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VIRTUAL TEAMS
GLOBALLY DISPERSED WORK TEAMS
VIRTUAL COLLABORATION
COLLABORATIVE WORK TEAMS
Introduction To Virtual Teams
Teamwork has been around since before our
ancestors gathered up their spears and learned how to work
together to gang up on mastodons and saber-toothed tigers. Many experts
agree that teams are the primary unit of performance in any organization.
Today there is a new kind of team—a “virtual” team made up of
people who
communicate electronically. Its members may hardly ever see each other in
person. In fact, they may never meet at all, except in cyberspace.
Work from home
To some people, working alone at home is a
terrific
option. They like the idea of sitting at their terminals in robe
and slippers, the cat curled at their feet.
Others find the idea a little lonely and
somehow disconcerting. They worry that they'd pine for the chatty
atmosphere around the water cooler. However you feel about virtual teams,
there are more and more of them, and they offer some definite benefits.
For one thing, there's no need for office or parking space. For another, more people can be included in the labor pool.
Air pollution and gas expensesare reduced
when people don't commute. Virtual teaming offers more flexibility for workers
and organizations alike.
Software designed just for virtual teams,
called “groupware,” is growing increasingly sophisticated.
(Lotus Notes and Exchange are two popular programs.) Videoconference programs
are also available, but so far they are unwieldy and expensive, requiring
too much bandwidth to be practical. The work of virtual teams can also be
enhanced by use of a Web site.
It's a handy place to store and distribute graphic materials, schedules, flowcharts, reference materials, and more.
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Research data on Collaborative Groups
Virtual teaming isn't something anybody planned. It happened because the technology was there. But how well are these teams really functioning and what can be done to make them more effective? What are some of the paybacks of the virtual team? What are the pitfalls? Do unsupervised employees take advantage of the situation? What leadership skills are needed to make the virtual team work fine?
Characteristics of Virtual Teams
Virtual teams get the work done. Most teams
achieve the goals set for them, according to a Dr. Gould of seanet_com, from
whom text many ideas on this page are paraphrased.
Associates can be trusted.
The question many leaders
ask is, “Can you trust people
you can't see to do their work?” Clearly yes. Tasks wouldn't have been
accomplished
if the work hadn't been done. While participants acknowledge that this was
a potential problem (“Your manager doesn't see you. Out of sight, out of
mind,”), it doesn't seem to have been an actual problem.
virtual-collaboration-team-group-gallery/thumbnails/collaborative_VPN_circles
Few virtual teams are totally virtual. Virtual teams tend to have some face-to-face meetings. Face-to-face contact is fairly unimportant in teams with relatively independent team members engaged in individual work projects. However, it is important in teams with interdependent members. As one team member commented, “Face-to-face is very important. You yell at the woman [from the phone company] when your phone bill is messed up, not because she is responsible but because you don't know her face. Once you've met, you have more compassion and understanding for your fellow team members.”
Virtual teams assume the same basic structure as “real” teams.
Teams demonstrate the same dynamics that researchers have discovered in
“real” teams. The early stages are characterized by a certain
amount of randomness, chaos, and ad hoc decision-making. As the team matures,
processes are put into place and the team becomes more efficient.
Managing Virtual Teams
Virtual team leaders are operating within
a different framework. Some of the behaviors considered good management
practices are changed, or even eliminated, because the team was physically
separated.
Individual recognition is infrequent and when it occurs, it is via e-mail or a telephone call. An e-mail message like this is typical: “Now that the conference has come and gone, I just wanted to send a note of thanks to all of you who submitted … I appreciated all of your hard work in creating materials and getting them to me on time throughout the process.” Some people feel online recognition is helpful; others are uncomfortable with it. They feel somehow communication should be done in person. One team leader might arrange a voice conference call to make her praise public and to ensure that everyone hears it at once.
Celebrations of team accomplishments pretty much go by the board. Team leaders rarely if ever initiate celebrations. Comments from team members could range from the barely festive, “Should we find ourselves in the same town at the same time, we would meet and celebrate past performance,” to the rather plaintive, “There were are celebrations of any sort—sounds drab, doesn't it?” Some teams met to celebrate in person at the completion of the project, but for many, geography and expense makes this impossible. So far, no one seems to have discovered a technique for successful virtual partying.
Team leaders do, however, occasionally offer support and coaching to team
members. “Challenge, encouragement, and coaching are at the very center
of the editing and authoring process.”
virtual-collaboration-team-group-gallery/thumbnails/livemeeting_MS_virtual_team
Dealing With Communications Troubles in Globally Dispersed Work Teams
While most virtual team members have a positive experience overall, the biggest cause of complaint involves communications problems.
These complaints fall into several
categories. The first is lack of project visibility.
Team members know what they are doing on an individual
basis, but they aren't always sure where their pieces fit into the whole
puzzle.
Second, there are sometimes problems in actually getting hold of people.
“[It's
aggravating] not being able to get a response from people as soon as you like.
Weeks can slip by and we are all doing other jobs. You send out a question
and in some cases an answer never comes back.
You don't know how to interpret it. They don't want to answer or what?”
virtual-collaboration-team-group-gallery/thumbnails/remote_team_display
Tips on alleviating communication problems in Virtual Teams
Include face-to-face time if at all feasible.
Have an initial meeting for the team members
to get together, greet each other, and socialize. Meet face-to-face periodically
throughout the term of the project. These meetings will help to establish ties
and relationships among group members. It's especially important in creating an
efficient working environment where the team members are interdependent.
Technology for Communication in Globally Dispersed Teams
Occasionally, there are constraints from the technology. “Communication in a virtual environment has its own set of challenges,” says a team member. “It's sometimes difficult to derive the meaning from text-based messages, especially if the person is attempting to be sarcastic or facetious. Guidelines on how to let others know the intention of your message, whether it's through the use of emoticons or whatnot, are important.”
For the uninitiated, “emoticons”
are those expressive little faces made out of parentheses, pound keys, percent
signs, and so forth. Human ingenuity seems to have triumphed once again,
finding a way to add nuance and feeling to electronic text.
Give team members a sense of how the general
project is going.
Transmit team members copies of the updated project schedule or provide
an electronic view of the project schedule on line using the Internet.
Project management schedule charts can be
published on the Internet using the team's
Web site. The primary objective here is
to improve the quality and type of communications with all team members.
They want to know where they fit in the big picture.
Institute a code of conduct to avoid
delays.
The code might include a principle of acknowledging a request for information
within 24 or 48 hours. A complete response to a request might require more
time, but at least the person requiring the information would know that the request
will be addressed. No one wants to feel that his or her request has dropped off
the edge of the earth.
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Telecommuting
Telecommuting, also known as telework, is
about working at
the office from home or other location. Mobile technologies like cell
phones, PDAs, and laptop computers along with communication technologies
such as the Internet make this possible.
Some companies let employees telecommute one
or two days per week or so,
while other organizations desire people to be in the office every day.
Most professional workers want to be great at what they do but they are only as good as their last engagement -- whether working as a consultant or as a full-time employee. Many full-time employees work on a range of projects over a period of time and each project may be considered an "engagement." Success means being selected for another project. Continued success creates a successful career. Productivity is a function of people (their capabilities), the effectiveness and efficiency of the processes being employed, and the technology being used. All in alll, better technology means better productivity at least to a point.
Productivity is not a function of being co-located near the manager nor is it a function of being located in a cubicle. Either the work process or the technology used in the execution of the process may decide where the work can be done. For example, construction work clearly dictates the location of the work to be performed, but creating lectures, developing software, or similar information based activity may be possible to be done almost anywhere.
Performance in Virtual Work
It can be measured by the quantity and quality of the deliverables produced. There are a number of examples wherein people are measured by their deliverables, not by anyone watching them. For example, instructors evaluate and grade student deliverables without actually observing them write papers, solve problems, or perform field research. Few of us actually repair our cars; we take them into a shop and leave for the day, we return later and pay for the deliverable without ever seeing the mechanic work. We entrust our cash with financial advisors and evaluate the deliverables without watching them work.
There is no guarantee that observing someone
work will result
in good performance; on the other hand, there is no guarantee that not watching
someone work will result in great performance either. The
objective is to hire good people who want to be successful,
be clear about the quality of the deliverable to be created and evaluate
it according to established criteria. Also, keep communication open
at the work place, wherever that may be.
Telecommuting has been gaining popularity among nonprofit organizations. It can
broaden the candidate pool for a nonprofit with limited space and a small
budget, increase productivity, and be viewed as an employee perk. With a few
straightforward tools and practices, you can manage the risk involved for your
nonprofit and your employee.
Note: much of the material on this page was adapted from Full Speed Ahead.
Order the book " Full Speed Ahead: Managing Technology Risk ".
Dispersion Rewards for Virtual Teams
In a recent survey by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), 31 percent of the nonprofit respondents reported offering telecommuting as a choice for certain positions. Offering telecommuting as an feature of a flexible workplace offers numerous benefits to a nonprofit employer, including:
· reducing the stress on costly office space
· eliminating nerve-racking office commute times
· improving supervisory skills by requiring supervisors to manage by objectives and consequences
· attracting part-time workers, citizens with disabilities, and retired workers and retaining valued employees who travel to remote locations or who need to spend time as caregivers at home
Risks
A few of the risks that arise when a company
adds telecommuting as an option include:
·
shortness of of consistency in
permitting employees to telecommute and concern that the organization may not
be
affording equal opportunity to its workforce
· failure of employer trust of employees and of co-worker for co-worker
· inability of telecommuting workers to take complete advantages of technological advances in the workplace
· concern that data and system security measures and procedures won't be adhered to rigorously by the telecommuting employee
· employees' frustration or withdrawal due to lack of training opportunities
· potential for abridged commitment to the organization due to lack of face-to-face contact with peers
· lack of employee production because of reduced supervision
·
inability of a nonprofit to
guarantee a safe working environment
VIRTUAL TEAM LEADERSHIP SKILLS
Resourceful participation in today's economy demands high reliance on effective leadership of technical and support teams whose members are strewn across many geographic boundaries. There are unique and distinctive requirements for leadership awareness in the virtual project team or remote management situation, where individuals who share responsibilities for shared goals reside in geographically dispersed locations.
Key findings from both research and best practices across numerous industries reveal that effective distance leadership includes the characteristic fundamentals for leading people and managing resources in a traditional office environment.
However, difficulties in the conventional
environment can be significantly
magnified in the virtual or remote situation.
Trouble with communicating;
working together; and producing high-quality, on-time results is typically
heightened by distance.
Successful leaders need to quickly,
confidently
and competently diagnose such issues and take deliberate
actions to keep project team relationships, productivity and outcomes on
track. There is even more stress on the use of appropriate
communications skills to fit the needs of the people and the situation.
There are five foundational categories of
effective leadership skills in virtual project team or distance-management
situations:
· Communicating effectively and using technology that fits the circumstances
· Building community, based on mutual trust, esteem, fairness and affiliation, among project team members
· Establishing lucid and inspiring shared goals, expectations, purpose and visualization
· Leading by example with a focus on observable, measurable results
·
Coordinating/collaborating across
organizational boundaries
VIRTUAL TEAM EMPLOYEE SKILLS
Research also reveals a profile for employees who
function well in virtual project team situations. Whenever possible, it's
advisable to select team members who already display these characteristics or
who are willing and able to develop them quickly. Workers tend to be more
comfortable and effective if they are capable of performing the core tasks for
their roles; self-disciplined; goal-directed; flexible; collaborative; willing
to share and exchange information; open to feedback, change, differences in
people and culture, ways of thinking, other discipline models or signature
skills, and alternative approaches to processes; committed and connected to the
business; and capable in using technology required for their roles.
Communicating Effectively With Virtual Work Groups
Communicating effectively is the solution
with virtual project teams. In distance situations, effective
communication requires vigilant attention to listening, presenting one's
own thoughts and ideas as clearly as possible, focusing on conveying positive
and constructive intent, selecting the right technology to quickly and
sensitively
express a clear message, and taking extra care to respectfully ensure
understanding
and expectations for action. It includes vital feedback loops and networking
and often requires daily contact during especially fast-changing times.
Effectively communicating in a virtual project team also necessitates careful
diagnosis of any given circumstances to discern not only the task or work
objective in question but also the emotional content (obvious or hidden) within
the situation. It requires intentional attention to the needs of the project
team members and their desire for action or a remedy in a timely and sensitive
comportment. An especially effective practice is establishing ground rules that
meet the needs of the project team and its leader.
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VIRTUAL TEAM COMMUNICATION
The following are recognizable leadership actions for communicating effectively
with a virtual project team:
· Modeling the organization's standards and members' ground rules in all communications
· Choosing a method of communication that best fits the shared needs of members and the situation
· Applying a communication technology that best fits the needs of the circumstances
· Helping all members apply available communication technology with poise
· Formulating specific objectives and an organized delivery map for communications
· Linking messages to the members' shared intention, goals and performance contributions to results
· Encouraging all members of a discussion to participate fully
· Engaging in positive listening
· Verifying team members' understanding of the message and expectations for action
· Guiding communications to achieve a helpful and constructive outcome
·
Conducting coaching and feedback
in ways that communicate respect and support
Communication within a virtual project team setting requires vigilant consideration of two factors. Foremost, the effective leader determines which communication method is appropriate for the situation and adheres to the project team's ground rules. Then, the leader selects the technology form (if any) that fits best or is preferred by the team members.
Effective skills for leading from a distance emphasize the significance of
strategically using face-to-face communication. This is an especially important
choice when the project team needs to establish and build trust. It's also an
vital choice when particularly sensitive news or feedback needs to be delivered
to an individual or the project team.
BUILDING COMMUNITY WITH VIRTUAL TEAMS
Another solution for effectively leading from a distance is building community among the members of the project team. A sense of community includes display of sensitivity to differences, establishing and adhering to ground rules, project team etiquette or agreement among the members for how the team will work together.
It's crucial to begin establishing mutual trust between
members at the beginning of a work relationship. Trust is easily
broken, and it requires clarity of intent. Over time, actions that accomplish
any commitments tend to solidify the trust. This is especially vital for
virtual project team members who have diverse signature skills or represent
different technical disciplines. While people with differing modes of thinking
are now regularly chosen for accelerated product development teams to stimulate
creative tension and produce heightened creativity and innovation, the
effective
leader should consider an initial face-to-face meeting to purposefully orient
the members toward a constructive intent built on community and trust.
For instance, an international, privately held software development firm with
multiple virtual product development and project support teams began to miss
critical development deadlines with key customers. Management uncovered and
addressed explicit roadblocks to their mutual sense of community and trust and
quickly helped the teams get back on schedule.
TRUST, FAIRNESS & AFFILIATION IN VIRTUAL TEAMS
Trust is also indispensable to social contracting, especially among knowledge
workers. It frequently begins or grows when knowledge is willingly shared. It
requires reciprocity (i.e., mutual trust.) Constant, positive and respectful
interactions among the members can create a strong bond of trust that unites
the community.
The perception of fairness is another vital element.
As members observe day-to-day activity, they naturally form opinions about
the fairness of any given state of affairs. Any deed or situation that prompts
members to perceive unfairness can directly affect their desire to contribute
effort and support to the project team and its goals. If there is a perceived
suggestion of bias, cultural insensitivity or unethical or unbalanced treatment
of others, the typical reaction is to skeptically with- hold or reserve
full effort and creativity.
The need for affiliation in building community is also indispensable. The
strong human need for belonging, identifying with a respected team, pursuing a
worthy objective or noble purpose with colleagues, and cultivating some level
of bonding is vital for overcoming social isolation, alienation and
disconnection.
TECHNIQUES FOR VIRTUAL TEAMS
All of these elements are characteristically portrayed in the unique ground
rules or rules of etiquette that a virtual project team establishes for itself.
These rules express attention to community-building. They frequently include keeping
commitments, providing feedback in preferred ways, giving everyone an equal
voice, sharing vital information, and acknowledging preferences for type and
frequency of communications and other unique points for how the project team
wants to harmoniously work together.
Here are the nine observable actions that encourage and build community:
· Modeling the behaviors expected of each and every one of the members
· Maintaining the self-confidence and sense of worth of others
· Demonstrating esteem for all members and their opinions
· Encouraging all members to contribute fully
· Focusing on the situation, matter or behavior, not on the person
· Confronting issues with others openly
· Taking initiative to make things well again
· Maintaining productive relationships
·
Admitting faults
CLEAR PURPOSE FOR VIRTUAL COLLABORATIVE TEAMS
The significance of establishing a lucid and inspiring
shared purpose, a common vision and accompanying goals and expectations for
performance has received a great deal of attention in recent years. This class
of leadership skills constitutes another essential area that requires
deliberate attention in effectively leading from a distance.
It requires taking initiative to make certain that all members are involved in
creating or understanding the purpose and vision of the group or a specific
project. It's vital for all members to have sufficient opportunity to voice
their respective opinions.
GENERATE VISION FOR THE GLOBALLY DISPERSED WORK TEAMS
This full involvement in creating a shared purpose or common vision serves as a
groundwork for unified project team commitment.
When coupled with comprehensible expectations for contributions and measurable
performance, this combination of elements can be an effective driving force
for self-discipline and motivation. Combined with a sense of community,
there can be a reduced need for continuous monitoring and control mechanisms
in order to accomplish team goals. This category can become one of the
effective
secrets for shifting from control to member self- supervision. Day-to-day,
moment-to-moment and transaction-to-transaction, the members
can self-coach on the company's vision; the project team's
vision; and the team's sense of purpose, specific goals and expectations
for contribution. This universal vision is essential for virtual project
teams that are purposefully undertaking highly creative or innovative
approaches.
DEMONSTRATE EXCELLENCE IN THE VIRTUAL TEAMS
The leadership actions for this category include:
1. Sharing information about the organization's mission, vision, strategies and goals
2. Clarifying the underlying principle and intent of strategies and goals
3. Providing clear expectations for contributions and measurable results
4. Ensuring that members are involved in decisions that affect their job
5. Seeking ideas and opinions from all members
6. Ensuring thoughtfulness for the needs of customers in planning work
7. Using the organization's core values to guide the members' planning, decisions and actions
8. Promoting creativity and innovation in undertaking new goals or opportunities
9. Helping members develop constructive approaches to the needs of the organization
10. Challenging assumptions that may inhibit progress
11. Demonstrating flexibility in adapting to changes in goals and expectations
EXEMPLIFY TEAM LEADERSHIP
The leadership skill of leading by example with a focal point on visible, measurable results is a natural extension of the previous category. The clear and inspiring shared purpose, the vision, and the resulting project team's goals and expectations become the targets for establishing individual and team contributions. The vital distinction for virtual project teams is the need to make "out of sight" contributions as visible as possible.
The individual members need to know how their roles and tasks straightforwardly
contribute to the achievement of the group and organizational goals. They
need to understand how the needs of the customers
are met by their contributions. On a day-to-day basis, they need
to self-direct and self-discipline their work on clear priorities. They
need to convey visible, measurable outputs, transactions or next steps in
key processes. Preferably, they are able to self-track their contributions
and measurable progress toward specific goals.
VIRTUAL TEAM SELF-DISCIPLINE
Often, this means that the project team
needs to contemplate the critical
path for the achievement of a specific goal. Deliberate attention is focused
on how each member contributes content and/or key process transactions each
step of the way. Particular awareness is given to the interdependencies
among members' contributions. There are detailed discussions about what
information or output needs to be delivered by when and in what condition
in order for the next member to take action. One way of describing this
activity is managing intersections of mutual accountability
or handoffs.
In adopting this approach for day-to-day activity, the members of the group engage in goal-directed self-discipline for completing important tasks and making those visible, measurable contributions to results. In essence, control subtly shifts from the traditional manager role to the members of the group. Personal responsibility and ownership for results set in, and members tend to deliver more vigor, creativity, and innovation and even greater achievement.
SHORT STORY
For example, a virtual project team possessing a variety of signature skills was brought together for the first time to turn around a disappointing situation with a chief customer. Each member needed a clear understanding of performance expectations and how their respective contributions fit into a complex, critical path of product development activity. The project team leader decided to set even more dynamic schedules to renew the confidence of the customer and provided more frequent opportunities for the team to come together electronically with the customer to demonstrate progress. The actions were akin to joint innovation to re-establish the business relationship while meeting the product requirements.
In this category of effective leadership, each opportunity for communication
on an individual or a project team basis includes clear focus on the visible,
measurable contributions that produce results with high force. Effective
leaders inspire the members to reach and exceed the expectations for
performance.
They understand the capabilities required for such achievement and ensure
that all members have the skills and understanding necessary. They also
ensure that the team members have the equipment and tools to make their
critical contributions.
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COLLABORATION & GEOGRAPHY
Coordinating and collaborating across such boundaries includes extending the same level of mutual trust and respect, teamwork and collaboration, and focus on visible contributions that appears within your own project team to other individuals or groups anywhere else within your organization, as well as to customers and suppliers.
This set of behaviors includes the even coordination of a key process or a project that may cross a number of natural organizational boundaries. Information or technical assistance outside the project team's capabilities may be needed.
While such coordination and collaboration
across boundaries can be bumpy or difficult in the traditional organizational
structure, this condition
can once more become magnified when complicated by distance. In many cases, a
project team leader needs to remove defensive
"firewalls" that have been constructed at those boundaries. There is
also often a need to diagnose and handle differences, challenge assumptions,
and defuse the potential for conflict.
WHAT TO DO
Effective observable actions for coordinating and collaborating across boundaries are as follows:
1.
Seeking ways to construct teamwork and collaboration across groups and
functions
2. Establishing mutual involvement in situations that cross organizational boundaries
3. Linking the need for synchronization and collaboration to the needs of the organization and its customers
4. Helping members identify opportunities for upgrading in projects and processes that cross organizational boundaries
5. Helping members plan, coordinate and implement projects and processes across boundaries
6. Helping members analyze and solve problems
7. Helping members track progress in projects and processes across boundaries
8. Promoting sharing of information in situations of shared interest
9. Asking for specific support you will need and what you will do in return
10. Challenging unnecessary barriers to collaboration across boundaries
11. Helping members constructively move from conflict to collaboration
GLOBALLY DISPERSED MODEL
Leading successfully from a distance or with a virtual project team is much like operating a camera with a zoom lens. To secure a clear, focused image of a far-off situation, effective leaders fine-tune their communications and technology.
Leaders of virtual project teams typically
receive a series of succinct snapshots of situations by means of voice mail,
e-mail or pager messages. Effective leaders need to swiftly and skillfully
diagnose what is happening, determine a course of action, and adjust their means
of communication and the technology they use to achieve the desired results.
The information above was adapted from an article by Dr. Joyce Thompson.
Collaborating To Achieve As A Virtual Team
As the global work force changes – leaders are finding worker isolation to be one of the greatest challenges in today's virtual work place. This 21st century's organization is significantly different than it was 20 years ago. Centralized offices have dispersed and the office informal chatter is no longer the center of informal knowledge transfer and office gossip.
Managers in today's cross-functional matrix reporting structures must extend organizational links to increase information sharing opportunities and minimize workgroup isolation. The technology is available to get people to adapt their work styles to communicate across time and distance.
The first obstacle is to review informal messages that leadership transmits. An organization may publish globalization as a corporate value and cornerstone for growth; however are these values and objectives reflected by actual collaboration practices? Does your organization leadership think about remote staff as vital members of the working team?
If the answer is yes, you should take a look at how team leaders and managers can empower remotely located teams and become successful collaborative communities. Three underpinning traits assure virtual team success. The first step in expanding beyond a physically co-located team is to make a list of the viable advantages that are brought to the table. These benefits may include unique skill sets, funding appropriations, or political support. Be acquainted with your team strengths.
READY COMMUNICATIONS IN THE COLLABORATIVE GROUPS
One of the strongest strategic advantages that cross-cultural and
cross-functional teams offer is a diversity of perspective. People who learn
how to take a new look at an old problem are most likely to generate innovative
solutions. So how do you brainstorm if you aren't in the same room?
Finally, communicate. It is all too simple to place yourself in the center of a singular universe. Check in with your co-workers. Share your activities. Ask questions. Request assistance and offer to help others. The greatest way to become a part of a team is to be part of a team. Take a break and share a virtual joke with a colleague and open those informal lines of communication.
Utilizing Collaborative Tools
Virtual communication technologies range from regular telephone conference calls and email broadcasts to a variety of asynchronous and synchronous collaborative tools that include discussion threads, web-based conference calls, and collaborative groupware.
The basis for successful collaboration of
any kind is to establish a focused
agenda and participation protocols. People need to be acquainted with the
game plan as well as the rules. Traditional in-person brainstorm sessions
often default to a solitary continuous session filled with random thoughts.
Not everyone thinks plainly under pressure.
The value of virtual activities
is the series of interactions that facilitate people to think ideas through
and across. Combining independent groundwork with
‘group think' activities to create a series of thoughtful interactions
can truly shorten traditional timeframes for planning and implementation.
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FOCUS ON VIRTUAL MEMBERS
The hardship when planning and implementing communication technologies is to
maintain focus on the people who will use these tools. Successful virtual
endeavors happen because of the high worth efforts of the people involved. Not
because of a solitary individual. It is not because of bought technology as
means to an end. Virtual teams succeed because the team members are encouraged
to share their local perspectives as part of the global solution. There is no
blanket formula. well-built virtual teams are adept at looking for the
commonalities and leveraging them as part of the solution.
Corporate acknowledgment of the value of knowledge sharing is the key to
successful collaborative technology implementations. Systems designed to give
easy access and reinforce the value of the information contributed will be used
and referenced as an essential corporate information tool.
Developing a virtual work team is not so different from developing a co-located
team. Knowing the strengths of your team members permits you to organize
the workload to achieve time efficiencies as well as provide cross-training
opportunities. Leveraging team members' diversity of experience enables
you to explore a broad range of solutions. And, communicating
effectively enables the team to focus on their individual
efforts while understanding the impact on the total team goal.
TECHNOLOGY
Once an organization steps forward to sustain
dispersed work teams, they very quickly discover the efficiencies that come
from the requirements to clearly define the project goals, delegate the tasks,
and monitor the progress. On the other hand, when technology is installed with
inadequate value recognition by corporate leadership, it will lay dormant and
unused.
Productivity metrics are simpler to measure. Problem
spots are more difficult to hide and thus, get resolved earlier.
No, virtual teams cannot physically yell over a cubicle, but they can still
share informal knowledge using a range of voice and data technologies. And
from experience, office gossip travels just as quickly over a data connection
as it does from cube-to-cube.
This article was adapted from a text by Susan Schwa rtz
MORE VIRTUAL TEAM BASICS
There are a number of configurations for a virtual team, but probably the most
important characteristic is that the members cannot always get together face to
face for one reason or another. Therefore, these teams rely on information
technology such as e-mail, chat systems, instant messaging or even the phone or
fax to communicate.
Whenever your team has discussions online, you are experiencing a "virtual
team" whether or not it is called that.
Once communication stops being face-to-face, it becomes more of a challenge because the cues from facial expressions and gestures are lost. In addition, much of it may be asynchronous (e-mail/voice-mail), meaning there may be a time-delay between responses. Below are some pieces of advice for teams who cannot always meet face to face.
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COLLABORATING
Ensure the first meeting is face to face so that students get an opportunity to
meet and put a face with a name. One way to do this is to allot class time for
the first team meeting.
Require teams to share daily plans. One area where disagreement can occur is if
a student expects a quick e-mail answer from a team member, when that person is
actually unavailable. For example, some students may work at night and do
e-mail in the morning while others study and do e-mail at night. Clarifying
times when each member is "online" can assist the team have
reasonable expectations on when a reply may come in.
Require teams to develop a contact directory.
The minimum would probably be email
addresses, but could also
include phone numbers and chat usernames.
Encourage teams to share brief histories - This adds another human dimension to
the online situation. The history could include images, hobbies, hometown, goals
for the class or anything interesting or unusual.
The Ten Commandments of Project Management
They'll lead your company to the promised land of project-based
culture.
In our increasingly project-centric world, the productivity to be
gained by good project management is far too promising to ignore.
But for most companies, shifting to a project-oriented management
structure represents great change, and people resist change, regardless
of the benefits that it may bring. Rules and guidelines are needed,
so I’ve devised these commandments. By following them, your company
can position itself to enter the promised land of project-based culture.
I Thou Shalt Narrow Project Scope
Nothing is worse than the never-ending project.
It can suck up resources and exhaust even the most resilient teams.
To keep projects tight and focused, carve larger efforts into smaller
projects that have achievable deliverables and can meet deadlines.
In the long run, a series of small wins has more impact on the organization
than a big bang that never sounds.
II Thou Shalt Not Suffer a Fat Team
The best way to get off to a good start is to ensure that the
project team is the right size. Larger teams are more difficult to
motivate and manage, and personalities can get in the way of the work.
There is no optimum team size, though a good rule of thumb is a role
for every person and a person for every role. But if team members
need to play more than one role, that’s OK. If you err, err on the
side of a smaller team.
III
Thou Shalt Require Full-Time Business Participation
To ensure that the desired results are delivered, the business
perspective must be represented on a full-time basis. Moreover, if
business leaders want the best and brightest from IT working on their
initiatives, they need to provide the same from the business side.
By committing full-time resources to every project, business leaders
confirm that project work is important.
IV Thou Shalt Establish Project Review Panels
A project review panel is a project team’s
governing body, addressing issues of business policy and strategic
direction while assisting in the removal and avoidance of project
roadblocks and pitfalls. Typically, midlevel business and IT managers
from the involved areas participate in biweekly project status meetings.
To ensure flow and continuity, any problems identified during these
meetings are assigned to project-review panelists, who address them
while the project team carries on with its work.
V Thou Shalt Not Provoke Burnout
It’s not unusual for project staff to become both mentally
and physically exhausted by the stress and struggle of the work. Be
sensitive to this and take precautions to avoid it. One common contributor
to burnout is serial project assignments. Organizations tend to assign
the “usual suspects” to every high-visibility initiative. If you
find
that certain people come off one project only to be assigned immediately
to another, you may want to consider creating some policies that limit
or monitor such staff use.
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backwards) into a search engine text box.
VI Thou Shalt Seek Outside Assistance as Needed
Using outside project experts is another way
to prevent burnout. Besides augmenting
project teams, outsiders can often provide valuable new ideas, perspective
and energy. It’s essential to bring the right consulting support into
a project at the right time. Specialized technical or business expertise
is one type of support; project management expertise is another. Be
sure to consider where a given project team is in both its project plan
and overall experience curve before deciding on a specific type of external
resource
VII
Thou Shalt Empower Project Teams
Project teams struggling to meet deadlines
should not be expected to perform pro forma activities such as filing
time sheets or attending departmental status meetings. Rather, they
should be empowered to do whatever it takes to get a superior job
completed on time and within budget. People will work harder in a
trusting environment where expectations are well understood and individual
initiative is valued.
VIII Thou Shalt Use Project Management Tools
Mundane project management work can be automated. Look for
tools that offer project tracking, task management, workflow administration
and resource-analysis support on an intranet-based platform that promotes
information-sharing and communication. But remember, using technologies
that add another layer of complexity to an already challenging project
is not a good idea.
This page can be found by typing 1smaet (teams1 spelled
backwards) into a search engine text box.
IX Thou Shalt Reward Success
All project participants should be recognized in
some positive way for their toil and personal sacrifice. The rewards
need not be extravagant. Sometimes a sincere letter of commendation
from a corporate officer is enough. More significant forms of gratitude
such as tickets to ballgames, theater evenings, extra vacation time
and financial bonuses should also be considered if results warrant
them.
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X Thou Shalt Not Tolerate Quick-and-Dirty Work Efforts
Solid project management policies should obviate
the temptation to indulge in quick-and-dirty project work, which only
leads to error, waste, rework and frustration.