Developing Teams in a Virtual Environment: A Generative Approach
Journal
The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science
ISSN
0021-8863
1552-6879
Date Issued
2021
Author(s)
Ernesto Neves
Type
Resource Types::text::journal::journal article
URL Institutional Repository
Abstract
<jats:p> At the beginning of 2020, the operations of the Finance Hub of the Americas (FHoA) at pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) were suddenly forced to shift entirely from face-to-face to remote work. To handle this challenge, an FHoA team started a team development process aimed at strengthening teamwork in virtual environments. The intervention was grounded in the principles of generative leadership and dialogic organization development. Through a scholar-practitioner collaboration that focused on identifying the drivers of the successful transition to remote work, we build a three-step process of team development using the metaphor of organic growth: (1) sowing, (2) nurturing, and (3) flourishing. Using GSK's example, we illustrate how this process became a simple but powerful strategy to help teams thrive in a virtual environment. The core of the process uses generative questions to configure a structured but adaptable process that can be easily implemented in different contexts and situations. </jats:p>
Subjects
dialogic organization development
;
generative leadership
;
generative questions
;
team development
;
team building
;
virtual teams
;
article
;
human
;
leadership
;
literature
;
physician
;
sowing
;
team building
;
telecommuting