Zoom and Beyond: New Frontiers and Evidence on Virtual Communication and Multicultural Teams

This symposium examines the dynamic landscape of multicultural virtual teams in the post-COVID-19 era, advocating for a re-examination of research on virtual communication in multicultural teams. Established findings, rooted in the contrast between text-based and face-to-face communication, may not generalize to the new normal in which digital communication tools like Zoom, Microsoft Teams Slack, or Basecamp offer media-rich communication channels that make nonverbal behaviors and cultural differences in these behaviors much more salient. Accordingly, the key question that guides this symposium is: How can multicultural virtual teams thrive in a world where technological advances enable rich verbal and nonverbal communication among team members? To answer this question, we bring together four evidence-based papers that explore new frontiers in virtual communication and multicultural teams. Two of the papers explore a new cultural dimension of high/low-context communication and associated nonverbal behaviors in the context of virtual teams and two papers examine team processes and outcomes in global virtual teams. Collectively, the papers provide timely insights into various aspects of nonverbal communication, as well as the social, cultural, cognitive, and metacognitive skills required in media-rich digital and culturally diverse environments. In doing so, this symposium offers a comprehensive understanding of the challenges and opportunities faced by virtual teams, aiming to pave the way for improved teamwork in the future. Non-verbal Communication and Virtuality, Relational Processes, and Team Performance Author: Valerie Alexandra; San Diego State U. Author: Nancy Buchan; Darla Moore School of Business, U. of South Carolina Author: Wendi Lyn Adair; U. of Waterloo Author: Ruonan ZHAO; Xi'an Jiaotong U. Author: Ye Zhang; Tesla ‘Silent language’ in intercultural communication Author: Thomas Rockstuhl; Nanyang Technological U. Author: Kok Yee Ng; Nanyang Technological U. Author: Soon Ang; Nanyang Technological U. Expected vs Observed Challenges of Communication in GVTs: Effects on Interactions and Performance Author: Thomas Rockstuhl; Nanyang Technological U. Joint Effects of Cultural and Virtual Skills on Task Coordination in Virtual Multicultural Teams Author: Ella Glikson; Graduate School of Business Administration Bar Ilan U. Author: Shelly Lev-Koren; Technion - Israel Institute of Technology Author: Miriam Erez; Technion - Israel Institute of Technology How Global Virtual Teams Cultivate Intercultural Communication Competence? A Constructivist Approach Author: Fernando Trochez; Georgia State U. Author: Leigh Anne Liu; Georgia State U.