The negative impact of individual perceived isolation in distributed teams and its possible remedies
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Date
2022
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
John Wiley & Sons Ltd
Abstract
Previous research on distributed teams indicates that physi cal distance between team members is problematic for team
functioning. We advance this research by investigating the
role of team members' psychological experiences of isola tion using both a longitudinal diary study and a time-lag
field study, applying a Job Demand–Resource (JD-R) theory
lens (Bakker & Demerouti, 2017). With the diary study,
we capture daily fluctuations of perceived isolation and its
antecedents and consequences. Results show that (a) where
distributed team members work, and (b) how much they
communicate, contribute to the degree to which distributed
team members may feel isolated. The combined results of
the diary study and the time-lagged field study show that
1) perceived isolation, and 2) perceived isolation combined
with high role ambiguity, contribute to experiences of help lessness. Subsequently, feelings of helplessness hamper the
level of perceived team implicit coordination. Theoretical and practical implications for managing distributed teams
are discussed.
Description
Keywords
daily communication quantity, distributed teams