Virtual Teams Research Paper

A virtual group is a gathering of people who work crosswise over time, space and authoritative limits with connections reinforced by networks of correspondence innovation.

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

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

President and CEO of the Charles Schwab Corporation states that when you have your team established then you have to foster trust among the team members so that you can collaboratively move the organization forward. He says it’s crucial to have confidence in each other and promote openness, transparency and vulnerability (Role player, 2009).

Virtual interaction both increases and changes leadership responsibilities. Without proper communication management, virtual teams can have less efficiency compared to teams with face to face interaction. Even with the added conveniences in virtual teams, many virtual teams struggle and can often fail to meet expectations. Virtual team collaboration should empower team members with the opportunity to put their best foot forward. A considerable amount of effort is needed to take advantage of the creativity that can be produced in virtual teams. Virtual teams must find a way to foster trust, creating connections that develop into an inclusive environment, which empowers the team with the ability to work together and accomplish goals.

While involved in a team, individuals need to trust their teammates in order to complete all tasks because getting the work done involves all members, which in turn stresses cooperation and collaboration. The loss of trust will cause conflicts to arise and members of the team will be unwilling to compromise, cooperate and agreements will never be achieved which will jepardizes the tasks from being accomplished. If a team loses that trust it may never truly be earned again and if it is, it takes an extraordinary amount of commitment and effort for it to be regained.

Robert Jones, Robert Oyung, and Lise Pace, authors of Working Virtually: Challenges of Virtual Teams (2005) state:

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

The success or failure of virtual team collaboration in organizations is often reflected in the philosophies and support of its executives. For example, when company executives demonstrate collaborative behaviors and create collaborative environments where social interactions thrive, virtual team collaboration also thrives. Executives achieve this by establishing, encouraging, and maintaining strong social interactions throughout the organization. These practices are often tailored to the unique culture of the organization and are effective because of its unique signature or fit to the organization. By investing in signature relationship practices, executives can encourage collaboration across the organization (Gratton & Erickson, 2007).

Global business, increased supplier involvement, network communications and pressure on travel costs have led to increased use of virtual project teams. In many cases the teams have little previous experience working together and no shared awareness of project assumptions, feasibilities, and risks. Traditional centralized and detailed planning is not an effective option for these projects. While some experts have proposed qualitative or "soft" recommendations for these teams, project managers need a pragmatic way to plan and launch projects with virtual teams. This paper describes the challenges of virtual teams such as cultural and linguistic differences, lack of communication, distance from the customer and why traditional approaches do not succeed.

A virtual team is a group of employees who are working with each other but they are based in different countries or locations, the members of the virtual team are working with the aim of completing a common goal ADDIN EN.CITE Hinds200359(Hinds & Bailey, 2003)595917Hinds, Pamela J.Bailey, Diane E.Out of Sight, Out of Sync: Understanding Conflict in Distributed TeamsOrganization ScienceOrganization Science615-6321462003INFORMS10477039http://www.jstor.org/stable/4135124( HYPERLINK l "_ENREF_1" o "Hinds, 2003 #59" Hinds & Bailey, 2003). With virtual workers a company does not need to bother with where the employees live or where they work from the company will be mostly interested in ensuring that the employees delivers on their tasks and on time. Virtual teams allow the company to acquire talent from different locations of the world. Employees also benefit too in that their travel time is reduced and this reduces the disruption of an employee's life. Work never disrupted if there ever is a disaster at one location as the other workers in non-affected areas continue with the work at hand. Complexities can be added to the team due to the time differences, organizational boundaries and distance between the team members, this also increase the risk of the virtual becoming unsuccessful and thus not able to achieve its goals. With a widely spread out virtual team an organization can have the benefit of operating for 24 hours as the

According to Measom, C. (2014), “Successful teamwork is built on a foundation of trust.” Each member of the team must establish trust; cultivate trust through his actions and words, and work to maintain it. Each member also needs to be able to trust his team members to make a commitment to the team and its goals, work competently with those goals in mind, and communicate consistently about any issues that affect the team. Developing trust is difficult for any team; however it is particularly difficult for simulated teams. This is because virtual teams have limited chances to work together face-to-face. Virtual teams frequently develop when working on big projects. When teams cross diverse cultures, it could lead to confusion. This often happens quite often with virtual teams. Virtual rarely get the chance to interact with each other which cause lack of trust within the group setting. In order to build trust within the group, each member needs to be committed and competent.

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).

The number of organizations using teamwork is increasing. In the last decades, information and communication technologies have allowed organizations to form virtual teams. Consequently, a considerable amount of research has analyzed the functioning of virtual teams. Working with Team members in different time zones included concerns about inefficiency, establishing mutually agreeable meeting times, time zone based delays in getting response and availability of team members and finally lead to project delays.

Case 14.1-“Can This Virtual Team Work?” addresses the concerns of a newly formed virtual information technology team that is led by Jim Towne. The team is made up of competent members who reside and work in Canada, the United States, Europe, South America, Africa, and Australia. Their task is to create and implement technology innovations for all global business units. To accomplish this task, the team collaborates via phone, videoconference, email, text, group decision-support software and has even met twice in a face-to-face setting to plan and set goals. Although the team seems to be enthused about the task as well as working together, the team is having difficulty finishing projects as a unit because they are all working on multiple projects individually and/or corporately. Another problem is that most team members travel to business sites at least two weeks each month which takes away time to work on projects. There is a part-time secretary responsible for organizing travel and meetings, but despite her efforts, the team feels overloaded because with each trip they fall farther behind on their tasks. So Jim is now under pressure to prove that this team can add value to the organization despite the challenges presented.