Newcomer Assimilation in Virtual Team Socialization

The way we work today is being transformed. Recent technological advances, combined with more flexible job design, have helped increase the number of people working in geographically and/or temporally dispersed environments. Increasing numbers of organizations have employees who are not physically present in the traditional organizations. Hence, more employees are working on teams that seldom, if ever, meet face-to-face. These “teleworkers” have the same work responsibilities as traditional employees, but they have the added challenges of managing or operating within the dynamics of these virtual teams. Rapid developments in communication technology and the increased globalization of organizations have also greatly accelerated the growth and importance of virtual teams in the workplace. Virtual teams are becoming more commonplace because they are more efficient, less expensive, and less difficult to organize than traditional co-located teams (Larsen & McInerney, 2002; Lurey & Raisinghani, 2001; Piccoli & Ives, 2003). Although there are apparent advantages to organizing work virtually, the challenge for new member integration lies in the fact that team members communicate primarily via electronic mail, telephone, and videoconferencing or computer conferencing. This increased dependence on mediated communication significantly alters the traditional way new members are socialized to work teams. This article addresses the challenges of virtual team socialization with regard to newcomer assimilation. Particular attention is given to newcomer encounter as embedded processes of virtual team assimilation. Effective communication is key to organizational and team socialization. How well an individual is socialized into a team may determine his or her success within the team, as well as the success of the team in achieving its goals and objectives. Team socialization and the communication practices associated with newcomer integration have been researched extensively (e.g., Brockmann & Anthony, 2002; Lagerstrom & Anderson, 2003) since Jablin (1982) first explored the multi-layered process. Socialization occurs when a newcomer to a team acquires the knowledge, behavior, and attitudes needed to participate fully as a member of that team. Jablin (1987) framed the stages of socialization as anticipatory socialization, organizational assimilation (encounter and metamorphosis), and organizational exit. Although there is an abundance of literature on traditional organizational socialization, research on virtual team socialization is beginning to emerge (Flanagin & Waldeck, 2004; Picherit-Duthler, Long & Kohut, 2004; Ahuja & Galvin, 2003).