Using Enterprise Social Networks for Social Support in Virtual Teams

Résumé

Distributed work practices are now commonplace, and many organizations have adopted virtual teams as a collaborative structure. To communicate and coordinate tasks, these teams increasingly rely on enterprise social networks (ESNs) like Slack and Microsoft Teams. Given the recent rapid spread of these practices, the process and nature of interpersonal relationship development among virtual teams emerges as an important research area. Studies have highlighted various work-related well-being outcomes associated with virtual work practices, with some arguing that ESNs may ameliorate many negative outcomes by enabling team members to provide each other with social support. To investigate this proposition, we conducted a qualitative interview-based study with 22 distributed workers in virtual teams to explore their experiences of ESN use for the communication of social support. The findings underscore the significance of ESNs as facilitators of social support among distributed workers and their willingness and ability to use ESNs for diverse forms of support. The features of ESNs simplify and optimize social support processes and foster work practices characterized by frequent and continuous support provision. To manage and guide these work practices, virtual teams continuously develop and negotiate usage norms that dictate their enactment of ESN affordances with the aim of enhancing social support and avoiding pitfalls like information overload.

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