Sharing Knowledge
Knowledge sharing was transmitted through effective communication. In Figure 4 below, the benefits of sharing knowledge were found in eight aspects that positively influenced virtual closeness among global virtual team members and leaders. That equated effective communication exchanges in knowing the needs of two or more global virtual team members. Each team member paid close attention to cross-cultural sensitivities, which sustained and maintained understandability among messages offered (Zakaria, Amelinckx, & Wilemon, 2004). The variety of communication media used provided additional context. However, certain cross-cultural settings lost some of the essence in communications between members that did not share similar cultural cues.
For example, COVID-19 made an overall impact on proximal teams, while virtual teams basically remained intact (at least in the first two weeks of the pandemic). However, when proximal teams members were required to shift into virtual teams there were communication lags, due to the application of virtual cross-cultural settings and total computer-mediated communication responses. Transferring into settings that were asynchronous and digitally based increased communication pressures, as well as conflicts (i.e., interpersonal, IT issues, confidentiality and security) as all teams were working on similar “homebased” networks, instead of a corporate intranet system that was campus based. Remote working or virtual work settings differed greatly from proximal workplaces, as all the work had to be completed using computer-mediated communications, which led to misunderstandings and frustrations among virtual team members.
For instance, computer-mediated communication compressed sections of messages, like in emails or memos that suggested (or did not suggest) what precautions to take for cyber security, which internet speeds and data spaces were needed to complete workloads, and what to do with technical incompatibilities such as software and hardware. These issues made less than dynamic results in communication and lessened understandings of particular cross-cultural context. As a result knowledge sharing generated three components: knowledge management, learned lessons, and technical support in information and communication (Huysman & de Whit, 2013).
Overall, to excel in virtual teams with the use of knowledge sharing depended on the focus and importance of continued learning as a team. In the above example COVID-19 made all virtual team members, both those seasoned and new achieve some level of virtual closeness between all member-leaders, which mediated some of the communication issues that occurred and increased knowledge sharing across the teams.
Original Post: November 28, 2017 – 10:59am
Updated: April 1, 2020
