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Cited by 133Digital Communication and LanguageTeam Dynamics and PerformanceLanguage, Discourse, Communication Strategies

E-leadership or “How to be boss in Instant Messaging?”. The role of nonverbal communication.

Open access
Darics, Erika·2020·International Journal of Business Communication
DOI 10.1177/2329488416685068
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Abstract

Doing leadership in the virtual realm has now become a routine part of many leaders’ daily work, yet our understanding of how leadership is enacted in mediated contexts—especially in text-only channels—is very limited. By applying micro-level analysis to naturally occurring instant message conversations, this article exposes the strategies leaders employ to achieve a range of complex communication goals: to get the work done while fostering informality and collegiality and creating the sense of a real—and not virtual—collaboration between team members. The findings further our understanding in two domains: They provide empirical grounding for e-leadership theories by exposing practices from real-life interactions, and they contribute to discursive leadership literature by addressing nonverbal communication practices. The findings of the article could form the basis for management and leadership training by drawing attention to the linguistic and semiotic resources digital leaders have at their disposal in virtual work environments.

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  • In a remote work environment, management and leadership functions are combined and managers must manage performance and implement solutions when needed and create and maintain a team identity by establishing and sharing a vision, corporate values, and organizational goals into a trusting working environment.

    “Darics (2020) highlighted that in a remote work environment, management and leadership functions are combined and managers must manage performance and implement solutions when needed and create and maintain a team identity by establishing and sharing a vision, corporate values, and organizational goals into a trusting working environment.”

    From E-Leadership and Teleworking in Times of COVID-19 and Beyond: What We Know and Where Do We Go (2020) · cites this paper as Darics, 2020

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Research works printed but not linked: 3

  1. Fernandes, G., Rouco, C., & Golovanova, I. (2015). Cavalry Officers' nonverbal communica- tion and its relation to perceived leadership and superior performance. In C. Rouco (Ed.), Proceedings of the 11th European Conference on Management Leadership and Governance (pp. 104-112). Reading, MA: Academic Conferences and Publishing International.
  2. Heritage, J. (1984). A change-of-state token and the aspects of its sequential placement. In M. J. Atkinson & J. Heritage (Eds.), Structures of social action: Studies in conversation analysis (pp. 299-345). Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.
  3. Schnurr, S. (in press). Yes, but is it really leadership? A critical reflection on discourse analyti- cal approaches to leadership. Journal of Pragmatics.

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Authors
Darics, E.
Affiliations
Aston University (GB)
Corresponding author
Darics, Erika
ORCID
Darics, Erika
Venue
International Journal of Business Communication
Publisher
SAGE Publications
Published
2017-01-13
Volume
57
Issue
1
Pages
3-29
ISSN
  • 2329-4884 (ISSN-L)
  • 2329-4892
DOI
10.1177/2329488416685068
OpenAlex
W2578167506
Cited by
133
References
80
Citations by year
2026: 11 · 2025: 12 · 2024: 23 · 2023: 37 · 2022: 15 · 2021: 10 · 2020: 22 · 2019: 3
FWCI
8.46
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • International Journal of Business Communication (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
  • Aston Publications Explorer (Aston University) (submittedVersion)
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Human-Computer Interaction › Digital Communication and Language
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Team Dynamics and Performance
  • Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Language and Linguistics › Language, Discourse, Communication Strategies
Keywords
digital leadership, instant messaging, nonverbal communication, mediated communication, discursive leadership, virtual teams, text-based communication, leadership strategies, collegiality, remote collaboration, leadership training

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