...Virtual Teams and Managing Conflict. Name of the Author: Name of the Professor: Name of the Institution: Date of Submission: According to Duarte and Snyder (1999) “virtual teams operate without the physical limitations of distance, time, and organizational boundaries. They use electronic collaborations technologies and other techniques to lower travel and facility costs, reduce project schedules, and improve decision making time and communication (p.4)“. Virtual teams mean people who are geographically separated, and work together across borders. They are connected by modern technologies of computers. Internet has transformed most economies and workplaces into modern economies and workplaces. Many organizations are abandoning conventional face to face working teams for virtual teams. Most organizations are embracing technological revolutions. This enhances them to be more dynamic and adopt innovative approaches in their procedures. The ability of the work team to incorporate technology has led to success in most organizations. Well known international companies such as, IBM, Whirlpool, Hewlett-Packard, Ford Motor, Johnson and Johnson and Verifone have successfully implemented virtual teams. (Kiser, 1999; Stough, 2000). The rapid worldwide growth of virtual teams has been attributed by increased inter organizational co-operation, rapid pace of globalization and other benefits associated with its implementation. This includes the ability of the employees to work for...
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...CHALLENGES OF MANAGING VIRTUALIZED TEAMS Table of Contents I. Introduction 3 II. Why Virtual Teams? 3 III. Are Virtual Teams For Me? 4 IV. Virtual Team Challenges and Best Practices 4 1. Communication Challenges 5 A. Cultural and Global Communication Challenges 6 2. Management and Leadership Challenges 7 V. On The Flip Side: Virtualized Project Managers 9 VI. Conclusion 9 Appendix 1: Source: Solomon, 2010, p. 10 11 Appendix 2: Source: Solomon, 2010, p. 12 12 I. Introduction As globalization becomes more prevalent in organizations and telecommunications infrastructure improves, virtual teams are becoming more and more of a reality. Collaboration of work and sharing of knowledge is becoming increasingly important as businesses promote more agile and just-in-time production. Many businesses realize that virtual teams can provide them with these competitive advantages. However, as virtual teams grow in popularity (Cascio et al., 2000), the challenges that come with managing these teams become more apparent. This is due to problems that naturally come from a virtual environment, such as communication deficiency, lack of motivation, and non-transparent management. This report is intended to inform project managers and IT professionals about the challenges of virtual team management and provide best practices for handling these challenges. In this paper, we will be looking at managing three different configurations for virtual teams: virtualized...
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...MANAGING VIRTUAL PROJECT TEAMS A research project submitted to the faculty of San Francisco State University In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Master of Business Administration by Bryan Rolf Trautsch San Francisco, California December 11, 2003 Copyright (c) 2003 by Bryan Trautsch. CERTIFICATION OF APPROVAL I certify that I have read VIRTUAL PROJECT MANAGEMENT by Bryan Rolf Trautsch, and that in my opinion this work meets the criteria for approving a research project submitted in partial fulfillment of requirements for the Master of Business Administration degree at San Francisco State University. ________________________________________ Dr. Robert C. Nickerson Professor of Information Systems ________________________________________ Dr. Sam S. Gill Professor of Information Systems ABSTRACT MANAGING VIRTUAL PROJECT TEAMS Bryan Rolf Trautsch San Francisco State University Fall 2003 The purpose of the project is to explore the communications and collaborations issues associated with managing virtual project teams. In order to establish a better understanding of the problem, the paper evaluates virtual teams against more traditional collocated teams to provide some background and depth to the research. The method used in the research was in the format of a questionnaire consisting of six questions. The questionnaire was delivered via e-mail to various project managers with virtual project team experience...
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...Manual for Virtual Teams Table of Contents So, You Want a Virtual Team, Huh? 3 Introduction 3 The Look of a Successful Virtual Team 4 The Leader's Relief 6 Establishing Team Purpose 7 The Virtual Team Start-up Meeting 8 Local vs. Virtual 9 Operating Principles 10 The Culture Thing 11 “The Safety Net" – Coping With Virtuality 12 Become An Effective Leader 12 Staying On Top Of Things 12 The Technical Needs of a Virtual Team 13 Learning and Technology 13 Selecting Technology 13 Examples of Real-Time Tools (Synchronous) 14 Examples of Asynchronous Tools 14 The Virtual Meeting 15 Planning Your Meeting 15 The Virtual Meeting, cont. 16 Facilitation Tips 16 Types of Virtual Meeting Software to Consider 16 Managing Issues In A Virtual Team 17 Conclusions and Closure for a Virtual Team 18 References 19 So, You Want a Virtual Team, Huh? An Instructional Manual for Virtual Teams Introduction John is so excited! He starts his new job on Monday. In his new job, John will take on a team for a Fortune 100 company. His new company is growing fast, and to keep up with the pressure of rapid growth, they have been expanding across the country. John is new to this matrix-type work culture and needs to adjust his style of work and leadership to accommodate. How will he setup technology and infrastructures to support his new team? What techniques can he use to build trust, agreement and purpose with his new team? How will...
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...Disadvantages of Collaboration in the Workplace Teams and groups exist in all levels of industries and organizations. Groups can be small or large, local or remote, coached or self-directed. Teams are found at all levels of business, from a multi-billion dollar corporation that builds jets to a small waterpark employing lifeguards and clerks. Successful teams need some form of leadership, good communication, problem-solving skills, and a purpose. Successful groups can achieve tremendous results,. When teams work together, everyone is working toward one common goal and completing the project with successful results. Average groups do just enough to achieve a goal, and then there are groups that are extraordinary. They achieve superior results and team members come away from the group experience with a newfound respect of what he or she helped accomplish. A study revealed eight performance indicators linking extraordinary groups and group members agreed. Each team member agreed teams must: have a compelling purpose, a shared leadership role, team structure, full engagement among members, embrace member differences, learn the unexpected, build trusting relationships, and achieve outstanding results. Whether the team is for-profit or not, volunteers or employees, face-to-face or virtual, these eight indicators emerged (Bellman & Ryan, 2010). Athletics and businesses share many of the same qualities. The head coach sets goals for his team as does the business manager. Head coach and...
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...Issues in Business, Management and Education 2013 Virtual teams: opportunities and challenges for e-leaders Snellman Carita Liliana* a Metropolia University of Applied Sciences, Business, Leiritie 1, Vantaa 01600, Finland Abstract In the globalized world with crucial technological changes, leaders are facing unforeseen opportunities as well as challenges while striving to reach their objectives. Such changes have led to organizational restructurings and implied rethinking of leadership functions and practices. Changing organizational structures, from traditional hierarchical towards lower and more flexible ones, have made leaders organize work in new ways. Teams account for one new way of organizing work and reaching organizational goals. Likewise, globalized markets have made leaders search for new solutions to meet the needs of customers. In consequence, organizations strive for competitive advantages through downsizing, subcontracting, joint ventures, strategic alliances, and other collaborative and network-based alternatives which are typically facilitated by virtual teams. Virtual teams are geographically and organizationally dispersed teams that function over time zones. Due to such dispersion, physical contact in virtual teams is reduced or lacking altogether which means that collaboration is enabled by IT-solutions such as computerbased communication. This kind of electronically facilitated team work is known to imply opportunities as well as challenges...
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...Running Head: Virtual Teams and Face to Face Teams Virtual Teams and Face to Face Teams Research Paper March 4, 2012 Introduction As organizations continue to expand globally and increase the use of internet/web technologies to conduct their business, virtual teams continue to increase significantly. In today’s business world, virtual teams are more common in the workplace as opposed to face to face teams. There are various differences between virtual and face to face teams and thus the advantages and disadvantages of each team will be discussed. Comparison and Contrast Nonetheless, teams are defined as a group of people with complementary skills that are committed to achieve a common purpose. The author Gregory Berry further explains that teams interact interdependently and are bought together or come together voluntarily; to achieve a certain outcome (Berry, 2011). The members of teams are jointly responsible for the outcomes (Berry, 2011). It is important to understand the dynamics and structure of teams. Such an aspect is important because each team possesses different advantages and disadvantages and one must choose the most effective type depending on the purpose or task that needs to be attained. A virtual team is able to work anywhere and is linked by web communication to achieve organizational tasks (Cummings, 2011). A face to face team is a group of people who work in an organization in the same environment and communicate directly...
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...Katie M Drinkall (u06a1) Unit 6 Assignment 1 Communication in Virtual Team Capella University September 26, 2013 Communication Communication is the activity of conveying information though the exchange of thoughts, messages, or information by speech, visuals, signals, writings or behaviors (Grosse, 2002). These processes are done over time, culture, and geographic boundaries, while this has become a common practice for organizations and has give rise to the concept of globally dispersed teams known as virtual teams (LaLonde, 2011). Communication is one of the most necessary components of leadership, without communication there would be no teams, nobody would know what their role on the team would be, there would be no procedures to go by for the test, and there would be no launching of a new team, so the team would never actually exists. Communication can be either verbal or nonverbal; there are many ways in which a speaker can present themselves without using any verbal form. This can be done though body language, hand gestures and facial expressions. Since a virtual team does not have the best ability to see all of these forms of nonverbal communication when partaking in a conference call or see the speaker’s body language when they are seated at their desk. While this can prevent a virtual team from being a successful team, it should not be the main reason why a team fails. Virtual teams are comprised of individual who work interdependently using computer-mediated...
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...Chapter 4 A. Work Design Framework a. Organizations are moving away from organization structures built around particular jobs to a setting in which a person’s work is defined in terms of what needs to be done. B. How Information Technology Changes the Nature of Work a. IT has created more types of works b. IT Employment at an all time high c. Supported new ways to manage people C. Changing the way work is Done a. Many traditional jobs are now done by computers b. Jobs once done by art and skill are often greatly changed by the introduction of Its c. Introduction of IT into an organization can greatly change the day-to-day tasks performed by its employees. d. Crowdsourcing is now possible at a very low cost e. Few staff are engaged in order entry any longer f. Sometimes people can perform more strategic tasks g. Sometimes IT disconnects us from the tasks h. Zuboff provides an example of disconnection from the task at a paper mill where the masters could no longer smell and squeeze pulp to make sure of the chlorine content i. Skills of salespeople have turned from order takers and stock counters to marketing consultants. D. Changing Communication Patterns a. More asynchronous and more irregular b. Social networking has provided new opportunities for customer interaction c. Collaboration allows a firm to look big with new tools d. IT is changing the communication patterns of employees. i. Many truck drivers do not interact with others in their organization...
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...Performing Virtual Team March 28, 2015 Northeastern University Creating A High Performing Virtual Team Abstract Project teams have changed from being collocated to being diverse, globally located teams of highly skilled, individuals. Virtual teams are generally brought together quickly to complete a project in the shortest time frame within a budget and schedule. The challenge for organizations is to create a high performing virtual team, which takes time to achieve. This paper outlines characteristics and qualities of individuals who comprise a high performing virtual team. The team building approach is laid out and the levels that a team and it’s leader progress through to becoming a high performing virtual team. Introduction Globalization has lead to organizations changing from project managers of collocated teams to project leaders of virtual teams. In addition to having the necessary skills and experience, the people who comprise a virtual team bring unique characteristics and qualities to build a strong team. Building a virtual team takes analyzing every aspect of the project including the people who will work on the project. The team leader is not just managing a project, but leading and coaching highly effective people to produce at their highest level and meet the project objectives. Areas of Concern for Creating a Virtual Team Dr. Ginger Levin (2009), found that the following areas are important to building a high performing virtual team: * Personal...
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...Virtual Teams: A Review of Current Literature and Directions for Future Research1 Anne Powell Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Gabriele Piccoli Cornell University Blake Ives University of Houston Abstract Information technology is providing the infrastructure necessary to support the development of new organizational forms. Virtual teams represent one such organizational form, one that could revolutionize the workplace and provide organizations with unprecedented levels of flexibility and responsiveness. As the technological infrastructure necessary to support virtual teams is now readily available, further research on the range of issues surrounding virtual teams is required if we are to learn how to manage them effectively. While the findings of team research in the traditional environment may provide useful pointers, the idiosyncratic structural and contextual issues surrounding virtual teams call for specific research attention. This article provides a review of previously published work and reports on the findings from early virtual team research in an effort to take stock of the current state of the art. The review is organized around the input – process – output model and categorizes the literature into issues pertaining to inputs, socio-emotional processes, task processes, and outputs. Building on this review we critically evaluate virtual team research and develop research questions that can guide future inquiry in this fertile are of inquiry. ACM Categories:...
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...together to achieve a common goal. Teamwork is used frequently when referring to sports teams performing to accomplish a purpose; nevertheless, teamwork is now a standard expression in the workplace. The success of the team is directly connected to the efficiency of the team. The workplace is a results-based culture and the performance of the team is linked to how the team attains results. According to Higgs (2007), “It appears that a number of factors are more likely to be dominant in explaining variation in team performance” (p.82). Higgs explains further that it is the individual personalities of the team members, accompanied with the techniques used by the team to become productive is what sets other teams apart (Higgs, 2007). This paper will examine the critical components of the team getting results while working as a collective and collaborative unit, the internal management of the team and its relationship to success, the effectiveness of team meetings and the technological tools that are available for teams to implement in the work environment. The Team Working Together Teamwork begins with the individual; each individual in a team needs to be a team player, willing to work together to accomplish a bigger goal. Each person on a team has something different that he or she can contribute, and teams function best when team members are allowed to share his or her area of expertise. Teams function best when they are diverse group of people who are open to new ideas, as...
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...Virtual Teams: A Review of Current Literature and Directions for Future Research1 The DATA BASE for Advances in Information Systems Anne Powell Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Gabriele Piccoli Cornell University Blake Ives University of Houston Winter 2004 (Vol. 35, No. 1) Introduction Global competition, reengineered product life cycles, mass customization, and the increased need to respond quickly to customers’ needs are just some of the more pronounced trends currently driving organizational change (Grenier & Metes, 1995; Miles & Snow, 1986; Miles & Snow, 1992). One of the building blocks of these successful organizations is the Virtual Team. As a consequence, a growing number of organizations are implementing them or plan to implement them in the near future (Lipnack &Stamps, 1997; McDonough et al., 2001) and their use is expected to continue to grow (Carmel & Agarwal, 2001; McDonough et al., 2001). The increasing popularity of virtual teams has spurred a parallel growth in research examining various aspects of virtual team adoption and use. Recent research has studied virtual team inputs, socioemotional processes, task processes, and outcomes. Much of this literature focuses on comparisons of virtual teams and traditional teams. Virtual Teams Traditionally, both the terms “team” and “group” have been used to describe small collections of people at work. While the two terms are often used interchangeably...
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...Making the Shift to the Next-Generation Enterprise (a multi-part series) Future of Work Enabler: Virtual Collaboration Cloud-powered social and mobile tools can help break down traditional hierarchies and enable employees across disciplines to easily locate and share business-critical insights with experts inside and outside the organization’s four walls. This report is an installment in our multi-part series that explores the shifts necessary for future-proofing your company. | FUTURE OF WORK ation Executive Summary In today’s knowledge economy, virtual teams are the norm. With expertise distributed around the world, teams “swarm” to complete a task and depart when finished. Knowledge work is not performed in linear, production-line fashion; it involves idea-sharing, iterative discussions and real-time modifications. In traditional business, change was first agreed upon, then planned and executed. But in today’s world, change happens organically, thanks to the interconnectedness afforded by social networks and the Web, otherwise known as “wirearchy.”1 Roles and responsibilities — once carved into the org chart — are fluid and ever-changing. The most valuable contributor to a project may turn out to be someone you don’t even know. Leaders aren’t appointed or anointed by management; they’re recognized by the community based on the perceived strength of their contributions. Leadership is dynamic and changes during the lifetime of a project; the way forward is often...
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... 2016 Virtual teams have become much more common in organizations and when utilized properly can be extremely effective. Virtual teams are “teams whose members operate across space, time, and organizational boundaries and are linked through information technologies to achieve organizational tasks.” (Steven L.McShane, p. 208) Using a virtual team within a company is quite different than using a traditional team. There are two ways in which virtual teams differ from traditional teams. Virtual teams are “not usually co-located and due to their lack of co-location, members of virtual teams depend primarily on information technologies rather than face-face interaction to communicate and coordinate their work effort.” (Steven L.McShane, p. 208) With the ever changing modes of communication within the workplace having virtual teams can provide many advantages to the company. For one “globalization makes virtual teams increasingly necessary because employees are spread around the planet rather than one building or city.” (Steven L.McShane, p. 210) Virtual teams are excellent for companies which have many different locations in different parts of the world. Virtual teams are able to bounce ideas off of each other and find opportunities to help each other even though they are located so far from each other. Virtual teams also help companies to save money and resources. This is done “by not having a physical location, the company and the team alike save money on...
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