Defining Collaborative Virtual Workspaces Essay

Some companies try to implement new ideas and ways to increase efficiency and productivity in the workplace. This is a great idea for companies to increase the output of the product or service they are performing for the consumers. However, not everything goes so well when implementing new ideas. There are hardships that need to be overcome, the costs of implementing a new system can be overwhelming at first, and many others. I will describe to you some of the hardships of adding new groupware to a system that is already in place. Also have you ever wondered what a wiki does or what it could do

This essay has provided a limited number of group work principles. I have critically assessed my experience of group work against these limited principles. I have shown although our team was at a disadvantage due to the fact we were external students, we have still formed a strong group and have used to create a polished end

Throughout life there are many instances in which an individual has to work in a group to complete a task/project. The importance of group work is to have teamwork with each member of the group. Humans are driven to connect with each other and by working as a group ideas become much more enriched and the ideas or thoughts that each person ‘brings to the table’ each individual is able to add onto that idea or it can trigger one to think of something completely different.

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

Working in a group can be beneficial but it can also come with hardship that is if others lack the drive and ability to work together. Working in a group takes effort; it takes psychological support, and cooperation. The foundation of group behaviors is something that can come and go but it takes a lot of effort to keep it going after so long. Although these efforts may come and go it is important to consider what it takes to work within a group, successfully. The article I chose to report on deals with the consequences that can come from those who are working in-group settings. It is important to understand what it takes to be productive and this research does the best it can to tackle those issues. It gives us the information we need to succeed and avoid anything that would go against those successes. One of the biggest concerns within group settings is the

Earlier this year, I took ORGL3500, Leading Virtual Teams & Organizations, and it changed my entire perspective on virtual workplaces. Being a traditional 9-5 office worker, at first it seemed that the concept was better suited for IT or customer service departments. Although my company uses technology for audio and video conference calls, we have not adopted a true virtual workplace where employees work from flex schedule that would may include working from home a few days a week, working from smaller remote offices or eligible for certain positions based out of the corporate offices.

Now that we’ve explained the stages of a group, and as mentioned before, it has been found that people work better in groups, especially when a lot of ideas need to be generated within a

2. Forget assigned seating. A collaborative environment minimizes the need for individual desks and assigned seating. Everyone should feel free to discuss ideas and to solve problems collaboratively, despite the particular field or business area in which they choose to work.

Coming together is a beginning, keeping together is progress, working together is success” (Ford, 2016). Have you ever wondered how do people behave or react when they are placed in a group? Groups are defined as two or more people working, iterating and depending with each other to accomplish tasks or succeed common goals (Schermerhorn, 2011). In today’s world, employees cannot tolerate spending as much time in the workplace nor less working together in groups. In a group, poor collaboration occurs because of conflict management, underprivileged recognition, and by not establishing norms; where members do not feel committed. Also, because they cannot acknowledge what are their roles, which is “a set of expectation associated with the job

This paper will review the benefits of utilizing a collaboration site, the ability to manage people and deliverables and the important features a collaboration site such as SharePoint, can bring to an organization.

Shared group work tools can be described as any information processing initiatives involving coordinated activities of individuals separated in time and/or space and sharing their common information in the cloud. In the past few years, cloud sharing and storage group work tools have transformed the business world through providing convenient means that support the collaborative efforts of individuals regardless of their distance and time. The increased use of shared group work tools in the business world has been attributed to the cost-effectiveness of these information processing activities. Actually, these tools have saved companies and organizations huge costs associated with servers and bigger workforce ("Raising the Bar", 2013).

With the advent of cheap and effective information communications technology, the use of "virtual teams" is increasing in many industries. Virtual teams are created on a need basis in order to combine people for a certain project. (Andres, 2002) The major concept is making use of different employees who are not present in a single geographical location and uniting them on a single project. We will look in to the project known as Country Capital Works Program (CCWP) that was undertaken by the New South Wales Police Force in Australia. This project consisted of a virtual team that was created with existing personnel for a certain purpose. This project goes on to confirm that virtual project teams can be created if the need arises. As it can be understood, the lack of face to face communication can lead to a lot of problems. Along with looking at the advantages of virtual teams, their disadvantages will be looked at as well.

The virtual workplace has become increasingly prevalent for companies and industries due impart to the accelerated developments in technology. There are growing arguments that provide salient advantages and disadvantages for incorporating the virtual workplace into their organization. Learning organizations have found that there is evidence that shows the demand for virtual work arrangements are on the rise because of the impact of the World Wide Web technology. This rapidly changing environment has influenced growing

Groupwork tools have revolutionized the way teams collaborate, and it is almost impossible to imagine workflow without them. I feel this way, and so do most of the people I know who use cloud-based computing options. Even the most basic type of tools for collaboration such as Dropbox has made sharing information and ideas easier. I use Dropbox to share everything from photos to memos, and Dropbox is only a file folder, and not a true suite of collaborative software interface. Actual collaborative software adds a whole new dimension to the way we work, facilitating most aspects of the creative and productivity processes. Of course, solo workers find no purpose in collaborative software but still appreciate the functionality of Dropbox. Even social media websites offer the sense of collaboration within a shared online environment; social media spaces are shared and interactive but they do not allow the powerful types of productivity or collaborative creativity that other options offer.

As the world comes to the end of another calendar year, opportunities and breakthroughs for improved technologies continue flooding the desks and labs of technical and electrical engineers, scientists and the like. According to Lisa Kimball (1997), author of Managing Virtual Teams: “New technology requires us to rethink these dynamics because we don’t have the option to use familiar approaches. It gives us an opening to change the way we manage the people and work process in general” (p. 2). More than ever before, consumers are shopping online and changing the way their daily tasks are completed – tasks such as bill paying and education and business meetings – by completing them in a virtual environment. The intent of this paper is to explore the methods of a virtual business – such as www.amazon.com - and the methods of a traditional business with brick and mortar in a geographical locale.