The Desire for Cohesion in Virtual Teams: Be Careful What You Wish For

Cohesion is regarded as something to strive for in virtual teams yet difficult to attain. What happens , though, when cohesion is achieved; does cohesion, as assumed, enhance the virtual team? During a longitudinal participant observation study of a virtual software development team, a strange paradox was noted. A new software development methodology was introduced to the project, and the developers were initially committed to its use. Over time, the commitment gradually decreased to the stage where aspects of the new methodology were practically ignored. As the team was a virtual team, with group members rarely congregating as a whole for any length of time, it was hard to explain why this diminishing of commitment occurred. The remoteness and part-time participation of group members meant that the team deciding themselves to ignore aspects of the methodology was not a likely possibility. A review of existing research suggested that the concepts behind the diffusion of innovations (specifically software process innovations) may have a bearing. Although pertinent to the area of introducing new software development methodologies, diffusion theories did not provide a complete explanation for the decrease in commitment that was observed. The theory of competing commitments was applied, and it was discovered that one cause of the decreased commitment among team members was groupthink. Groupthink should not be a problem with virtual teams as there should be less cohesion: a lack of contact between members dictating the low level of cohesion. Further analysis showed that 1517 The Desire for Cohesion in Virtual Teams elements of electronic collaboration as described in Koch (2005b). Change within software development projects is an area of importance to the success of the project as projects, by their very nature, are about change. Although Cushway and Lodge (1999) emphasise the importance of managing change, their description of change management is a restrictive one. For them, the concern is in developing strategies and structures. No mention is made of the teams and individuals who will effect, and be affected by, change. The sole mention of employees is a list of expectations, or required behaviours, such as roles must be carried out in a dependable fashion, and there must be innovation in achieving organisational objectives. In the context of a virtual team, there are further considerations regarding change that need to be addressed. This chapter describes a case study, under-taken by the authors, that examined the change involved in …