Similarities and Differences between Virtual and Traditional Teams

Identifying Best Practices for Supporting Virtual Teams
About half of all multinational corporations already use virtual teams in some capacity, and current trends indicate that they will become increasingly commonplace in the future (Minton-Eversole, 2012). Although definitions vary, virtual teams are typically regarded as being comprised of a group of individuals that are located in different geographic locations who communicate primarily through collaborative electronic communications platforms (Minton-Eversole, 2012). Given their growing importance, identifying best practices for supporting virtual teams has assumed new importance and relevance today. To this end, this paper examines five issues that IT departments are likely to face in supporting virtual teams and an architectural diagram depicted how virtual teams collaborate and access common documents, software, development and testing facilities. In addition, a description of five advantages and disadvantages of using virtual teams for global enterprises is followed by a description concerning how various challenges can be addressed. Finally, proposed procedures for virtual teams and a compare and contrast analysis of virtual teams and traditional teams with respect to communications, technology use, and team diversity is followed by a summary of the research and important findings concerning virtual teams in the conclusion.
Examination of five issues that the IT department is likely to face when it comes to supporting virtual teams
First and foremost, virtual teams composed of qualified and talented individuals must be capable of responding to internal and external customer demands (Bergiel & Bergiel, 2009). Therefore, virtual teams require the appropriate types of synchronous and asynchronous communications and collaboration technologies that they need to achieve their objectives despite their different geographic locations and time zones (Bergiel & Bergiel, 2009). In addition, virtual teams require specialize human resources support. For instance, Duarte and Snyder (2006) emphasize that, “Human resource policies should support working virtually. Systems must be integrated and aligned to recognize, support, and reward the people who work on and lead virtual teams” (p. 11).
Architectural diagram
An architectural diagram that shows how the virtual teams would collaborate and access common repositories for documents, software, development, and testing facilities is provided at Appendix A.
Five advantages and disadvantages of using virtual teams for the organizations described in the scenario
Advantages:
1. Reduced travel time;
2. Increased productivity;
3. Flexibility;
4. Cultural diversity of membership that can improve the team’s deliverables; and,
5. Lower costs compared to traditional teams.
Disadvantages:
1. Cross-cultural differences that can adversely affect the quality of communications between team members;
2. Different time zones introduce challenges in coordinating a mutually acceptable time for synchronous communications;
3. Diminished work-life balance for team members;
4. A lack of opportunities for team members to meet in person to learn about each other’s personal and professional interests, specialized skills, experience and expertise.
5. Problems being experienced by individual team members may not be easily discernible by the team leader until they reach serious levels.
Challenges imposed by:
IT / IS national standards and propose how they could be handled or resolved. Information technology (IT) and information security (IS) standards have been established by the Information Technology Laboratory (ITL) that provide a useful framework in which the respective national standards of each virtual team members can be aligned, including the U.S. Federal Information Standards (What ITL does, 2017).
Protocols and propose how they could be handled or resolved. It is essential to ensure the IT resources provided virtual team members are mutually compatible with comparable levels of functionality and capabilities (Duarte & Snyder, 2006).
Procedures on virtual teams and propose how they could be handled or resolved
Like any group of people, conflicts are inevitable in virtual teams and appropriate conflict-resolution techniques should be used. Although such techniques are not carved in stone and can be modified as needed, it is also important to establish some minimal conflict-resolution methods in the virtual team charter so all team members will know and understand how these are handled (Duarte & Snyder, 2006).
Compare and contrast virtual teams and traditional teams with respect to communications, technology use, and team diversity
Although there are some fundamental differences between virtual and traditional teams, there are also some common features including the need for collaborative teamwork (Jones & Graham, 2015), the need for effective conflict management methods and the need for the achievement of their respective objectives (Duarte & Snyder, 2006). These similarities, however, are countered by a number of significant differences between virtual and traditional teams, including those set forth below:
1. Virtual team members rarely, if ever, have the opportunity to meet in person which can adversely affect trust levels;
2. Virtual teams must rely on communications and collaboration technologies for information-sharing and problem-solving activities;
3. Virtual teams typically experienced greater problems with cross-cultural differences that can interfere with individual team member understanding;
4. The leadership and management of virtual teams is more challenging compared to traditional teams; and,
5. Differences in geographic locations limit team member availability for participation and collaboration (Gern, 2013).
Conclusion
Virtual teams share some similarities with traditional teams in terms but the research showed there are far more differences involved, including most especially the lack of opportunities to meet with other team members face to face, their different geographic locations and time zones as well as high level of dependence on IT resources for team communications.
The research also showed that virtual teams require specialized human resource support and the synchronous and asynchronous communications resources they need to achieve their objectives. By recognizing the differences that are involved in forming and leading virtual teams, team leaders can improve the effectiveness of their teams and achieve their objectives more efficiently.



References
Bergiel, B. J. & Bergiel, E. B. (2009, July 1). The reality of virtual teams. Competition Forum, 4(2), 427-431.
Duarte, D. L., & Snyder, N. T. (2006). Mastering virtual teams: Strategies, tools, and techniques that succeed (3rd ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Gern, S. (2013, May-June). Virtual teams versus traditional teams: A review of literature. ISOR Journal of Business and Management, 11(2), 1-4.
Jones, N. B. & Graham, C. M. (2015, March). Virtual teams in business and distance education. Journal of Business and Economic Policy, 2(1), 49-53.
Minten-Eversole, T. (2012, July 19). Virtual teams used most by global organizations. Society for Human Resource Management. Retrieved from https://www.shrm.org/resources andtools/hr-topics/organizational-and-employee-development/pages/virtualteamsused mostbyglobalorganizations,surveysays.aspx.
What ITL does. (2017). Information Technology Laboratory. Retrieved from https://www.nist.gov/itl/about-itl.

Appendix A
Architectural Diagram of a Virtual Team