Critical success factors required by virtual teams members in engineering projects

Abstract

Virtual teams have emerged as a result of development in communication technologies and the inevitability for companies to compete in the global market. Differentiating features between traditional and virtual teams are minimal face-to-face interaction and a predominant use of technology-enabled communication. The objectives of this research were to investigate critical factors that contribute towards virtual team success and to further assess the role played by trust, communication, conflict and knowledge. Quantitative data collection methodology was employed for this research, using self-administered questionnaires. A total of 64 responses were received from a sample of 75. Most respondents were from South Africa (47%), while the remaining 53% were from India, United Kingdom and China. Four research questions were formulated based on gaps identified during the literature review. Factor analysis was performed by adding the outcomes of each factor and ranking them in descending order to determine the factor that was highly ranked. Based on this analysis, the study concluded that feedback about how well each team member was doing should be viewed as how well the entire team is doing. Moreover, the ability of team members to make good decisions and establishment of interim deadlines linked with celebration of the milestones, were also ranked as critical factors towards virtual teams success.