Leading Virtual TeamsThe N.O. L.I.M.I.T.S. Approach

Presentation to MS Project Users GroupSouthfield, Michigan; April 7, 2011

Dr. William A. Moylan, PhD, PMPEastern Michigan University

•Assistant Professor - Construction Management

“Virtual Teams Reflect the Ever-Increasing Non-Traditional Work

Environments of the 21st Century”

(Lee, 2009)

Virtual Teams

L

Group that Electronically Communicates

Not In the Same LocationPlaced Across

◦City◦State◦Region◦World

Virtual Teams – A Definition

L

VirtualTeamSpace

TECHNOLOGICAL

INFRASTRUCTURE

KNOWLEDGEINFRASTRUCTU

RE

SOCIALINFRASTRUCTUR

E

Virtual Team Workspace

(Edwards & Wilson, 2004)

L

ICT – Virtual Team Tool Enabler

Information andCommunication Technologies

L

Virtual Team Enabler

B

Social Infrastructure - Role of Technology

(Anantatmula, 2008)

Meeting Place

Repositories

B

Not Necessarily a Whole New World! PRACTICES

(Rad, 2002)

1st Attempt

Common

Modified Unique

B

Requirements Understanding 17%Understanding the Need of Quality 13%Managing Changes 11%Managing Time Delays 11%Successful Negotiation of Contract 10%Sufficient Communication 10%Educating and Training Client 7%Sharing Project Risks with Client 7%Understanding the Estimation Effort by Client 7%Developing Trust 3%Managing Cultural and Language Differences 2%Managing Different Time Zones 2%

Questions Of Project Impact

(Talha, Maqsood, & Durrani, 2006)

B

Need for New Skills

Using new Communication Technologies

Working with People from Different Cultures ◦ Professions ◦ Nationalities◦ Languages

(Crawford, Morris, Thomas, & Winter, 2006)

Difference: Co-Located vs. Virtual Project

L

Limited Face-2-Face Communication-Explicit Time Zones (24/7) Cultural Differences Less Costly (Debatable?) More Creative Best World Talent Harder Integration

Virtual vs. Co-Located

Face-2-Face Communication-Implicit Same Workspace Company Culture More Costly

(Debatable?) More Timely Easier to Build Trust Change Management

VIRTUAL CO-LOCATED

L

Leadership Delegation: Virtual Team

(Zhang, Tremaine, Egan, Milewski, O’Sullivan & Fjermestad, 2008)

B

Concern For

People

Autonomy Through

Boundaries

Information Sharing

Team Accountabili

ty

Responsive

Customer Service

Effective Virtual Project Management

Effective Virtual Project Management

(Nauman, Mansur Khan, & Ehsan, 2009)

B

Nurturing Out of Sight, Out of Mind Leadership Interests (Of Team Members) Mind Reading Individualized Attention Tools & Techniques Subject Matter Experts

N.O. L.I.M.I.T.S.

L

Bringing Team Members Up to Speed

Encouraging Excellence

“N” 4 “NURTURING”

L

Performance Improvement

Define & Mentor

Identify Variances

Monitor &

Measure

Encouraging Excellence

(Peterson, 2007)

L

On/Off SwitchBeing Vigilant

“O” For “OUT OF SIGHT, OUT OF MIND”

B

On/Off Switch

B

Motivation Code of Conduct Goal Setting Reward Systems Team Members

◦Leverage Strengths◦Assist – Weaknesses

When You Don’t Succeed @ First: Try Try Try Try Try Again!

Being Vigilant

B

Early “Wins”Empowerment

Trustworthy & Ethical

“L” 4 “LEADERSHIP”

L

Build It Into the Project PlanSocialize It◦Management◦Sponsor◦Team◦Stakeholders

Early “Wins”

L

Leads To◦Substitute for Face-to-Face Meetings

◦Mentoring◦Flexibility◦Satisfaction

Empowerment

L

Be Trustworthy & Engaged

L

Building CommunityCulture

“I” For “INTERESTS”

B

“Cooper’s idea of development was to tap into each settler’s own interest in improving himself and make that self-interest redound to the Community’s

Interest and his own.”

(Wood, 2009)

Building Community

B

Culture

EthnocentrismB

Put Self In Other’s Shoes

Checklists

“M” 4 “MIND READING”

L

Put Self In Other’s Shoes

L

Checklists

L

TrustKnow Team Member’s

Names

“I” For “INDIVIDUALIZED RECOGNITION”

B

Know Your AudienceUse Proper English, Grammar, Spelling and Punctuation

Consult Specific Email EtiquetteAlways Keep the CourtesyFace-To-Face (Know the Importance)(Agnew & Hill, 2009)

Trust

B

“People who don’t know one another’s names don’t work together nearly as well as those who do.”(Gawande, 2009)

Know Their Names

B

CommunicationKnowledge Management

Generations“Silver Bullet”

Trained

“T” For “TOOLS”

L

Marshall McLuhan

THE MEDIUM IS THE MESSAGE

L

Technology - Tool Categories

(Anantatmula, 2008)

L

Web-Enabled

WorkspacesPresentation Tools

Video Tools Online Meeting Tools

EmailConference Calls

Technologies’ Generations

3rd Generation

2nd Generation

1st Generation

(Lee-Kelley & Sankey, 2008)L

Experience(s)◦There Is No “One Tool” Answer◦Tool Is Only as Good As Those Who KNOW It

◦Tool Is Only as Good As Those Who USE It

No ‘Silver Bullet’

L

Know You Have It!Know How to Use It!

Training

L

Gap FillingYellow Pages

Centers of Excellence

“S” 4 “SUBJECT MATTER EXPERTS”

B

SponsorProject ManagerTeam MembersStakeholders

Gap Filling

B

SME Accessible to the Team

Contact Information

Yellow Pages

B

Develop Centers Of Excellence (COE)

B

Have Protocols & Guidelines◦ Agenda◦ Attendance List

Phone Conference Host/Leader◦ Keeps Phone Conference Out of CHAOS!◦ Everyone Listens to the Host/Leader◦ Everyone Takes Orders from the Host/Leader

Topic Germaine to the Phone Call Topic Parking Lot Issue to be Followed Up?

Phone Conferences Solutions

B

Everyone Identifies Themselves◦ Before Speaking

“Hi, this is Bill and I think….” Schedule Social Time Before Call

◦ Call In Early 10-15 Minutes Should Do The Trick

Publish Conference Call Controls◦ Mute the Line

Allows for “Multi-Tasking” but No Crying Babies, Animals Barking, Meowing, Mooing

etc!

Phone Conference Solutions

B

Give A Reason To Be There◦ Project Plan◦ Work Breakdown Structure◦ Knowledge Repository

Documents Links

◦ Place to Submit Finished Work◦ Center For Communications

Discussion Forums Email

◦ Task Updates◦ Games

Group Site - Solutions

L

Quality Equipment◦(Try IT On Cheap Stuff???)

Moderator Training

◦Make Sure Everyone Knows How◦Support Staff

Keep Bells & Whistles Out If Possible – Show Whole Person Protocol

Video Conferencing - Solutions

L

READ the WHOLE message Use a Word Processor

◦ Grammar/Spelling Courteous and Thorough Respond in a timely manner (24 hours) Address the person by name Answer their question/comments Volatile Email

◦ Do NOT answer it immediately◦ Give it some thought◦ Do answer it

Email Correspondence

B

ALWAYS RESPOND◦ (Acknowledge You’ve Read It)◦ (You’re Paying Attention)

Get In the Last Word◦ (You’re the Final Arbiter)◦ (Goes with the ALWAYS RESPOND POINT TOO!)

Be Blunt◦ Beating Around the Bush Does Not Translate Well◦ Do It Diplomatically (You Don’t Have To Be Mean!)◦ Adds to the Clarity of the Conversation

Email Correspondence

B

Understand◦ The Culture◦ The Technology

Same Things Apply Virtually as Co-Location◦ Medium Is the Message

No Tool is a “Silver Bullet”◦ Use the One Appropriate For the Situation◦ Use a Combination of Tools◦ Train On How to Use It◦ Protocols

Until Transporters Are Invented

Conclusions

L

Dr. William A. Moylan, PhD, PMPEastern Michigan UniversityWilliam.Moylan@emich.edu

WA Moylan & Associateswamoylan@aol.com

Project Management InstituteWilliam.moylan@bod.pmi.org

Contact Information

Implementing Virtual Teams: Guide to Organizational and Human Factors ◦ By Edwards & Wilson ISBN 0-566-08468-6

Mastering Virtual Teams: Strategies, Tools, and Techniques that Succeed◦ By Duarte & Snyder ISBN 0-7879-8280-6

The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right◦ By Gawande ISBN 978-0-8050-9174-8

Suggested Reading

Agnew, D. S., & Hill, K. (2009). Email etiquette recommendation for today's business student. Allied Academies International Conference (pp. 1-5). Las Vegas: Proceedings of the Academy of Organizational Culture, Communications and Conflict.

Anantatmula, V. S. (2008). The role of technology in the project manager performance model. Project Management Journal , 34-48.

Crawford, L., Morris, P., Thomas, J., & Winter, M. (2006). Practitioner development: From trained technicians to reflective practitioners. International Journal of Project Management , 722-733.

Edwards, A., & Wilson, J. R. (2004). Implementing Virtual Teams: A Guide to Organizational and Human Factors. Hants, England: Gower Publishing Limited.

Gawande, A. (2009). The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right. New York: Metropolitan Books.Lee, M. R. (2009). E-ethical leadership for virtual project teams. International Journal of Project Management , 456-463Lee-Kelley, L., & Sankey, T. (2008). Global virtual teams for value creation and project success: A case study.

International Journal of Project Management , 51-62.Nauman, S., Mansur Khan, A., & Ehsan, N. (2009). Patterns of empowerment and leadership style in project

environment. International Journal of Project Management , 1-12.Peterson, T. M. (207). Motivation: How to Increase Project Team Performance. Project Management Journal , 60-69.Rad, P. F. (2002). From the editor. Project Management Journal , 3.Talha, J., Maqsood, M. E., & Durrani, Q. S. (2006). Managing geographically distributed clients throughout the project

management lifecycle. Project Management Journal , 76-87.Thomas, J., & Mengel, T. (2008). Preparing project managers to deal with complexity - Advanced project management

education. International Journal of Project Management , 304-315.Wood, G. S. (2009). Empire of liberty: a history of the early republic, 1789-1815. New York: Oxford University Press.Zhang, S., Tremaine, M., Egan, R., Milewski, A., O’Sullivan, P., & Fjermestad, J. (2008). Occurrence and Effects of Leader

Delegation in Virtual Software Teams. International Journal of e-Collaboration , 47-68.

Bibliography

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