Purpose

The aim of this study is to understand how virtual teams experience perceived proximity. Existing literature suggests that perceived proximity can be achieved through quality communication and increased identification. However, not much is known as to how these two may be achieved within the context of virtual teams.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors address their research question through a comparative case study, with the help of two virtual teams of software developers and the authors adopt a subset from the Constructivist Grounded Theory Method procedures for the purposes of coding to understand the potential explanations regarding the two teams' differences in perceptions of perceived proximity.

Findings

The authors’ study shows that shared mental models support quality communication and team members to identify with the shared values of their team. Quality communication is easier achieved when the team shares a dynamic and evolving understanding of the tools for communication and collaboration. The authors also draw attention to the importance of how work is organised and the influence of the temporal dimension on virtual teams beyond the temporal organisation of collaborative work.

Originality/value

The value of this study is found in its contribution towards the development of a formal connection between perceived proximity and shared mental models, that is empirically grounded, and which holds an explanatory value in addressing how perceived proximity can be supported rather than compromised.

中文翻译：

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共享心智模型和感知接近度：一个比较案例研究

目的

本研究的目的是了解虚拟团队如何体验感知接近度。现有文献表明，感知接近度可以通过高质量的沟通和增加的识别来实现。但是，对于如何在虚拟团队的背景下实现这两个方面知之甚少。

设计/方法/方法

作者通过比较案例研究解决了他们的研究问题，在两个软件开发人员虚拟团队的帮助下，作者采用了建构主义扎根理论方法程序的一个子集，用于编码，以了解关于两个团队的潜在解释感知接近度的差异。

发现

作者的研究表明，共享的心智模型支持高质量的沟通和团队成员认同其团队的共同价值观。当团队分享对沟通和协作工具的动态和不断发展的理解时，更容易实现高质量的沟通。作者还提请注意工作组织方式的重要性以及时间维度对虚拟团队的影响，超出了协作工作的时间组织。

原创性/价值

这项研究的价值在于它对在感知接近度和共享心智模型之间建立正式联系的贡献，这是基于经验的，并且在解决如何支持而不是损害感知接近度方面具有解释性价值。