differences by suspending judgment, remaining open to other ideas and perspectives, and engaging in active listening” (p. 462). Despite the importance of PSCC to GVT performance, the research on how this communication climate emerges is scarce.

Research on team emergent states, such as PSCC, emphasizes the importance of the first face-to-face meeting dynamics of co-located teams for understanding team processes and outcomes (Bettenhausen & Murnighan, 1985; Chang, Bordia, & Duck, 2003; Chua et al., 2012; Gersick, 1988; Moore, Kurtzberg, Thompson, & Morris, 1999). Communication research refers to these initial interactions as the “entry phase”, during which the uncertainty levels are being reduced (Antheunis, Valkenburg, & Peter, 2010; Berger & Calabrese, 1975; Neuliep & Grohskopf, 2000). We propose that similar to the first face-to-face meeting, the first phase of email exchanges among GVT members, demarcated by a given time period and communication media, represents the GVT’s early asynchronous team communication. Further, we suggest that the first message exchanges among team members in the early team communication phase influence the content of later communication, as well as the emergence of a psychologically safe communication climate.

This study aims to extend the research on intercultural team communication by making the following theoretical and practical contributions. First, it identifies the impact of early asynchronous GVT communication on the emergence of a team communication climate. Second, it highlights the importance of the relationally-oriented, rather than the task-oriented, content of the early asynchronous GVT communication as a significant antecedent of the PSCC and provides additional evidence of the positive effect of this climate on GVT performance. Third, it reveals the micro-dynamics of the early asynchronous team communication, by underscoring the anchoring role of the very first email. Specifically, it demonstrates the role of the first message as signaling the appropriateness of relational content to be used by team members during the early asynchronous communication. Finally, by focusing on the early team intercultural communication and linking team micro-dynamics to communication theories, this study provides evidence for the effect of early team communication content on the GVT’s emergent PSCC and performance. In the following section, we elaborate on our theoretical framework and research hypotheses.

Section snippets

Challenges of intercultural communication

Successful intercultural communication in global virtual teams (GVTs) faces great challenges. Language barriers create status differences and faultlines, causing misunderstandings, misinterpretations, and conflicts (Hinds & Mortensen, 2005; Hinds, Neeley, & Cramton, 2013; Klitmøller, Schneider, & Jones, 2015; Neeley, 2012; Tenzer & Pudelko, 2016, 2017; Tenzer, Pudelko, & Harzing, 2014; Von Glinow et al., 2004).The use of communication technology and devices limits the non-verbal cues and social

Sample and data collection

Participants in this study were 234 MBA students from ten different business schools around the world (Austria, China, France, Italy, Israel, Spain and four schools in the United States), who were randomly divided into 60 small (3-4 members), ad hoc virtual project teams. Each team member studied in a different geographical location. The multicultural virtual team project was part of their local Cross-Cultural Management course, and the project grade was part of the course’s final grade. The

Results

Table 1 shows the descriptive statistics and correlations among the variables. As it demonstrates, there are significant correlations between the relational content in the first communicated message and the relational content of the early asynchronous team communication. There is also a positive correlation between the relational content of the early asynchronous team communication and the team’s PSCC, and between PSCC and team performance. In addition, the relational content in the early

Discussion

This study aimed to contribute to the research on intercultural communication dynamics by exploring the relationally-oriented communication content exchanged among members of global virtual teams in the early stage of team formation, and test its effect on the emergence of teams’ psychologically safe communication climate (PSCC) and consequent team performance. Previous research established the positive effect of a PSCC on multicultural team performance (Gibson & Gibbs, 2006). Almost no prior

Conclusion

Past research showed that high PSCC leads to high performance in global virtual teams. To date, the antecedents of this climate were mostly unknown. Looking at the relationally- versus the task-oriented content, this study demonstrated that relational content shared in the early stages of team formation made a significant contribution to the emergence of the team’s psychologically safe communication climate. Additionally, looking at team dynamics, we found that the relational content of the

Acknowledgments

We would like to acknowledge Michael Faivush, Reut Livne-Tarandash and Alon Lisak for serving as friendly reviewers and contributing their thoughts and ideas through the different stages of article development. We also wish to express our gratitude to the anonymous reviewers and the editors of the special issue, especially Betina Szkudlarek, for their contribution to the manuscript.

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