Communication challenges in managing global virtual teams: the experience of project managers

Abstract

Nowadays, managers often manage teams which members are located in different countries, different time-zones or have different languages as their mother tongues. This is a complex job that requires specific preparation. The first step in training project managers for leading global virtual teams, is understanding which problems they have to deal with in their everyday work. This study explores communication challenges that project managers experience in managing global virtual teams. Through conducting qualitative research and interviewing 12 project managers working in two global companies, we found that project managers face communication challenges which can be divided into four larger groups: challenges related to cultural differences, distance related challenges (including lack of nonverbal cues, lack of trust, difficulties in building relationships and uncertainty in team members’ competence), challenges related to communication technology and lack of language competence.