Individual Perceptions of Shared Mental Models of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and Virtual Team Coordination and Performance-The Moderating Role of Flexibility in ICT Use

Coordination and performance of virtual teams depend on the use of information and communication technology (ICT). Team members use many ICTs to collaborate with each other. Research has shown that shared mental models (SMM) improve team coordination and performance. Based on these results, we expect that for virtual teams, ICT SMM are positively related to team coordination and performance. Specifically, the relationship between ICT SMM and coordination is stronger if virtual team members have less flexibility in ICT use. We expect that ICT SMM explain incremental variance of team coordination and performance beyond teamwork and taskwork SMM. One hundred forty-one employees of two IT companies working in 31 virtual teams participated. Results of multilevel model analyses supported the positive relation between individual perceptions of ICT SMM and team coordination and performance, but not for objective ICT SMM. Results of analyses with aggregated team data indicate the same direction. Results showed that individual perceptions of ICT SMM explained incremental variance of team coordination beyond individual perceptions of teamwork and taskwork SMM. The relation between individual perceptions of ICT SMM and team coordination was moderated by flexibility in ICT use. Individual perceptions of ICT SMM seem to be relevant for virtual teamwork. Longitudinal and experimental studies exploring the differential causal effects of SMM subtypes on team coordination and performance seem to be promising. Highlights and Implications *ICT SMM seem to be another SMM subtype besides teamwork and taskwork SMM that is relevant in virtual teams and should be considered in future research. *Individual perceptions of ICT SMM have an incremental value for virtual team coordination beyond individual perceptions of teamwork and taskwork SMM. *Individual perceptions of ICT SMM are more important for team coordination if team members have less flexibility in their ICT use. *In virtual teams, organizations and team leaders should ensure that team members have a common understanding of their ICT use for successful team coordination and performance.