Virtual Team Leader Communication: Employee Perception and Organizational Reality

• Published in: International journal of business communication (Thousand Oaks, Calif.) Vol. 57; no. 4; pp. 452 - 473
• Main Authors: Newman, Sean A., Ford, Robert C., Marshall, Greg W.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01.10.2020
• Subjects: trust; leader communication; team performance; organizational alignment; virtual teams
• ISSN: 2329-4884; 2329-4892
• DOI: 10.1177/2329488419829895

Based on a study of leader communication effectiveness conducted in a large human resource outsourcing firm, this article reports how virtual team members’ perceptions of their leaders’ effective use of communication tools and techniques affect team performance outcomes. The study also investigates the role that trust plays in moderating the relationship between virtual team members’ perceptions of their leaders’ effective use of communication and team performance. Analysis of 458 responses from 68 teams found a positive relationship between virtual team members’ perceptions of leaders’ effective use of communications and team members’ perception of their team’s performance. The study also found that trust strengthens the relationship between perceived leader communication effectiveness and team performance results. Last, the study also revealed serious organizational alignment issues between what team members perceived to be effective leader communication, their perception of team performance outcomes, and the organizations performance measured by a balanced scorecard.