July 14, 2009
Researchers from the University of Western Ontario’s Richard Ivey School of Business suggest that virtual competence is a soft skill managers should be encouraging in their staff. Why IT professionals would have higher virtual competence than those of other industries
Recent research from the Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario, conducted by Associate Professor Nicole Haggerty and recent Ivey graduate Dr. Yinglei Wang, suggests managers pay attention to virtual competence if they want their teams to be successful at online communication.
Virtual teams are still struggling to be effective, according to Haggerty. “They often struggle with issues of communication, trust and knowledge of how to use the tools in addition to the tasks they are completing,” she said.
But those who exhibit virtual competence have the skills and knowledge they need to conduct work in virtual environments, whether with their colleague in the cubicle next door or a global team, she said.
A term coined by Haggerty and Wang over the course of their research on what employees need to know in order to work effectively in virtual settings, virtual competence consists of three skill sets that work in tandem.
Virtual social skills describe an individual’s capability to build online social relationships; virtual media skills are the actual capabilities in using a range of tools and features; virtual self-efficacy is simply self confidence, she explained.
“The reason self confidence turns out to be important is because it gives people the motivation to persist when they have difficulties and it gives them the confidence to explore new features, new tools and new ways of doing things,” Haggerty said.
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Tags: info-tech research group, soft skill managers, University of Western Ontario, Virtual Competence
