Essay Challenges of Virtual Teams

Virtual team can be defined as a group of individuals who are from different locations geographically but depend on communication technology to communicate, share work run projects as a group. These individuals run these errands in a space called the virtual environment which is created by the IT departments and maintained through various software technologies. Virtual teams or as at times referred to as remote teams have nowadays become very important aspects of most businesses. The individuals use video conferencing and mass emailing to run the errands as a group. Fiber optic technology has completely changed the aspect of virtual team, the individuals may not be familiar with each other but through this technology, they can

| Employees in geographically dispersed locations can work together in virtual teams using video, e-mail, and the Internet.

These groups rely on technology to communicate with one another and to accomplish the tasks allocated by the organization. One benefit of a virtual team is that they use technology and this can help increase efficiency and productivity of the members. The virtual teams also assist in the development of intellectual capital. The composition of the virtual groups helps improve quality as well as the outcome. The other benefit is the efficiency of communication. Some of the challenges include the distance between the members. The significant distance may dilute leadership, weaken human relations as well as amplify dysfunction. Virtual teams are hard to manage especially when it comes to goal setting, task distribution, coordination and member motivation. Virtual organizations rely on trust that the other members will fulfill their roles since it is not possible to monitor them closely (Hoppe, 2011). The virtual teams may face some internet challenges such as slow internet or disconnection. This problem can be handled through the use of alternative methods of communication such as mobile phones. While making a virtual team, the team members should address all challenges which may hinder communication by coming up with all possible substitutes of means of communication. These organizations rely heavily on the internet for video conferencing and sending emails. However, when the internet fails, they

Virtual Team on the other hand is a group of people working across time, space, and organizational boundaries which communication links are strengthened by the internet. It should be noted that virtual teams can also mean individuals spread across different cultures and languages. (“Virtual Team - Origin, Definition and its Scope,” 2016). More so, this team of geographically dispersed professionals working together as a unit despite distance are committed to achieving a single objective, holding one another mutually accountable.

A virtual group is a gathering of people who work crosswise over time, space and authoritative limits with connections reinforced by networks of correspondence innovation.

The essence of this article is noting the fact that virtual teams are only going to be effective when technology is involved. When virtual teams first started, there wasn’t much effective meeting technology available, but now there

Virtual and mobile teams (also known as distributed teams) are individual members or groups of a team working independently without a common work location, to meet collective organization goals. Virtual and mobile teams can be spread out as far as across town, to all the way around the world. Virtual and mobile teams allow businesses and teams can work effectively work apart, and achieve the benefits of being in different key locations. Some benefits of virtual and mobile teams are the ability to bridge organizational and geographical boundaries and offer organizations the ability

Virtual teams are also referred to as far-flung teams, which are teams that are tasked towards meeting a particular goal yet they are located in very different geographical location and are not able to meet on regular basis to carry out the task. This distance between the members of the group is a big challenge that has to be overcome in order for the group to reach their goal.

As a 69-year-old company, Lowe’s has a well-established organizational culture that long pre-dates the concept of virtual teams. As such, the company still has embedded in its culture certain concepts that impede its ability to be truly effective in the virtual team collaboration space. One such concept is the idea that decisions are made in meetings and not by individuals or through ad-hoc consensus. This notion generates obstacles to fast and effective decision-making, since it requires the coming together of global workers in a single meeting. That by itself creates logistical challenges due to time differences. Lowe’s can benefit from encouraging and supporting decision-making practices that utilize the knowledge and experience of

Every person in the world perceives life in a different way. From these various viewpoints, we, as humans, create stereotypes, myths, and legends. Our eyes see things distinctively and our minds shape concepts uniquely. From this disconnect from others, we enable misconception and foster misunderstanding. One beautiful thing about perception is that from it, we can develop our own interests. Thus, out of my personal curiosity, I have chosen to study Organizational Leadership – which, in turn, led me to this course. As I continue to further my studies, I look ahead to my required check sheet and already have my options drawn about all the courses I need to take. “Virtual Teams and Organizations” attracted my attention – mainly for the myths and preconceptions that I have regarding online teams. Originally more negative, my outlook has changed to a more positive one about working with others virtually.

Aggregate results for the questions indicated generally positive attitudes on the part of the participants regarding their role in virtual teams and related activities. However, individual responses indicated some variation. Questions four and five pertained to employee understandings of their role in the organization and whether information relating to their tasks were clear. Responses for question four indicated that approximately 28 of the participants agreed with the statement that organizational duties were clear in virtual teams. Another 26 strongly agreed with the statement while only 1 and 2 of participants, respectively, responded that they strongly disagreed or disagreed with the statements. Similarly, 30 of respondents indicated that they agreed that information was clearly stated and explanatory for their employees` relevant tasks. 17 strongly agreed with the statement while 3 and 9 disagreed and strongly disagreed. Question 6 asked participants if

When you are responsible for being the leader of a virtual team, you will inevitably face some problems. It might take a person a little time to grasp working in virtual teams. It takes a lot of communication, compassion and teamwork to be successful. However, there will also be problems that could arise. Therefore, it is imperative that we understand the visible and invisible signs given by each team member and make adjustments accordingly. I will discuss in this paper five of the most common lessons that we should learn in order to be effective while working in team settings.

Hertel, Guido, Susanne Geister, and Udo Konradt. 2005. “Managing virtual teams: A review of current empirical research.” Human Resource Management Review 15 (1): 69-95. doi: 10.1016/j.hrmr.2005.01.002.

Globalisation has led to many changes in the international marketing and global advertising industry. Many international companies have projects spanning a variety of nationalities, involving great geographical distances and a range of time zones. In this scenario, companies are forced to make virtual teams - which are comprised of members who are located in more than one physical location (Peters and Manz, 2007). This virtual team trait has fostered extensive use of a variety of forms of computer-mediated communication that enable geographically dispersed members to coordinate their individual effort and inputs (Attaran, 2002). In addition, commitment to a virtual team goal may be further complicated by the single or coherent line of

Ebrahim, A., Shamsuddin, A. & Taha, Z. (2009). Virtual Teams: A Literature Review. Australian Journal of Basic and Applied Science, 3(3), 2653-2669.