Changing the Perspective of Virtual Work: Building Virtual Intelligence at the Individual Level

There is evidence that much virtual work takes place beyond traditionally studied contexts, arising organically as part of ongoing work flow. As this unstructured virtual work becomes increasingly prevalent, it becomes more important to determine what factors are needed for an individual worker to be successful in a virtual work environment, and how to prepare individuals for virtual work. In this paper, we suggest the need for a modified perspective on virtual work that shifts the focus from the phenomena and effects of working virtually to the individual behaviors and skills needed to succeed. We develop a summary of critical success factors in virtual work based on a compilation of theoretical and empirical findings from multiple streams of virtual work research, differentiating between those that are relatively fixed for the individual worker and those that can be influenced or changed through training and individual development. We show how these factors inform the overall process of individual adaptation to virtual work and suggest a cognitive mechanism underlying this adaptation, which we call virtual intelligence. We then outline a multilevel agenda for future research that could further knowledge on ways the individual virtual worker can be successful.