Breaking the Familiarity Bias: Employing Virtual Reality Environments to Enhance Team Formation and Inclusion

TL;DR

This study investigates how virtual reality environments can improve team inclusion and closeness, especially for newcomers, by comparing VR-based and in-person team formation methods in an experimental setting.

Contribution

It introduces an experimental comparison showing VR's potential to enhance newcomer inclusion and team closeness in team formation processes.

Findings

VR newcomers felt closer to incumbents than in-person newcomers

Incumbents' closeness to newcomers was unaffected by condition

VR can be a tool to promote inclusion in team settings

Abstract

Team closeness provides the foundations of trust and communication, contributing to teams' success and viability. However, newcomers often struggle to be included in a team since incumbents tend to interact more with other existing members. Previous research suggests that online communication technologies can help team inclusion by mitigating members' perceived differences. In this study, we test how virtual reality (VR) can promote team closeness when forming teams. We conducted a between-subject experiment with teams working in-person and VR, where two members interacted first, and then a third member was added later to conduct a hidden-profile task. Participants evaluated how close they felt with their teammates after the task was completed. Our results show that VR newcomers felt closer to the incumbents than in-person newcomers. However, incumbents' closeness to newcomers did not vary across conditions. We discuss the implications of these findings and offer suggestions for how VR can promote inclusion.