Virtual Team Collaboration Should Empower Team Members With Their Best Foot Forward

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

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

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.

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 experience gained from working in this virtual team has shown me the importance of collaboration. Instructions were given by Ronie after discussion. I often found that my ideas were implemented in part or in whole and we all had (limited by the distance, time differentials and the limited time available) input into both the construction and finalisation of the

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.

The research seeks to provide understanding and contribute to the existing literature by exploring the impact of virtual teams within a health insurance organization. Virtual teams differ from traditional hierarchal structures in that virtual teams often operate with increased autonomy and less supervision. New technologies in communication, such as advancements in information sharing and communication via digital platforms, have allowed for increased utilization of virtual teams (Gilson, Maynard, Young, Vartiainen, & Hakonen, 2015). However, this has also created a need to reexamine how traditional leadership styles should be evaluated in regard to virtual teams. The following research aims to explore how leadership styles impact a virtual team structure, with the goal of making a recommendation on what

Virtual teams can be described as a group of people with a shared common goal, who strives to achieve these goals with little or no face to face

The team that I would like to discuss going virtual would be the Academic Advising team at Baker College. The newly designed virtual team would be answering all student questions by email, phone or chat. Academic Advisors work from home; the position would be completely remote. An economic advantage of this virtual team for Baker College would be the decrease in office supplies (paper, ink, office space and shredding services).

As a virtual team we are facing additional difficulties. According to Dyer, Dyer & Dyer special difficulties presented by virtual teams

Virtual information project teams have become a significant mechanism to utilize when desiring to achieve a particular task or goal globally. A virtual team consists of a group of individuals who are geographically diverse, which causes them to use electronic information or technological tools to coordinate their ideas in order to succeed at a given task. Unlike traditional teams, virtual teams are not run with face to face interaction, but virtually, which means members can participate from any country or time zone as a part of the team. The expansion capability of virtual teams is a reason why they have become a very useful asset in all fields of study and research. The various skills associated with each individual that makes up a virtual team result in the development of the many unique characteristics that virtual teams possess, which differentiates them from ordinary teams. Although there are countless distinctive characteristics of a virtual team, there are still shortcomings. Having a team of individuals with various personalities, perceptions, and values can cause assimilation to become difficult. During an individual’s lifetime, some remarkable human assets are acquired, resulting in the creation of his or her cultural background. National culture can be present on any team, but most teams are formed with members belonging to the same city or state, which makes it easier to arrange. However, a virtual team with a national culture is a more difficult concept to

Virtual teams allow the organisation to easily spread decision making to trusted individuals rather than only to top management.

Due to the recent increased utilization of information communication technology in organizations, there has been a rising trend of the adoption of virtual teams. These teams have helped organizations conduct their businesses in a very effective way. In furtherance of that, these teams have also helped in enhancing the speed at which communication is carried out. For instance, team members in different countries or continents can actually contribute ideas for a project in real time via electronic means. However, these groups have faced some criticisms which have made them to be underutilized. Some of the issues raised against these teams include lack of involvement and inclusiveness, lack of trust, lack of employees with technical and interpersonal skills and lack of cohesion among others. Past research has revealed that virtual teams have proved to be effective, especially in

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