Virtual Team Essays (Examples)

Virtual Teams Resolving the Dilemmas of Teamwork

Virtual Teams

esolving the Dilemmas of Teamwork in Virtual Teams

The continual adoption of virtual teams by enterprises globally are making the dilemmas of teamwork more challenging than ever, exacerbated by cultural, distance and time constraints. These dilemmas are made all the more challenging based on the pace of change accelerating, uncertainty over economic conditions and the continual turbulence in global economies. Further complicating virtual teams is the lack of transparency within and between virtual teams. Virtual team leaders have to contend with all of these dilemmas and challenges in order for guide their organizations towards the attainment of their goals and objectives.

Overcoming the Dilemma of Virtual Teams Through Leadership

The continual adoption of virtual teams continues to completely re-order the culture, nature and trust levels across organizations (LaBrosse, 2008). This dynamics Is happening in companies with just 200 employees and a subset being virtual vs. large corporations with…… [Read More]

Virtual Team Management

Virtual Team Management

What would be the best way to structure this large virtual team?

Virtual teams are unique in that they possess the ability to transcend typical geographic boundaries. This innate characteristic allows the team to be both more productive and efficient in regards to their overall objectives. With 300 individuals however, the task of effective organization can be daunting. This is particularly true, as each member will only be working 5-10 hours on a volunteer basis. As such the best structure, I believe, would be one that provides specialization of labor. I would first structure the team within similar time zones to ensure efficient communication between the groups. Since each member, on average, will only volunteer for roughly 10 hours, timing is essential. In addition, within the specific time zones, I would create functional teams with specific goals and objectives. This format serves three purposes. For one, the…… [Read More]

Virtual Team Coordination Communication Is More Difficult

Virtual Team Coordination

Communication is more difficult for a virtual team because relationships are more geographical distributed, more asynchronous, temporary, more multicultural, and more likely to extend outside the organization (Kokko, Mar 2007). Collocated teams are demographically located, members have usually worked together for a period of time and already know each other, which help to build relationships, and meetings are face-to-face interaction. Virtual teams may not have face-to-face interactions, which make relationship building difficult, cultural differences can break down understanding in communications, the lack of shared experience have negative effects on sense of trust between members, and time zones can create problems with setting up meetings.

Research found that virtual teams are significantly less socially aware than collocated teams (ranson, Feb 2011). In collocated teams, members have visual cues with face-to-face interactions that communicate without spoken words. Virtual team members do have visual cues. Interactions are based on what…… [Read More]

Virtual Team Communications Literature Review

When portals are designed to the specific requirements of Web 2.0 design objectives, companies with virtual teams are finding they can attain higher levels of shared task ownership as well. This is because there are significantly greater levels of trust overall throughout an organization based on the collective contributions of every member of a virtual and in-office team when they share their knowledge and information together (Mancini, 2010). Portals are not the catalyst of trust forming in virtual teams; transformational leadership is because it sets a standard of authenticity, transparency and by a leaders' example, sacrifice for the attainment of a greater goal (Balthazard, Waldman, Warren, 2009). Online tools including social networks, portals, and the e-mail accounts that fuel much of the content interchange all need to be galvanized with a shared vision of how to create virtual teams that trust each other and freely share their expertise and intelligence…… [Read More]

Virtual Team Your Role on

It would have been much better to have had online tools including a real-time blackboard or electronic space to write down and share files in real-time without having to wait on e-mail for everyone to get the attachments. Also, the ability to collaborate in real time, the next step in the virtual team process, would have been much more effective with better electronic tools. This also parallels with the virtual team lifecycle process. The growing reliance on collaborative platforms that can manage real-time communication and collaboration continues to grow as companies recruit globally for their virtual teams to get the best talent available (Townsend, DeMarie, Hendrickson, 1998)

In conclusion, the experiences of being part of a virtual team showed me just how critical it is to have a common set of expectations and a clear approach to communicating what needs to be done. Just relying on electronics-based tools doesn't make…… [Read More]

Virtual Teams to Investigate the

An important limitation of the study was that team members and their experiences of team leadership were not included in the study. A team leader's perception of effective communication may, for example, not be experienced in the same way as a team member receiving the communication. On the other hand, the results of effective team work appear to imply that certain categories of communication are experienced as more effective than others. A limitation of the qualitative research methodology is the fact that opinions are by nature arbitrary. This is particularly so since only the leadership sector of the work situation was interviewed.

In applying the methodology, it will perhaps be interesting to make a combined study of both team leaders and team members. The perception of team leader and their communication strategies could then be compared with the experiences of team members. The use of technology and two-way communication strategies…… [Read More]

Virtual Team Norms and Procedures

Team Norms," author Karten (2003) discussed the importance of social norms in improving performance in teams within a business organization. Technically, Karten defined it as a concept "that concern(s) how team members will interact, communicate, and conduct themselves as members of the team" (par. 1). Moreover, team norms are reinforced primarily in groups with specific characteristics, such as those who are known to have high perceived social cohesion and performance within the team or group (Patterson, 2005:482). It is in these conditions that team norms are introduced, promoted, and instilled in team members.

The development and establishment of team norms are not just dependent on group characteristics, but also on the value system established within the team. This system puts value to specific beliefs determined within the team, and each member's perceived value for each belief would then determine the development of this belief to a shared belief or norm.…… [Read More]

Virtual Team Leading Practices Adaptable a MNC

virtual team leading practices adaptable a MNC 10 years . Defend selection a political, economic, technological stance

Virtual team leading practices

The virtual team is generically understood as a team in which the members do not come together in a specific location, but they interact within the virtual community, with the aid of technological advancements.

Virtual teams are becoming more and more common within the modern day community as a result of increasing popularity of service operations as opposed to manufacturing, as well as due to the advent of technology which supports telecommuting and telecommunications -- the primary means in which virtual teams can function. The virtual team is managed through a wide array of practices, some adapted from the traditional operations of management, whereas others especially created to fit the needs of virtual teams. At this level, a question is being posed relative to the means in which the…… [Read More]

Virtual Teams and Their Relationship to Collaborative Technology

collaboration technology can assist virtual teams in today's business world. As Andriessen (2012) shows, there are positive and negative effects to using collaboration technology -- what needs to be better described is how these effects are produced and why.

Because of the still relative newness of virtual teams and collaborative technology (Gilson, Maynard, Young, 2015), it is essential to organizational success in the Digital Age that these concepts be understood as fully as they possibly can be. That requires assessing the nature of the relationship and how collaborative tech impacts virtual teams. As Fan, Chen and Wang (2014) note, collaborative tech has different effects depending on "creativity and idea generation performance" in the sense that "direction-giving instructions generate more ideas under the demanding feedback approach" while "receiving instructions with more empathetic language" results in "higher creativity performance under the encouraging feedback approach" (p. 421). This shows that collaborative technology and…… [Read More]

Manage a Virtual Team Developing

To violate or doubt the intentions of team members is to invite isolationism, and eventually the balkanization and break up of the group if it goes on too long (Sager, 2008). This is a delicate balance for any manager to keep, as they are expected to get significant results from their team weekly yet if a virtual team member is not producing the approaches to getting greater productivity vary significantly from strategies used within an office. Above all, the need to maintain trust while also being a more supportive, transitional leader vs. An autocratic and demanding one is critically important (Wakefield, Leidner, Garrison, 2008). Only by adopting this type of management style can a virtual team member hope to be successful. The upside of course is that members of virtual teams have remarkable skills for the most part and often put in many more hours than those who work in…… [Read More]

Nike Virtual Team There Are a Number

Nike Virtual Team

There are a number of challenges that will be faced in putting this team together and making it work effectively. There are basic logistical challenges with respect to time zone issues, and functional issues (some members may have little contribute if their regions are not directly involved in the project). Additionally, there could be some language barriers as some members are not as good with English as others, and there may be differences in vocabulary, idiom and communication style that creep up as well. hile all members should share the Nike corporate culture, there may be some differences with culture between the different group members, in particular with respect to how teams should function, to leadership and to other elements that will affect the team's work.

There are a number of ways that these challenges can be overcome. The first is that the team should be created…… [Read More]

Web-Based System Managing a Virtual Team Deliver

web-based system managing a virtual team, deliver a business-critical project" Identify analyse principle considerations system, including techniques operating .Evaluate traditional agile methods system, terms optimim delivery project outcomes.

Web-based virtual team management

The new labor force and the virtual team

Humans have been developing labor relations for millennia now, but these relations have never been as developed and complex as they are today. The basis of the modern day labor system was set in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, with the commencement and development of the Industrial evolution. During those days, the population moved from the villages to the tows as the factories were opened and in need of labor force. The early employees were nevertheless exploited, put to work long hours, to live and work in unsafe and unsanitary conditions and paid miserable wages. Women and children fitted in this category as well.

Gradually however, the labor force evolved.…… [Read More]

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…… [Read More]

Virtual Teams Because All Organizations

The team must develop a system for sharing information so that nothing relevant to solving the problem is lost" (p. 360). This level of collaboration can be challenging even with traditional teams, though, but oebuck et al. emphasize that what may appear irrelevant to one team member may be the key to achieving the team's goals. Therefore, it is important for team members to become accustomed to sharing as much information with each other as possible so that a cohesive whole can be created from the disparate pieces. While this level of knowledge sharing may appear to be unnecessary, oebuck et al. suggest that this is one of the most important elements in creating an effective virtual team. (oebuck et al., 2004).

Addressing the Challenges of Virtual Team

While the challenges are significant, they can be resolved in part through the use of the tools and technology that characterize most…… [Read More]

Virtual Teams a Study of

The U.S., Army Logistics Network has defined specific pricing and costing levels by rank, and strives to push accountability and responsibility as far down the chain of command as possible. As nearly every officer who acts as a buyer within the purchasing and procurement teams has been trained on the fundamentals of accrual-based costing, cost-based accounting, supplier management and supply chain planning, each is given a set of metrics to measure their performance individually and as a team against. As a result, decision making is pushed to the lowest levels of virtual teams with accountability being assigned to the officer responsible for a given supplier. Decision making that involves the entire group is much more collaborative in nature, relying on Internet-based technologies for sharing documents, presentations, and other materials to assist in the development of alternatives. The U.S. Army Logistics Network is heavily reliant on collaborative forms of technology based…… [Read More]

Management Benefits of Virtual Teams Proposal for

Management: Benefits of Virtual Teams

Proposal for a Shift to Virtual Teams

Situation: A group of workers seeking to achieve a certain task, for instance; to set up a new phone routine for the organization, come together to plan, and thereafter implement the plan, through official face-to-face encounters. In cases where the task at hand is complex, and hence requires more communication, such encounters are usually more frequent and take up long durations of time. Such meetings could be limited by a wide range of factors such as time and geographical barriers. On this front, the team leader or project manager's ability to procure useful talent beyond organizational and geographical boundaries is also limited.

Proposed Solution: Face-to-face meetings and encounters could easily be replaced by virtual meetings. In such a case, team members would not have to physically work together - under one roof. With the help of wireless systems…… [Read More]

Making Virtual Teams Work Introduction

Virtual teams that gain the highest levels of performance first get
their many processes in place first, and then move through the iterative
stages of defining their information, collaboration and shared process
ownership needs first, and then layer in specific technologies to automate
these processes. Only by taking a very process-centric approach to defining
technology needs will virtual teams be successful in their use of
collaboration, synchronization, and project management applications. The
processes need to form the foundation by which applications and
technologies get integrated into the workflows of virtual teams. Technology
for its own sake is never a solution, yet must be an enabler of processes
if the investments in technology are ever going to pay off.
Summary
Ultimately the virtual team member must perceive that their job has been
created to allow them to excel, removing roadblocks and other distractions
out of their way so they can excel.…… [Read More]

Value of Virtual Teams

team have to address the challenges and leverage the opportunities associated with operating as this particular type of virtual team

Multinational virtual teams allow organizations to benefit from the cultural knowledge conveyed to the base organization from interacting with employees from local businesses without some of the costs of transferring members of the organization abroad. Organizational members can be mobile "any place, any time, anywhy" in a virtual team without leaving behind family, friends, and familiarity (Collings, Doherty, Luethy, & Osborn 2011, p.364). However, this is also one of the challenges of a virtual team. Because the members are not actively forced to make a cultural adjustment because they are not expatriates, they can ignore the need to make cultural accommodations or appreciate cultural nuances and differences (between low-context cultures like the U.S. And high-context cultures like Thailand). Just as with a formal transfer to a foreign nation, preparation is…… [Read More]

Change and Virtual Teams Discussion

Business

Change and Opportunities

Change management is an aspect that is vital for the success of a company. In contemporary world, with constant advancements and progressions in technology, change is an aspect that cannot be avoided by PM. Change management and restructuring, in addition to reorganization are all processes and practices denoted by the fact that they assess and weigh the fundamental structures with the key determination of changing such practices by way of directed and resounding interventions (Koper and ichter, 2014).

Change is inevitable. This is because with better and more progressive technologies, if a company does not choose to change and embrace it, then at the end it will become obsolete. In addition, as time passes on, the preferences of the consumers to whom the product and services the company serves continue to change and therefore for the organization to not only sustain its current consumer base and…… [Read More]

Best Practices in Virtual Teams

Collaborative Work Environments

The scenario is that you have been assigned to lead a new organizational initiative to implement a system to help foster collaboration for those who are located at each of your four sites within the same town. You are the team lead and you must develop the proposal for presentation to your supervisor. To help get you started, I have proposed the project objective.

Project Objective: To develop a team proposal to implement a system that will strengthen the organizational culture and enhance cross site collaboration. A key attribute of such a system will be to enhance the transfer and sharing of knowledge.

To help foster collaboration between the four sites in the same town, a cross-functional team should be created with leaders from different divisions who are adept in their roles in their specific departments and can effectively represent their business function. By having members with…… [Read More]

Leading & Managing Virtual Teams

If a leader is accountable, honest and transparent, these values often get reflected throughout the teams they manage. Conversely if leaders of virtual teams are not as clear, fail to inform team members of critical dates and opportunities for communication or recognition, mistrust festers and can actually grow quickly over time. In a sense the best leaders of virtual teams strive for accountability, honesty and the opportunity to get key team members recognition to keep morale high. Managing morale of a virtual team is heavily dependent on a managers' ability to create the necessary social dynamics, instilling trust as a core value of their teams by being accountable and honest. The single greatest factor that dictates the effectiveness of social dynamics for virtual teams is the leader's attitude and beliefs concerning accountability, honesty, transparency and trust (Morris, 33) . In virtual teams the leader's attitudes are the compass that points…… [Read More]

Teams Analysis of Self-Managed Work Teams the

Teams

Analysis of Self-Managed Work Teams

The autonomy of work teams has increasingly become a necessity in many enterprises who rely on a depth of expertise, experience and wealth of knowledge that their knowledge-rich employees provide (Roper, Phillips, 2007). Given how complex, diverse and deep specific areas of expertise are in the core functional areas of any business, it isn't possible for a single manager or leader to have an expert-level command of all expertise. This makes the formation and successful functioning of a team even more critical, as a leader must create a culture of trust, openness and shared communication and collaboration. This is accentuated and made clear in the empirical studies of exceptional leadership of virtual teams across diverse cultural and geographic locations (Muthusamy, Wheeler, Simmons, 2005). The intent of this analysis is to critically evaluate the role of compensation programs for teams, the pros and cons of…… [Read More]

Team-Based Organization There Is Often Conflict With

Team-based organization, there is often conflict with respect to the best way to motivate within the organization. Managers must decide between team-based motivation and individual motivation, and they must decide what type of motivation works best. In some cases, financial rewards are a good method, while others appeal to a sense of intrinsic motivation. This paper will study the issue of motivation in team-based organization.

esearch on team-based organizations

Pearsall, Christian and Ellis (2010) studied the use of hybrid rewards in teams. The authors hypothesized that hybrid rewards would be more effective than either individual rewards or shared rewards. They felt that this would be the case because of increased information allocation and reduced social loafing An approach that focused strictly on individual rewards would suffer because there would be no incentive to raise the level of the team, while team-based rewards only would lead to higher levels of social…… [Read More]

Team Processes

Team Processes

Organizational success depends on an understanding of decision-making, creativity, teamwork, and organizational structure. Chapters 7, 8, and 13 in the text address these concepts fully. These concepts also fill the pages of Websites and readings devoted to helping future managers understand their role, and how they can thrive in any organization. Decision-making is crucial for strong leadership. There are several paradigms and theories that can be applied to the decision-making process. These paradigms and theories help people understand how their cognitive and emotional processes impact their decisions. Understanding the paradigms and theories of decision-making also help people avoid making mistakes, while also learning from past mistakes in order to make better choices for the future.

The rational choice paradigm of decision-making is one of the foremost paradigms that can be applied to the enterprise level. The rational choice paradigm of decision-making is essentially rooted in the utilitarian philosophies…… [Read More]

Virtual Project Teams Have Become Increasingly Important

Virtual project teams have become increasingly important, and they deliver many benefits to organization. However, there are difficulties associated with virtual project teams that managers need to be aware of. These revolve around communication issues, including trust, information flow, communication styles and sociological issues such as personal culture and the political nature of communication. It is recommended that managers develop a keen understanding of the differences between virtual team communication and conventional business communication. In addition, managers need to be clearer with respect to responsibilities, time frames, types of information that should flow and other aspects of team management. In general, virtual team management needs to be more regimented than conventional team management in order to be effective and deliver to the organization the benefits that virtual project teams promise.

Background

The information superhighway has allowed for the emergence of virtual project teams as a viable means of bringing together…… [Read More]

Virtual Collaboration Techniques the Differences Between Virtual

Virtual Collaboration Techniques

The differences between virtual organizations and the traditional brick and mortar ones

The Antecedents for a successful virtual collaboration

The advantages of virtual collaboration

Disadvantages of virtual collaboration

Virtual collaboration is indicated by Chen, Volt and Lin (77) to involve the processes of collaboration between team members who are involved in working towards the achievement of a common goal, in a classroom or a workplace setting. Virtual collaboration, they noted also refers to the employment of digital technologies that are engaged to enable individuals and organizations in the planning, designing, development, management, research on various products and services in a collaborative fashion using innovative e-commerce and general IT applications.

The concept of virtual collaboration is extensively used in organizations that have virtual teams and especially in the arena of product development in companies that are geographically dispersed (Baxendale and Mellor 96). Another application of virtual; collaboration is…… [Read More]

Virtual and Face-To-Face Communication With the Advent

Virtual and Face-to-Face Communication

With the advent of the internet and other related technologies, many organizations have embarked to the formation of virtual teams to complement the traditional face-to-face groups .these teams comprise of geographically distributed knowledge workers who collaborate on a variety of organization al work place tasks .these people are virtually interconnected through computer mediated communication systems (CMCs) which support and enhance the communication related activities of members engaged in computer supported cooperative work, facilitated by technologies characterized by time, space and level of support whereby the team members communicate synchronously or as synchronously in the same location (physical) or remotely .

Synchronous meetings are usually spontaneous in the fact that ideas are exchanged with little or no structure at all, difficult to attribute or establish the reasoning behind internet relay chat (irc) or web based "chat rooms" structured since they rely mostly on the exchange of documents…… [Read More]

Team Evaluation

Team evaluation: MGI

Fundamentally, my team worked so effectively because of our common goals and determination to succeed. A critical component of creating our effective team was the drawing-up of a team charter. The charter listed team member strengths, duties, processes, ground rules, and above all a timetable of deliverables. Having a series of deadlines for small projects, rather than focusing on the single, final deadlines of the project forced us to keep in constant contact over email and have a consistent and ongoing dialogue about the preoccupations of the case study.

One of the challenges of being a member of a virtual team is that the distanced format can lack accountability, and people do not get a clear sense of the personalities of other team members. However, in the case of our team, we clearly bonded as a unit. The fact that Nicholas Payne was so prompt in getting…… [Read More]

Teams Provide Inducement to Work in a

Teams provide inducement to work in a set up. Functioning as a group ensures effective and proficient performance of the jobs. This facilitates harmonization with different team members and also results in dissemination of the ideas and knowledge among them. (Teams and Teamwork) The convention of functioning in groups is more and more common in different types of organization. The members from different department are taken together to form teams with a view to encouraging cooperation among them in solving the problems and harmonizing new programs and new processes and also to be employed in the secular planning efforts. With a view to unite all the key personnel so as to increasing the productivity, increasing the associative-ness and enhancement of quality and proficiency the forming of interdisciplinary and diverse functional teams are constituted. Simply placing the people in teams however, do not ensure the effectiveness of the team. It is…… [Read More]

Virtual Collaboration Is a New

There are several characteristic that are evident with the software system use in virtual collaboration technology. The first characteristic is that most of these tools are web based and are downloadable; they also have the ability to offer a text chat feature in real time, thereby allowing for the synchronous communication among various users.

The platforms also has VoIP functionality, thereby giving them the ability to transmit sound over the laid down internet infrastructure. The virtual collaboration platform has the ability to allow screen sharing. This therefore allows the individual users to allow their partners to have a look at what they are working on their screens in an instant. The platform must have a presentation facility that allows for the presentation of Power point slides to the audience. The system also has Whiteboard-Live annotation tools which provides the users with a whiteboard type experience and look with the added…… [Read More]

Virtual Project Teams Managing Virtual Project Teams

Virtual Project Teams

Managing Virtual Project Teams

The purpose of this project is to present definitive and formal analysis of virtual project teams and their successful management. Additionally, this project will provide evidentiary information from peer review and scholarly research as well as synthesis and conclusions regarding the subject matter.

Successfully initiation and executing a virtual team is increasingly gaining attention in the workplace. From opportunities to integrate multidisciplinary and international teams to the chance to leverage the best possible resources within an organization on a particular project, virtual teams can be transformative and significantly alter the concept of project planning and execution. However, because the concept of virtual teams, virtual team building and the effective and efficient management of virtual teams is in its nascent stage, little guidance is currently available to assist with successful implementation and management of these teams (Chinowsky & Rojas, 2003).

Some of today's companies…… [Read More]

Team Conflict Development and Team Dynamics

Team Conflict Development and Team Dynamics

Organizational tasks are becoming increasingly complex and more involved; teams have become valuable for easier and more effective accomplishment of tasks (Chekwa & Thomas, 2013). Teamwork has turned out to be a crucial driver of organizational productivity in the contemporary workplace (Breugst et al., 2012; Martinez-Moreno et al., 2015; Lee et al., 2015); this to a large extent explains why employers are ever more looking for individuals with outstanding teamwork abilities. Nonetheless, owing to differences in needs, objectives, opinions, interests, priorities, values, and beliefs between different members of a team, conflicts are bound to emerge often (Brown et al., 2011). Lack of proper handling of the conflicts, individual and team productivity can be significantly hampered (Fusch & Fusch, 2015). This paper provides of review of literature relating to conflict management in teams. The review particularly pays attention to team development and dynamics, team conflict…… [Read More]

Teams to Undertake Many Operations

It is important to ensure that the team for any specific task comprises members who are knowledgeable and posses the required skills needed to carry out the task. Teams should also try to work across organizational boundaries/levels and break down internal barriers and deal with people and issues directly and avoid hidden agendas from both within the group and from external sources.

Prior to selecting team members, the purpose and the reasons for creating the HPWT should be clear to the entire management members deciding on the team creation. Teams without a definite goal and aim, will drift and fail, since no goal and objective is set or a final objective identified. Getting together individuals possessing special skills, talents or expertise in order to build a team is critical. Important skills for a team include: "technical expertise," "problem solving," "decision making," and "interpersonal skills." (Thompson, Aranda, Robbins, & Swenson, 2000)…… [Read More]

Team and Group Dynamics

Strengthening Others for Team Excellence

For a team to be successful in their activities, they need a strong leader who will bring the team together by ensuring the team members trust each other and look forward to achieving the goal of the team. According to Northouse (2012), the team leader is important and should exhibit traits such as intelligence, confidence, integrity, and determination. Kouzes and Posner (2012) also suggest similar qualities stating that the leader should be honest, inspiring, competent, and forward-looking. These scholars present different views of groups and teams dynamic, which form the subject matter of this paper.

Group dynamics and cohesiveness

According to Northouse (2012), a group's cohesiveness is promoted by the leader's qualities. The leader should be intelligent, as seen in their communication and problem-solving skills, excellent as seen in their synergy with the team and determined. Kouzes and Posner (2012) define competence as the most…… [Read More]

Team to Team Which Is

The single greatest detriment and liability to communication in the company I work for right now is trust. No one trusts members of cross-functional teams because they take ideas and often present them as their own in larger staff meetings or cross-functional discussions with other departments. This has happened regularly in engineering and in marketing. As a result, communication is starting to come to a standstill in terms of brainstorming. The exception is the business development team, which everyone wants to work with, as they regularly win awards for performance, are positive, look out for each other, and are very inclusive in terms of working with virtual teams. In effect, the business development team needs to be a model for the rest of the company.

To alleviate the lack of trust in the company outside of business development, I would also concentrate on creating more effective task interdependence to force…… [Read More]

Virtual Technical Teams

Globalization and Management

All people are global citizens now. But what does this mean? What is this process of globalization that has quite literally swept over our globe? And what will be the effects of globalization during our lifetime on the ways in which business will be done and especially in how information will be managed? Not only does each person have to consider the implications of such questions on an individual bases (as workers, and consumers as well as citizens) but each business must determine for itself how best to incorporate itself into this global environment while considering the needs and potential of its own company as well as the values that it wishes to project. This dissertation examines some of the current and potential future effects of globalizations, exploring in particular the ways in which businesses are now more integrated with each other than before as they take…… [Read More]

Strengthening Others for Team Excellence

Team Excellence

EMPOWERING, NURTURING

Strengthening Others for Team Excellence

Overview of Concepts

The first concept is transformational leadership, which is rooted on the ability to inspire and motivate (Northouse, 2013; Abu-Tineh et al., 2009). First introduced by Max Weber in 1948 and broadened by Sir McGregor urns in the 70s, it connects charisma and leadership. It is woven around the four key concepts or styles, or the four I's, namely, idealized influence, inspirational motivation, individual consideration, and intellectual stimulation. Idealized influence shapes a follower into a leader by making him live a leader's action each day. This is applied to all types of groups. Inspirational motivation commits a follower or member to the group's shared vision. This inspires followers to work harder and better in achieving or fulfilling that shared vision. A certain level or amount of charisma is required of the leader in order to create this influence. Individualized…… [Read More]

International Teams in Global Settings

Virtual Teams Throughout the Globe

My assessment of the best practice suggestions regarding privacy at work made in the January 2013 issue of Cosmopolitan magazine is favorable. It is quite clear that social media has had a significant impact on the way that people interact with their co-workers, and on relationships between employees and employers. The key is to utilize that impact in a way that is advantageous to workers. pecifically, the author of this article makes a good point when she indicates that it is best to get to know one's employer on a somewhat personal level, as long as it is done in moderation (Anderson, 2013, p. 76). The point is for one's employer to think favorably of his or her employee, not to become best friends with him or her.

uch sagacity is applicable to virtual teams just as well as to those that operate in a…… [Read More]

Analyzing Teams and Groups Considerations

Teams/Groups Considerations

According to Green et al. (2015), globalization has resulted to increased dealings amidst individuals coming from different backgrounds. Individuals no longer exist and work in a blinkered surrounding; they are now considered as part of a global economy in competition within an international framework. For this cause, both profit and non-profit organizations ought to become more diversified so as to stay competitive. Capitalization and maximization of workplace diversity is an essential management concern.

In general, diversity can be described as the identification, comprehension, and acceptance of other individuals' personal disparities regardless of their race, sex, ethnicity, age, class, religion, and physical ability, among others. Everybody is unique in their own way, but also share certain biological and environmental traits (Dike, 2013).

Challenges of a Diverse Workforce

Green et al. (2015) mention that there are various challenges associated with a diverse workforce. The leaders and directors of an organization…… [Read More]

Team Process Selection Setting Smart Goals and

Team Process Selection:

Setting SMAT goals and avoiding social loafing

For the purpose of this paper, I agreed to volunteer on a local committee designed to reduce childhood obesity in our immediate area. As is the case with many communities, the increasing BMI of children due to unhealthy food consumption and a lack of places to exercise are of great concern, especially to parents of elementary and middle school-age children. The committee was designed to create a less obesegenic environment through a variety of initiatives for this age group.

The committee works closely with the local elementary and middle schools, providing suggestions and support to make it easier for children to walk to school. ecent efforts have included putting in new bike racks on school grounds and hiring an additional crossing guard, to make walking to school less hazardous. The school has also eliminated bake sales as a source of…… [Read More]

Virtual Meetings Planning a Face-To-Face or Virtual

Virtual Meetings

Planning a face-to-face or Virtual Meeting

Situation

Suppose your firm will be holding a meeting of 7 people from all over the U.S.A. They will either set up a virtual meeting, where everyone stays home, or create a live event that brings everyone together. Compare and contrast virtual meetings with live events. Assume costs are not an issue.

Comparison of In-Person and Virtual Meetings

Comparison based on convenience

Virtual meetings has expanded the communication options

Virtual meetings are convenient and have unique advantages

Comparison based on effectiveness

Face-to-face is by far the most effective form of communication

Given the circumstance, face-to-face is the better option

Overview

If cost is not an option then face-to-face communication is by far the most effective form of meetings. Face-to-face communication and virtual meetings are two entirely different types of communication. While each one has its advantages, when and how they should or…… [Read More]

Teams Discussion Several Months Ago I Was

Teams: Discussion

Several months ago, I was amongst those elected into a team set up to look into ways of enhancing interdepartmental cooperation. The team comprised of 7 individuals -- each representing a department. The key mandate of the team was to come up with strategies of enhancing cooperation between departments so as to enhance overall organizational efficiency. With regard to the various types of teams Landy and Conte (2013) identify, this particular team could be described as a project team. A project team in the words of Landy and Conte (2013, p. 521) is that kind of a "team that is created to solve a particular problem or set of problems and is disbanded after the project is completed or the problem is solved."

In this particular team, I was the Human esource Department representative. Amongst other things, I was charged with soliciting views from member of my department…… [Read More]

Virtual Training

Virtual Training

The world today is different from what it was back in history. Today it has become a global village and the interaction of people, companies and services provided is not restricted to a single nation. The market has become competitive with competitors from all over the world. Virtual training is yet another component of the benefits of globalization. Virtual training can be delivered online, through email, remote desktop or even on phone with or without videoconferencing. Hence when one communicates with individuals or a group and trains them, they are working face-to-face and when one communicates and trains through these various noted means where they do not sit face-to-face, it is called virtual training. Therefore virtual training is a training delivered from a distance rather than in person face-to-face.

THE TEND OF VITUAL TAINING

In virtual training one can train and coach individuals or groups. A virtual group…… [Read More]

Leadership Teams Some of the

Additionally, the leader of the virtual team communicated in a far more effective manner than did the leader of the team at the nuclear site. Perhaps the leader of the virtual team realized that the only way to achieve the team's objective was through a consistent, regular and ongoing communication style that would enhance the team's effectiveness. Therefore, the leader diligently addressed the issue in an ongoing manner.

The nuclear site team's leader, knowing that a face-to-face meeting could take place within a matter of mere moments was most likely much less diligent in communicating the needs, goals and objectives of the group.

The ComCorp study states that "a number of disintegrating forces continually pull teams apart, including time zone differences, local pressures, cultural differences, and a general lack of face-to-face contact and interaction" (Kerber). No such circumstances exist for the nuclear plant or other local leadership teams.

Kerber's study…… [Read More]

Collaboration Software Evaluation and Analysis as Virtual

Collaboration Software Evaluation and Analysis

As virtual teams become pervasive in many enterprises globally, the need for stable, secure and scalable collaboration platforms becomes more and more important to organizations achieving complex strategic goals and objectives. Virtual teams can often coordinate and collaborate using personal productivity applications, yet on more complex tasks requiring orchestration of complex workflows and sharing dozens of documents at the same time, Microsoft Outlook and e-mail break down and don't deliver the level of functionality necessary. Given the rapid rise in virtual teams in conjunction with the lack of support in many personal productivity software applications for intensive collaboration an entirely new area of enterprise software has emerged. Customer elationship Management (CM) systems with social networking functionality (Social CM), enterprise content management, knowledge management, groupware, portals and Web Services have all emerged as proven solutions to the continual challenge of communication and collaboration in virtual teams…… [Read More]

Build an Effective Technology Support Team

Build an Effective Technology Support Team

Preliminaries:

Technology support has become a part of business especially the business that needs some customer support regarding their products. These range from consumer goods to service industries like banking. All these are a result of the growth in information technology and communication facilities. Information technology is changing so fast that applications are created for new business models on a daily basis. The competitive advantage an organization receives with the latest information technology is immense. Thus the most important field where technical support teams are essential is in the software and hardware sectors of the computing industry. The industry and the type of organization determine the type of the support team. It is established that it is now possible to create a network of organizations that can span the globe and interact with one another. The place of a virtual team in the support…… [Read More]

Nominal Group Decision-Making Earning Team Creative Problem-Solving

Nominal Group Decision-Making

earning team Creative Problem-Solving Demonstration: Topic "Coming late leaving early" Please Nominal Group Technique Discuss choose technique solve problem. - Nominal Group Technique Explain technique chosen briefly summarize technique conducted a virtual team environment.

Coming late and leaving early: Nominal group technique

Currently, our office is faced with a very difficult problem: people are arriving late and leaving early. The result is that productivity is decreased and people are getting paid the same amount of money for doing less and less work. To curtail this behavior, instead of issuing directives, management has decided to encourage buy-in by using the nominal group technique method, an alternative to brainstorming. This technique has the advantage of not 'pointing fingers' at specific employees, given that all employees have likely come late and left early at some point, meaning that no one is innocent of the crime. The objective of the exercise…… [Read More]

Examination Why Teams Don't Work

Teams Don't Work

Idea in Brief

While conventional wisdom might dictate otherwise, teams aren't always the most effective means for accomplishing goals within your organization.

How to Make the Most from your Team:

Designate a Deviant: this is the person who will prevent the team from acting in a too conventional manner. This person will ensure that the team doesn't fall into some sort of rut when it comes to creative thinking.

Avoid double digits. No team should be bigger than nine, as then it can be too easy for some team members not to contribute and for others to dominate.

Keep the team together: the members of the team should remain consistent and not change constantly. Such a thing keeps the entire process on the straight and narrow.

Be ruthless about membership: decide who can and who cannot be a member of the team. Only allow members who genuinely…… [Read More]

Project Managers Oversee Virtual Project Teams in

Project Managers Oversee Virtual Project Teams in the Manufacturing Industry with Consideration for Effective Communication

The researcher has taken this matter ' How Can Project Managers Oversee Virtual Project Teams in the Manufacturing Industry with Consideration for Effective Communication' since the researcher has felt there was a growing demand in project management to address this concern.

Thanks to a rising global competition, today's companies are no longer limited by geographic location. Globalization drives a lot of companies into developing markets and low income nations so that they can take advantage of their intellectual capital, and minimize the cost of operation. A recent study by the Garner Group, states that by the year 2008, 41 million corporate employees will work in a virtual workplace at least one day per week [Wikipedia, www.wikipedia.com, "Virtual Teams"]. In this literature review we will look at the challenges of the virtual team communication in the…… [Read More]

Leadership Leading Teams Differ From

Time zone differences can be a team's greatest asset as long as it is used to enable a project or goal to progress consistently as it is passed from team members in one time zone to another. One of the greatest challenges leaders face in enabling this to occur is streamlining the handoffs from one team member to another (Leading Virtual Teams, 2009).

Some best practices that leaders can use to better manage this challenge include:

having a well-documented processes that enable team members to understand the context of what has happened in the process prior to their involvement, and to anticipate what will happen in the process when they pass it on to another team member a well-defined decision-making sequence so it is clear who should be involved in what types of decisions clarification of who needs to be consulted about what and informed of decisions that affect the…… [Read More]

Resources to Enhance Team Effectiveness

Online Collaborative Tools

Collaboration is the focal point of business and its management in a workplace. Whereas effectual and sustainable collaboration needs face-to-face contact, the majority of the collaborative work usually depends on virtual collaboration, which is through telephone, emails or other online resources and tools. It is crucial for tools that enhance collaboration to be easy to use, mutually convenient and with remarkably little risk. This should be so because of the fact that it is being applied on an environment that is time constrained and information heavy (Duarte & Snyder, 2006).

Collaboration using online tools is increasing, with the advancement of technology, and as organizations are in the process of realizing the use and advantages of the internet, in conducting virtual meetings like the use of teleconference. Organizations should come up with a guideline on how to use and when not use these tools. Collaboration technology foresees future…… [Read More]

Strategic Planning and Virtual Environments

Innovation and Virtual Environments

The rapid pace of technological innovations in recent years represents a dual-edged sword for organizational leaders. On the one hand, these technologies have introduced so-called "virtual environments" that facilitate the sharing of knowledge and collaboration among practitioners. On the other hand, though, leading others in virtual environments carries some special challenges that must be taken into account in order for the medium to be effective. For instance, in his essay, "Managing the ever-more-distributed workforce," Novitski (2008) makes the point that, "Despite vastly faster communication speeds, modern companies face similar challenges of trust and control with off-site workers" (p. 83).

Although every virtual environment is unique in some fashion, they all share a common need to take cross-cultural differences that can adversely affect communications into account, as well as need to keep isolated employees motivated and engaged in the process. In this regard, Novitski emphasizes that, "One…… [Read More]

Improving Team Motivation Satisfaction and

In increasing the motivation, satisfaction and performance of a team, communication is an important tool. Communication should be two-way where the team members are able to communicate between themselves as well as with the team leaders and the team leader is able to communicate with the team members. The promotion of open dialogue among the team members through team meetings as well as in general project communication allows each of the team members to provide their input into the project. This also helps to recognize the diversity of the skills and abilities of the team members since each of them will be able to give the input which best complements their abilities which will leads to increased respect between the team members as they accept all constructive inputs given. Communication will also help to build good camaraderie in the team by promoting a participative environment where the team members feel…… [Read More]

Teambuilding and Competitive Advantage Team

One aspect of the ethics of electronic communications is that people feel an insular autonomy, not necessarily true but implied by the format and that often times people chose to communicate at many times of the day and night, sometimes regretting that the communication was not made with appropriate forethought and skill. The social aspect of work communications must not be ignored as the dynamic of email communication can seriously alter the human dimension of work. (ooksby, 2002, pp. 2-3) in the management employee relationship, depending upon the size and structure of the organization, the dynamic of distance may be assumed and even relied upon for the foundation of authority. While in contrast the goal of management may be to connect more personally with individuals to ensure then that there is a common vision and understanding as well as a relationship that is demonstrative of teamwork and employee empowerment. Management…… [Read More]

Managing IT Professional in Virtual Environment

Managing Professionals in Virtual Environment

As technology has evolved, the reality of virtual organizations has begun to take hold in a variety of industries. It is now commonplace for employees to work, at least in part, from offsite. Telecommuting is a reality that has allowed companies to reduce costs, become more competitive, and facilitate happier more productive employees. Virtual employees, or "telework is one of the most radical departures from standard working conditions in the suite of flexible work practices now gaining widespread acceptance." (Daniels, Lamond, & Standen, 2001)

Managing Professionals in Virtual Environment

As technology has evolved, the reality of virtual organizations has begun to take hold in a variety of industries. It is now commonplace for employees to work, at least in part, from offsite. Telecommuting is a reality that has allowed companies to reduce costs, become more competitive, and facilitate happier more productive employees. Virtual employees, or…… [Read More]

Managing a Project Team The

Flexibility within a team scenario is very important as having a choice in creating favorable matchups is a luxury for many managers looking to create a competitive advantage and sustain an effective and efficient unit of teamwork.

eflection on Learning

The many graphs and charts depicted within this chapter to reinforce the lessons written, provided much learning inspiration for me. The confusing nature of the pictures denote the importance of having a strong understanding for the problem at hand. It appears that data and information can be manipulated in many different ways, running the risk of increasing confusion rather than lessening it. Leadership is ultimately responsible for creating clear and concise questions that can help the data provide answers.

Too much data or too little data will leave the project in a state of disrepair and balance appears to be the most important objective in determining the progress of any…… [Read More]

Management With Outsourcing and Virtual Employees

Motivating Employees

When it comes to human resources and general management of employees, one of the major concerns that employers have always had is making and keeping employees motivated. However, there has been a major shift started in the workplace over the last five to ten years. As the world has become more and more wired and interconnected, the workplace has been shifting as well. Many of the jobs that have previously been done only or at least mostly in offices are now down remotely. Whether it be employees on the road or employees that work from home or other alternate locations, the paradigm of most to all employees working in a singular or small network of locations is fading away in many industries and has been replaced with virtual teams as well as outsourcing of common business tasks to exterior firms, both domestic and international. While there are many…… [Read More]

Shared Leadership in a Self-Managing Team

Organizational Leaderships

Many corporations are progressively using teams in the realization of business goals because of the increased use of technology-enabled operations. Leading such groups can be particularly challenging, and much of the current literary works on team management does not translate directly to the context of leadership in virtual teams. ecent work on organizational teams indicates that, leadership in this electronic era, might be better considered as a combined effort shared among team associates recognized by the distribution and rotating of leadership positions. As such, current work on self-managed teams seems particularly significant. Associates taking liability for the quality of the work process and product as well as distributing management and leadership functions of the group characterize the self-managed work teams -- factors not unusual in virtual contexts of work where team associates and leaders are divided by time and place.

Within self-managed groups, often there is a dependency…… [Read More]

Building an Team to Go Overseas

International Operations

The first step in taking a team overseas is to determine what components of a team will be required. Only then can the best team be selected, but there are unique selection criteria that must be taken into consideration for an international assignment. No matter how talented, not everybody is cut out to work overseas, and the more different the culture the bigger the challenge will be. First, the team members will need some linguistic and intercultural communication skills. Familiarity with Latin America in general will be beneficial, as will Spanish/Portuguese language skills. There are differences between the different cultures in South America, but a general familiarity with Latin culture will help anybody doing business in the region, as there are also a lot of similarities.

It is also important that the people selected have a high degree of adaptability. This is perhaps even more important that being…… [Read More]

Teams Development Teams Are Usually the Main

Teams

Development teams are usually the main building blocks of the strategy of any successful organization. The focus of the organization may be on service, cost, speed, performance, efficiency and value among other goals (Moller & Tollestrup, 2012). Nevertheless, development teams always remain the central methodology in the organizations, in either private, non-profit and government organization.

When development teams become more aligned, there is the emergence of commonality of direction (Moller & Tollestrup, 2012). This leads to the harmonization of individual energies. Through this, there is a shared vision of team members as well as proper understanding on how to complement the effort of each other. Once an individual knows the type of the development team he or she is in, it helps in choosing how to plan work as well as what is expected.

The decision making process of development teams assists organization in solving day-to-day problems. The advantage…… [Read More]