Abstract Teams have always contributed significantly towards the successful operation of any organization. Traditionally, team members had to endure the challenges of time, distance, and even cultural differences in order to successfully complete a team activity. However, recent advancements in technology have led to the birth of virtual teams. The paper aims to explore the effectiveness and differences of virtual teams as compared to face-to-face teams. The evaluation will be on the basis of dimensions such as performance, cohesion, conflict, trust and satisfaction among others.
Introduction
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
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
Virtual and mobile teams (also known as distributed teams) are individual members or groups of a team working independently without a common work location, to meet collective organization goals. Virtual and mobile teams can be spread out as far as across town, to all the way around the world. Virtual and mobile teams allow businesses and teams can work effectively work apart, and achieve the benefits of being in different key locations. Some benefits of virtual and mobile teams are the ability to bridge organizational and geographical boundaries and offer organizations the ability
Every person in the world perceives life in a different way. From these various viewpoints, we, as humans, create stereotypes, myths, and legends. Our eyes see things distinctively and our minds shape concepts uniquely. From this disconnect from others, we enable misconception and foster misunderstanding. One beautiful thing about perception is that from it, we can develop our own interests. Thus, out of my personal curiosity, I have chosen to study Organizational Leadership – which, in turn, led me to this course. As I continue to further my studies, I look ahead to my required check sheet and already have my options drawn about all the courses I need to take. “Virtual Teams and Organizations” attracted my attention – mainly for the myths and preconceptions that I have regarding online teams. Originally more negative, my outlook has changed to a more positive one about working with others virtually.
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.
Self-managed virtual teams rely on technologically-based networking, connecting team members who may not be in close proximity. Self-managed virtual teams can also be cost-effective, as remote communication is less expensive than travel. Because of the increasing utilization of virtual teams, especially within the healthcare industry, and the relative newness as a method of organizational structure, this research aims to explore how leadership styles impact the virtual structure. Virtual teams often differ from face-to-face interactions; as such, there are unique challenges to be addressed, as team members may not establish factors such as trust that they would in a face to face setting (Hoch & Kozlowski, 2014). There may also be less collaboration on specific tasks. To resolve these issues, the specific research question to be asked is: What leadership style would produce the best outcomes in an organization that utilizes virtual teams, specifically within the health insurance
Teams have always contributed significantly towards the successful operation of any organization. Traditionally, team members had to endure the challenges of time, distance, and even cultural differences in order to successfully complete a team activity. However, recent advancements in technology have led to the birth of virtual teams. The paper aims to explore the effectiveness and differences ofvirtual teamsas compared to face-to-face teams. The evaluation will be on the basis of dimensions such as performance, cohesion, conflict, trust and satisfaction among others.
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
Virtual teams are becoming increasingly common in the workplace, especially in media. Powell, Piccoli and Ives (2011) define virtual teams as "groups of geographically, organizationally and/or time dispersed workers brought together by information and telecommunication technologies to accomplish one or more organizational tasks” Virtual teams are becoming increasingly important and common as work processes have become more globalized. As the world continues to become increasingly globalized, it is likely that virtual teams will continue to be implemented with companies who encourage and implement a global strategy. However, virtual teams face many problems in terms of communicated among members. The use of digital media applications and
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).
In contemporary society, in order to cater to the increasing demands of change and the pressure of globalization, a large sum of information communication technologies (ICT) have been invented and utilized. The appearance and utilization of virtual teams increased dramatically due to the innovation of technological advancements including videoconferencing and email. The use of technological communication advancements enables virtual teams to span geographical, temporal, and organizational boundaries, and makes organizations become more efficient, and smarter than ever. As a vital and common tool for enterprises and organizations to enlarge their profitability, virtual teams acquire skillful, talented members to satisfy the goals of organizations
To bring about a synergy in their activities, across the barriers of distance, language, culture and social structure, human resource professionals have to work doubly hard to maintain team cohesiveness. Making quick and concrete decisions within a team is the need of the hour and according to Alpay (2005) using emails not only slows down the whole decision making process but also sometimes leads to a point where no decision is taken at all. Various means of communication such as discussion board, electronic mail, audio conferencing, chat room, FTP, FAX are used for successful management and data exchange between them (Jiang et al., 2001). Forsytth in the year 1999, defined team cohesion as a state when the members of the team work with satisfaction, enjoyment and coordination with each other(Knight et al., 2008). This definitely cannot be achieved through electronic mail, but would require concerted interpersonal interactions to keep the team motivated and happy while striving to achieve to achieve organizational goals. Also from to the four hypothesizes concluded by Knight, Pearson and Hunsinger (2008) it is clear that face to face communication would facilitate team cohesion to a much greater extent than emails as a source of communication. It is also very difficult to provide mutual support to the team members over emails(Alpay,
According to Pitts (p.3), Training is a very large issue related to communication in a virtual team, either the team members do not have enough training when it comes to technology or they are simply lacking the equipment needed to communication in a professional manner. While LaLonde (p.8) states that the information technology provides the influence necessary to support the development and expansion of new organizational infrastructure. Since there are no training courses in trust (Grosse, 2002). There are however numerous carouses in communication and how to improve
Because your virtual team members don’t work in the same location, they may not communicate and collaborate as much as they need to.