The Impact of English Proficiency on Collaboration in Virtual Multinational Teams

The increasing use of virtual collaboration in multinational teams has made language a crucial factor for effective communication. This study examines how differences in English language proficiency (ELP) influence collaboration efficiency in virtual meetings. Virtual interactions rely heavily on verbal communication and include fewer non-verbal cues, making language differences more visible and impacting understanding, participation and overall team performance. This study adopts a qualitative research design and consists of an exploratory literature review with four semi-structured interviews. The interviews were conducted with members of virtual multinational teams. The collected data was analyzed using an inductive qualitative content analysis, including open, axial and selective coding to identify key themes and patterns. The findings show that ELP influences collaboration efficiency, but not in a linear way. Lower proficiency can lead to misunderstandings, increased clarification effort and reduced participation. At the same time, very high proficiency may reduce efficiency when communication becomes overly complex. The results also show that communication clarity and psychological factors play a more important role than proficiency alone. These findings provide practical implications for organizations, suggesting that fostering communication practices and supportive environments can improve collaboration in virtual, multinational teams. Future research could explore the role of digital tools and long-term communication development in virtual teams.