Virtuality and the eyes of the beholder: beyond static relationships between teams and technology

How team virtuality is conceptualized has evolved over time, hand in hand with the development of technology and our experience with it. For some decades, virtuality was perceived as a rather objective characteristic of teamwork, defined by “how much” teams used technology to interact, “how far” team members were apart from each other or “how rich” their communication media were. This chapter aims to move the discussion to the dynamic relationship between the objective characteristics of technology and how individuals use them. We highlight not only how technology influences teamwork and team members’ relationships, but mostly how teams themselves may shape how, when and for what technology is used, and how this may shape their teamwork. Illustrated with short and comprehensible examples, we demonstrate the need for an integrated perspective on teams and technology, presenting both existing constructs as well as suggestions for future research along this path.