Using virtual interactions to explore leadership and collaboration in globally distributed teams

Despite advances in collaboration software, globally distributed teams face significant challenges, including variations in communication style, work behaviors, expectations and establishing common ground. Virtual worlds allow distributed team members to inhabit a shared space and to engage in cooperative activities. We report an exploratory study where newly formed cross-national teams engage in a cooperative game in which one team member has a leadership role. We describe behaviors observed supplemented by survey and interview data in terms of leadership, conflict management, social gaffes, and awareness of diversity. We suggest that cooperative activities under time pressure in a "low stakes" virtual environment may stimulate discussion that can foster greater understanding and effective interaction in real world collaborations. Copyright 2010 ACM.