Whose (Partially Distributed) Team Are You On? Interviews About "Us vs. Them" in Corporate Settings

This study explores, through semi-structured interviews, team member perceptions of effectiveness in Partially Distributed Team work. A partially distributed team (PDT) is a virtual team, in which some members are collocated, yet others are geographically dispersed, and communication between them is primarily by electronic media. Researchers have identified an overarching problem in partially distributed teams, referred to as “Us-vs.-Them”, where members identify and collaborate better with collocated members than they do with distant members. We asked fourteen industry professionals to reflect on recent PDT experiences, in an attempt to find out what exacerbated and mitigated this problem. We confirmed prior findings such as importance of relationship building between members and salience of organizational influences, especially organizational culture and power distribution. We discuss additional findings based on team members’ insight, to help transform the “Us-vs.-Them” in-group/ out-group dynamics into an “Us” team cohesion.