Over the past decade, technology has drastically improved the lives of people from all across the globe. The purpose of this paper is to focus on the impact technology has had on a working environment, and how it has affected the overall performance of the working world. The intent of this paper is concentrate primarily on the relationships of team building, the challenges that are faced when technology is present in a working environment, the positives/negatives of virtual teams, and how technology can make for a more effective working environment. In order for a team to build a successful relationship, they have to be willing to work together in hopes of achieving a common goal. As we have read in our text, not all groups are successful. Our text compared groups to teams, and the main argument is that a team is just a general collection of people. When people are not brought together to work cooperatively with one another, it makes the process of team building a very difficult task to micromanage compared to the goal at hand. The camaraderie that is built throughout virtual teams is able to be achieved in numerous ways. Web meetings, documents, photographs, and visual organizational charts make it possible for virtual teams scattered all around the world to have a common working ground where they are able to collaborate as one team and do so successfully. A challenge can be defined as difficulty in a job that is stimulating to one who is engaged in it. With technology, challenges can be present and cause a disturbance within a virtual team. Some of the frequent problems can include time zone differences, off-topic conversations that may take place, cell phone barring problems, and the inability to read the other person as compared to face-to-face meetings. Another issue when dealing with virtual teams can be as simple as the people of which you are working with. If the members of the team are not open to the idea of the virtual team, it can cause for a disturbance amongst the team that can cause frustration that grows throughout. In any situation faced, the presence of positives and negatives are always present. The positives of virtual teams are simple to see. The diverse knowledge and skills that are able to obtain throughout the team can go long ways in making the team successful and achieve the goal at hand. Virtual teams also reduce the costs by eliminating overlapping functions, while maintaining the sharing of the best practices. The ability to share knowledge, from a global perspective, also it a major benefit to the help technology serves in virtual teams. One other advantage is the ability to work around the globe, which enables the capabilities to work twenty four hours a day, seven days a week. Some of the negatives of virtual teams can be quite problematic. Communication efficiency can cause a team to fall apart, fast. Almost 30% of communication done between individuals is done in a non-verbal manner, and while technology can put your face on a screen to make it seem to be in the same room, it’s not quite the same affect. Poor management is also a negative that can happen. Clearly, this can be a problem in non-virtual teams, but with poor management, virtual teams cannot function properly throughout the group and achieve that goals set in a timely fashion. Incompetent team members can also cause major problems. If the work is not done that is designated to each individual part of a virtual team, the team is forced into a standstill and must wait until all members are on the same page in order to move forward. Technology is what the world is driven by today. In terms of virtual teams, technology has made it possible for somebody in China to work on the exact same document as the person who is working in the United States. Conversations are now able to be done in real-time live environments by either voice or texts. Technology also holds the ability to have specific document storage units that are strictly used for a virtual team to store the required work that is needed by the team. It is able to be accessed quickly and easily, which makes every team members job a little less stressful. Real-time sharing is also available which helps store information that is both statistical and dynamical. One element that is often looked over is that of presence. Technology allows virtual teams to see whether or not team members are online or available to talk with which makes the process of e-mailing a little less of a hassle because team members are able to know whether or not a specific person is available at the desired time. Technology, while it may have its areas where improvement is still needed, has made the world a new place. Virtual teams and technology were both created off of one another. The ability to get work done with members from around the world is almost something that seems impossible to do, but with the help of technology it is possible for people all around the world to work together to achieve a desired objective. Technology has allowed us to take away the idea of a group, and replace it with the concept of a virtual team.

Works Cited
Don Tapscott, A. D. (2008). Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything. New York: Penguin Group.
Eidson, D. C. (2009, December 6). The Benefits and Liabilities of Virtual Teams. Retrieved May 19, 2012, from Expert Access: http://expertaccess.cincom.com/2009/12/the-benefits-and-liabilities-of-virtual-teams-six-things-managers-need-to-know/
Robert Jones, R. O. (2005). Working Virtually: Challenges of Virtual Teams. Hershey: IRM Press.