Title: Managing online teams: challenges and best practices

Authors: Shonelle M. Ramserran; Abubaker Haddud

Addresses: School of Management, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK ' School of Management, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK

Abstract: The purpose of this research was to discover how management skills influence online teams in direct comparison to offline teams. A survey was conducted of 120 managers working in varying degrees of online and offline teams. As virtual teams are affected differently by leadership and communication skills together with team dynamics and culture, these attributes were examined at length to understand how best to manage online teams. In line with researchers' expectations, this study gave light to the new phenomenon of online teams, and their benefits, but also the extra attention needed when communicating, as the element of human interaction is missing. The study revealed that leadership and communication are important in online teams. Also, interaction and engagement with online teams require more sensitivity. Finally, team dynamics are more difficult to develop with online teams and culture plays a major role in managing online teams.

Keywords: virtual teams; leadership; communications; team dynamics; cultural influences; management skills; key stakeholders.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBPM.2018.090686

International Journal of Business Performance Management, 2018 Vol.19 No.2, pp.131 - 157

Received: 05 Aug 2015
Accepted: 25 Jul 2016
Published online: 27 Mar 2018 *

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