MANAGING

VIRTUAL TEAMS

 DEFINITION

 According to a study by global scholars, Gassmann
and Von Zedtwitz, Alexandria University, a virtual
team is defined as a group of people and sub-teams
who associate through interdependent tasks guided
by common purpose and work across links backed
by information, communication, and transport
technologies.
 VIRTUAL TEAM

 Entrepreneur Richard Branson (Virgin companies) had
said, “One day offices will be a thing of the past.”
 A virtual work team meets and does its tasks without
everyone being physically present in the same place or
even at the same time.
 Team members usually work in scattered geographical
locations.
 As companies continue to expand globally, the
number of people working in teams with colleagues
and managers separated from them by many miles
(and often different time zones), is growing.
 VIRTUAL Vs.
TRADITIONAL
 TEAMS
 Traditional teams, also known as conventional or co-located or
collocated teams, consist of individuals working in physical proximity.

 Virtual teams refers to a group of individuals who are separated by

physical distance but are united by a shared goal.

 Though both traditional and virtual teams go through the five stages
of Bruce Tuckman’s model of team development but the dynamics
experienced by the members of virtual teams are more complex. This
is largely due to the fact that members of virtual team rely solely on
electronic communication and collaboration technology to facilitate
interactions among them. Also the cultural boundaries and time zones
differences add to its complex nature.
WHY VIRTUAL TEAMS?

 Best approach for companies who are looking to find
the right talent and expertise, as per their budgetary
requirements, anywhere in the world.
 Save organisations from the challenges and cost of
setting up additional infrastructure in locations where
they want a presence, but a physical office is not always
needed.
 As political scenarios change, new policy changes and
visa regulations come into play. Therefore, hiring or
moving talent across countries can become logistically
difficult. Virtual teams save companies that hassle.
WHY VIRTUAL TEAMS?

 Reliability factor is higher than the direct
outsourcing approach where the deliverable’s
quality and employee’s performance tracking is not
within the organisation’s direct control.
 Virtual employees are on your company payroll for a
short-term, predefined period but they are dedicated
to working only on your assignments. They are not
like freelancers on multiple projects.
 BENEFITS FOR
EMPLOYEES

 Provides flexibility and empowerment
 Employees do not have to worry about travelling to
a new location or the transition related changes.
They can work from where they are located and
deliver the results.
 Gives them a higher degree of stability as against
being in freelance roles where they are trying to
juggle multiple projects which are extremely short
term in nature.
 CRITICAL SKILLS

 Independent, Self-Motivated and Disciplined
 Intercultural Sensitivity
 Manage Complexity and Uncertainty
 Proactive and Cooperative
 Networking
 Competence to use Information and Communication Technology
(ICT) Tools
 Trustworthiness, Openness and Honesty
 Excellent written and verbal communication skills
 Excellent Time Management Skills
 Leadership qualities
 Ability to manage their own workload without hand-holding
 ROLE OF VIRTUAL
TEAM MEMBERS

 Task-oriented or Functional Roles are the ones which enable a team to
achieve its project objectives, the reason why it was formed in first place.
This is generally related to their expertise in a field such as a product
design engineer, business analyst, project manager etc.

 Socio-emotional roles are the ones which help the team to build trust,
collaborate and work effectively towards it common goal. These are
generally taken up by members informally owing to their preferences and
personalities. For example some members are able to motivate others,
resolve conflicts or help release tension.

 Individual roles are the ones that are related to the personal needs of a
team member such as desire for recognition or control. These are
considered to have adverse effects on trust and collaboration.
 FOUR DIMENSIONAL
MODEL

 Jessica Lipnack and Jeffrey Stamps in their book
Virtual Teams: People working across Boundaries
with Technology (2008) have presented a four-
dimensional model of virtual teams.
Purpose

Time

Links People
 FOUR DIMENSIONAL
MODEL

Inputs Processes Outputs
Purpose Goals Tasks Results
People Members Leadership Levels
Links Media Interactions Relationships
Time Calendar Projects Life Cycles
 FOUR DIMENSIONAL
MODEL

 Purpose
 Purpose acts as binding force for a virtual team.
 The commitment of the members to a shared common
purpose guides them in their day-to-day tasks.
 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.
 FOUR DIMENSIONAL
MODEL

 People
 Members of a virtual team have to work at two
organizational levels
 internal which involves working independently and
working with other members of the same team
 external 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.
 FOUR DIMENSIONAL
MODEL

 Links
 The virtual team members are linked through the multi-media
tools such as emails, videoconferencing and instant messaging
etc to continuously interact with each other.
 Such interactions reduce the boundaries between them,
facilitate work processes and aid decision making.
 Due to the absence of any physical interactions, the
interactions supported by multi-media build workplace
relationships; develop trust among the virtual team members
and form bonds necessary to perform efficiently and
effectively.
 Trust is a critical success factor for any virtual team.
 FOUR DIMENSIONAL
MODEL

 Time
 Virtual team does not give an opportunity to its leaders to call
all the team members for a meeting at same place and at same
time.
 It necessitates collaboration of efforts to match each member’s
work calendar to schedule meetings and discussions for
tracking projects.
 For any successful virtual team, it is important to set the ground
rules at the formative stage itself. This leaves little room for any
confusion and conflicts later during the performance stage.
 Thus each virtual team has to pass through the stages of a team
development lifecycle.
 CHALLENGES

 Working online is less formalized, and companies
frequently lack clear policies on how to manage
virtually.
 Building Trust: Team members are often strangers
with limited opportunities for personal bonding.
 Creating Synergy: Because team members do not see
each other often, it is difficult to clarify roles and spot
problems before they become serious.
 CHALLENGES

 Feeling Isolated: There is no opportunity to interact,
share and celebrate special moments, as a result of
which people often feel isolated and detached from
their team members.
 Balancing Technical Skills and Communication
Competencies: Both technical and communication
skills are important and necessary for productivity.
 Performance management: Traditional methods of
measuring and rewarding performance may not work
if managers rarely see the people they are managing.
 CHALLENGES
DURING
 COVID
 Space constraint
 Network Issues
 Unavailability of resources
 Distractions
 Extended working hours
 Work life balance
 Job insecurity
 No social interactions
 SOLUTIONS

 Be available to the team members by constantly staying
in touch at a personal level.
 Establish norms for reliable performance
 Team building and team training
 Rotate team members so that they spend time in
another location even if it is for a short period of time.
 Using multiple performance measures like customer
satisfaction, electronic monitoring of team discussions.
 Allowing people to opt out of isolating positions if they
feel dissatisfied.
 GUIDELINES

 Define work systems and set standards that must be followed by
all team members, i.e. Standard Operating Procedure (SOP). By
setting standards and establishing the work process, team
members will have a better understanding of how long tasks
should take and will generally have fewer questions.
 Have clear and detailed deliverables and let people know what
is expected of them at each stage, including the final result.
 Make sure work hours overlap – when teams are working in
different time zones it is important to have a few hours where all
members are online at the same time.
 Create a professional environment.
 Use project management tools that keep track of deadlines and
send reminders.
 GUIDELINES

 Use a variety of communication technologies – eg.
Software especially designed for electronic meetings to
supplement video, telephonic or conference calls. Use of
software that translates language can make written
communication easier for global members.
 Share large files through a cloud based system like
Dropbox instead of cluttering the inbox.
 Pay attention to the quality of communication
transmissions – Unclear communication can be
frustrating. Image and sound quality should be good
quality so that the communication is clear.
 GUIDELINES

 Encourage members to discuss cultural differences
 Be sure that someone is responsible for facilitating the
communication process and ensure active participation
from all the members.
 Encourage team members to interact one on one without
feeling obligated to copy every email message to the
entire team.
 Train team members to match their choice of technology
to the task – Emails may be used to disseminate
information, while conference calls or video conferencing
may be more appropriate for decision making.
 GUIDELINES

 An initial face to face meeting should be help in order
to help team members to develop trust. The purpose
of the team should be explained, and the roles and
responsibilities of each member should be clarified.
 Whenever possible, individual team members should
visit others even if the entire team cannot come
together at one time.
 Periodic face to face meetings should be scheduled to
refresh connections, and minimize ‘out of sight out of
mind’ attitudes.
 GUIDELINES

 Undergo virtual team training
 Technology (what tools to use and how to handle technical
issues)
 Group process (goal setting, problem solving, building trust)
 Cross cultural training (how to overcome cultural differences,
prejudices and stereotypes)
 Nurture a reward driven environment
 Ask for progress reports
 Show understanding for the personal needs of your team.
 Allow flexible working hours