Organizational Norms And The Performance Of Virtual Teams Essay

Modern views on teamwork also consider the satisfaction of the workforce by becoming more autonomous and reducing hierarchical structures (Ovretveit et al, 1997).

325.2.2: Improving Team Performance - The graduate analyzes the performance of a virtual team and proposes strategies to improve team effectiveness.

Part of being a manager for a company is managing teams. These teams can be created for many different reasons and can have various goals put upon them. Companies want managers that are capable of constructing teams that can effectively meet goals and set standards. The four types of work teams most commonly found in organizations are: problem-solving, self-managed, cross-functional, and virtual. In completing the simulation for this course, I will use cross-functional work teams as a foundation for my investigation of effective team management.

There is a saying that many hands make light work. The essence of this statement is that more can be achieved as a collective than individually. We all have different skills, knowledge and personal attributes. By utilizing all of these different aspects in a team, more ideas can be generated. As more ideas are generated, more creative solutions are generated, leading to better results. It is amazing the amount of support that is created in teams, especially when the going gets tough. People will often go to what seems like extreme lengths when they know that they can rely on the support and encouragement of the team. Never underestimate the significance of this in

/ The mentioned research in this article by McIntyre and Salas could be one of basic steps in understanding the team work aspects. Undoubtedly, it can be used related to future research in favour of finding solutions in this regard. (McIntyre & Salas 1995,p. 41). The military teams focus on researches in order to understand the major aspect of team working. As it is mentioned in this article, some similarities can be found among military or non-military organizations concerning hierarchical structure and strategic decision making. Moreover, it is almost challenging to find exact number from real life in order to make statistical assessment, and it’s very costly to hire people from their actual profession to conduct research on artificial environment (McIntyre & Salas ,1995, p. 35). Another important point that should be considered is that the study concentrated on team working instead of working individually. Over the study period, the required data are gotten through interviews and also daily base forms. Based on the forms and conversations results , nineteen key principles are found which are the necessary and important aspects (findings) of team working. The importance of the team leader role is noticeable to obtain the defined targets. In this regard, team leader has the key role in a team and also should accept the main

Team member communication: team members will speak respectfully to each other; will not talk down to each other; will positively recognize and thank each other for team contributions.

Teamwork cannot be demanded. Everyone involved must discuss and understand what the goal is and what is required of them. Teams should have traits such as goals and objectives, empowerment, trust, authentic participation, innovation, creativity, risk taking and leadership. (Temme and Katzel, 1995)

I believe that building the trust of the team begins with communication. Communication and trust are mutual actions that assist teammates in sharing thoughts and opinions. My intent is for lines of communication to be established by having group meetings

players and coaches must be accountable for the work they do and overall results of the teams

The development of standardized team processes is essential to reduce team initiation times and to eliminate the reinvention of repeatable processes. All the while, processes need to remain flexible and highly adaptable to individual team needs (Duarte &Snyder). To this extent, Lowe’s spent the last year developing and refining organizational processes to enhance team collaboration. The methodology developed is called the Lowe’s Iterative Project Development Methodology (IPDM). IPDM aims to provide co-located and virtual teams with standardized organizational processes, and provide execution methodologies that define processes, deliverables, owners, approvers, and quality measures to maximize team collaboration. The IPDM takes many of

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

It is important that members of a group be knowledgeable and skillful in their positions, the degree to which those members can work harmoniously and cooperatively

Communication is the key to success. A team without communication could never be successful. Communication is important because the group needs a clear goal and also they need to have shared objectives. For example, in football a defense needs to be on the same page; if two players on the defense are on different pages then the defense will not be successful. You need everyone to share the same objective in order to succeed, not just a few people but all as one. To ensure a team’s success, everyone on the team has to be accountable. Everyone has a job on the team to contribute to becoming successful as a whole. Also you need trust in order to become successful; you have to be able to trust in your team that they will give their all for the team.

First, despite the absence of a formal leadership structure within TeamPark, organized teams are destined to evolve de novo without external directive. Prior to the new platform, Sogeti had a project based model where groups functioned freely and independently. However, despite a global presence, the project groups were silos bound by an inability to share ideas, knowledge, and experiences across the global organization. With the new platform, the more vertical oriented management and leadership model becomes horizontal through interactions occurring across silos. (Desiser, 2013) Much of the social interaction may be between individuals seeking information and exchanging ideas; however, it is certain that organized virtual teams will arise around common objectives. For example, there could be one group within

A team is a group of people working together to achieve the same objectives. Katzenbach and Smith state in their report The Discipline of Teams (1993) that ‘the essence of a team is common commitment. Without it, groups perform as individuals; with it, they become a powerful unit of collective performance.’ Throughout this study, I will analyse the many different advantages and disadvantages of working in teams and its effects on team members and their performance and commitment within the team. I will consider many different aspects of team work and refer to certain established theories in