The programming committee for the 78th Annual SAM International Business Conference is pleased to announce the acceptance of the presentation Post-Pandemic Attitudes About Virtual Project Team Efficacy by Joshua Behl from Minnesota State University Moorhead.
Presentation Abstract: In a post-pandemic context, the use of virtual teams across industries has expanded. However, when one considers the potential complexity and scale of some projects, are virtual project teams and the management of those teams in the context of a project as effective as having the key resources face to face or in close proximity? While the use of remote or outsourced resources is not new to projects and their project managers, in a post-pandemic workplace and economy, organizational resources, leadership, management, and project sponsors are increasingly geographically dispersed and working from home offices.
While there is an extensive and growing body of research regarding management of remote workforces and teams, the role of a project manager and their level of authority generally differs from that of a direct supervisory role. In most contexts, a project manager does not have supervisory, decision making, or resource allocation authority. They need to lead through the process of building rapport, gaining cooperation, and then lead people through the project in a trust-based relationship. As such, the remoteness of the project manager, their resources, project sponsors, and other stakeholders can have a potentially large impact on the actual or perceived efficacy of the project manager and/or the project itself. Given the current proliferation of remote workers and managers how might this impact the management of projects now and in the future? How might project managers develop relationships and lead remote teams over whom they have no direct authority? What changes might a project manager need to make in their approach, methodology, or stakeholder engagement to ensure that their project is both an actual and perceptually successful endeavor?
In this work, surveys containing Likert and qualitative questions were sent to project managers and their sponsors across numerous industries across the United States regarding managing projects remotely and how effective the project success is perceived are explored. Additionally, the potential ramifications and recommendations based upon the results of this work are investigated particularly as it relates to methodological impact, project initiation, project planning, project execution, project monitoring, and project closure.
Join us online or in person at SAMIBC 2023 and see this great presentation and many more March 13 – March 18, 2023. For registration information visit www.samnational.org/conference.