Enhancing communication success: A mixed-methods study of communication patterns among virtual team members in academia

With virtual communication becoming integral in modern organizations, understanding effective strategies and their impact on team success is crucial. This study’s purpose was to evaluate the communication strategies used by Alliances for Graduate Education and the Professoriate (AGEP) teams to determine which strategies led to productivity and success for virtual teams in academia. We chose AGEP teams because they provided perspectives relevant to the goal of this study, which was to use the collected information to enhance the theory and practice of communication and project success across various academic fields in virtual environments. A mixed-methods design with an explanatory sequential approach was used with purposive sampling employed to draw a study sample. We used a 34-question survey (n = 70) for quantitative data collection and semi-structured interviews (n = 12) for qualitative data collection. Findings revealed that the degree of virtuality and diversity does not decrease productivity and/or effectiveness when proper virtual communication strategies are used. This research resulted in recommendations for diverse, virtual teams in academia to improve communication, productivity, and overall success in achieving academic rigor and innovation.