Virtual communicating, conflicts and performance in teams

Purpose – This paper aims to examine the influence of the level of team virtuality on the effects of intra‐team conflicts on team performance, which have hardly been investigated. Design/methodology/approach – A framework is proposed based on the extent to which team members use communication media to coordinate their actions and execute their tasks, taking into account the extent to which the communication media are synchronous and the extent to which the communication media convey para‐verbal and nonverbal aspects of communication. Data of 49 teams with 172 team members were analyzed using stepwise multiple regression analysis. Findings – The level of team virtuality influences the relation between intra‐team conflict and perceived team performance. The higher the level of team virtuality, the greater the positive impact of task conflict on perceived team performance. In teams with a low level of virtuality task conflict has a negative impact on perceived team performance, and in high virtual teams task conflict has a positive impact. In addition, process conflict has a negative impact on perceived team performance. Research limitations/implications – The present study provides a framework for the effects of the level of team virtuality that can be used in further research and has implications for practice. Originality/value – The study shows the effects of the level of team virtuality on team performance, which is important considering the emerging use of virtual communication tools in organizations.