Using Formal Channels to Encourage Cooperation in a Virtual Workplace May Not Work

In Weems-Landingham (2008) the notion that formally moderated contingency approaches to virtual cooperation can alienate team members, promote resentments, and adversely affect team performance is a vital takeaway. To avoid this, the author describes a phased approach to gain access to critical resources that relies once upon the leader’s interpersonal skills. However, if critical resources fail to join the team, the leader may regrettably be forced to use formal channels. This has been my personal experience too, where on many occasions when trying to build virtual client teams consisting of client SMEs and our own SMEs, the client SMEs may want to “hide” and not volunteer for the team. Since client employees do not report to me, I always tried to encourage client SMEs to volunteer to help on the project. While client management was directing me to take charge and demand participation, from experience, I knew that to gain the highest level of support, I needed to mine their human capital. According to Eisenberg and Krishnan (2018), leaders who regularly communicate with all team members build more cohesive virtual teams. They tend to have a finger on the pulse of the organization and their SMEs.

Weems-Landingham, V. (2008). Building Virtual Cooperation: Guidelines for Effective Performance. In N. Panteli & M. Chiasson (Eds.), Exploring virtuality within and beyond organizations (pp. 73-90). NY: Palgrave MacMillan.