Digital working in times of crisis

Researchers investigate consensus building in virtual teams during the Covid-19 pandemic. (Image: Pixabay CC0) - Virtual working offers many opportunities, but also harbors risks. In addition to the known disadvantages - less personal contact, communication and coordination difficulties - external crises can pose an additional challenge, especially if employees at different locations work together across local or national borders and are affected to varying degrees by a crisis. An international research team from the Universities of Göttingen, Bolzano and the University of North Carolina at Greensboro has now investigated whether the members of virtual teams manage to find a consensus in their collaboration despite an external crisis. The study also examines the question of what this means for the performance of the team. The Covid-19 pandemic was used as an example of an external crisis. The results have been published in the Journal of Applied Psychology .