Skip to Main Content
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Giving
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions
Faculty & Research
  • Faculty
  • Research
  • Featured Topics
  • Academic Units
  • …→
  • Harvard Business School→
  • Faculty & Research→
Publications
Publications
  • Article
  • Information and Organization

Experimenting During the Shift to Virtual Team Work: Learnings from How Teams Adapted Their Activities During the COVID-19 Pandemic

By: Ashley V. Whillans, Leslie Perlow and Aurora Turek
  • Format:Print
ShareBar

Abstract

Past research has focused on understanding the characteristics of work that are fully virtual or fully collocated. The present study seeks to expand our understanding of team work by studying knowledge workers' experiences as they were suddenly forced to transition to a fully virtual environment. During the height of the U.S. lockdown from April to June 2020, we interviewed 51 knowledge workers employed on teams at the same professional services firm. Drawing from in situ reflections about teams' lived experiences, this paper explores how the shift to virtual work brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic illuminated the fundamental activities that team work requires, facilitated and undermined the performance of team activities, and prompted employees to adapt and reflect on their use of digital technology to perform these activities. Using the shift to virtual work as a unique learning opportunity, our findings demonstrate that team work entails several core activities (task, process, and relationship interactions) that require additional adjustments to successfully enact in the virtual (vs. collocated) environment.

Keywords

Team Work; Activities; Virtual Work; Digital Technologies; Groups and Teams; Health Pandemics; Online Technology; Adaptation

Citation

Whillans, Ashley V., Leslie Perlow, and Aurora Turek. "Experimenting During the Shift to Virtual Team Work: Learnings from How Teams Adapted Their Activities During the COVID-19 Pandemic." Information and Organization (in press).
  • Read Now

About The Authors

Ashley V. Whillans

Negotiation, Organizations & Markets
→More Publications

Leslie A. Perlow

Organizational Behavior
→More Publications

More from the Authors

    • May, 2021
    • Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes

    Joy and Rigor in Behavioral Science

    By: Hanne K. Collins, Ashley V. Whillans and Leslie K. John
    • March 29, 2021
    • Harvard Business Review Digital Articles

    Research: A Little Recognition Can Provide a Big Morale Boost

    By: Shibeal O'Flaherty, Michael Sanders and Ashley V. Whillans
    • 2021
    • Faculty Research

    Extension Request Avoidance Increases Time Stress among Women

    By: Ashley V. Whillans, Jaewon Yoon, Aurora Turek and Grant E. Donnelly
More from the Authors
  • Joy and Rigor in Behavioral Science By: Hanne K. Collins, Ashley V. Whillans and Leslie K. John
  • Research: A Little Recognition Can Provide a Big Morale Boost By: Shibeal O'Flaherty, Michael Sanders and Ashley V. Whillans
  • Extension Request Avoidance Increases Time Stress among Women By: Ashley V. Whillans, Jaewon Yoon, Aurora Turek and Grant E. Donnelly
ǁ
Campus Map
Harvard Business School
Soldiers Field
Boston, MA 02163
→Map & Directions
→More Contact Information
  • Make a Gift
  • Site Map
  • Jobs
  • Harvard University
  • Trademarks
  • Policies
  • Digital Accessibility
Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College