Trust Fostering Competencies in Asynchronous Digital Communication

The development of digital communication media fosters the employment of geographically dispersed teams by companies around the globe. Although virtual teams are widely employed today, only little is known about the required competencies of team members that arise from the challenges of digital communication and geographical dispersion. Especially, teams working across several time zones face several demands. According to Media Synchronicity Theory, the two main challenges that rise from asynchronous communication are coordination problems and low (perceived) interactivity. These challenges might negatively influence trust and performance of virtual teams. In this chapter, we develop a competency model for asynchronous communication in working teams. According to this model, central competencies to overcome the negative effects of asynchronous communication are extraversion, conscientiousness, proactivity, computer-mediated communication skills, self-management skills, and prospective memory. At the end of this chapter we discuss different research approaches in the field of virtual team competencies.

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