Working in MS Teams: Challenges of Use by IT Project Management

The COVID pandemic has caused a surge in the use of online applications. In particular, the use of group support systems (GSS) such as Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Google Hangout. These GSS use are at an all-time high and are now considered to be a critical part of business. Thomas & Bostrom (2005) studied the need for virtual team leader roles. They found a technology facilitator role is critical when using information and communication technologies. A recent sample survey of IT project managers with over 15 years’ experience suggested that the use of these applications is one of the hurdles they have experienced which has affected their project success. Therefore, this study will focus on the knowledge of technical options in Microsoft Teams as well as their availability. More specifically, is a project manager’s realization of technical options affecting their projects and is the companies provisioning of the software another challenge introduced to project manager perceived success. This is a work in progress. The current plan for data collection is to obtain the technical options from the 0365 administrator and administer a survey to determine reasons for option selection. Another survey regarding project manager\u27s knowledge of MS Teams and their perceptions as to it\u27s relation to their success. The study is believed to have benefits in practice by providing the field data to support a strategic understanding of core products, the exposure of their options and the possible limitations caused by internal organizational software deployment policies