1. SHRM Survey Findings: Virtual Teams
July 13, 2012

2. Definitions
Virtual teams: A group of individuals who work across time, space and organizational boundaries and interact primarily through electronic communications.
Project teams: Temporary teams whose members belong to different groups or functions and are assigned activities for the same project.
Action teams: Teams brought together for brief performance events that require improvisation and performance in unpredictable, novel environments and circumstances.
Service teams: Teams that use technology to generate products or services in assembly/manufacturing, maintenance, construction, mining, commercial airlines, sales and other industries.
Quality control teams: Teams that identify products, services or processes that do not reach an organization’s minimum specified standards of quality.
Top management teams: Teams of individuals at the highest level of organizational management who have the day-to-day responsibilities of strategy/mission planning.

3. Key Findings
Are organizations using virtual teams? Almost one-half of organizations (46%) use virtual teams in their workplace. Organizations with multinational operations are more than twice as likely (66%) to use virtual teams compared with organizations with U.S.-based operations (28%).
Why do organizations use virtual teams? Of organizations that use virtual teams, approximately one-half use them to include talent in different geographic locations (53%) and to boost collaboration among employees in different geographic locations (49%). Other reasons for using virtual teams include improving productivity (39%), minimizing costs for travel (39%), and collaborating more across global business units because work projects are becoming more global (37%).
What are the most successful teamwork behaviors resulting from the use of virtual teams? Nearly three-quarters of organizations (72%) indicated that brainstorming solutions for problems or issues was the most successful behavior for virtual teams, followed by setting goals for team initiatives or projects (68%) and developing plans for team initiatives or projects (63%).
What are the obstacles that prevent virtual teams from being successful? About one-half of organizations reported that building team relations (51%) and time differences (49%) were the top challenges for successful virtual teams. Organizations also indicated that additional challenges to using virtual teams were distribution of work (32%), differences in cultural norms (26%) and leadership of these types of teams (25%).

4. Does your organization use virtual teams?
Note: n = 335. Respondents who answered “Don’t know” were excluded from this analysis.

5. Does your organization use virtual teams?
Comparisons by organization sector
Publicly owned for-profit and privately owned for-profit organizations are more likely than government agencies to use virtual teams.
Comparisons by Organization Sector
Publicly owned for-profit (50%)
Privately owned for-profit (46%)
>
Government agencies (9%)
Comparisons by organization operation type
Organizations with multinational operations are more likely than organizations with U.S.-based operations to use virtual teams.
Comparisons by Organization Sector
Multinational operations (66%)
>
U.S.-based operations only (28%)
Note: Only statistically significant differences are shown.

6. Why does your organization use virtual teams?
Percentage
To include talent in different geographic locations
53%
To boost collaboration among employees in different geographic locations
49%
To improve productivity (i.e., spend less time on commuting/travel)
39%
To minimize costs for travel
Work projects are becoming more global (i.e., greater need for collaboration across global business units)
37%
To allow for greater flexibility for employees
28%
Emerging technological advancements (i.e., improved technology that makes virtual work easier)
26%
Other 5%
Note: n = 137. Only respondents whose organizations use virtual teams were asked this question. Percentages do not total 100% due to multiple response options.

7. Why does your organization use virtual teams?
Comparisons by organization operation type
Organizations with multinational operations are more likely than organizations with U.S.-based operations to use virtual teams because their work projects are becoming more global (i.e., greater need for collaboration across global business units).
Comparisons by Organization Sector
Multinational operations (53%)
>
U.S.-based operations only (23%)
Organizations with U.S.-based operations are more likely than organizations with multinational operations to use virtual teams to improve productivity (i.e., spending less time on commuting/travel).
Comparisons by Organization Sector
U.S.-based operations only (54%)
>
Multinational operations (26%)
Note: Only statistically significant differences are shown.

8. Other capacities (e.g., conference calls, training) 8% Other teams* 7%
For what formal or informal capacities does your organization use virtual teams?
Percentage
Project teams
79%
Top management teams
52%
Action teams
47%
Service teams
37%
Quality control teams
25%
Other capacities (e.g., conference calls, training) 8%
Other teams* 7%
Do not use virtual teams in any of the above capacities 1%
Note: n = 137. Only respondents whose organizations use virtual teams were asked this question. Percentages do not total 100% due to multiple response options. An asterisk (*) indicates that this response option was developed from open-ended responses.

9. What are the most successful behaviors for virtual and on-site/traditional face-to-face teams in your organization?
Note: n = 112. Only respondents whose organizations use virtual teams were asked this question. Percentages do not total 100% due to multiple response options. Respondents were asked to select the top five options.

10. Comparisons by Organization Sector Comparisons by Organization Sector
What are the most successful behaviors for on-site/traditional face-to-face teams in your organization?
Comparisons by organization operation type
Organizations with U.S.-based operations are more likely than organizations with multinational operations to indicate monitoring the performance of other team members as one of the most successful behaviors for on-site/traditional face-to-face teams in their organization.
Comparisons by Organization Sector
U.S.-based operations only (32%)
>
Multinational operations (15%)
Organizations with U.S.-based operations are more likely than organizations with multinational operations to indicate brainstorming solutions for problems or solutions as one of the most successful behaviors for on-site/traditional face-to-face teams in their organization.
Comparisons by Organization Sector
U.S.-based operations only (61%)
>
Multinational operations (40%)
Note: Only statistically significant differences are shown.

11. What are the most challenging behaviors for virtual and on-site/traditional face-to-face teams in your organization?
Note: n = 112. Only respondents whose organizations use virtual teams were asked this question. Percentages do not total 100% due to multiple response options. Respondents were asked to select the top five options.

12. Comparisons by Organization Sector
What are the most challenging behaviors for virtual teams in your organization?
Comparisons by organization operation type
Organizations with multinational operations are more likely than organizations with U.S.-based operations to indicate maintaining team morale during initiatives or projects as one of the most challenging behaviors for virtual teams in their organization.
Comparisons by Organization Sector
U.S.-based operations only (54%)
>
Multinational operations (34%)
Note: Only statistically significant differences are shown.

13. What are the top challenges to the success of virtual teams in your organization?
Note: n = 106. Only respondents whose organizations use virtual teams were asked this question. Percentages do not total 100% due to multiple response options.

14. Comparisons by Organization Sector
What are the top challenges to the success of virtual teams in your organization?
Comparisons by organization operation type
Organizations with multinational operations are more likely than organizations with U.S.-based operations to indicate time difference as a top challenge to the success of virtual teams in their organization.
Comparisons by Organization Sector
Multinational operations (60%)
>
U.S.-based operations only (38%)
Note: Only statistically significant differences are shown.

15. Demographics: Organization Sector
Note: n = 296. Percentages do not total 100% due to rounding.

16. Demographics: Organization Staff Size

17. Demographics: Organization Industry
Percentage
Health care and social assistance
18%
Educational services
17%
Finance and insurance
13%
Manufacturing
11%
Public administration 9%
Professional, scientific and technical services 8%
Transportation and warehousing 6%
Accommodation and food services
Arts, entertainment and recreation 5%
Administrative and support and waste management and remediation services 4%
Information, publishing industries 3%
Note: n = 301. Percentages do not total 100% due to multiple response options.

18. Demographics: Organization Industry (continued)
Percentage
Construction of buildings; heavy and civil engineering construction; specialty trade contractors 3%
Retail trade
Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting 2%
Religious, grant-making, civic, professional and similar organizations
Utilities
Wholesale trade
Repair and maintenance
Real estate, rental and leasing 1%
Mining
Management of companies and enterprises
Personal and laundry services
Note: n = 301. Percentages do not equal 100% due to multiple response options.

19. Demographics: Other
Does your organization have U.S.-based operations (business units) only, or does it operate multinationally?
Is your organization a single-unit organization or a multi-unit organization?
Single-unit organization: An organization in which the location and the organization are one and the same.
21%
Multi-unit organization: An organization that has more than one location.
79%
U.S.-based operations only
73%
Multinational operations
27%
n = 307
n = 320
What is the HR department/function for which you responded throughout this survey?
For multi-unit organizations, are HR policies and practices determined by the multi-unit corporate headquarters, by each work location, or by both?
Corporate (companywide)
68%
Business unit/division
18%
Facility/location
14%
Multi-unit headquarters determines HR policies and practices.
50%
Each work location determines HR policies and practices. 2%
A combination of both the work location and the multi-unit headquarters determines HR policies and practices.
47%
n = 252
n = 251
Note: Percentages may not total 100% due to rounding.

20. SHRM Survey Findings: Virtual Teams
Methodology
Response rate = 13%
Sample composed of 379 randomly selected HR professionals from organizations with 500 or more employees.
Margin of error +/- 5%
Survey fielded December 8, 2011 – January 3, 2012
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Project leaders:
David Geller, SHRM Knowledge Development
Christina Lee, SHRM Research
Project contributors:
Alexander Alonso, Ph.D., SPHR, director, SHRM HR Thought Leadership
Mark Schmit, Ph.D., SPHR, vice president, SHRM Research Evren Esen, manager, SHRM Research
Copy Editor:
Katya Scanlan, SHRM Knowledge Center