Precursors to engaged leaders in virtual project teams

• We studied four virtual teams, each executing a complex project.
• We examined the relationship between prior experiences and leadership.
• Training for traditional projects leads to more engaged leaders.
• Distributed team experience moderated leader engagement.
• Findings suggest revisions to traditional leadership training programs.

Virtual project teams are becoming common organizational structures because firms seek to leverage geographically distributed, specialized knowledge to execute work. Performance in virtual teams can be increased through effective leadership. Although a growing body of research exists that identifies how effective leaders engage in interactions with their teams, we know less about how to strategically identify candidates for leadership positions who have high potential to become engaged leaders. Our research fills this gap by exploring how prior experiences can be used to predict engagement in interactions associated with effective leadership. Our research is based on analysis of 20 graduate students in four simulated virtual project teams executing a construction design and planning task. Results suggest that in virtual teams, engagement is conditioned by the technological context in which the work is executed. Our findings have implications for existing leadership training programs and contribute to theories about the appropriateness of shared leadership models for virtual project teams.