Are you Satisfied Yet? Shared Leadership, Individual Trust, Autonomy and Satisfaction in Virtual Teams

Abstract

Despite the benefits associated with virtual teams, many people on these teams are unsatisfied with their experience. The goal of this study was to determine how to better facilitate satisfaction through shared leadership, individual trust, and autonomy. Specifically, in this study we sought a better understanding of the effects of shared leadership, team members’ trust, and autonomy on satisfaction. We conducted a study with 163 individuals in 44 virtual teams. Results indicate that shared leadership facilitates satisfaction in virtual teams both directly and indirectly through the promotion of trust. Shared leadership moderated the relationships of individual trust and individual autonomy with satisfaction. Team-level satisfaction was a strong predictor of virtual team performance. We discuss these findings and the implications for theory and design.