“Should I Introduce myself?”: asynchronous semi-guided professional introductions for enhanced perceived team effectiveness in new virtual dyadic teams
“Should I Introduce myself?”: asynchronous semi-guided professional introductions for enhanced perceived team effectiveness in new virtual dyadic teams
Achieving effective collaboration and trust has been shown to be harder for virtual vs. in-person teams. Related work has confirmed that introductions are a key mechanism to form trust in newly-formed teams. The rise of remote work necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the need for accelerating the development of effective collaboration in virtual teams. In response to this need, based on the research around introductions and trust in team settings, we have developed a novel approach for virtual introductions. This is what we term as asynchronous, semi-guided, professional introductions. Participants pre-record an introduction that uses a set of professionally-focused questions and watch these introductions prior to the meeting. Our study examines the impact of these introductions on virtual teams in three conditions: video, text, and no introduction. In this study, we used the Team Diagnostic Survey post-task completion to assess team effectiveness and interpersonal processes of 28 dyads. Thematic coding was used to collect dyads’ experience and engagement. The introduction conditions demonstrated significantly improved collaboration, effectiveness, and engagement amongst participants. Notably, the video condition was particularly well-received by participants and resulted in higher levels of engagement and effectiveness compared to the text and no introduction conditions. Ultimately, the use of these introductions led to a marked increase in trust and collaboration amongst participants. We reflect on the effects of this finding in the mainstream and propose further research to support newly-formed virtual dyadic teams to increase team effectiveness. This study contributes to the existing literature by introducing a novel asynchronous, semi-guided approach to virtual dyadic team introductions, offering insights crucial for contemporary remote work dynamics.
Asynchronous media, Dyads, Introduction, Team effectiveness, Trust, Virtual teams
Muresan, George Catalin
aa231706-2a59-4fa5-8f08-46119fb79081
Mititelu, Sebastian
094a1e86-8b79-4aa4-83b4-c1cbf2bc273b
Andres, Josh
7d56da52-eb32-4e3e-80cf-dafc04d8340e
schraefel, m.c.
ac304659-1692-47f6-b892-15113b8c929f
30 April 2024
Muresan, George Catalin
aa231706-2a59-4fa5-8f08-46119fb79081
Mititelu, Sebastian
094a1e86-8b79-4aa4-83b4-c1cbf2bc273b
Andres, Josh
7d56da52-eb32-4e3e-80cf-dafc04d8340e
schraefel, m.c.
ac304659-1692-47f6-b892-15113b8c929f
Muresan, George Catalin, Mititelu, Sebastian, Andres, Josh and schraefel, m.c.
(2024)
“Should I Introduce myself?”: asynchronous semi-guided professional introductions for enhanced perceived team effectiveness in new virtual dyadic teams.
International Journal of Human Computer Studies, 188, [103279].
(doi:10.1016/j.ijhcs.2024.103279).
Abstract
Achieving effective collaboration and trust has been shown to be harder for virtual vs. in-person teams. Related work has confirmed that introductions are a key mechanism to form trust in newly-formed teams. The rise of remote work necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the need for accelerating the development of effective collaboration in virtual teams. In response to this need, based on the research around introductions and trust in team settings, we have developed a novel approach for virtual introductions. This is what we term as asynchronous, semi-guided, professional introductions. Participants pre-record an introduction that uses a set of professionally-focused questions and watch these introductions prior to the meeting. Our study examines the impact of these introductions on virtual teams in three conditions: video, text, and no introduction. In this study, we used the Team Diagnostic Survey post-task completion to assess team effectiveness and interpersonal processes of 28 dyads. Thematic coding was used to collect dyads’ experience and engagement. The introduction conditions demonstrated significantly improved collaboration, effectiveness, and engagement amongst participants. Notably, the video condition was particularly well-received by participants and resulted in higher levels of engagement and effectiveness compared to the text and no introduction conditions. Ultimately, the use of these introductions led to a marked increase in trust and collaboration amongst participants. We reflect on the effects of this finding in the mainstream and propose further research to support newly-formed virtual dyadic teams to increase team effectiveness. This study contributes to the existing literature by introducing a novel asynchronous, semi-guided approach to virtual dyadic team introductions, offering insights crucial for contemporary remote work dynamics.
Text
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More information
Accepted/In Press date: 16 April 2024
e-pub ahead of print date: 24 April 2024
Published date: 30 April 2024
Additional Information:
Corrigendum at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhcs.2024.103313:
“Support for this research provided by Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) UK projects AutoTrust EP/R029563/1 and Health Resilience Interactive Technologies EP/T007656/1”
Keywords:
Asynchronous media, Dyads, Introduction, Team effectiveness, Trust, Virtual teams
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 501947
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/501947
ISSN: 1071-5819
PURE UUID: 6be18355-3004-4e13-82ce-3e91b16ba2d2
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Date deposited: 12 Jun 2025 16:50
Last modified: 22 Aug 2025 01:51
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Contributors
Author:
George Catalin Muresan
Author:
Sebastian Mititelu
Author:
Josh Andres
Author:
m.c. schraefel
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