PROJECT REPORT ON

VIRTUAL TEAMS
CHALLENGES AND ISSUES

SUBMITTED TO: SUBMITTED BY GROUP 5:

DR. J.P.UPADHYAY
ANANYA JHA
ANIKESH NAIR
MANASA THALAPALLI
SMRITI TIWARY
 INTRODUCTION

Methodology
Our topic of research was to understand the functioning of virtual teams, their challenges, issues and
the corrective steps that should be taken for their efficient communication. Most of our study is a
result of secondary data using research articles and the internet. We have collected primary data
through telephonic interviews with some of our friends working in different companies based out of
India and United States.

What is a Virtual Team?

According to Ale Ebrahim et. al. (2009), virtual teams can also be defined as "small temporary groups
of geographically, organizationally and/or time dispersed knowledge workers who coordinate their
work predominantly with electronic information and communication technologies in order to
accomplish one or more organization tasks.

In this ever changing world, the made certain observations that we would like to show pictorially:
So we can clearly see that there has been a shift from face-to-face meetings and the companies
nowadays are more connected through group emails (66%) and conference calls (59%), rather than
the typical face-to-face meetings (51%). So, we can understand the importance of virtual teams in
the current scenario. Thus, it becomes important for us to understand these teams in great depth
and detail.
 TYPES OF VIRTUAL TEAMS
Based on the temporal distribution, lifespan, objective and role of members, Virtual teams haven
been classified into the below mentioned categories:

 Networked teams- These are geographically dispersed team and usually has members from
outside the organization. This is a very common scenario in today’s world where there is
constant collaboration among forms to help them benefit from mutual expertise. A typical
example would be networked team formed to make a project with collaboration from
different vendors and clients. Membership in such group is fluid as each no single entity has
control over who will join from their end. These teams dissolve usually once project is
complete. Aid of technology is very crucial.
 Service team – In today’s world 24x7 customer support is a norm but sustaining such a
support infrastructure needs special kind of team work. They are called service team and are
virtual teams due to fact teams are divided by constrain of time. Team members work like
relay race participant with morning team handling over duties to evening team and so on.
They m ight also be divided by geography. Many American companies hire American team
for day time support and Asian team for night time. This ensures continuity
 Offshore-onshore Teams: Indian IT industry pioneered this type of virtual team setup
through their global delivery model. In such setup few members from team go to client side
and work alongside them acting as bridge for team working in India and the client in foreign
countries. As the member who goes onshore is previously been member of team onshore
coordination levels are very high and aids smooth delivery for client
 Parallel Teams: They are formed within the same organization. Such teams are formed with
cross departmental personnel who need to collaborate for a project or job. A typical
example would be a team formed with marketing, operations and research team to come up
with new product. In the world of globalization it may happen that these departments are
spread across the globe so a virtual team has to be formed to achieve the superordinate
goals
 Management Teams: Due to globalization firms are now spread across the world. It is often
considered that teams that work at lower level need to coordinate and form virtual teams
but this is true even for top management. In order to give proper direction to organization
its necessary that management personnel need to work in unison. A good example would be
a MNC like Suzuki wherein top management in India and japan need to work as virtual teams
for best results.
 4-D MODEL OF VIRTUAL TEAMS
This model was suggested by Jessica Lipnack and Jeffrey Stamps in their book Virtual Teams: People
working across Boundaries with Technology (2008). It talks about the four most important aspects
that govern the dynamics of a virtual team which have been defined as Purpose, People, Time and
Link.

This model represents that in virtual teams people are linked through a common purpose over time.
The success, failure and challenges of any virtual team precipitate from the interaction among these
four dimensions.

All these four dimensions can be further analysed with respect to the systems of input, processes
and results which in turn produces a total of 12 elements which together define any virtual team.

A detailed analysis of these dimensions would help understand the functioning of the factors
resulting in a successful virtual team

 Purpose: Purpose is the most important dimension of all. It acts as a binding force for the
team while giving the necessary drive and direction. The commitment of the members to a
 shared common purpose guides them in their day-to-day tasks. A clear purpose transpires
into more specific tasks, roles and responsibilities of each member. Each member has both
independent and interdependent sets of tasks. As all the tasks are delivered accurately, the
team achieves its final output which is measurable.

 People: The major factor for success of a virtual team depends on how the members of the
team relate to the internal environment which involves working independently and working
with other members of the same team and external environment which involves working in
coordination with members of other teams such as vendors, customers etc. A productive
virtual team demands integration at both internal and external levels under the shared
leadership.

 Links: Majorly used multi-media tools such as emails, videoconferencing and instant
messaging serve as the links between the members of the virtual teams. These help reduce
the boundaries between them, facilitate work processes and aid decision making. They also
contribute towards developing trust among the virtual team members and form bonds
necessary to perform efficiently and effectively.

 Time: Every virtual team required collaboration of efforts to match each member’s work
calendar to schedule meetings and discussions for tracking projects. This makes the use of a
team development lifecycle mandatory.

Thus we see how the four dimensional model of virtual teams along with its 12 elements forms the
general principles of virtual teams. This theoretical framework when put in practice yields
appreciative results.
 COMPETENCIES FOR VIRTUAL TEAMS
Competency in most general term are things that an individual must demonstrate to be effective in
job, role, function, task or duties. In order for a virtual team to be successful some basic
competencies are required and are desirable. For any leader leading a virtual team it is necessary to
develop and enhance these competencies among the team members.

Some of the competencies that ensure success in virtual teams are:

 Trustworthiness, Openness and Honesty: This set of competencies are vital for any teams
success but more so in case of virtual team. As members don’t have any way of physically
seeing their team working they need to have sense of trustworthiness. They should also be
open to ideas and working style of people who are different from them
 Self-Motivated and Disciplined: In a setup of virtual team it may happen a lot that members
have to work alone with very little supervision and support. Hence members need to be
sufficiently motivated to perform in such a scenario
 Cultural Sensitivity: This is a very important competency that is must in virtual teams. Most
often virtual teams are made of people with different background, nationality, ethnicity etc.
It is necessary every member of team is aware of cultural norms of other team members.
Lack of this skill can cause lot of arguments and disharmony
 Managing Complexity and Uncertainty: Working in a virtual team is often a very complex
situation. Challenges are more and there is uncertainty as numbers of external factors are
much more. Members should thrive in such a VUCA world and must have this competency in
them.
 Proactive and Cooperative: Often virtual teams fail because members are hesitant to talk
with each other and iron out differences. Hence it is vital that members possess quality of
pro-activeness and cooperation in order to communicate freely and resolve issues
 Networking: Networking is a competency with goes long way in ensuring success of virtual
team. As teams are spread across the globe its necessary that members know who and
when to reach out to stakeholders. Leaders need to have this skill in order to ensure they get
right kind of people into the team
 Use of Information Technology Tools: Virtual teams will fail if technology of communication
is not used. Each and every member of virtual team needs to be competent in modern day IT
tools which act as medium for their day to day work. Emails, messenger, Skype are some of
the tools that is basic requirement for members to work.
 PROS & CONS OF VIRTUAL TEAMS

 Poor communication: A virtual team often deals with the issue of “silo mentality.” This
happens because the doubts and questions of the employees often go understated because
the senior is not in proximity. Employee concerns can't always wait until a monthly or
weekly call. This can lead to a feeling of disengagement.

To ensure that the employees are in sync with the organizational goals, the goals should be
made perfectly clear and there must be frequent communication among the teammates. The
concept of SMART goals can help in eliminating the hassles of poor communication.

 Specific and clear steps to achieve the goal

 Measurable criteria so progress can be assessed
 Action-oriented---a goal that you can influence through your actions
 Realistic (and challenging)---a stretch goal with resources available to achieve that goal
 Time-bound and targeted with specific deadlines

 Develop a Team Charter: A team charter lays out the mission of the team and represents a
commitment from management that the resources will be made available to each employee
to achieve that mission.

This is also an effective tool for documenting the best practices and processes. However, an
efficient organization is one that is aware of its best practices and makes those practices
available to its employees cross functionally.

 E-mail and long-distance phone plan along with instant messaging programs,
teleconferencing equipment and video monitors, if used properly, have the ability to
trump the distance and time zones among the team members. However, it can never
take the place of face-to-face communication.

 Create Behavioral Norms: There is an inevitable weakness associated with technology and
virtual teams in general. The accountability is the team’s virtual norm. Team members must
keep up communication with each other and not simply drift away from any issue. A culture
where both the “what” of work and the “how” of working together need to be established.
This can be achieved by norms such as:
  Checking voice-mail regularly and returning all calls within 24 hours

 Checking e-mail constantly and responding to e-mails as quickly as you can, and always

within 24 hours

 Using your e-mail program's out-of-office alert feature to make your team members aware

of your whereabouts at all times

 Adhering to meeting and event schedules whenever possible

 Adhere to Virtual Team Meeting Best Practices: The following are the norms for maximizing
the quality and effectiveness of the meeting:

 The agenda should be shared at least 24 hours before the meeting so that the employees

are able to prepare for the same.

 Mute button should be kept on when not speaking to avoid extraneous, distracting noises

during calls.

 There should be no interruption when somebody else speaks.

 There should be regular intervals.

 Communicating Difficult Things: Although technology is inevitable for virtual teams to exist
in the first place, it's not the only mechanism required for maintaining a virtual team's
stability. It is tempting to overuse technology, when delivering bad news or dealing with
conflict. However, virtual team leaders must commit to using e-mail for updating and
delivering innocuous, one-way information only.

Conflict is a normal part of any team's life cycle. However, unhealthy conflict is just as
inevitable as healthy conflict. Conflicts between individuals about matters not directly
related to work represent a significant challenge to virtual team leaders because it is difficult
to detect. To combat this, as a virtual team leader it is important to check the pulse regularly
and to be engaged enough with the team to detect problems early.
 Using Straight Talk: A discussion of conflict resolution leads perfectly into a model for
communication: the Straight Talk Model. Straight talk is a brand of communication that is
direct, truthful, and built on the idea that both parties are interested in improved
communication. Most communication glitches are caused by clueless behavior. The cure for
clueless behavior is straight talk.

Many times conflict is difficult to diffuse because people are afraid to reveal what they
actually feel for fear of the consequences of being honest. Straight talk is an excellent
mechanism for accomplishing two things that are essential for a leader of virtual teams:

 Creating and nurturing an environment of mutual trust

 Empowering employees via a common methodology for improving communication and

giving them the skills and the encouragement to bring up issues that, until now, may
have been considered impossible to discuss

 Mutual Trust Leads to Success: The relationships within a virtual team are delicate.
However, once each of the above process is adapted successfully, a higher level of trust will
be created and maintained. This would make effective communication effortless, allowing
the team to work together to avoid the hurdles to success.
 Factors that MAKE & BREAK Virtual Teams
What makes it work?

 Availability of Technology: Communication is the most critical factor for virtual teams and
this is enabled by savvy technology. Hence state-of-the art technology should be put into
use for implementation of virtual teams. All the team members need to have easy access
and skills to work with these tools. Also, technical support should be easily available for
members located in different time zones.

 Selection of Team Members: Individual competencies necessary to perform in a virtual

environment need to be emphasized upon while recruiting the team members for virtual
team. Since the virtual team involves unique challenges and risks, the members require
specific knowledge, skills and abilities to work productively and effectively in it.

 Principles of Engagement: When every member of the team feels engaged, they will work
on their assigned task with the best of their ability. One factor that ensures the team
members are engaged and committed to shared goal is giving them regular feedback. Each
member needs to be made part of the decision making process.

 Encouraging HR Policies: HR Managers should be careful while designing the policies for
virtual teams by taking into due account the complexities and challenges involved. Fair
promotion and career development opportunities should be extended as well as reward and
recognition program should appreciate collaborative efforts along with the pre-defined
performance metric. Training & Development programs should be made accessible to virtual
team members by making use of the ICT tools such as web-based trainings as well as
designing training databases.

What spoils the game?

 Role & Process Ambiguity: When there is no clear definition of the tasks and responsibilities
not clearly delineated and delegated, confusion creeps in impacting the outcome. Also,
absence of face to face interactions causes gaps in communication. The uncertainty about
the performance criteria as well as the career path is always there to haunt the members. All
this causes confusion in terms of who all are on the team, who needs to perform what
activities, how is one’s role dependent on the other etc. negatively effecting productivity
and timelines.
 Ineffective Leadership: Sometimes rigid leaders do not adopt new leadership tools when it
comes to virtual team. They tend to use the same style as physical teams sometimes due to
lack of awareness or sometimes due to lack of technical skills required.

 Lack of Trust: Trust is the vital force to determine the success of virtual team. The
socialization process intrinsic to the development of trust in a team is absent in the virtual
team environment. Lack of trust at the level of either the team member or the team leader
results in low relational commitment and high conflicts evident in low productivity and
performance of the team.

 Poor Team Engagement: Unlike traditional physical teams, in virtual teams the members
only come together to perform their tasks with all the meetings and discussion centred on
the job. Members build their own perceptions about the other team members, decisions
taken etc. This could be a silent killer for the functioning of a virtual team.
 REAL TIME ISSUES IN VIRTUAL TEAMS
Based upon interviews with multiple people working with virtual teams in India and abroad, we have
concluded upon the following issues faced in daily life by them:

 Time Zone is the major issue. Scheduling meetings, especially during day light savings,
becomes very difficult as either of the teams need to stretch or begin work soon to meet
and discuss the job at hand.

 Dealing with regional holidays during critical deadlines can sometimes act as hindrance to
on-going task during crucial times. National holidays cannot be exempted and if people are
unavailable work might get stuck sometimes.

 Accent & Language issues – US and Indian workforce counter major problem with
understanding what the Russian & Chinese counterparts are saying as they are not very
proficient in English and also their accent varies a lot. To overcome any miscommunication,
they need to confirm all that is discussed over the call through a mail as well which tends to
become time consuming.

 Regional restrictions on communication channels in countries like China require for

companies to implement additional technological aids making the usage cumbersome for
the employees in other geographies as they need to learn new technologies again.

 Local disturbances and regional issues like heavy traffic Bengaluru sometimes cause major
hindrances to workflow and impact the way things are scheduled.
 GETTING VIRTUAL TEAMS RIGHT – AN ARTICLE FROM
HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW
-BY KEITH FERRAZZI

On studying about virtual teams in detail, we found an HBR article that talks about how to manage
virtual teams and what all should be in place for the virtual teams to perform well. The points can be
categorised under four main heads:

 Right Team
 Right Leadership
 Right Touchpoint
 Right Technology

Right team: Whenever we talk about virtual teams, is it important to get the right team on foot.
The right team depends on the size of the team, people in the team and the roles of each
individual. According to a study, a virtual team should have a maximum membership of 10
people and not more than that in order to make them work effectively and efficiently. Also while
selecting the people for the team it is important that the people have a shared common goals
and mind-set. They should have acceptance towards other cultures that are present globally,
and should have almost the same personality type according to MBTI. The people should have
clearly defined roles so that there is no overlapping of roles and each one knows and respects
the job of the other.

Right leadership: No team be it virtual or any other, can be successful if they do not a have the
right leader. The leader plays a very important role, and especially in the case of virtual team, it
is the responsibility of the leader to foster trust amongst the team members and build a healthy
and strong relationship with and amongst the team members. Unless each of the member
respects the work of the other, it is impossible for the team to build up trust and work towards a
common goal. The leader should encourage open dialogue amongst the member so that people
are well aware of the current and progress of the project that they are working on. This will also
help in reducing the chances of conflict, because conflict management is a crucial role of the
team leader.

Right touch points: Just like a normal team is on-boarded for the first time, the virtual team is
also on-boarded. They initiate their work with the face-to-face formal meeting, where each
member gets to know the other person personally. The body language plays a very crucial role in
this phase because it is the first and probably the last impression of each member in the other
person’s memory. So, a very conducive environment is important for kick-starting the on-
boarding process. Once the members are on-boarded, the team leader very specially mentions
the roles and responsibilities of each and every member and clarifies the superordinate goals of
the team. Once the team starts achieving some milestone, it becomes the responsibility of the
leader to motivate the team and congratulate them on their achievements. It is these little
gestures that help the people stay motivated and work efficiently.

Right technology: Since these teams interact with the help of technology on a daily basis, it is
very important that the medium of communication should be chosen with utmost care. Not just
messaging, but the members should be encouraged to communicate using the video-
conferencing method, because that is the way of face-to-face communication. The organisation
should encourage the use of discussion rooms like Moot, where all the members can come
together and discuss their issues on one platform. One important point to be kept in mind is that
all the verbal communication should be noted down and should be communicated to all the
members, so that they are aware of all the important topics that are being discussed. This will
also help in keeping a track record and report any discrepancy, if any.
 REAL TIME EXAMPLE: AUTOMATTIC
Automattic, Inc. is a web development corporation founded in August 2005. It is most notable
for WordPress.com (a free blogging service), as well as its contributions to WordPress (open source
blogging software). The company's name plays on its founder's first name, Matt. This company has
been very successful in implementation of virtual teams. It has a total of 616 employees located in
different geographies around the world. They have adopted simple yet innovative methods to make
virtual teams work in the organisation’s favour.

 Employees receive the “latest and greatest Apple products” to work from home.

 New employees receive a $2,000 stipend to improve their home offices.

 The money saved in real estate is put towards a travel budget for individual teams.

 Once a year, Automattic has a seven-day “Grand Meet Up” to bring everyone together.

 They have an open “time off” policy, where employees take whatever time they need.

Thus it is clear that by adopting some techniques feasible and applicable to your organization,
implementation of virtual teams can be done in a profitable manner with right policies.
 REFRENCES

http://www.managementstudyguide.com/types-of-virtual-teams.htm

http://www.managementstudyguide.com/four-dimensional-model-of-virtual-teams.htm

https://hbr.org/2014/12/getting-virtual-teams-right