It4215 Team Project-This

IT-4215 Team Project: Managing Virtual Teams
Jack Calderone, Bethany Martindale, Joyce Thomas
Tool Kit for Managing Virtual Teams

Introduction
Lets make something
The Tool Kit for Managing Virtual Teams was built out of discovery by our student team
assigned to a write a paper together. The paper was originally designed to be a research paper for
outlining what is necessary for managing virtual teams. The team members are developers by
nature with graphic and interaction design skills, who are driven by visuals and prototypes as a
way to understand the problem and synthesize a solution. Creating a product allowed the team
members to use the information about what virtual teams need within a context of an invention
they could develop that would provide a solution for those needs. By organizing and outlining the
content for the product, the approach for the solution emerged and began to inform the design of
the product itself. The criteria for the product is for it to be: cross-cultural, printable at each
location, and become part of the virtual team culture.
Tool Kit Description
The Tool Kit for Managing Virtual Teams consists of these pieces:
job aid poster pdf
job aid folding guide pdf (Appendix A)
video on how to fold the job aid poster (not included in this project)
team contract guide pdf (Appendix B)
team assessment guide pdf (Appendix C)
strategy tips pdf (Appendix D)
tools tips pdf (Appendix E)
manager guide pdf ( not included in this project)
user guide pdf (not included in this project)

The job aid poster is an 11 x 17 double sided page that upon folding turns the document
into a 5.5 x 8.5 multi-level package. Each level of unfolding gives the viewer a progressive look
and guide into managing virtual teams. The outermost layer shows the virtual team structure items
of setting team purpose and goals, a team contract, defined workflow elements, and assessments.
Opening up to the inner layer gives the user information on virtual team strategies and tools for:
team building, meeting structure, and team development. The third layer gives the viewer the
tools that are available for collaboration, communication, curating, and connecting in virtual
teams. The innermost layer is a Virtual Team Map, adjoining all concepts into one visual from
core concepts for team processes to team strategies and tools. This visual reference for virtual
team members can be hung in offices or kept in the back pocket of each member.
Approach
The rationale for what the team included in the product was based on knowledge and
guidance from the course textbook, course materials and outside research. Each section was
developed by a team member who determined the purpose, content, and delivery of the section
focus area concepts. The content is divided into the broad sections of structure, strategies, and
tools. The treatments for the content selected for each section are outlined in the rest of this paper.
Virtual Teams
Virtual teams are characterized as groups of geographically and/or organizationally
dispersed co-workers that are assembled using a combination of telecommunications and
information technologies to accomplish an organizational task. Virtual teams have all the
attributes of team dynamics shared with almost all teams and then specific issues related to
managing virtual teams that span cultural differences, interpersonal relationships, leadership,
technology, and trust (Daim et al., 2012).

Though studies have varied in scope and design, all have found the following attributes
contribute to a successful team including: (a) clarifying objectives; (b) technology; and (c) team
forming. Additionally, problems with unsuccessful virtual teams often stem from distance and
technological problems including: (a) team discontent; (b) improper training; (c) team
empowerment problems; or (d) trust issues (Earnhardt, 2009).
Creating team culture is an important part of a virtual team. This job aid can create the
culture that many virtual teams lack and provides virtual teams with foundation and common
ground to build a strong and healthy team.
Section: Structure
The structure section contains the first layer of the job aid, the Team Contract Guide
contained in Appendix B, and the Team Assessment Guide contained in Appendix C.
Team Purpose and Goals
A successful team has clearly defined purposes and goals and the practice of including them
should start at the onset of the team and be evaluated and refined regularly.
Establishing a common purpose or vision is important but can be extended by also framing
the work in terms of team members individual needs and ambitions. It is a good practice to
explain to everyone why the team is coming together and what benefits will result and then to
keep reiterating the message (Ferrazzi, 2014).
Goal setting is not a one-time activity for a team. One of the values of using teams is their
ability to adapt to changing situations and to learn how to improve their performance. When the
situation changes, a team needs to reevaluate its goals and objectives (Levi, 2014).
Team Contract
Team members need to know what is expected of them and how the team has agreed to operate. A

team contract will define how the team will work together.
Specific guidelines for team interaction are vital: research show that rules reduce
uncertainty and enhance trust in social groups thereby improving productivity (Ferrazzi, 2014).
An important part of starting a team is to obtain agreement about the purpose or goals of the team,
the roles and responsibilities of the team members, norms or operating rules, and expectations
about the performance of team members. The contract provides an initial commitment and
direction for the team about how members will work together. It focuses on the teamwork
process, rather than on the task aspects of the team project. (Levi, 2014). Appendix B contains an
outline for a team contract that can be used to initiate the document.
Clear Workflow
When the team has completed a team contract and included what the team processes or norms will
be, it is important to bring those processes forward in a transparent manner to be clear and present
in the teams culture, and not just a part of a team contract document. A document with workflow
charted out with agreed upon team norms would be representative of this idea in action and can
become a job aide for virtual team members. It should include vocabulary definitions of
communication pathways names and that will create a shared language and understanding of
functions and activities. It is a good idea to keep a team history of meetings, media, and events.
Assessments
Team members and team leaders need to know how the team is doing. One way to do this is
through team debriefing. A team debrief session (sometimes referred to as an after action review
or after event review) is a relatively inexpensive intervention designed to promote learning from
experience. During a debrief, team members reflect upon a recent experience, discuss what
happened, and identify opportunities for improvement. (Eddy, Tannenbaum, Mathieu, 2013).

There is an online debriefing tool that will work well for virtual teams called DebriefNow
(Group for Organizational Effectiveness, 2011). The tool guides a team to reflect on recent work
experiences, specifically focusing on those teamwork factors that have been shown to be
important for team effectiveness and to help teams learn from their experiences and self-correct
over time. The tool captures each team members perceptions about the teams recent work
experiences independently and anonymously, ensuring that all team members provide candid
input. The tool analyzes team member responses and produces a customized debrief guide
containing a prioritized and ordered list of questions the team should discuss and also contained
prompts asking them how they intended to work together to address any teamwork concerns they
identified.
Virtual team leaders can scrutinize asynchronous (electronic threaded discussion and
document postings in the knowledge repository) and synchronous (virtual meeting participation
and Instant Messaging sessions) communications patterns to determine who is participating in
team activities and who needs support and prompting for further participation. Team leaders also
assign a "facilitator" to keep track of tool usage and report problems to the team leader. The
leaders check for the possibility of "social loafing" or "coasting" when some members fail to meet
deadlines or follow work protocols. In these cases, virtual leaders waste no time investigating
problems and confronting under-performers (Malhotra, 2007).
Metrics for both process and productivity can be developed and collected. Every project
needs to develop objective metrics for determining success in terms of desired outcome and in
terms of the process used. The objective is to have measurable criteria to which you can say "yes
or no" in terms of results achieved and efficacy of the process. (Coleman & Books24x7 Inc.,
2009)

Section: Strategies
The strategies section contains the second layer of the job aid and the Strategy Tips Guide
contained in Appendix D.
Team building
Virtual teams need to begin with some type of development. Many virtual teams are often formed
out of necessity, throwing together a group of people together on a team. To assure the success of
a virtual team here are a few strategies you can use while building your team. A common way
leaders of virtual teams ensure that diversity is understood and appreciated is to develop an
explicit "expertise directory" at the onset of the team. (Malhotra, 2007) This expertise directory
can take form in many different ways, all of which can be successful. The importance of this
directory puts a face behind a virtual team member. Knowing who youre working with is the first
step to team building. Granting a fellow team member your trust can often be a taboo gift.
Reflected trustworthiness relies on three categories to assess a targets primary trustworthiness:
Reputation, Performance, and Appearance. (Harell, Diam, 2009)
Virtual teams lack by nature one of these three things. Which is why we plan on creating
the expertise directory. Putting a face to a name helps fill one of the three categories. This also
can help fill the reputation area of building team trust. We suggest using tools such as LinkedIn to
help bridge the gap of reputation. Team members are able to link to their profile a series of prior
projects they have worked on, and can have endorsements from people they have worked with in
the past. Knowing how reputable a team member is can let you put your trust in them right away.
Meeting Structure
Virtual teams lack the luxury analogue teams have when it comes to meeting structure. Here we
have a few important tips Virtual Team Leaders can use to implement better meeting structure.

Malhotra believes in a shared suffering suggesting that each meeting time should rotate having
one members schedule taking priority. Ensure that all team meetings have clear written agendas
with time allocations circulated in advance so that members know when they should attend during
a meeting. (Malhotra, 2007) The tools that would be recommended using for a meeting structure
would be utilizing web conference software, along with your shared documents.
Tools like Skype have become extremely easy to use, it is multiplatform accessible, and
the quality of the calls have significantly improved. Malhotra believes that giving teams access to
meeting subjects beforehand in shared documents gives everyone the opportunity to catch up
before the meeting. Members also need to have access to the meeting minutes after a meeting has
been conducted. Again, Google drive is an excellent tool to use for this because it gives each team
member an equal opportunity to look over where the team is at on the project. While conducting a
meeting there are a few pointers Malhotra gives to help ensure the team is getting the most out of
their time at the meeting. Begin a meeting with some sort of relationship builder. This could be
conversation about how each others week went, or even a team building game. While conducting
the meeting ensure everyone is able to hear and has the ability to hear. It can be a major problem
when team members cannot hear due to technology. (Malhotra, 2007) One strategy Malhotra
suggests is the use of voting tools for team decision making. Electronic tools like this will ensure
that members have been able to hear the meeting, and that they are involved with it by taking
action.
Team Development
Virtual teams, like all analogue teams require some types of development. After you have ensured
your participants know the norms of the team, engaging in some team building activities is one of
the many activities a leader can do to ensure the team is developing correctly. Ensuring your team

mates have trust for one another is the first step to successfully. Most successful virtual team
leaders establish a synchronous as well as an asynchronous collaboration rhythm. In most
traditional face-to-face collaborations team members wait until face-to-face or synchronous
meetings to brainstorm and make progress on the innovation task. On the other hand, successful
virtual teams use the time between meetings to asynchronously (Malhotra, 2007). Development
of this rhythm is extraordinarily important. Analogues teams have the opportunity to work
together right after a meeting. Virtual teams, losing this opportunity, should take time during
meetings to understand the break in work culture. Work culture also being an important thing to
develop in the team through the early stages. Virtual teams comprised of employees across the
country will often have different work ethics. To keep sanity between team members it is very
important for each member of the team to understand all work cultures that are being represented
on their current virtual team (Malhotra, 2007).
Section: Tools
The tools section contains the third layer of the job aid and the Tool Tips Guide contained
in Appendix E. The following tool categories are loosely defined, and one tool can technically
belong to more than one category, and some of these tools can work hand in hand with one
another. Also, these are just suggested tools to use, one may work for some, but not all, and only
use those that correspond to the task at hand.
Collaboration
Collaboration tools can help one collaborate with your team through a central hub for sharing
information and a few would include Redbooth, Campfire, ActiveCollab, Huddle, Goplan, and
Blackboard Collaborate. These text-based communication discussion boards are helpful when
there is it important information the team need to keep a record of to follow back on or review

when a problem has arisen.

Project management and Document storage/file sharing
Project management tools can help one manage and plan your projects with your team through
task assignments and scheduling and a few of these would be Microsoft Project, Basecamp,
Primavera, Wrike, Projecturf, and Apollo. Document storage/file sharing tools can help one store
and share files securely among the team. Some of these tools include Dropbox, Google Drive,
SharePoint, Box. These types of products help to share information, especially when the file is too
large or if there are many of them.
Meeting and Scheduling
Meeting tools can help one meet with their team through web conferencing and collaboration via
WebEx, GoToMeeting, Google Hangouts, Connect, or Anymeeting. These tools are helpful
because they help to organize documents and conversations into projects, making it easier to find
them later. They also help with organizing and storing shared files. If you run your business
purely with emails it can quickly become an unmanageable, disorganized overload. Social
network tools can allow one to collaborate and interact with your team members through a social
network of applications as Yammer, Chatter, Jive, and WebEx Social. Scheduling tools can help
one to schedule common meeting times with your team members using programs such as Doodle,
Timebridge, ScheduleOnce, and TimeandDate.
High-end video conferencing and Video and audio conferencing
High-end video conferencing tools can allow one to meet with your team through super high
definition or real size video conferencing with these useful programs Cisco Telepresence,
Polycom Telepresence, and Logitech LifeSize. Video and audio conferencing tools can allow one
to meet with your team through video and audio conferencing through means of Skype, Speek,

10
and Join Me. With video conferencing, more of the social cues are available, so visual
information like gestures can be conveyed, understanding can be evaluated through unspoken
feedback like facial expression, and repairs can be made.
Instant messaging and Social network
Instant messaging tools can allow one to chat in real-time with your team members with the use of
applications as though of Google Talk, Lync, WebEx Connect, Jabber, Sametime, and HipChat.
This allows for quick, spontaneous back and forth conversations to help work through thornier
issues without lag. As well an instant message conversation does not have to interrupt someone in
the middle of working on something else. Social network tools can allow one to collaborate and
interact with your team members through a social network of applications as Yammer, Chatter,
Jive, and WebEx Social.
Document co-creation
Document co-creation tools can allow one to co-create and co-edit documents or visuals in realtime with your team member with such use of programs as Google Docs, Prezi, Conceptboard,
Scribblar, and Scriblink. With knowing what kind of technology is out there, you must also know
when the best time is to use this technology. To determine the proper product for the task consider
asking oneself these questions: Will one product support the interactions for many or all our
agenda items? What products are available to all team members and are the team members
familiar with the products? If multiple products are needed, does the information transfer easily
among the products that will be used? Is it stable and reliable (Levi. 2014)? And just because you
have the use of technology does not mean your team will be successful. These tools are merely a
helping hand in keeping the team connected. It is up to the team members and leader to make the
team a success.

11
Team Project
The forming approach that this student team took to work on this assignment provided
context and experience in working as a team both face-to-face and virtually. The team used the
guidelines in the Levi text, Appendix: Guide to Student Team Projects [Appendix F]. The team
contract created at the beginning of the project was created easily and organically using the
guidelines [Appendix G].
The team found that following the team planning process and creating a team contract was
key to the success of the team. The assignment of roles was efficient and gave clear division of
responsibilities and transparency of involvement. The division of labor for the project tasks was
equitable and manageable and the team worked together well creatively and in task
accomplishment. The experiences within these structured group activities provided ideas for both
the creation and content of the Tool Kit for Virtual Team Management.
The team had a good creative chemistry and by having a strong team structure and
dynamic was able to bring the ideas forward to a successful result.
Lessons Learned
Authentic, organic, fun. Concepts come to life! Joyce Thomas
A seamless bond between designers takes full bloom from a lifeless paper into an innovative
approach to a project. Bethany Martindale
A great way to apply the concepts at hand, developing a product that has purpose was a great
learning experience Jack Calderone

12
References
Coleman, D., & Books24x7 Inc. (2009). 42 rules for successful collaboration 42 rules series
Retrieved from
http://proxy.lib.wayne.edu/login?url=http://library.books24x7.com/library.asp?^B&bookid
=37856
Daim, T. U., Ha, A., Reutiman, S., Hughes, B., Pathak, U., Bynum, W., & Bhatla, A. (2012).
Exploring the communication breakdown in global virtual teams. International Journal of
Project
Management,
30(2),
199-212.
doi:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijproman.2011.06.004
Earnhardt, M. P. (2009). Identifying tghe KeyFactors in the Effectiveness and Failure of Virtual
Teams. Leadership Advabce Ibkube(XVI, Spring 2009).
Levi, D. (2014). Group Dynamics for Teams (4th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Eddy, E. R., Tannenbaum, S. I. and Mathieu, J. E. (2013), Helping Teams to Help Themselves:
Comparing two Team-Led Debriefing Methods. Personnel Psychology, 66: 9751008.
doi: 10.1111/peps.12041
Harell, G., & Daim, T. (2009). Virtual Teams and the Importance of Building Trust. IT
Professional, 46-49.
Levi, D. (2014). Group dynamics for teams, 4th ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. ISBN: 978-14129-7762-3.
Malhotra, A., Majchrzak, A., & Rosen, B. (2007). Leading Virtual Teams. Academy of
Management Perspectives, 21(1), 60-70. Retrieved September 14, 2014, from
http://www.jstor.org/stable/4166287.
Transform Experience Into Results | DebriefNow. (n.d.). Retrieved November 22, 2014, from
http://www.debriefnow.com/debriefnow.html
The Ultimate List of Virtual Team Technology Tools | The Couch Manager. (2013). Retrieved
from http://www.thecouchmanager.com/2013/05/21/the-ultimate-list-of-virtual-teamtechnology-tools/

Appendix A
13

Appendix B
Virtual Team Contract Guidelines
Team Contract Outline
Team Members:
Purpose and Goals:
Roles and Responsibilities:
Norms or operating rules:
Meetings:
How decisions will be made:
Missing meetings:
Participation:
Group Process- Mental Model:
Expectations:
14

Appendix C
Virtual Team Assessment Guidelines
Online debrief software:
http://debriefnow.com/debriefnow.html
15

Appendix D
Tips for Virtual Team Strategies
Building an expertise directory
Organize an online forum to place team members together to collaborate, meet, and
discover information about their team mates.
Put a face to a name, know what your team members look like
Use sites like LinkedIn to confirm reputation from fellow team members. This helps
develop trust
16

17
Appendix E
Tips for Virtual Team Tools
One or more tools are compatible with each other
Only use tools that correspond to the job at hand
Choose tools that are available to all team members
Choose tools that are available to all team members
Tools for Virtual Teams
https://redbooth.com
http://campfirenow.com/
https:activecollab.com/
https://huddle.com/
http://office.microsoft.co https://basecamp.com/
m/en-us/project/
https://projecturf.com/
http://office.microsoft.co
m/en-us/sharepoint/
https://dropbox.com/
https://drive.google.com/
http://webex.com/
http://anymeeting.com/
http://gotomeeting.com/
http://www.timebridge.com/ http://www.doodle.com/
http://cisco.com/en/US/pro https://join.me/
ducts/ps7060/index.html
http://www.skype.com/
http://www.lifesize.com/
http://www.speek.com/
http://www.google.com/talk http://office.microsoft.co http://www.cisco.com/web/p https://www.yammer.com/

/
m/en-us/lync/
roducts/voice/jabber.html
http://www.jivesoftware.co http://prezi.com/
m/
http://conceptboard.com/

Appendix F
Team Checklist based on Levi Text Appendix: Guide to Student Team Projects (Levi, 2014).
Team Checklist
A.1 Starting the Team
warm up
Team Contract focus: teamwork process ( not tasks )
purpose & goals
roles & responsibilities
norms or operating rules
group process
expectations
A.2 Planning & Developing the Project
challenge the assignment
project planning
break down into basic parts
a research paper
roles & assignments
a number of ways
1) report sections
2) each person performs a part
3) pair system
4) section leaders with contributions (our selection)
5)
A.3 Monitoring and Maintaining meetings, share info, make decisions, tracking
assignments
weekly action plan
midpoint evaluation
A.4 Performing Group Writing
define and outline project
roles & assignments
division of work
1) weak editor
2) strong editor
3) strong-hybrid editor ( our selection)
A.5 wrapping up and completing
evaluation
celebrate
18

Appendix G
Team Contract based on Levi Text Appendix: Guide to Student Team Projects (Levi, 2014).
Team Contract
Team Members: Bethany, Jack, Joyce
Purpose and Goals:
Experience team organization and dynamics.
Create a group research document on : Managing Virtual Learning Teams MVLT = mvolt
Roles and Responsibilities:
meeting leader: rotate
recorder: next meeting leader
organizer/maintainer: Bethany
project overseer/producer: Jack
strong hybrid-editor: Joyce Thomas
advisor: Dr. Moseley
Norms or operating rules:
Meetings:
Meetings will be held weekly unless dictated by need to be held.
Meetings are for project management.
Work Sessions will be scheduled as needed. Work Sessions are project task-based.
Meeting / Work Sessions can be held face-to-face or virtual (hang-out).
Team meeting leader rotation will be: Joyce, Jack, Bethany.
Leaders will have a prepared agenda and discussion outline that is delivered to other
team members 48 hours before the meeting unless.
In the event that the leader is unable to attend, a communication email will be sent and
an alternate leader will step into position. In the event of an undecided leader the
meeting will be rescheduled for the next available date.
How decisions will be made:
Majority Rules with Team Leader breaking a split. In the event of a tie, there will be a
discussion and if more information is needed to make a determination, it will be benched until
the next meeting.
Missing meetings:
1) Send an email to Team Leader.
2) Legitimate reasons: honesty, adult responsibility
19

20
Participation:
Team members are expected to input on team decisions. Non- participation will be
addressed by team leader.
Group Process- Mental Model:
Using Google Docs | Team Meetings | Team Work Sessions | Open Communication
through log sheet (addition to the documents) in Google doc | Share research in a defined area
Common Documents:
Team Contract
Meeting Agendas
Meeting Minutes
Project Planning Chart
Project Outline
Research Folder
Work in Progress Tasks
Research and Report
Each member contributes to the other sections and the assigned section leader integrates
the contribution into their section. When is enough, enough? The group will evaluate the
balance of the sections to the whole of the paper.
Expectations:
What is important to you as a team member?
Bethany: Everyone stays on task, open to discuss, takes responsibility for their actions
Joyce: Equal participation, synergistic discussion about topic. Work quality meets
standard of goodness and team members are satisfied. If any team has an issue that they bring it
forth in good faith for discussion and clearing.
Jack: Shared participation and decisions made by all group members. Work quality
produced meets expectations of requirements, and is determined by group member satisfaction.
Communication by all group members, inside and out of class.

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IT-4215 Team Project: Managing Virtual Teams

Jack Calderone, Bethany Martindale, Joyce Thomas

Tool Kit for Managing Virtual Teams

job aid poster pdf

job aid folding guide pdf (Appendix A)

team contract guide pdf (Appendix B)

team assessment guide pdf (Appendix C)

strategy tips pdf (Appendix D)

tools tips pdf (Appendix E)

manager guide pdf ( not included in this project)

user guide pdf (not included in this project)

IT-4215 Team Project: Managing Virtual Teams

IT-4215 Team Project: Managing Virtual Teams

IT-4215 Team Project: Managing Virtual Teams

IT-4215 Team Project: Managing Virtual Teams

IT-4215 Team Project: Managing Virtual Teams

IT-4215 Team Project: Managing Virtual Teams

IT-4215 Team Project: Managing Virtual Teams

IT-4215 Team Project: Managing Virtual Teams

when a problem has arisen.

IT-4215 Team Project: Managing Virtual Teams

IT-4215 Team Project: Managing Virtual Teams

IT-4215 Team Project: Managing Virtual Teams

IT-4215 Team Project: Managing Virtual Teams

IT-4215 Team Project: Managing Virtual Teams

IT-4215 Team Project: Managing Virtual Teams

IT-4215 Team Project: Managing Virtual Teams

IT-4215 Team Project: Managing Virtual Teams

http://www.google.com/talk http://office.microsoft.co http://www.cisco.com/web/p https://www.yammer.com/

IT-4215 Team Project: Managing Virtual Teams

IT-4215 Team Project: Managing Virtual Teams

IT-4215 Team Project: Managing Virtual Teams

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