Exploring the communication breakdown in global virtual teams

Virtual matrix-managed teams with geographically dispersed members are becoming increasingly common in the high-tech sector. These teams, referred to as global virtual teams (GVTs), are generally described as culturally diverse, geographically dispersed, electronically-communicating workgroups. They rapidly form, change, and dissolve due to dynamic changes in the market. In addition, most GVTs today have team members spread among several projects with competing priorities. Communication breakdown can wreak havoc on a project as team members struggle to effectively communicate and work with one another. As a result, project delivery risks with distributed teams tend to be greater when compared to co-located teams. To address this critical issue, this study investigates the types of factors that significantly contribute to communication breakdown by identifying five distinct areas through a series of interviews with project team members in high-tech companies. These areas are trust, interpersonal relations, cultural differences, leadership and technology. These criteria are analyzed using mathematical Decision Models taking expert opinions from professionals who worked in GVTs.