The Challenges Of Virtual Team Collaboration

During the last decade, organizations have been working more with technology making it their master. Technology is not only about new equipment; it is mostly about new ideas and techniques used. Virtual team is a new approach used today. Virtual groups or teams have been used from parent to keep contact with teacher to corporations to create new international business relationships. How far can virtual team be more efficient than face to face relationships? Society incorporates this method to different activities not only at work, so virtual team seems more beneficial these days. If we are going to incorporate virtual teams to our system, we have to know its advantages and disadvantages, and how it can affect our organization.

Part I. As a manager of a virtual team, what team characteristics would you be especially concerned about so that the team’s work would be exceptional?

Executives refer to business as a team sport for a variety of reasons. First, many business organizational structures arrange departments either in cross specialty teams or task oriented teams based on operational design and expected outcomes. These teams are designed with members who are assigned roles that increase overall team productivity. The team members bring talents, knowledge and a skill set that uniquely contributes to collective intelligence and resourcefulness. Through collaboration and team work, Successful teams achieve synergy, or “exceeds the sum of each individual’s contribution”.

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

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

The value of communication was viewed within the context of virtual teams, as participants reported feeling valued by fellow team members and believing that these virtually-oriented coworkers exhibited tangible aspects of care in their interactions with them. This appears to confirm analysis provided by Dunn, Grumman, Raisinghani, & Stalling (2015) that identifies communication as a crucial component within virtual teams. Based upon this internal and external evidence, the recommendation is ensuring that effective communication takes place at all phases of team operations and that team leaders ensure that each member has ample opportunity to express ideas and to be heard. Leaders should also innovate in terms of how they establish communication channels within a team context as this capability appears to have a direct bearing on team member

Reece (2012) realizes the advantages of virtual teams in chapter 12 as "speed, agility, expanded expertise, improved communication and real-time collaboration" (p. 10). When executed properly, virtual teams can be an efficient way to get quality work done and achieve valuable results. Making sure that all team members are aware of how to be an effective team member will set the team up for success. Each member should be knowledgeable on the five dysfunctions of teams and be cognizant on how to avoid those dysfunctions. Reece (2012) says that "there is no reason why virtual workers cannot be just as effective as those that meet face-t-face" (p.10). If members are prepared and knowledgeable, then virtual teams can be successful in any

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.

such teams cross organizational boundaries as team members are not necessarily to be from the same organization. Also membership frequently is diffuse and fluid, with team members rotating on and off the team as their expertise is needed. Team members may not even be aware of all the individuals, work teams, or organizations in the network. Depending on the complexity of the issue, additional members to the team may be added at any time. The duration these teams last may vary significantly depending on how fast or slow the issue is resolved. Such type of virtual teams often is found in consulting firms and in high-technology

In many organizations, employees work together in structures commonly known as teams. Organizations utilize teams for a number of reasons (e.g., greater output, quality enhancements, or better decisions) and give them a range of labels depending on factors such as the members comprising the team {ex. managers, front line workers} or what the team is supposed to achieve {ex. to make decisions, develop a new product, deliver a service}. Some of the many types of teams found in organizations include top management teams, cross-functional teams { Bikson, 1996}, self-managing work teams {Cohen, Ledford, & Spreitzer, 1996, Orsburn, Moran, Musselwhite, & Zenger, 1990}, international task forces { Waite, 1998} and virtual teams {Hiltz, Johnson, & Turoff, 1986, Lumsden }. Despite investing heavily in teams, many organizations appear far from satisfied with their decision to become team-based (Dumaine, 1994). This is mainly due to the overall effectiveness of their teams and how their effectiveness tends to vary. At one end of the continuum, teams can be highly performing and produce outputs beyond the capabilities of its individual members. At the other end, however, they can fail dismally. Outputs for example are not produced on time or in some instances, not at all. Further, when outputs are delivered, they can be of such a poor quality, the reputation of the organization and the team members are effected. In the worst case scenario, these poor quality outputs can

As this team-concept has become popular, I continue to meet more people whom have participated in such. In an attempt to understand these team atmospheres further, and the communication involved, I interviewed two people who are currently managers of their own virtual teams; the first was Meredith and second was Jerome. For this paper, I will examine each of these interviews and then compare the two. Asking five questions to both, there were many similarities between the two; and also a few surprising moments. Let’s take a look.

To qualify to be a virtual team, either some or all team members would not be physically in the same location. This doesn’t necessarily mean that they are not in the same country or city, more about whether they meet each other physically on a daily basis. Even though they don’t have to be, most of virtual teams are across countries.

A team comprised of international components presents an interesting challenge in regards to management. Various problems can potentially arise in regards to organizing the team, developing rules that govern the team and assigning tasks. One method in which to mitigate all of the above mentioned rules is by setting performance standards for the entire team to adhere (Alexander, 2000). One such standard involves the use of a balanced scorecard. A balanced scorecard allows each individual irrespective of their position within the team to have a core set of standards in which to abide by. These standards will also include the job function and the roles of each member with the job function. The scorecard provides an ideal medium in which to judge performance as well. By viewing the scorecard management can easily pinpoint areas of opportunity and improvement (Blair 2010).

Many scholars have agreed with the assertions that teams are an essential part of any organization. The concept of virtual teams had emerged during the 1990's and since then the concept has greatly evolved. Today, companies create teams of individuals from different diverse backgrounds to meet the wants of their customers. As today's business environments are dynamic and competitive, collaboration has become an important aspect to companies, as it helps businesses to adapt and succeed. Due to the fast paced growth of new technologies, many companies have started the use of virtual teams. Virtual teams are a benefit to companies, however their usefulness, are depended to the extent of the members capabilities in the team. This essay would go through the several benefits and drawbacks of using a virtual team. This essay would also cover different aspects and criteria required for the selection of members in a virtual team.

Business and Entrepreneurship, today face difficult, complex tasks, and challenging projects which require companies to rely on Teamwork, this is the only way to get the job done, which requires a course to having large size, diverse, and highly educated specialists’ teams. An inverse relationship between the teams’ size and the ability of collaborative. The study by Lynda Gratton and Tamara J. Erickson in Harvard Business School shows a result of 2,420 surveys including members of 55 teams, just 1,543 people replied, which refers to a response rate of 64%. This research represents eight ways are fall into four general categories, in order to build collaborative teams, listed below: