Virtual Teams and Virtual Project Management

Due to the change many organizations realize the need for offices in various geographical locations. Therefore, the concern is how to ensure that employees located off-site are constantly connected to their counterparts. Virtual teams were developed to answer the call to ensure the ability to stay tied to the main office of any organization. As one can see a learning organization at times it may encounter difficulty in ensuring that virtual teams are learning according to the guidelines as set forth by the learning organization (Boone, 2015). A simple way to fix these issues are to ensure that communication is consistent, through the use of technology and employees are given the chance to build relationships with their virtual team members, team empowerment is necessary for virtual teams to be involved in the decision making process. Because of the diverse backgrounds of the virtual teams conflicts will arise and a leader must determine ways of handling these conflicts. Also, barriers involve the geographical, time, cultural/language, communication can be handled at each individual level and proper enhancements as needed will aid in ensuring that the team remains viable and productive. For example, cultural differences can be handled by ensuring that employees are trained to comprehend what is or not acceptable to each

In today’s modern company virtual teams are interacting in different ways tan with traditional physical teams. Bock lists three ways virtual teams are getting their assigned activities accomplished, and what the company must provide for them to be successful.

First, it is very challenging to build trust within virtual teams. It is very hard for you to trust people who you do not know well or those whom you have not observed working over time. Secondly, in virtual teams, it is difficult to obtain group-process gains (positive synergy) that many times accompany face-to-face communication. Process losses (negative synergy) are more likely. It is difficult to create team synergy and to overcome the absence of informal, interactive learning. Thirdly, there is a feeling of isolation and detachment associated with the virtual teamwork. There is no physical interaction which is associated with verbal and non-verbal ques and thus, there is absence of social interaction with supervisors and coworkers. Virtual team members may be less productive and satisfied than their counterparts working face-to-face due to feeling of isolation and detachment. Fourthly, it is tricky to balance technical and interpersonal skills among the virtual members. There is a challenge for a virtual teal leader to recruit, select and retain team members who have a good balance of technical and

Because projects are becoming global, project managers have to become more mobile and be willing to travel on site for short periods at a time while continuing to work virtually in the long-term. Global project teams will be virtual, multicultural, and mobile. Decision makers will be in different time zones, making decisions, based on real-time information that they will not have had the time to fully analyze. With such virtual and mobile teams, project management could offer a solution to the need to be responsive. They will also need to make sure they achieve the right results through effective project delivery and that they are responsive to their

When you are responsible for being the leader of a virtual team, you will inevitably face some problems. It might take a person a little time to grasp working in virtual teams. It takes a lot of communication, compassion and teamwork to be successful. However, there will also be problems that could arise. Therefore, it is imperative that we understand the visible and invisible signs given by each team member and make adjustments accordingly. I will discuss in this paper five of the most common lessons that we should learn in order to be effective while working in team settings.

Lepsinger, R., & Derosa, D. (2011). Five Ways to Create Successful Virtual Teams. Baseline, (111), 12

Barner (2012) points out that "building trust and collaboration within any team is a critical part of success" (p.79). The longer virtual team members work together and build professional relationships, the more trust will be built. It is important for each member to display that they are dependable and trustworthy to their fellow team members. Curtis (2011) notes that workers' trust is "imported from previous group experiences" (p. 100). Team members must keep this in mind when interacting with other members of the group. Barner (2012) states that "when the members of a team have a low level of trust in each other or their team leader, it is sometimes because they feel that information is not being fully shared with them or the entire team" (p. 95). Informational transparency is another important key to maintaining trust within the

All organizations big or small, for profit or non-profit have a structure in which dictates how they function. The evolution of communication with emails, video conferencing, instant messaging, text messages and social media sites has forever changed how organizations communication is structured. In a global work environment, organizations are now utilizing people with different perceptions, backgrounds and work attitudes (Himmer, 2013). Organizational structure guides coordination and allocation of tasks leading to the organization’s goal. An organization structure can specifically control and instruct how employees behave and what values are accepted by an organization. In a globalized economy, many organizations redesign their structures to cater towards the ever-changing work environments. Reshaping an organization structure may mean employee’s roles and responsibilities to align with cultural changes, in efforts to become more efficient and productive.

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 play a big role in the project management globalization. Virtual teams may have benefits but also the poses risks and challenges. This paper concentrates on virtual teams, their impact on project management due to different cultural environment and the critical areas of project management globalization and also discusses about questions presented after the introduction. Finally conclusion drawn on the subject and recommendations for further study in this field will be discussed.

With globalization which is heightening competition, organizations must continue to develop tangible products and provide services which are based on strategies created by employees. These employees are extremely crucial to the organisation since their value to the organization is essentially intangible and not easily replicated (Meaghan et al., 2002).

After we finished the actual group project, we started our virtual assignment with a new group. We had one same virtual group assignment page on blackboard and we saw each group member’s name. At the first time I saw these names, I wanted to recognize some familiar names. Although we were not able to meet each other, I still wanted to see and check my impression to those familiar names in order to define them. There were many differences between actual and virtual group project no matter when we communicate or do the job. So it had more challenges in this situation which is that we could meet face-to-face.

There are several differences and alike between traditional ground-based teams and virtual teams when individuals begin to work together as a team. In a common setting such as a classroom or a specific department in a company, teams are assigned and begin to work together by discussing the details of a project and assign tasks to each member. In this case, students or colleagues begin to work much quicker than in a virtual setting because the exchange of communication is much faster. In contrast, virtual teams have to first determine what method of communication would be appropriate for all members of the team. Next, they have to wait for all members to respond and then they can execute the best method of communication for the virtual team. According to Berry (2011), “Virtual team members can be located across the office, but almost as easily across the country or across the world, and may rarely or perhaps never meet face to face. As team members become more reliant on computer-mediated communication technologies, the more virtual they become. However, today most traditional teams use technological devices to continue work outside the classroom or office. Therefore, traditional teams model a virtual team, and if members take advantage of the resources, it can strengthen the team.

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).

Managers can build effective strategies to mitigate the risks associated with virtual teams and build strong, well rounded productive teams. This paper outlines the strategies the manager can leverage to build strong virtual teams. The strategies mentioned in the paper are a summary of strategies mentioned in various HBR and other reputed publications (please refer the references section), further I have supplemented them with examples from my personal experience in working with virtual teams.