Talking a team into being in online workplace collaborations: the discourse of virtual work

Abstract

Digital communication technologies led to a revolution in how people interact at work: relying on computer-mediated communication technologies is now a must, rather than an alternative. This empirical study investigates how colleagues in a virtual team use synchronous online communication platform in the workplace. Inspired by the conceptualisation of web-based communication platforms as tool, place or context of social construction, we explore the discursive strategies that contribute to the construction of the team’s shared sense of purpose and identity, a collegial atmosphere and consequently lead to effective collaboration. The close analyses of real-life data from a multinational workplace provide insights into the everyday communication practices of virtual team members. Our findings supplement organisational literature based on etic observations of the effectiveness of virtual work and provide a basis for further theorisations about how communication technologies affect the ecology of and discourse practices in computer-mediated communication at work.

Publication DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1461445619829240
Divisions: College of Business and Social Sciences > School of Social Sciences & Humanities
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College of Business and Social Sciences > School of Social Sciences & Humanities > Centre for Critical Inquiry into Society and Culture (CCISC)
Additional Information: © Sage 2019. The final publication is available via Sage at http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1461445619829240
Uncontrolled Keywords: Collaborative team communication,computer-mediated communication,computer-mediated discourse analysis,conversation analysis,instant messaging,interactional identity processes,social constructivism,virtual team construction,virtual workplace,Social Psychology,Communication,Language and Linguistics,Anthropology,Linguistics and Language
Publication ISSN: 1461-7080
Last Modified: 18 Mar 2024 08:26
Date Deposited: 08 Nov 2018 09:31
Full Text Link:
Related URLs: https://journal ... 461445619829240 (Publisher URL)
http://www.scop ... tnerID=8YFLogxK (Scopus URL)
PURE Output Type: Article
Published Date: 2019-06-01
Published Online Date: 2019-03-01
Accepted Date: 2018-10-26
Authors: Darics, Erika (ORCID Profile 0000-0002-2216-6592)
Gatti, Maria Cristina

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