Developing an integrated understanding of performance management in virtual teams

Sammanfattning: Research problem: The current research into the performance management of virtual teams is scarce and fragmented. Furthermore, studies that have focused on the performance of virtual teams give limited managerial advice. Research aim: Thus, the focus of this study was to discover what could be learned about virtual teams when viewed through the lenses of existing performance management theories. This included understanding the challenges of this work environment as well as managerial tactics to overcome these obstacles. Literature review: In order to answer the question, an understanding of the existing theories on performance management and virtual teams was developed from existing literature. Furthermore, the concepts of trust and culture came to light as relevant topics for this study, so these were reviewed as well. Methodology: In order to address the research problem identified, individuals who have worked extensively in virtual teams were interviewed. The questions asked were developed using a deductive approach based on the results of the literature review, especially from performance management theory. Results and discussion: The results of these interviews were then compiled, coded, and sorted in order to discover common themes addressed by the participants. The main themes identified that are related to the performance management of virtual teams are communication methods, work processes, personal relationships, trust building, engagement and ability, and organizational challenges. These findings were then compared to existing research and integrated into a framework that had been developed from the outcome of the literature review. In addition, since the authors took a pragmatic approach, managerial suggestions were compiled in order to provide practitioners advice on how to improve the performance management of their virtual teams.