Exploring communication-based work processes in virtual work environments

Distributed work teams are increasingly being implemented to enhance organizational flexibility and competitiveness in today's complex and rapidly changing work environment. Electronic media is used to enable or facilitate their communication. Though an increasing number of employees work in such settings, there is little investigation of the performance of communication-based work processes in supporting their work in the multiple teams. The objective of this research is to investigate communication-based work processes necessary in different types of distributed work teams, and the ways in which communication modes can be used most effectively to support these processes. The study explores these relationships using a multiple case study approach, taking into consideration individuals' multiple and often overlapping team memberships. In this paper we report initial findings from the research, which was conducted in two major information technology companies.