CHANGES IN THE NATURE OF TEAMWORK AND TEAM MANAGEMENT FORCED BY COVID-19​

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected organizations worldwide; both national and transnational companies have had to rethink their operations and way of working, often reorganizing and managing teams in a fully remote or hybrid mode. The article presents the results of a pilot study conducted on a geographically dispersed team of experts in a global corporation, in order to observe any changes in teamwork and team management forced by COVID-19.The objective of the study was to identify the most material changes COVID-19 instigated in team work as well as challenges and problems faced by a manager who had to manage a team amidst a crisis (pandemic). To this end, a literature review was conducted as well as an exploratory qualitative research, to investigate, at a microscale, how such a team and its manager coped with the remote work situation. The research was conducted between December 2021 and January 2022 on a purposefully selected sample population; the gathered data were the subject of content analysis. The results showed that despite numerous difficulties, what proved essential to the surveyed team’s successful functioning within the remote work context, were supportive leadership, teamwork, good communication among the team members, and empathic and personalized interactions between the manager and the team members.

Keywords: teamwork, supportive leadership, remote / hybrid work, COVID-19

JEL classification codes: J21, M12, M54