Benefits of Virtual Teams in Australian Construction Projects

This research proposal investigates the benefits of virtual teamwork within the context of construction projects in Australia. The study aims to understand the concept and necessity of virtual teams in the construction sector, identify the steps required to build strong virtual teams for project success, and pinpoint the advantages of virtual teamwork. The proposal outlines the research questions, objectives, and rationale, emphasizing the importance of virtual tools for communication and collaboration. It discusses relevant theories and previous studies, including the definition of virtual teams, steps to build effective teams, and the benefits of virtual teamwork such as enhanced communication and access to a wider talent pool. The research methodology includes a quantitative approach using both primary and secondary data collection methods, with a focus on positivism, deductive reasoning, and survey strategies. The proposal also includes a comprehensive list of references.

Research Proposal
(Identifying the benefits of virtual
teamwork in the context of construction
Project in Australia)

Contents
RESEARCH TOPIC........................................................................................................................1
RESEARCH QUESTIONS AND OBJECTIVES...........................................................................1
Research questions.......................................................................................................................1
Research objectives......................................................................................................................1
RESEARCH RATIONALE AND SIGNIFICANCE......................................................................1
Research rationale........................................................................................................................1
Research significance...................................................................................................................1
DISCUSSION OF RELEVANT THEORIES OR PREVIOUS STUDIES.....................................2
Concept and need of virtual team in the context of construction sector.....................................2
The steps of making the strong virtual team for gaining success of Construction project in
Australia.......................................................................................................................................2
To identify the benefits of virtual teamwork in the context of construction Project in Australia
......................................................................................................................................................2
RESEARCH DESIGN.....................................................................................................................3
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................4

RESEARCH TOPIC
Identifying the benefits of virtual teamwork in the context of construction Project in
Australia
RESEARCH QUESTIONS AND OBJECTIVES
Research questions
 What is the concept and need of virtual team in the context of construction sector?
 What are steps of making the strong virtual team for gaining success of Construction
project in Australia?
 What are the benefits of virtual teamwork in the context of construction Project in
Australia?
Research objectives
 To understand the concept and need of virtual team in the context of construction sector.
 To determine the steps of making the strong virtual team for gaining success of
Construction project in Australia.
 To identify the benefits of virtual teamwork in the context of construction Project in
Australia
RESEARCH RATIONALE AND SIGNIFICANCE
Research rationale
The reason behind selecting this research topic is to gain information regarding virtual
team work and its benefits (Taylor 2021, p.25). It encourage companies to focus on using virtual
tools so, there employees can communicate and work together virtually for achieving
organisational goals. There are two important objective of the researcher to conduct research in
this topic. First one is personal where researcher wants to gain proper information about the
virtual teamwork. Second one is professional as the researcher wants to apply its knowledge in
professional career.
Research significance
The current research is important for the company as it helps them to complete their task
on time when its employees are in different country or city. Virtual team work focus on using
digital tool where group of workers can communicate and work together for achieving common
1

goals (Beldarrain and Diehl 2019, p.375). The current research is also important for the
researcher as it helps them to develop various skills such as data analytics, data collection,
communication, problem solving, time management and many more. These skills are also useful
for the company in order to conduct further research.
DISCUSSION OF RELEVANT THEORIES OR PREVIOUS STUDIES
Concept and need of virtual team in the context of construction sector
According to the view of Rezgui (2007, p.98) a virtual team is describe a group of people
working across space and time as well as organisational boundaries by using technology in order
to collaborate and communicate. It allows companies in order to bring those people together who
are best expertise, regardless of where they live. Virtual teamwork help employees to manage
their work and personal live in more flexible manner as well as they have the opportunity in
order to interact with the colleagues in all over the world. Through this companies can use their
best and lowest cost global talent as well as significantly reduce their real estate costs.
The steps of making the strong virtual team for gaining success of Construction project in
Australia
As per the view of Warkentin and Beranek (1999, p.275) there are different steps that
may help company to make their virtual team strong in order to achieve success. It includes
ensuring effective communication, using the right tools, building trust, setting goals, make their
virtual team feel supported, giving regular feedback as well as taking care of their team's well
being (Manea and et.al. 2021, p.5). Company need to follows these steps properly in order to
make their virtual team strong so, they communicate and perform their work in better manner as
well as gain many advantages.
To identify the benefits of virtual teamwork in the context of construction Project in Australia
In the opinion of Suhayda, Yue and Abuissa (2020, p.195) there are benefits of virtual
teamwork that an organisation gain by using it in their business. Companies can recruit highly
skilled employees from outside of their local geographical locations. The benefits that an
organisation may gain from virtual teamwork are it enhance internal communication, promote
higher level skills among employees as well as create stronger foundations for effective
organisational communities.
2

RESEARCH DESIGN
For conducting current research, researcher selects quantitative method is order to follow
the scientific paradigm. This research method help researcher in order to quantify data as well as
generalise results from a sample of a target population. Researcher uses both primary and
secondary data collection method for collecting information for the current researcher. Current
research involves many, techniques, approaches, methods in order to design and conduct
research in better manner (Hackett, Lu and Capobianco 2018, p.380). For the current research,
researcher uses positivism research philosophy, deductive approach, quantitative research choice,
survey research strategy, questionnaire instrument, frequency distribution analysis and random
sampling.
3

REFERENCES
Books and Journals:
Rezgui, Y., 2007. Exploring virtual team-working effectiveness in the construction
sector. Interacting with Computers, 19(1), pp.96-112.
Warkentin, M. and Beranek, P.M., 1999. Training to improve virtual team
communication. Information Systems Journal, [online] 9(4), pp.271–289.
doi:10.1046/j.1365-2575.1999.00065.x.
Manea, A., Radzi, A., Rahman, R. and Haron, A., 2021. Strategies for virtual teams in
construction: Easiness-effectiveness analysis. IOP Conference Series: Earth and
Environmental Science, 641(1), pp.1-11.
Taylor, D., 2021. The Influence of Language Diversity on Virtual Team Communication:
Overcoming Barriers and Leveraging Benefits. Management international/International
Management/Gestiòn Internacional, 25(spécial).
Beldarrain, Y. and Diehl, K., 2019. Compensating for the lack of physical nonverbal cues in a
virtual team context, based on cultural background and preferred communication
style. The Wiley handbook of global workplace learning, pp.369-394.
Hackett, P.M., Lu, L. and Capobianco, P.M., 2018. Integrating and Writing Up Data-Driven
Quantitative Research: From Design to Result Presentation. In Quantitative Research
Methods in Consumer Psychology (pp. 376-406). Routledge.
Suhayda, V., Yue, W. and Abuissa, M., 2020. Virtual collaboration. Management, Enterprise
and Benchmarking in the 21st Century, pp.192-200.
4