Leadership's effect on overall temporal patterns of global virtual teams

Abstract

The goal of this paper is to examine the overall temporal response activities of global software learning teams and understand how these temporal activities are affected by the presence (and absence) of a team leader. Results from 24 teams enrolled in global software development courses at Universities in Turkey, Panama, and the US reveal that the presence of a team leader resulted in shorter time intervals between communication activities. Moreover, a teams pacing style (e.g., less time between communication activities) was also correlated with better team performance. Specifically, the affect of the rate of a teams temporal communications on team performance was more positive under conditions of the presence of a leader than under those with weaker team leadership. Leadership also had a positive effect on team performance. These results, we believe, further theoretical and methodological research on temporal issues and leadership.