Virtual Project Manager And Virtual Work

There are a large variety of team types and different studies distinguish them by certain characteristics such as the team's timespan, work cycle, and the nature of tasks among many others. For example, Torrington et al. (2002) differentiate the teams by their timespan (temporary or permanent), range of skills, and a task. They identify the four team types:

AOL engaged in what is called “micro-tasking”, and is believed to revolutionize the virtual workforce. Micro-tasking is what Daniel Maloney, an AOL executive, applied when he was faced with inventorying a vast video library. He broke the large job into small pieces and utilized a crowdsourcing IT platform, Mechanical Turk, in order to describe each task that he required to be done. Each worker was asked to find web pages containing a video and identify the video’s source and location. The project started within a week and completed in a couple of months. The total labor cost was as low as it would‘ve been to hire two man-month

For the longest time, office jobs consisted of the same old thing. Employees would get up, get ready, sit in traffic, go into work, punch in, and sit in their cubicle or office until the day ended and went home to get ready to start the process all over again. Now, things are starting to change the offices that we have been accustomed to. As technology grows and expands so does the environment in which we use it. In regards to technology and the office, the two have begun to merge to one. Companies, the existing and the future, are choosing a virtual based type of business. Most, if not all, of the company is

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

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.

Virtual organization structure – companies that are dependent on communication technology for their day to day working.

Is anyone out there? A Guide to Virtual Team Working and Leadership’.Training Reference, viewed October 2011

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

In this article Brandt, England, and Ward define what virtual teams are, they state “virtual teams are individuals working together who have never met each other in person and probably will not meet face-to-face during the assigned project (Brandt, England, Ward 2011).” The next part of the article is used to define what virtual teams consist of. Virtual teams mainly consist of members from different locations working together on a specific project. Although some members of the team may

Teams are more than just groups of people assembled in the same area, they are a collection of individuals dedicated to a common purpose and with a series of detailed performance targets, working together with complementary skills. Teams of people are encountered in various scenarios, not just in the workplace, but also throughout life, such as sports, associations, charities and voluntary services.

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.

A team is a group of people who must interact with each other in order

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.

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

A theory of team working that details the stages of team development that are typical to any type of team