Managing Virtual Team

• How do people from different cultures

develop effective ways of sharing
knowledge when there is little
opportunity to meet face-to-face
• How can trust be built in virtual
teams? Is trust necessary for
performance?
• What should managers look for in
selecting members for virtual teams?
• How to motivate virtual team?
Understanding Team
Dynamics in a Virtual
Environment
• What are the characteristics of an
effective team?
Characteristics of an effective team
• Shared team objective
• Knowledge of what to do
• Equipment to do it
• Ability to do it
• Desire to do it
Challenges and
opportunities with virtual
teams
Successful Virtual Team
• Communicate
• Collaborate
• Coordinate
Establishing team
structure and role
• -Expectation
• -Structure, roles and responsibilities
• -Leadership
• -Core team
The tools to use for specific tasks
Output Who receives it? Who Consider this
contributes? tool

Team All members All members Email list

Discussion Intranet
Chat room
Conference call

1-1 One team member One team Phone call

discussion member Email
Chat rooms

Status All members One team Announcement

reports member or a list
small subset of Blogs
team Intranet

Document Team members, Many team Email list

s management, members
customers
Communication Issues
• Internet/ Intranet access
• Conference call plan
• Wireless access
Before the meeting begins
• Name and contact information of the
person calling the meeting
• Meeting purpose
• Start time and expected duration
• Names of invited attendees
• Meeting location
• List of topics to be discussed and
time limits for each topic
Project planning
• Scope of the project
• Assumptions on which the rest of the
plan is based
• Requirements for project success
• Tasks included in the plan
• Schedule for completion of each task
• Cost estimate
Scope of the project
• Purpose
• Goal
• Major milestones
Assumptions
• When planning a project, you make a
series of assumptions.
• Example
• “Software will be available for testing
10 days before product release”
Requirements
• People
• Tools
Tasks
• Sample of the task list
• Research
• Outline
• Write draft 1
• Revise draft 1
• Draft 2
• Review draft 2
• Edit
• Production
• Post-project analysis
Examples of project tracking software
Tracking Software Description

@Task (http://www.attask.com) Web-based, files can be checked in

and out
eProject We-based, files can be checked in and
(http://www.eproject.com/products/inde out, has forum/ message board
x.htm) capability

Kidasa Milestones Desktop, limited document and

(http://www.kidasa.com) resource management functionality
Microsoft Project Desktop, many outputs, customizable
and compatible with most other tools
Challenges of virtual team
Import/ export restrictions dictate the level of technology
available
High-speed access to the internet is limited
Government regulations restrict access to certain website
Currency exchange and banking laws can create
difficulties
Safety and security
Conducting Review
• Get the right people involved early
• Identify the review team
• Plan and prepare
• Provide clear objectives and
instructions for each review
• Clearly identify the purpose,
audience and scope
• Provide sufficient time for the review
• Manage the meeting
Performance Appriasals
• Document expectations, goals
• Hold regular team meetings
• Establish regular one-on-one discussions
• Provide feedback in real time
• Look for opportunities to build face
• Maintain positive attitude
• Discuss any disagreements
• Negotiate the goals together
• Focus on strengths
Implications for best
practice
• Ensure ful connectivity and familiarity across site
locations
• Do not assume that there will be shared
understanding across the global knowledge
creation network of alignment frameworks
• Devote time in meetings and personal network
building
• Rotate people in and out of headquarter
locations to develop a working network of
contacts and an understanding of the bigger
picture.
Continue:
• Use competency building, especially
training, to further global networks
• Minimize cultural and language
barriers to electronic connectivity
Trust in Virtual Team
• Communication builds trust
• Cultural differences in communication
process
Implications for Virtual
Team
• Develop a supportive communication climate
by:
• Using active listening techniques to
overcome differences in high and low context
organisations
• Using listening for ideas to overcome
differences in implicit versus explicit cultures
• Using framing techniques to overcome
differences in communal versus rational
cultures
Implications for Virtual
Team developers
• Reduce risk and increase
interdependence during the
development process by:
• Establishing communication norms
• Developing templates for using
technology
• Creating knowledge management
system
Implications for Managers
• Establish appropriate hierarchy and
leadership that instills a sense of
procedural justice
• Manage risk through careful selection
of orgs for virtual team members and
incremental resources commitments
• Develop interdependence through
stable structures arranged by flexible
but explicit contracts