Geotemporally distributed project teams

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to enable a better understanding of interpersonal communications within virtual teams whose members are separated by long distances and/or time zones. To this end, the ideas of temporal diversity and temporal dissonance are combined to develop the concept of geotemporally distributed project teams. This complements existing theory by providing a way of understanding project teams, formed temporarily to perform a specific task, whose members are separated by time and/or distance, and communicate using computer mediated technology. This definition is expanded into a theoretical framework that opens up new lines of inquiry that has the potential to produce new perspectives on theory and practice in the areas of virtual work and group processes.