Naturally occurring data in the study of virtual teams in working life – Challenges and opportunities

Previous research on virtual teamwork heavily relies on experiments conducted in laboratory settings, frequently utilizing zero-history university student groups, and drawing conclusions with regard to working life. While such studies can give some preliminary insights into the characteristics of distributed teamwork, they lack a methodological ingredient which is too often neglected in research on human interaction: authenticity. Such findings, consequently, are not easily applicable to what people do in real work life contexts. Earlier pleas to focus more on what is going on outside the laboratory, however, have been widely disregarded. This article takes a stand for including more naturally occurring data in the study of social interaction in virtual teams, and discusses key challenges and opportunities related to gathering naturally occurring data in working life contexts.