Virtual Teams
Virtual teams are teams that are geographically or organizationally distant but are connected by electronic communication to pursue a shared goal. With the help of highly successful virtual teams, businesses can develop or even use talent while working remotely and without geographical constraints. Global and local virtual teams are the two types of virtual teams. While the virtual teams are available locally but follow the same principles of remote working as the global teams, which are spread out across the globe. As a result, virtual teams frequently struggle to streamline its personnel, borders, and technologies in order to function effectively. Virtual teams confront a greater difficulty than other typical teams. Different companies under different management positions often prefer certain management skills in order to fully meet the needs of their employees.
Types of Virtual Teams
Different managers holding different positions in different companies shared their virtual teams and the strategies they use to run and manage their teams. I, therefore conducted an interview with Mr. Paul who is a project manager from IBM and Mr. Sean who is a Service Strategy manager from General Electric. Mr. Paul from IBM uses mostly networked virtual teams. Mr. Paul, therefore, uses people who have diverse level of expertise and are also located in different physical locations. In the networks virtual teams every individual serves a specific purpose and hence when the purpose is met the person often leaves the organization or the position is liquidated. Mr. Paul’s main challenge is out-tasking and also ensuring that the tasks are performed in the correct way. In order to ensure that the networks virtual team runs smoothly, Mr. Paul has to ensure that the computer management systems as well as the e-Enterprise cooperation’s are efficient and hence run efficiently. Cragan, Wright and Kasch (2008) affirm that the network virtual teams often sponsor the Small and Medium Size enterprises to find their place and thrive on the global scale.
On the other hand, Mr. Sean the Service Strategy Manager runs the Service teams. The service teams place an emphasis on offering customer support at all times of the day. The service teams equally have various roles that includes communication which is offered in a timely, effective and well-informed manner. Through the procedural and evaluation processes that are aimed at improving operations, Mr. Sean is able to give effective feedback, offer training services and coaching among other activities. As the service strategy manager, Mr. Sean is also available most of the time to ensure that employees are well motivated and that their problems are resolves in the correct manner. The service team, therefore often delegates their roles to the next shift so as to ensure the clients demands and expectations are met. Another important element of the service team is that; they often outsource some services like software developments. The outsourcing duties are awarded to the offshore teams who work and give results to the onshore team (Zofi 2011).
How to Manage Virtual Teams
Virtual teams pose a challenge in their management as different managers and organizations have their distinct techniques of attaining the desired results. However, one way to ensure the virtual teams stay on track is to set standards through defining the roles of the virtual teams. Setting standards is effective in ensuring that the virtual team handles repeated work systems effectively. Since communication is key for any virtual team, it is important to initiate and effective communication channel that prompts a faster and more efficient communication procedure (Cragan, Wright and Kasch 2008). Communication also has a key role to unify the communication process through videos and voice recorders among other methods. Additionally, managers have a mandate to schedule regular meetings with their remote teams to ensure efficiency. Scheduling regular meetings which are on the same day, venue and time every week makes the virtual teams more prepared and conditioned to the meetings and hence make the process less laborious.
When managing virtual groups, it is also important to ensure that the working hours overlap even when the team members are from different time zones. When the team members are online at the same time, it helps bring the team closer even when the team members do not need each other to perform their tasks. Since virtual teams are geographically dispersed, team bonding and team building activities are helpful in incorporating the needs of the team. Pauleen (2004) states that through initiating creative team building activities like sending presents to all team members and having them open them at the same time by the use of video calls is one such way of creating cohesion. Virtual teams are culturally diverse due to the difference in the geographical location of the participants.
Managers ought to consider the diversity of the cultural differences of the team members and treat each team member with utmost respect with regard to their culture. Cultural differences could include the ways of communication like the high end and low end communication areas. It is also essential and paramount to manage the team’s expectations (Pauleen 2004). When team members perform well and meet their targets with the expectation that they will one day move to the central area of the organization’s operation, it is important manage their expectations. While managing the virtual team’s expectations, the managers should not demotivate the team’s efforts in the process.
Interpersonal Communication within the Virtual Team
In virtual teams communication is an important element that helps the team stay focused on the set goal despite being in different locations. Managers should encourage the team players to get to know each other and interact at a personal level. In the case where managers inherit pre-existing teams that suddenly become working in different locations, it could pose a challenge to the team. Most of the strong pre-existing teams are self-reliant and hence do not willingly cooperate and interact with the other pre-existing teams that might be working remotely. According to Gibson & Cohen (2003), informal communication and interaction through chats and hangouts often make the team more intercreative and cooperative. Through social chatting and video calls people in virtual teams can get to know the character and identities of their colleagues and hence will develop a deeper form of affiliation to their work and contemporaries.
Both Mr. Paul from IBM and Mr. Sean from GE agree that working with a remote virtual team is much more beneficial and flexible as compared to working with physically located teams. Mr. Paul states that virtual teams offer a wide range of resources that range from expertise to ideas. Working with virtual groups increases efficiency as people do not get distracted by the office environment like gossiping and time wastage. It is also possible for people in the different areas to work around the clock due the different time zones and thereby delivering quality services. Mr. Sean equally stated that most of his employees enjoyed working for GE and felt satisfied because they were working from the comfort of their homes and hence were more satisfied. While Mr. Paul complained that it was difficult to integrate and promote a form of cohesion between the two teams Mr. Sean states that cultural differences posed a challenge of time management to the virtual team. Shankar Sundarean & Zuopeng Zhanga. Elsevier. Parallel Teams for Knowledge Creation. Retrieved from http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167923612001042.
However, Mr. Paul states that, communication breakdown was rampant and hence possess a great challenge to the to the geographically diverse team. He added that sometimes there is a difference in technological equipment and software that makes the team work unevenly and have a lopsided kind of development. Pauleen (2004) corresponds that the issue of technology in communication equally leaves a gap in the communication pattern as some concepts and observations cannot be expressed through technology. Mr. Sean on the other hand states that with the improvement in technology, virtual teams give better results and are more efficient as compared to the normal teams. Technology has improved communication to the extent of facilitating people to work and communicate effectively and in a timely manner while residing in different locations. Technology makes growth possible through the sharing of ideas and poaching of new talent which could otherwise be difficult.
Comparison
Although Mr. Paul’s network management system differs structurally from Mr. Sean’s service system, they both share similar challenges and have some advantages. The networked teams give an allowance for flexibility in terms of service delivery and free flow of ideas and the manager can decide to hire highly skilled labor to perform a specific function. Networked teams are however temporal as they can be dissolved and their life span depends on the complexity of their project. The main advantage of the networked teams is that they help nurture talent through beating geographical barriers. In Communication in Small group: Theory, Process and skills, Cragan, Wright and Kasch (2008) agree that the service virtual team on the other hand offer training and well-informed information to their colleagues and clients. The service teams also have a mandate to ensure that they put in place structural adjustments that help moderate and check the on the quality of work of the virtual teams.
While the networked virtual teams offer temporal positions to their employees depending on the complexity of the project the service virtual teams are constant and long term (Pauleen 2004). The network teams have a mandate to ensure that the different people working remotely are effective and productive despite the technological and communication challenges and differences.
In virtual working environments, communication is the most important element. Both the networked service virtual working environments need communication in order to be efficient. Communication is, therefore, streamlined through technological advancement and improvement. The remote teams unlike the office teams (Zofi 2011) have little knowledge of their fellow workers and hence need to be linked together through team building activities and bonding. Cultural differences and disparities are also a factor for people working remotely. Different culture has different communication patterns and social practices like vacations and lifestyles and hence managers ought to consider the difference in the lifestyle patterns across the cultures. All the factors in the virtual communication are only made possible through technological advancement and efficiency and hence technology is the determinant factor for the success of virtual working groups.
References
Gibson, C. B., & Cohen, S. G. (2003). Virtual teams that work: Creating conditions for virtual team effectiveness. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
John F. Cragan, David W. Wright and Chis R. Kasch. (2008). Communication in Small Groups: Theory, Process and Skills.
Pauleen, D. (2004). Virtual teams. Hershey, Pa: Idea Group Pub.
Zofi, Y. (2011). A Manager’s Guide to Virtual Teams.
Shankar Sundarean & Zuopeng Zhanga. Elsevier. Parallel Teams for Knowledge Creation. Retrieved from http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167923612001042.
