Virtual teamworking and well-being A fascinating project launched in June 2020
Research context
Virtual teams have been an area of cross-disciplinary importance for over two decades. Despite the richness of the virtual team literature, important knowledge gaps still exist. In particular, how virtual teamwork impacts well-being is under-explored, and needs addressing. Using the job demands-resources (JDR) framework, we examine the specific demands that are presented when working in both newly formed and established virtual teams, and the resources that people need to mitigate these demands, in order to work well and effectively.
Research question
How do workers in VTs (a) experience work demands, and what do they report these to be, and (b) utilise job resources, and what do they report these to be? How do VT workers’ job demands and resources dynamically interact to influence their subjective experience of well-being?
Methodology and milestones
A three-phase study
Research team
- Almudena Cañibano (ESCP, Paris campus)
- Petros Chamakiotis (ESCP, Madrid campus)
- Emma Russell (University of Sussex)
- Jay McCloskey (University of Sussex)
Research keytake aways (to be explored further in phase 3)
- Virtual teamworking has specific demands (e.g. more meetings, new work processes and reporting mechanisms, learning new tools, etc.) that are added to the existing demands of the job. Virtual team members also experience a decrease in their resources (particularly interpersonal ones). The combination of increased demands and reduced resources puts virtual team members’ well-being at risk.
- The context influences what workers experience as a job demand, or a job resource and can change over time. For example, while in-person social events are generally perceived as providing resources, over time, workers start understanding them as demands.
- Daily sensory contact (DSC) refers to subtle, in-person sensory cues (eye contact, handshakes, shared spaces) that foster workplace connection. Its impact on well-being varies: positive with strong team belonging, but negative when belonging is low.
Key outcomes
Published academic papers
■ Cañibano, A., Chamakiotis, P., Rojahn, L. & Russell, E (2021). “Understanding Well-being in Virtual Teams: A Comparative Case Study”, Information Systems. M. Themistocleous & M. Papadaki (Eds.). Springer. (link)
■ Cañibano, A., Chamakiotis, P. and Russell, E. “Virtual teamwork and employee well-being: The Covid-19 effects”, ESCP Impact Paper Academic papers under peer review (link)
■ Cañibano, A., Russell, E & Chamakiotis, P. (2024) “Categorization shifts of job demands and resources in abrupt transitions to virtual work”.
■ Russell, E, Cañibano, A., Chamakiotis, P., McCloskey, J. (2024). “The human touch: how daily sensory contact impacts the well-being and work performance of hybrid team members”
Campuses