Interaction in Distributed Teams Technology’s possibilities, difficulties and consequences from a sociomaterial Perspective

Abstract

Distributed teams has received greater attention during last decades due to the high development of technology. Previous studies of distributed teams have paid little attention to the technology’s impacts in organisational environment and how this unfolds in practice. This article provides an illustration of how technology, in specific, phones and humans interacts in a virtual context from a sociomaterial perspective. Based on a field study from a telecommunication company, this article investigates technology’s possibilities, difficulties and consequences in practice regarding interaction in distributed teams. Our study demonstrates that technology cannot itself take action, it is the enactment of humans and technology that shapes the outcome and plays a key role in the context of virtual work space. We also demonstrate the importance of having interaction with team members even though they are working in a distributed environment with technology as an interaction tool.