Working in Virtual Teams

Some components of virtual teamwork groupware

• Simultaneous communication by voice and text

• Video of real-time discussions

• Simultaneous document editing

• Document sharing & archiving

• Whiteboard

• Video capture of meetings

• Blogging and discussion threads

• Calendar and scheduling

• Virtual environment

Virtual Environment

• Best employees may be located anywhere in the world.• Workers may require personal flexibility. • Workers require increasing technological sophistication. • A flexible organization may be more competitive and responsive to the

marketplace.• Workers tend to be more productive; i.e., they spend less time on commuting

and travel • The increasing globalization of trade and corporate activity. • The global workday is 24 vs. 8 hours.• The emergence of environments which require inter-organizational

cooperation as well as competition.• Changes in workers' expectations of organizational participation. • A continued shift from production to service/knowledge work environments.

Why virtual teams?

Vlaar, P. (2008). Co Creating Understanding And Value In Distributed Work. MIS Quarterly, 32, 227-255.

• Increasing horizontal organization structures characterized by structurally and geographically distributed human resources.

• Proliferation of fiber optic technology has significantly increased the scope of off-site communication.

• Some members of virtual teams do not need to come in to the workplace, therefore the company will not need to offer those workers office or parking space.

• Reduces traveling expenses for employees.• It allows more people to be included in the labor pool.• It decreases both air pollution and congestion because there is less

commuting. • By working in virtual teams, physical handicaps are not a concern. • Allows companies to procure the best talent without geographical

restrictions.

Why virtual teams cont’d

Problems with virtual teams

• Difficulty in managing the performance of the team. • Misunderstanding in communications is the leading

complaint among members of virtual teams. • This problem is magnified when working with teams across

cultural borders because of nuances in the English language• Working on a project over the virtual workspace causes lack of project visibility. • Difficulty contacting other members. (i.e. email, instant messaging, etc.) • Differences in time zones. • It can be difficult for team members to fully comprehend the meaning of text-based

messages. • Building trust may be challenging because mechanisms different from those used in face-

to-face teams are required to build trust• Distrust can also be incurred due to insecurities of job retention if the offshore team

members are less expensive and more proficient at the task at hand.• Members fail to take 'ownership' of project• Specific nuances such as facial expressions and other subtle gestures can also be missed

through virtual communication as opposed to meeting face to face.• A virtual team presents unique challenges for a virtual team leader.

• Networked teams consist of individuals who collaborate to achieve a common goal or purpose; membership is frequently diffuse and fluid.

• Parallel teams work in the short term to develop recommendations for an improvement in a process or system; the team has a distinct membership.

• Project or product-development teams conduct projects for users or customers for a defined period of time. Tasks are usually nonroutine, and the results are specific and measurable; the team has decision making authority.

• Work or production teams perform regular and ongoing work usually in one function; the team has clearly defined membership.

• Service teams support customers or the internal organization in typically a service/technical support role around the clock.

• Management teams work collaboratively on a daily basis within a functional division of a corporation.

• Action teams offer immediate responses activated in (typically) emergency situations. • Offshore outsourcing teams - Setup in which a company subcontracts portions of work

to an offshore independent service provider to be worked in conjunction with an onshore team. They are commonly used for software development as well as international R&D projects.

Basic types of virtual teams

Tips to ease communication problems for team members

• Allow the team members to get to know each other by arranging occasional face to face meetings using webcams and video conferencing.

• Allow team members to get an idea of where the overall project is going. This way each member will know how they fit into the project.

• Create a code of conduct. This will avoid delays and will make sure that requests are answered in a timely fashion. When the rules are clear, misunderstanding diminishes.

• Do not allow team members to disappear. Have a calendar for each team member so that everyone's schedule is available to view.

• Develop trust among the team. Incorporation of team member details such as family life and mutual hobbies are proven techniques for building trust.

• Store charts, diagrams, etc. on the internet so that the whole team can see them. These are no more than tools-of-the-trade. Make the tools available or the job may get done with the wrong tool.

• Assume nothing, spell out everything in the communication.

• Ample resources to buy and support state-of-the-art, high-speed, reliable communication and collaboration tools for all team members.

• The existence of corporate memory systems such as lessons learned databases.

• The existence of written goals, objectives, project specifications, and performance metrics; results orientation.

• Managers and team members with a better-than-average ability to accurately estimate.

• A lower-than-normal ratio of pushed to pulled information.

• Team communication is prioritized by the sender.

• Human resource policies, reward/recognition systems, as well as career development systems addressing the unique needs of virtual workers.

• Good access to technical training and information on how to work across cultures.

• Training methods accommodate continual and just-in-time learning.

Critical success factors of virtual teams

• There are standard and agreed-on technical and "soft" team processes.

• A "high trust" culture; teamwork and collaboration are the norm.

• Leaders set high performance expectations; model behaviors such as working across boundaries and using technology effectively.

• Team leaders and members exhibit competence in working in virtual environments.

• Effective division of work that plays to each team member's strengths.

• Facilitate effective dissemination of tacit and explicit knowledge.

• Effective work structures and processes, such as task decomposition and project management in software development work.

Critical success factors of virtual teams (cont’d)

Your task (should you decide to take this mission):

• What are your personal experiences in working remotely?

• To what extent does your organization use virtual/remote teamwork? Give examples.

• To that extent, what are advantages & disadvantages to it in your organization?

• Do you think it would benefit your organization? Why or why not?

• If you were to propose it, what would be the features that would help promote it?

• What would be necessary skills and resources for a virtual team to work effectively?

Your task (cont’d)

• How would team building in a VT be different than a F2F team?

• Are there any specific personal qualities and skills required of virtual team members that would not be as necessary in F2F team?

• Although there are clear benefits, what are the challenges and potential problems in VT, and how could they be minimized?

• If you were going to design team building for virtual teams, how would you do it?