Implications of Team Communication Training for Distributed Team Performance in an Immersive Virtual Environment

Abstract

Distributed immersive virtual environments (VEs) allow geographically separate individuals to train together in a common setting, yet research suggests the absence of face-to-face (FTF) contact may degrade distributed team performance by negatively affecting communication-dependent team functions. This study tested whether brief team communication training (TCT) could reduce this distributed team disadvantage by imparting skills to compensate for the lack of FTF contact. Two-person teams completed a series of VE missions under local (same physical location) or distributed (different locations) conditions with half of each team type receiving TCT. Results indicated all local teams outperformed distributed teams overall, but there were no observable benefits of TCT for team performance. Explanations focus on the brevity and administration approach of the TCT as well as how cognitive overload may have negated any beneficial aspects of TCT.

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