Traditional Ground Based Teams And Virtual Teams

According to Gibson (2012), Virtual Teams are defined as, “a team that relies on interactive technology to work together when separated by physical distance.” (p. 244) Ironically, I manage a virtual team and I wholeheartedly agree with best practices managing virtual teams. I have team members who support the same business unit, physically sit in an office but in various locations from Michigan to Florida. Most of my team I inherited but have done a decent job of following the best practices discussed by Gibson.

Virtual teams have emerged to mitigate the challenges of managing teams that are distributed across different regions, and are a sustainable component of global business. A project manager managing a virtual team would have to integrate communication strategies, project management techniques including human and social processes in order to support the team, (Kimball, 1997). The author is a project manager assigned to lead a virtual team of 300 volunteers located across the globe to develop recommendations for regulating carbon emissions in the world. As indicated Kimball (1997), this kind of a virtual team usually supports people working in the same professional field and most of the

Hertel, Guido, Susanne Geister, and Udo Konradt. 2005. “Managing virtual teams: A review of current empirical research.” Human Resource Management Review 15 (1): 69-95. doi: 10.1016/j.hrmr.2005.01.002.

Virtual Team on the other hand is a group of people working across time, space, and organizational boundaries which communication links are strengthened by the internet. It should be noted that virtual teams can also mean individuals spread across different cultures and languages. (“Virtual Team - Origin, Definition and its Scope,” 2016). More so, this team of geographically dispersed professionals working together as a unit despite distance are committed to achieving a single objective, holding one another mutually accountable.

Hastings, R. (December 3, 2008). Set Ground Rules for Virtual Team Communications. SHRM Online. Retrieved August 8, 2011 from http://www.shrm.org .

The success or failure of virtual team collaboration in organizations is often reflected in the philosophies and support of its executives. For example, when company executives demonstrate collaborative behaviors and create collaborative environments where social interactions thrive, virtual team collaboration also thrives. Executives achieve this by establishing, encouraging, and maintaining strong social interactions throughout the organization. These practices are often tailored to the unique culture of the organization and are effective because of its unique signature or fit to the organization. By investing in signature relationship practices, executives can encourage collaboration across the organization (Gratton & Erickson, 2007).

such teams cross organizational boundaries as team members are not necessarily to be from the same organization. Also membership frequently is diffuse and fluid, with team members rotating on and off the team as their expertise is needed. Team members may not even be aware of all the individuals, work teams, or organizations in the network. Depending on the complexity of the issue, additional members to the team may be added at any time. The duration these teams last may vary significantly depending on how fast or slow the issue is resolved. Such type of virtual teams often is found in consulting firms and in high-technology

Implementation of the virtual teams have implications at different aspects as well as levels of the organization. Here, I will discuss the implication in detail.

Rules are meant to be broken! This phrase is embraced by innovative technology to stimulate creativity and ‘out of the box’ type thinking. This mentality can also serve as an Achilles’ heel for any team that fails to establish ground rules prior to commencement of a project. Virtual teams without behavioral norms are divisive and less productive than their peers. This paper will discuss ten behavioral norms that are essential components to the performance of virtual teams, along with, an action plan.

These groups rely on technology to communicate with one another and to accomplish the tasks allocated by the organization. One benefit of a virtual team is that they use technology and this can help increase efficiency and productivity of the members. The virtual teams also assist in the development of intellectual capital. The composition of the virtual groups helps improve quality as well as the outcome. The other benefit is the efficiency of communication. Some of the challenges include the distance between the members. The significant distance may dilute leadership, weaken human relations as well as amplify dysfunction. Virtual teams are hard to manage especially when it comes to goal setting, task distribution, coordination and member motivation. Virtual organizations rely on trust that the other members will fulfill their roles since it is not possible to monitor them closely (Hoppe, 2011). The virtual teams may face some internet challenges such as slow internet or disconnection. This problem can be handled through the use of alternative methods of communication such as mobile phones. While making a virtual team, the team members should address all challenges which may hinder communication by coming up with all possible substitutes of means of communication. These organizations rely heavily on the internet for video conferencing and sending emails. However, when the internet fails, they

Case 14.1-“Can This Virtual Team Work?” addresses the concerns of a newly formed virtual information technology team that is led by Jim Towne. The team is made up of competent members who reside and work in Canada, the United States, Europe, South America, Africa, and Australia. Their task is to create and implement technology innovations for all global business units. To accomplish this task, the team collaborates via phone, videoconference, email, text, group decision-support software and has even met twice in a face-to-face setting to plan and set goals. Although the team seems to be enthused about the task as well as working together, the team is having difficulty finishing projects as a unit because they are all working on multiple projects individually and/or corporately. Another problem is that most team members travel to business sites at least two weeks each month which takes away time to work on projects. There is a part-time secretary responsible for organizing travel and meetings, but despite her efforts, the team feels overloaded because with each trip they fall farther behind on their tasks. So Jim is now under pressure to prove that this team can add value to the organization despite the challenges presented.

In this paper, I will discuss about effectiveness of virtual teams and challenges that have to face of people working in different locations and geographies. Moreover, identifying pros and cons of associating with virtual teams and co-located teams or traditional teams. And I will expound how I apply virtual team strategy in managing my product development.

E-Collaboration is a phenomena branching off from collaboration and entails software which is used for supporting collaboration processes in groups (Riemer, Steinfield, & Vogel, 2009; Rosenzweig, 2009).E-Collaboration came about as a means to break down the traditional and structural processes

from conventional bface-to-faceQ teams. While extreme cases of virtual teams can be imagined in which

A team comprised of international components presents an interesting challenge in regards to management. Various problems can potentially arise in regards to organizing the team, developing rules that govern the team and assigning tasks. One method in which to mitigate all of the above mentioned rules is by setting performance standards for the entire team to adhere (Alexander, 2000). One such standard involves the use of a balanced scorecard. A balanced scorecard allows each individual irrespective of their position within the team to have a core set of standards in which to abide by. These standards will also include the job function and the roles of each member with the job function. The scorecard provides an ideal medium in which to judge performance as well. By viewing the scorecard management can easily pinpoint areas of opportunity and improvement (Blair 2010).