A Pedagogy to Develop Effective Virtual Teams

ABSTRACT

While virtual teams dominate business environments, little attention has been paid to how team leadership, in particular shared leadership, can be reinforced in classrooms. There is a consensus that shared leadership impacts the performance of virtual groups in a positive manner. While higher education in business is aiming to prepare graduates for virtual team leadership and effectiveness, pedagogical practices to orient students to virtual leadership based on quantitative research are lacking. Business school educators need to develop a classroom pedagogy that encourages the growth of shared leadership in virtual groups within students. This paper presents the results of preliminary research that demonstrates that one aspect of the skills of shared leadership, in the form of expertise-based teamwork, contributes to the success of virtual teams in a business class. How this pedagogical practice can be applied to the business setting is discussed. Replication of this work is planned.

KEYWORDS:

• Shared leadership
• pedagogy
• virtual groups
• group performance