Has communication increased or decreased?
Is it better to have multi-cultural teams spread worldwide without physical interaction or international teams working in the same office?
Is communicating in English following strict intercultural rules (in order not to be in conflict with anybody) leading to better understanding and/or results?
Is it better to have multi-cultural teams spread worldwide without physical interaction or international teams working in the same office?
We should not see this as an either/or question. Both can work depending on the project and the resources available. I co-ordinate European projects which are well funded so whilst much of the work is done virtually, the team has the opportunity to meet physically 2-3 times per year. This model works well for teams that are not very large and have the resources to travel. But I have also recently co-ordinated a project involving 18 countries which had no funding and all the work was/is being done virtually. I recruited my volunteer researchers very easily and they are all very enthusiastic and totally committed to the project. Thismodel has also worked extremely well. I now have around 50 people from 18 countries across the world, most of whom did not know each other before the project started, who have contributed to establishing an amazing team spirit!
I would agree with Irena that this is perhaps not a matter of either/or. What we have observed is that though it often takes more of an effort to achieve team cohesion in distributed teams than in colocated teams, the way of working in experienced virtual teams can sometimes be more effective and efficient: Meetings and work sessions need to be to the point because you know that your team members are only available for a given period of time; decisions and actions need to be clarified an written down in a shared surface then and there and no time is lost in producing and verifying minutes days later; the shared surface can be used by a skilled meeting leader to focus the team.
In short; virtual collaboration may force you to be more considerate of your team mates´ needs and abilities, and this again may improve team spirit over time. However, it does not come without effort.