Best Practices Of Managing Virtual Software Development Teams

Best Practices Of Managing Virtual Software Development Teams
Best practices in Managing Virtual Software Development Teams.
Introduction to Virtual Software Teams.
In this hard and fast run of Technology, handling software's efficiently in a defined area with limited
resources is a toughest challenge for any industry. Hence, virtual team emerged out as a solution.
The term 'virtual' was driven out by the virtue in the 14th century but by 1950's its meaning
extended to 'temporarily available or created' or 'created by computer software'. This gave the actual
definition of virtual teams as 'any project team in which the team members are geographically
dispersed and use technology to communicate or complete their goals'. The trivial way of handling
teams contained many constraints and difficulties such as:
a. Geographic dispersion (occurring due to different geographical locations)
b. Temporal dispersion(Time difference in different time zones)
c. Cultural dispersion(Different languages )
d. Organizational dispersion(Different work ethics) Best practices in Managing Virtual Software
Development Teams:
Software development teams are always encouraged for healthy communication such as stand–up
meetings, conferences and demo (if done according to agile) .but the toughest part is of the scrum
master or the group leader to confront all the challenges related to these and manage them
effectively.
These are the best practices which are popular today for Managing Virtual software development
teams. :
a) Managing different generations
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The Virtual Project Teams And The Challenges That...
LECTURER'S NAME STUDENT'S NAME COURSE TITLE DATE OF SUBMISSION Executive
summary The background of the topic provides a summary of how and when the virtual project
teams began and the challenges that companies underwent before embracing virtual project
development. The background tries to set the foundation against the traditional project teams. The
body tries to explain in detail on how the virtual project teams work, the pros and cons of using
virtual project of employees. The paper has been able to describe the various forms of virtual teams,
how they are implemented within an organization, the challenges that an organization may face
when making the application of the model and also the advantages or wins associated with the
practice. The chapter ends with recommendations with some suggestions on how to incorporate
traditional and virtual project to get a successful organization. Background The world is becoming
smaller and smaller and the advancement in technology has enabled a diversity of communication
and collaboration tools that were unaffordable for most companies to implement. Most of these
companies have employed the use of virtual groups to deal with their business endeavors because of
many reasons. Some of them include the urgency to address their customer problems, developing
products and delivery services. With the ability to create virtual teams, these teams are operating
without limitations of distance, time and global boundaries. These

Building And Managing Effective Virtual Teams
Technology Paper One: Building and Managing Effective Virtual Teams
Robert Jones, Robert Oyung, and Lise Pace, authors of Working Virtually: Challenges of Virtual
Teams (2005) state:
Virtual teams and teams in general are characterized by the fact that each member of the team is
dependent upon one or more other members in order to accomplish the overall goal... The single
most critical component that makes teamwork possible is effective communication. (p. xvii – xviii)
Notwithstanding the goal – to succeed – in a given project, task, scope, product, or the like, building
and managing effective teams becomes deeply more complex when physical adjacency is a
combination of local and remote members or entirely remote. Increasingly so, businesses ... Show
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(Tapscott & Williams, 2008, p. 33).
Foremost, to create and develop dynamic team communication, trust must be established. Depth of
relationships amongst a team, even with very poor technology to support an effort, has the ability to
succeed. "Teamwork is more than a series of transactions. Teamwork is a series of engagements... If
you are able to establish trust as a team member, leader, or manager, you will be able to gain
consensus, agreement, and the ability to influence," (Jones, Oyung, & Pace, 2005, p. 26–27). Keith
Ferrazzi, author of "Getting Virtual Teams Right" (2014) in the Harvard Business Review, states:
Trust starts with respect and empathy... leaders should encourage team members to describe their
backgrounds, the value they hope to add to the group, and the way they prefer to work. This allows
colleagues to form mental images of one another when they're later communicating by e–mail,
phone, or text message. Remember too that relationship building should be an ongoing process.
Realities are such that virtual teams come with exceedingly broader diverse backgrounds in culture,
education, life experiences, and personalities. Singularly each one of these facets brings a beauty to
innovation and creative possibilities. Well–rounded, quality decisions is also viable. However, wide–
range of diversity can also be challenging for precisely the same reasons. By ensuring trust is the
foundation

The Challenges Of Virtual Team Collaboration
The challenges of virtual team collaboration are numerous and significant. However, several
organizational best practices exist, which companies can employ to maximize virtual team
development and collaboration. By applying these practices, organizations can overcome virtual
team challenges, such as time, distance, size, diversity, communication, and specialization. The
organizational best practices fall into four primary categories, namely Executive support, HR
Practices, Leadership Strength, and Team Structure (Gratton & Erickson, 2007).
Executive Support: Investing in Signature relationship practices
The success or failure of virtual team collaboration in organizations is often reflected in the
philosophies and support of its executives. For example, when company executives demonstrate
collaborative behaviors and create collaborative environments where social interactions thrive,
virtual team collaboration also thrives. Executives achieve this by establishing, encouraging, and
maintaining strong social interactions throughout the organization. These practices are often tailored
to the unique culture of the organization and are effective because of its unique signature or fit to the
organization. By investing in signature relationship practices, executives can encourage
collaboration across the organization (Gratton & Erickson, 2007).
Executive Support: Modeling collaborative behavior
Executives can also influence virtual team development through their actions and

Case IncidentA Virtual Team At
Case IncidentA Virtual Team at T.A.Stearns Question 1 Why is this group a team? Answer 1 This
group can be easily seen as a team in which there is a formal group of four people who have pre–
defined roles to perform. The group members here are part of a virtual team which means they can
operate from anywhere they wish to, that is , they just have to check once a day through e–mails,
messages and group conferencing software's .Here are the reasons why this group is a team : 1. The
team has shared leadership roles. All the four members of the team have full independence to work
from anywhere and has a say in the decisions made by the team. 2. Team has individual and mutual
accountability 3. The team has specific purpose the soul ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
He found out that the production time had gone down a bit, while quality had shot up . He found
proofs to his doubt in emails of Marge to Cy. He hinted it to Tom but he would not tell the truth.
Finally things began to go out of control as Cy boasted his trick to a member of another virtual team
and Dave took Cy out to a lunch. At the lunch Cy revealed about the innovation and that the team's
action had been justified to protect itself. Groupthink – A dysfunction of highly cohesive groups and
teams that has received a lot of attention hasbeen referred to as groupthink. In groupthink there is a
deterioration of mental efficiency,reality testing, and moral judgement that results from in–group
pressure. It results from thepressures on individual members to conform and reach consensus that
there is no realisticappraisal of alternative courses of action in a decision, and deviant, minority, or
unpopoularviews are suppressed. Following are the characteristics of groupthink are manifested in
thework team– There is theillusion of invulnerability –There is excessive optimism and risk taking.
As wecan see here there is excessive optimism and risk taking behaviour shown by the team asthey
kept the innovation to themselves having optimism regarding that the management won't easily find
out about it. Also the risk taking behaviour can be seen when they ignore the company policy for

Virtual Teams and Virtual Project Management
Like it or not, the marketplace is becoming global and many companies are taking note. The world
is represented by a technological environment that changes at unprecedented speeds; seemingly
overnight. The Internet and collaborative software have made it easier and faster to communicate
across vast distances. Many companies have switched to complex and flexible organizational
structures that allow them to operate competitively in a world shaped by globalization and the
information revolution. Downsizing, outsourcing, and employee empowerment have become facts
of life in the climate of many organizations, while job security is rapidly becoming a thing of the
past. The survival of many organizations depends on the ability of the ... Show more content on
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This reduction or elimination of expenses associated with travel, lodging, etc., results in a huge
savings for the company. The list could go and on, but the point is, there is definitely a growing
demand for and benefit of virtual teams.
Obstacles
The benefits and lucrative potential of Virtual Project Management are many, but like all good
things, come at a price in the form of new management complications. Fostering open and
meaningful communication, gaining the trust and respect of remote members, and building trust
between members is the greatest challenge to the virtual PM. It is difficult for virtual team members
to get to know each other well; consequently, they tend to communicate poorly because they often
are less than comfortable with each other. [1] Communication is paramount in any project. Dennis S.
and Michelle L. Reina define three types of communication that project managers must address for
virtual work to be possible: contractual, communication, and competence trust. [4]
Contractual trust – this is essentially doing what you say you will do. The virtual PM needs to
manage expectations, establish clear boundaries, delegate appropriately, honor agreements, and,
above all, be consistent in their words and actions. This kind of trust is especially frail in today 's
workplaces because of the legacy of layoffs, downsizing, and reorganization that reengineering and
economic problems have brought to the modern

Benefits of Virtual Teams
Virtual teams today are an important part of business, particularly where the business expands
globally. Although there are particular challenges associated with virtual teams, such as
communication technology, cultural concerns, and potential conflict resulting from these issues, the
advantages associated with these far outweigh the disadvantages. Virtual teams have the potential to
maintain the integrity and unity of the business venture on a global level at a paradigm that has
never before been possible. When a company wishes to expand to a new country, especially one that
is significantly different in culture and practice from the United States, virtual teams, if well chosen,
can significantly facilitate the process. When making a decision to expand to Poland, for example,
virtual teams can help to identify potential markets, potentially challenging cultural differences,
recruit tem members in the target country, and assess the potential for success. Poland is a country
that has several potential markets for expansion. The country is rich in natural mineral resources, for
example (Europa, 2011). These include iron, zinc, copper, and rock salt. Any of these resources can
then be used as a basis for a new business expansion. Salt, for example, can even be used in art.
Another important component of the foreign market is its labor force. According to Walewski
(2011), there is a relatively high demand for legal employment as well as a highly energetic
commitment to

Virtual Team Challenges
a) Research Topic: The purpose of the study is to overcome one of the important virtual team
challenges(i.e., work motivation). This study indicates using management practices over
motivational challenges as a focus of the study. The present study also uses VIST model of
Motivational processes in teams. The authors clearly presented the background information of the
problem and has educational significance. The title of the study is brief, informative and avoids
vague terms.
b) Abstract: The abstract is accurate, straight to the point and does not include informal language.
The authors didn't mention keywords at the end of the abstract.
c) Introduction: The authors made readers clearly understand the subject, the purpose and objectives
developed for the study. The variables used in the study i.e., process of goal setting, team
interdependence and team rewards are well–defined. The other variables like valence,
instrumentality, self–efficacy and trust were also described. The review of literature was not clearly
cited, but several appropriate references were mentioned by the authors.
d) Hypothesis: This research tested three hypotheses. The quality of goal setting, task
interdependence and team–based rewards and their positive relativity with the effectiveness of
virtual teams by using VIST

The Characteristics Of A Virtual Team
A virtual group is a gathering of people who work crosswise over time, space and authoritative
limits with connections reinforced by networks of correspondence innovation. Effectiveness of
virtual team: The Characteristics of Effective Virtual Teams are as follows: Executive Support: Their
study found that virtual groups do well when administrators bolster the improvement of social
connections at work (consequently constructing trust among associates) and show coordinated
effort. The routes in which officials fabricate and bolster social connections in their associations are
as changed as the associations themselves, however Gratton and Erickson found that the best
administrators utilize "signature" hones that are huge, difficult to repeat and especially appropriate
to their associations (Rosen, 2007) Effective HR Practices: The concentrate likewise observed that
two specific HR hones enhanced group execution: preparing in aptitudes to manufacture shared
conduct and casual group building. In occurrences when cooperation was solid, they found that the
HR group had made a huge interest in either of those practices, regularly in ways that mirrored their
associations ' societies and business systems. Synergistic practices incorporate exhibiting valuation
for others, taking part in intentional discussions, inventively and gainfully determining clashes, and
program administration. Casual group building exercises incorporate input, tutoring and drilling in
light of the fact that

Virtual Teams Vs. Virtual Team
Abstract Teams have always contributed significantly towards the successful operation of any
organization. Traditionally, team members had to endure the challenges of time, distance, and even
cultural differences in order to successfully complete a team activity. However, recent advancements
in technology have led to the birth of virtual teams. The paper aims to explore the effectiveness and
differences of virtual teams as compared to face–to–face teams. The evaluation will be on the basis
of dimensions such as performance, cohesion, conflict, trust and satisfaction among others.
Introduction
Due to the recent increased utilization of information communication technology in organizations,
there has been a rising trend of the adoption of virtual teams. These teams have helped organizations
conduct their businesses in a very effective way. In furtherance of that, these teams have also helped
in enhancing the speed at which communication is carried out. For instance, team members in
different countries or continents can actually contribute ideas for a project in real time via electronic
means. However, these groups have faced some criticisms which have made them to be
underutilized. Some of the issues raised against these teams include lack of involvement and
inclusiveness, lack of trust, lack of employees with technical and interpersonal skills and lack of
cohesion among others. Past research has revealed that virtual teams have proved to be effective,
especially in

The Role Of Virtual Teams And Challenges
Introduction Nowadays, we are currently in the era of advanced information technology, in which
people depend on technologies in order to facilitate their life, such as mobile phone, computer or
internet. Indeed, innovative technology plays an important role in developing tools for remote and
global communication, which help people communicate to each other easier regardless of distance.
According to Reiche (2013), as firms incessantly expand their business globally, there are
considerable number of workers having to work separately from different locations as well as time
zone. Consequently, the virtual team strategy, which is a group of employees working with a great
distance from each other, come up in order to allow companies having capability to manage their
own employees being able to collaborate intensively through innovative technologies, for instance
videoconferencing, email, Skype or online project management software (Schilling, 2012). In this
paper, I will discuss about effectiveness of virtual teams and challenges that have to face of people
working in different locations and geographies. Moreover, identifying pros and cons of associating
with virtual teams and co–located teams or traditional teams. And I will expound how I apply virtual
team strategy in managing my product development.
Effectiveness of Virtual Teams According to Virtual Teams: Pros, Cons & Best Practices (2011),
there are many advantages of using virtual team strategy. Indeed, as

Advantages Of A Virtual Team
Quite simply, a team is by the Merriam–Webster's Dictionary as a "group of individuals working
together to achieve a common pre–defined goal." Traditional teams consist of individuals working
in physical proximity, the same office building or city. A virtual team refers to "a group of
individuals who are geographically dispersed, but are united by a shared goal through the use if
informational technologies." (McShane, p. 208) A virtual team consists of talent across cities,
provinces, cultures and time zones. Like all with all team structures there are advantages and
disadvantages to working in a virtual team for both the individual and the organization. Advantages:
Cost savings – The biggest advantage of a virtual team is the cost savings. Organizations can do
away with huge amount of expenses for travel, office space, etc. It allows for problems or projects to
be completed by a diverse group of individuals from across the company. By having team members
that are chosen global a solution to a problem will take into account how it impacts the organization
as a whole not just one geographical area. The same goes for the potential solutions they will be
global not just region specific. Team Diversity – Virtual Teams allows organizations to look for
talent beyond their country of origin. They can bring together experts and specialists from across the
globe to work together on one specific project or have them work together continuously. By doing
this there is an increase

Managing Virtual Teams
Human Resource Management Review 15 (2005) 69 – 95 www.socscinet.com/bam/humres
Managing virtual teams: A review of current empirical research
Guido Hertela,T, Susanne Geisterb, Udo Konradtb a Department of Psychology, Work, Industrial &
Organizational Psychology, University of Wuerzburg,
Roentgenring 10, 97 070 Wuerzburg, Germany b University of Kiel, Germany
Abstract
This review summarizes empirical research on the management of virtual teams, i.e., distributed
work teams whose members predominantly communicate and coordinate their work via electronic
media (e–mail, telephone, video–conference, etc.). Instead of considering virtual teams as
qualitatively distinct from conventional teams, the degree of bvirtualityQ of ... Show more content
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Thus, extending earlier work, this paper provides a comprehensive review on the different
management tasks in virtual teams based on empirical research. After providing a definition of
virtual teams, an integrative lifecycle model of virtual teams will be presented that covers crucial
HRM issues such as selection, performance management, rewards and personnel development, but
also contains new issues such as the question of a constructive disbanding of virtual teams. The
following presentation of the available empirical work is guided by this lifecycle model
summarizing empirical results and their implications for each of these issues. In contrast to research
on computer–mediated collaboration (CMC) that predominantly compares media effects between
computer–mediated and face–to–face groups using experimental settings (cf. Baltes, Dickson,
Sherman, Bauer, & LaGanke, 2002; Fjermestad & Hiltz,
1998), this review focuses particularly on quantitative field research of existing virtual teams in
order to acknowledge effects of time and organizational context. However, results from
experimental CMC research as well as case studies and experience reports will be considered for
issues that have not yet been addressed by quantitative field studies.1
2. Definition of virtual teams
Distributed work across different locations and/or working

Virtual Information Project Teams : Virtual Team
Virtual information project teams have become a significant mechanism to utilize when desiring to
achieve a particular task or goal globally. A virtual team consists of a group of individuals who are
geographically diverse, which causes them to use electronic information or technological tools to
coordinate their ideas in order to succeed at a given task. Unlike traditional teams, virtual teams are
not run with face to face interaction, but virtually, which means members can participate from any
country or time zone as a part of the team. The expansion capability of virtual teams is a reason why
they have become a very useful asset in all fields of study and research. The various skills associated
with each individual that makes up a virtual team result in the development of the many unique
characteristics that virtual teams possess, which differentiates them from ordinary teams. Although
there are countless distinctive characteristics of a virtual team, there are still shortcomings. Having a
team of individuals with various personalities, perceptions, and values can cause assimilation to
become difficult. During an individual's lifetime, some remarkable human assets are acquired,
resulting in the creation of his or her cultural background. National culture can be present on any
team, but most teams are formed with members belonging to the same city or state, which makes it
easier to arrange. However, a virtual team with a national culture is a more difficult concept to

Supporting Virtual Teams
Issues IT department face supporting virtual teams
First, it is very challenging to build trust within virtual teams. It is very hard for you to trust people
who you do not know well or those whom you have not observed working over time. Secondly, in
virtual teams, it is difficult to obtain group–process gains (positive synergy) that many times
accompany face–to–face communication. Process losses (negative synergy) are more likely. It is
difficult to create team synergy and to overcome the absence of informal, interactive learning.
Thirdly, there is a feeling of isolation and detachment associated with the virtual teamwork. There is
no physical interaction which is associated with verbal and non–verbal ques and thus, there is
absence of social interaction with supervisors and coworkers. Virtual team members may be less
productive and satisfied than their counterparts working face–to–face due to feeling of isolation and
detachment. Fourthly, it is tricky to balance technical and interpersonal skills among the virtual
members. There is a challenge for a virtual teal leader to recruit, select and retain team members
who have a good balance of technical and ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
For a virtual team to be successful, they have to rely on communication technologies such as emails
and video–conferencing. The installation and maintenance of these is an expensive affair. Another
issue is that there may be conflicts and lack of trust and collaboration among the virtual team.
Cultural differences of the teal players may lead to conflicts. Also, there is social isolation. Since
there are no physical interactions, members of the virtual team s may be adversely affected.
Managing time zone is difficult. It is not easy for members to host meetings when everyone lives in
a different time zone. Another challenge is that the communication is limited and the participating
teams need to be experts at

Essay about achieving success and virtual teams
Case Analysis – 3
Achieving Success in Virtual Teams
Overview: In today's competitive world, companies are gradually vacating their cubicles and enter
into the virtual workforce to increase work efficiency, reduce cost and resolve organizational
problems (Ahmed & Ebrahim, 2009). Nowadays, companies are investing a bulk amount of money
on virtual teams to enhance their performance since it has become an indispensable prerequisite for
companies to stay in competitive in the era of globalization (Ahmed & Ebrahim, 2009). Virtual
teams consist of members from different cultural backgrounds who work in various organizations
with different set of standards and members of the virtual teams have the least probability to meet in
person ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
348). Virtual team members have to be more self– motivated and disciplined in their assigned work
and they must be proficient in using variety of tech tools in order to accomplish their task (Settle–
Murphy, 2009). Likewise, Virtual team members have to have the ability to manage their time
effectively and those who can understand that how much time they need to get their task done are
usually far more productive which in turns contribute to the success of virtual team. Moreover,
communication effectiveness and stimulating work are the two vital features of actuating the success
or failure of virtual teams; for instance, team members should know what to communicate, how and
when and the whole communication process should be concise and lucid to avoid any
misinterpretation (Nelson & Quick, 2013, p. 348). In contrast, the failure of virtual teams relies on
several things wherein people play a major part in the context of virtual arena; for example, a
consulting service company; NetAge reveals the fact that the percentage of having failure of virtual
teams is around 90% of people (Nelson & Quick, 2013, p. 348). Vagueness in communication might
lead to the failure of virtual teams; for instance, if the message is unclear and tough to comprehend
then it would hamper the work procedure and

Organizational Norms And The Performance Of Virtual Teams...
Introduction
"Individual commitment to a group effort – that is what makes a team work, a company work, a
society work, a civilization work." – Vince Lombardi
Rules are meant to be broken! This phrase is embraced by innovative technology to stimulate
creativity and 'out of the box' type thinking. This mentality can also serve as an Achilles' heel for
any team that fails to establish ground rules prior to commencement of a project. Virtual teams
without behavioral norms are divisive and less productive than their peers. This paper will discuss
ten behavioral norms that are essential components to the performance of virtual teams, along with,
an action plan.
Norms
"In high performing teams, the cost of speaking out is lowered, the cost of silence is raised." – Nick
Pope
According to Watkins (2013), the first five task norms drive production efforts of virtual teams:
1. Establish the team members early on and get them together. Communication is the key to
establishing trust, personal and professional relationships and a strong basis for team effectiveness.
Use collaboration tools such as video conferencing and team blogs to increase socialization among
members. If it is possible to get the team members together, use this time to build relationships and
team identity. Bring the team together and schedule regular follow–up meetings.
2. It is imperative that tasks and processes be thoroughly explained along with the associated goals
and the roles. Team leaders must

Communication in Virtual Team
Katie M Drinkall (u06a1) Unit 6 Assignment 1 Communication in Virtual Team Capella University
September 26, 2013 Communication Communication is the activity of conveying information
though the exchange of thoughts, messages, or information by speech, visuals, signals, writings or
behaviors (Grosse, 2002). These processes are done over time, culture, and geographic boundaries,
while this has become a common practice for organizations and has give rise to the concept of
globally dispersed teams known as virtual teams (LaLonde, 2011). Communication is one of the
most necessary components of leadership, without communication there would be no teams, nobody
would know what their role on the team would be, there would be no procedures ... Show more
content on Helpwriting.net ...
(Jarvenpaa & Leidner, 2006). When a virtual team is established there are many reasons why
the team was developed, the main reason would be physical locations from one another. When teams
are spread out over a long distance it can be very time consuming as well as costly to travel to that
current location for a meeting, while the meeting could be conducted via the internet and conference
call. Even though a team is only communicating in the virtual reality, there are many aspects of the
first initial meeting that need to be made to make the team as effective as possible. According to
Nyström & Asproth, once initial contact has been made there needs to be standards that need to
be set for a positive communication standard. Technology According to Pitts (p.3), Training is a very
large issue related to communication in a virtual team, either the team members do not have enough
training when it comes to technology or they are simply lacking the equipment needed to
communication in a professional manner. While LaLonde (p.8) states that the information
technology provides the influence necessary to support the development and expansion of new
organizational infrastructure. Since there are no training courses in trust (Grosse, 2002). There are
however numerous carouses in communication and how to improve

Virtual Teams
Introduction
Virtual team can be defined as a group of individuals who are from different locations
geographically but depend on communication technology to communicate, share work run projects
as a group. These individuals run these errands in a space called the virtual environment which is
created by the IT departments and maintained through various software technologies. Virtual teams
or as at times referred to as remote teams have nowadays become very important aspects of most
businesses. The individuals use video conferencing and mass emailing to run the errands as a group.
Fiber optic technology has completely changed the aspect of virtual team, the individuals may not
be familiar with each other but through this technology, they can ... Show more content on
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Virtual teams can be either be local whereby the individuals are members of the same company
which has sufficient resources enough to maintain and run a virtual space or environment and have
therefore considered setting up its employees in a remote virtual group, or it can be global in which
case, the individuals are not members of the same organization ,they work for different companies
which have brought together their resources to accomplish a common outsourced task .Virtual team
involves assembling, training ,organizing and controlling and the supervision of these individuals
.This method allows faster information sharing, lower transportation costs and reduce expenses of
the company for example in terms of renting an office space .A virtual team must be therefore run
efficiently to get better results for instance, the organization must hire highly skilled individuals and
the location of the individual must be good enough not to interfere with linking during outsourcing
and performing tasks. One advantage with the virtual team concept is that in the global virtual arena
where time zone is considered, when some virtual members are sleeping the others are busy working
and vice versa, this has proved to be more effective than the novel

Important Components Of A Virtual Team Performance Essay
One of the most important components in any type of team is communication. Excellent
communication between the team members is important to achieve the team goals. Talking about
achieving goals of the team, it is central to have shared team goals. Also, mutual respect and trust
among the team members are main components of the team as well. There are five identified
components of a virtual team. "There differentiators– commitment and engagement, shared
processes for decision making, information flow, trust, and collaboration– are the most important
components of optimal virtual team performance" (Derosa & Lepsinger, 2010, p. 51). Not all teams
perform the same functions; however, some teams use a similar approach to reach the goals. There
are many types of teams in today's business world and those teams have similarities in a way they
approach the goals. Teams today are more diverse and more open to the news changes compare to
the teams in the past.
Part One: ARTICLE REVIEW
Article Summary People from different fields were interviewed to find out about three important
management questions; (1) why start distribute program? (2) what do they do to keep it successful
distribute team? and (3) what kind of advice for startup organization? There are several reasons
organizations launch distributed work programs. Many organizations have employees that work
from home or somewhere else informally. If it is not formally set rule, there could be issues with
other employees. It is

The Creation of Virtual Teams: A Case Study
Virtual Teams Case Study
________________________________________________________________________ Virtual
Teams Name Date Virtual Teams With the advent of cheap and effective information
communications technology, the use of "virtual teams" is increasing in many industries. Virtual
teams are created on a need basis in order to combine people for a certain project. (Andres, 2002)
The major concept is making use of different employees who are not present in a single
geographical location and uniting them on a single project. We will look in to the project known as
Country Capital Works Program (CCWP) that was undertaken by the New South Wales Police Force
in Australia. This project consisted of a virtual team that was created with existing personnel for a
certain purpose. This project goes on to confirm that virtual project teams can be created if the need
arises. As it can be understood, the lack of face to face communication can lead to a lot of problems.
Along with looking at the advantages of virtual teams, their disadvantages will be looked at as well.
Due to the distance between Sydney and other country centers, as well as the distance from the
country centers to remote radio sites; working in a co–located team was quite hard. Thus, it was
decided to form a virtual team in order to undertake the CCWP. The duration of the project was
three years and the cost was more than AUD $20.5 million. In order to implement this project firstly,
a full time project manager

Virtual Team Advantages And Disadvantages
VIRTUAL ORGANIZATION MANAGEMENT
Many scholars have agreed with the assertions that teams are an essential part of any organization.
The concept of virtual teams had emerged during the 1990's and since then the concept has greatly
evolved. Today, companies create teams of individuals from different diverse backgrounds to meet
the wants of their customers. As today's business environments are dynamic and competitive,
collaboration has become an important aspect to companies, as it helps businesses to adapt and
succeed. Due to the fast paced growth of new technologies, many companies have started the use of
virtual teams. Virtual teams are a benefit to companies, however their usefulness, are depended to
the extent of the members capabilities in the team. This essay would go through the several benefits
and drawbacks of using a virtual team. This essay would also cover different aspects and criteria
required for the selection of members in a virtual team.
The advantages and disadvantages of using a virtual team
There are several key difference between a traditional team and a virtual team. In a traditional team,
communication is continuous, members coordinate, accommodate and work together. In an virtual
team, the communication between team members is asynchronous, members work in different
locations and require less monitoring. The government has considered the option of using a virtual
team to review the great barrier reef program. Virtual teams provides several benefits such as
flexibility, High responsiveness and cost reduction.
Using a virtual team for this project would eliminate several physical team meetings. The time taken
to travel to these meetings could be used in other productive activities and the cost incurred in
traveling could be saved up. As members would have more time, they would also have a better work
life balance.
Virtual teams removes the geographical barriers and improve diversity as Individuals from different
countries and backgrounds can be included in the virtual team. People with disabilities and parents
with children could also be included in the team. As the team can include members beyond the
geographical borders of the country, members from

Advantages Of Virtual Teams
– To qualify to be a virtual team, either some or all team members would not be physically in the
same location. This doesn't necessarily mean that they are not in the same country or city, more
about whether they meet each other physically on a daily basis. Even though they don't have to be,
most of virtual teams are across countries.
– Motivation to work in virtual teams: Half own choice and half the context in which the job is
placed in.
– Personal motivation and advantages of the team: One can access different expertise and
capabilities across the country/continent, which one might not have access to within the office or
location. Also, Sometimes there is gain in efficiency. Yet, there is also a lack in efficiency around the
fact that ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
The main challenges is to adapt the communication, how to adapt their performance management
which each individual depending on the culture.
– For newer generations (people who have already worked abroad & have been used to work in
cross–cultural teams) adapting to different cultures is done automatically and common sense. One
knows a bit of cultural dimensions of each of the countries and one is familiar with the working
styles of other countries so can one can adapt a little bit, when interacting with them.
– For people who have been only within a British business with British people for a long period of
time, this common sense is less. They have to force themselves to adapt to change the
communication style and to change how they measure performance. This is one of the main
challenges.
– When these people manage virtual teams, they often try to flatten /level the differences of the team
members. This usually leads to the team members feeling like they are being forced to work in a
particular (different) style or communicate in a different style, which is not their style and might not
be suitable in the context. Therefore the efficiency of these virtual teams brings frustrations and a lot
of times, managers are not very efficient in getting things

Traditional Ground Based Teams And Virtual Teams
There are several differences and alike between traditional ground–based teams and virtual teams
when individuals begin to work together as a team. In a common setting such as a classroom or a
specific department in a company, teams are assigned and begin to work together by discussing the
details of a project and assign tasks to each member. In this case, students or colleagues begin to
work much quicker than in a virtual setting because the exchange of communication is much faster.
In contrast, virtual teams have to first determine what method of communication would be
appropriate for all members of the team. Next, they have to wait for all members to respond and
then they can execute the best method of communication for the virtual team. According to Berry
(2011), "Virtual team members can be located across the office, but almost as easily across the
country or across the world, and may rarely or perhaps never meet face to face. As team members
become more reliant on computer–mediated communication technologies, the more virtual they
become. However, today most traditional teams use technological devices to continue work outside
the classroom or office. Therefore, traditional teams model a virtual team, and if members take
advantage of the resources, it can strengthen the team. There are implications that can potentially
cause negative outcomes to both, traditional or virtual teams. Virtual teams face a quandary when
members share less information, are not clear about

A Review On Virtual Team
REVIEW OF
"VIRTUAL TEAM"
AJAYI IBITOLA TOMISIN
Griffith School of Engineering, Griffith University, Gold Coast, QLD4222, Australia
This paper presents a review of virtual team. It defines the virtual team, present opportunities in
virtual team, discusses its managerial and technological issues, lists the advantages & disadvantages
of virtual teams and recommends for the future.
1. Introduction
1.1. Overview of virtual team A virtual team whether across the street or across the world is a team
whose members simultaneously work together to a common purpose while physically apart[1].
2. The Literature Review
A virtual team is a team in which its team members work together efficiently more over technology
than face to face.Virtual ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
– There is increase in the globalization of trade and commercial activities.
– In virtual teams, one can work for longer time instead of the face to face 8hrs.
– The use of ICT in the virtual teams could increase the information gathering rate
– The variety in team members gives room for brainstorming innovative solutions and fresh
conversations
– Most workers in virtual team are chosen based on skills and knowledge
4. Issues in virtual Teams In virtual teams, issues can be classified as either management issues or
technological issues[3].
4.1 Managerial issues
Managerial issues have a broad impact on virtual team process. This aspect deals with the
managerial concerns of the virtual team[4]. It includes:
– Developing a team VT require initial face to face meeting to develop a sense of team for their
members.
– Reinforcing project objectives There is need for frequent reinstatement of goals to team to ensure
every member remains focused on the common objectives and goals of the project.
– Visiting remote participants Visiting team individuals during the course of the projects to deliver
evaluation and retain the

Virtual Teams
Virtual Teams in Action: Building the F–35 Fighter
Case Study 1
By:
Alyssa Dimeck
MGT 404
10/09/2011
Professor Samuel Palmeri
Virtual Teams in Action: Building the F–35 Fighter
CASE SUMMARY
The U.S. Department of Defense is known for their F–35 Lighting II Program; the focal point for
defining affordable next generation stealth fighter aircraft. In 2002, the Department of Defense
announced Lockheed Martin Aeronautic as the designer and builder of the fighter with Northrop
Grumman and BAE Systems as the major partners. The fighter was noted by proponents of the
program, "to bring cutting edge technology to the battle space of the future". The immense project
consisted of countries all over the world, working as a single team ... Show more content on
Helpwriting.net ...
Having a clear and specific job description would create organization within a team; this would
generate a better organization as a whole for teams working together both nationally and
internationally.
KEY LEARNING 2: JOB DESIGN
Another key learning from the case and text is also something I believe was a key success factor in
the production of the F–35 Fighter, and that is job design. In only four years the project was
completed and "performed beautifully". This goal could not have been achieved without
implementing job design, which is concerned with structuring jobs in order to improve organization
efficiency and employee job satisfaction (Bohlander & Snell, 2010). Lack of employee job
satisfaction is critical to the success of any business or organization because it constitutes such
behaviors as lack of motivation, commitment, and promotes employee absenteeism and higher
turnover rates. Of course it is impossible to satisfy every employee's needs, but if these behaviors
were more common than not, in the production of the F–35, it would not have been such a success.
Fredrick Herzberg, the originator of job enrichment, defined the concept as, "fulfilling the high
motivational needs of employees, such as self–fulfillment and self–esteem, while achieving long–
term job

The Birth Of Virtual Teams
Abstract Teams have always contributed significantly towards the successful operation of any
organization. Traditionally, team members had to endure the challenges of time, distance, and even
cultural differences in order to successfully complete a team activity. However, recent advancements
in technology have led to the birth of virtual teams. The paper aims to explore the effectiveness and
differences ofvirtual teamsas compared to face–to–face teams. The evaluation will be on the basis of
dimensions such as performance, cohesion, conflict, trust and satisfaction among others.
Introduction
Due to the recent increased utilization of information communication technology in organizations,
there has been a rising trend of the adoption of virtual teams. These teams have helped organizations
conduct their businesses in a very effective way. In furtherance of that, these teams have also helped
in enhancing the speed at which communication is carried out. For instance, team members in
different countries or continents can actually contribute ideas for a project in real time via electronic
means (Hendrickson, 1998). However, these groups have faced some criticisms which have made
them to be underutilized. Some of the issues raised against these teams include lack of involvement
and inclusiveness, lack of trust, lack of employees with technical and interpersonal skills and lack of
cohesion among others. Past research has revealed that virtual teams have proved to be effective,

Pros And Cons Of Virtual Teams
Final Research Paper: The Pros and Cons of Virtual Teams
A History in the Making
From its very inception, the Internet was intended to create a means for a secure, reliable
communication network, with the strategy to connect people with data. Information that once stood
evanescent and restrictive by one's personal radius of influence, flourished into an evergreen and
ever–spanning wealth of information. Alan Evans, Kendall Martin, and Mary Anne Poatsy, co–
authors of Technology in Action (2016) state:
The concept of the Internet was developed in the late 1950s while the United States was in the midst
of the Cold War with the Soviet Union. At that time, the U.S. Department of Defense needed a
computer network that wouldn't be disrupted ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Information is now not bound by the physical restrictions of printed texts, nor is access to
information limited to by geographical or temporal boundaries. Cyberspace immeasurably extends
possibilities for storage and transmission of information, and access to information.
Further still, technology has moved beyond a passive, library archive of at–your–fingertips
information to a collaborative, living structure of content available 24/7. Limited by bandwidth,
network connectivity, hardware capability, and user skillset, businesses today focus on supporting
the infrastructure needs of top talent for connectivity as opposed to shrinking geographical
distances. Don Tapscott and Anthony D. Williams, co–authors of Wikinomics: How Mass
Collaboration Changes Everything (2008), pen:
Today the Net is evolving from a network of Web sites that enable firms to present information into
a computing platform in its own right. Elements of a computer – and elements of a computer
program – can be spread out across the Internet and seamlessly combined as necessary. The Internet
is becoming a giant computer that everyone can program, providing a global infrastructure for
creativity, participation, sharing, and self–organization. (p. 37)
Quickly business has moved from point–to–point modes of communication, sending linear streams
of information back and forth like a ping pong ball, to a centralized storing of data, accessible for a
multiplication of efforts by anyone, anywhere.

Academic Advising Virtual Team
The team that I would like to discuss going virtual would be the Academic Advising team at Baker
College. The newly designed virtual team would be answering all student questions by email, phone
or chat. Academic Advisors work from home; the position would be completely remote. An
economic advantage of this virtual team for Baker College would be the decrease in office supplies
(paper, ink, office space and shredding services).
Communications between the team members would be the first strategy to be developed. Email
would be the primary communication method. Training for staff happens prior to the professional
advising team going live virtually. Brought together for training, employees would have the
opportunity to build social relationships with each other as well as the leader (Katzenbach & Smith,
2013). All staff have the opportunity to share best practices or better ways to complete tasks and
communicate moving forward. Team members can share with the leader ways to improve so they
can collaborate on new processes that are more efficient as the virtual team develops (Katzenbach &
Smith, 2013). Future communications outside of in person trainings, which are twice a year, would
be weekly team update emails. A weekly team update email is implemented rather than ... Show
more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Through continuing educational trainings hosted virtually, staff will learn how to successfully
collaborate and learn the skills on how to handle conflict management and appreciate each other
(Katzenbach & Smith, 2013). Individuals will be able to do these trainings asynchronous.
Technology such as a Wiki or Google Documents will be used when teammates are collaborating on
projects, so all the information is in one place that all team members have access as long as they
have the internet. Since individuals will all learn how to collaborate, they will use these practices
when working with others on problem solving, projects or new creation of

Cross Cultural Virtual Teams Essay
Introduction
The evolution of globalization and the advancement of communication technology have increased
the amount of cross cultural, virtual teams in existence in today's business world. Cross cultural,
virtual teams can leverage on the diverse experiences of its members to achieve good results even
without the members meeting face to face.
Having good leadership of any project team is undoubtedly essential for the success of the team. It is
thus imperative for virtual, cross cultural teams to be led properly and carefully so that their cultural
diversity and virtual presence does not become a source of conflict and eventual failure.
Challenges posed by cultural diversity among team members
There are a number of challenges that a ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
This makes it easier for them to understand words spoken than between members of cross cultural
teams where first languages and accents may differ. For example, I work with a multicultural team
and I often find it difficult to understand my Turkish colleagues when they try to speak English.
Many times I ask questions so that I can get the message they are trying to pass across. It however
becomes frustrating sometimes because a lot of important information often gets lost in the
discussion because I can't understand properly. This has caused delay in meeting business targets in
the past.
Cross cultural team members also face a challenge of having to understand that other team members
possibly have a different idea of how to treat their bosses. Drawing from the example of my job
team at work, I noticed that my American team members do not really run their ideas through our
team leader before taking actions. However, my Turkish boss does not like this as he comes from a
culture where everything a subordinate does should be run through the boss for approval. This had
caused strains in the team's effectiveness in the past; until my American team members adapted to fit
our team leader's wishes.
As with my previous example, my American partners often make quick decisions without really
examining the complete consequences of their decisions. This can be traced to their quick and sharp
approach to life while my Turkish and Egyptian counterparts like to look through

Advantages And Disadvantages Of Virtual Teams
Do virtual teams experience the stages of development?
When Bruce Tuckman presented his initial theory for group development in 1965, he couldn't have
possibly imagined a world dotted with virtual teams. Tuckman's framework for evaluating teamwork
using the stages of forming, storming, norming and performing was created after a study of a variety
of face to face teams. As a testimony to his work, it is generally accepted that Tuckman's premise
about groups experiencing definitive stages toward formation, also applies to groups of people who
don't share physical space and span time zones. There is some thought that the storming stage is
integrated into the other stages or skipped entirely. (Berry, 2011). The lack of defined storming
might be due to virtual teams having more of a task versus personality orientation and having a well
defined communication plan also serving as a proactive conflict management measure.
Also, there is a shared opinion that well planned formation activities are critically important for a
virtual team. At the top of the list is training on the technology and related communication systems
to be used. (Berry, 2011).
The importance of trust in any team
There is agreement across the board of teamwork experts on the importance of trust in a team
setting. If a team wants to succeed, the presence of trust must be welcomed, nurtured and
maintained. There is also a majority shared opinion that trust building takes time, but it can be
accelerated with

Diversity and Virtual Team
Diverse and Virtual Teams
Bus 362 Management Skill Development
November 10, 2011
Diverse and Virtual Teams
The world is a growing and changing place, and in business we have seen many changes occur.
Most of these changes are of a result of globalization and multiculturalism Diverse and virtual teams
have developed in response. The work force has become more diverse and spread out, and it has
forced managers to adjust and change their management styles to adapt to the new work force needs.
This paper will address the risks, the benefits, and the ways managers plan to manage the new
diverse and mobile teams. In the past there was not much diversity among work teams. There was ...
Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
There can be many challenges that arise in diverse teams such as communication challenges.
Managers should ensure that people within the team are communicating clearly in a way that
everyone understands. The manager should also encourage team members to communicate with
their own individual networks to bring more knowledge and information to the group. Managers
also need to regularly provide positive feedback to the team. This will reassure the team that they
are effective in what they have done and can see progress that they have made. Lastly, effective
managers need to act as a role model to the team and mentor them. Mentoring gives employees
skills and advice on what they need to do to be successful. The manager should also act in a way
that they want the rest of the team to behave and show that they believe diverse teams can be of
great benefit. Virtual and mobile teams (also known as distributed teams) are individual members or
groups of a team working independently without a common work location, to meet collective
organization goals. Virtual and mobile teams can be spread out as far as across town, to all the way
around the world. Virtual and mobile teams allow businesses and teams can work effectively work
apart, and achieve the benefits of being in different key locations. Some benefits of virtual and
mobile teams are the ability to bridge organizational and geographical boundaries and offer
organizations the ability

Advantages And Disadvantages Of A Virtual Team
A virtual team are a group of people who work interdependently towards a shared purpose across
space, time and organization boundary using technology (Edwards & Wilson, 2004). The team
members need not to originate from the same organization; it can be collaboration between several
organizations.
Due to rapid technological advancement, virtual working has significantly changed over the years
evident by the change in conducted to address the topic. Team work is becoming more common in
the corporate world and the virtual teams are created to ease the work coordination and increase
competitive advantage. The virtual team work members focus on a common goal with primary work
site different from one another. A number of scholars have focused their studies on the impacts of
virtual work to organizations structures. There challenges and advantages can however not provide
strategies ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
What most researchers do not offer are critics to management deficits.
There tends to be a discrepancy when generalizations are made that the advantages of virtual teams
are far more than the disadvantages. Most researchers tend to concentrate on one side of the issue
either positively or negatively hence a possibility of narrow and biased conclusions.
The main flaw of virtual working researches relies on personal opinion rather than empirical data.
Absence of supporting evidence gives no way to judge the validity of the conclusions and as a result
undermine to the value of the work. These issues and problems with virtual teams tend to fade as the
team members become more experienced with the systems in virtual workplace(Lipnack, 1997).
Recommendations
Based on the research papers read, the following recommendations can be made on the management
of virtual

1. Introduction
Virtual teams have emerged to mitigate the challenges of managing teams that are distributed across
different regions, and are a sustainable component of global business. A project manager managing a
virtual team would have to integrate communication strategies, project management techniques
including human and social processes in order to support the team, (Kimball, 1997). The author is a
project manager assigned to lead a virtual team of 300 volunteers located across the globe to
develop recommendations for regulating carbon emissions in the world. As indicated Kimball
(1997), this kind of a virtual team usually supports people working in the same professional field
and most of the ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
This would minimize the crossing of time zones and the process can increase team effectiveness.
The author, as a project manager can establish a common time to interact face–to–face through
video conferencing.
b) Different cultural and language issues
Working with 300 individuals from across the globe requires a project manager to be aware of
different cultural and language issues. These individuals would have different ways of working,
thinking and also reporting differently. Integrating the work that has been submitted would be a
challenge as there will be no time to develop a common language. In order to solve this issue the
team needs to develop an open culture so that everyone can openly share information and not
tolerate a blame game.
c) Learning the new technology
It will be a problem if team members do not understand the virtual working process, which can
hinder communication therefore affecting team relationships. Team members must be oriented to the
virtual working process before the project commence so that they have enough time to ask. The
author should develop a support mechanism for the team to use when experiencing difficulties.
4. Motivating individuals to archive the project goal

These volunteers can be motivated by highlighting to them that, this is an opportunity for them to
sharpen their skills and knowledge through experience of this

Human Resource Management Review 15 (2005) 69 – 95 www.socscinet.com/bam/humres
Managing virtual teams: A review of current empirical research
Guido Hertela,T, Susanne Geisterb, Udo Konradtb a Department of Psychology, Work, Industrial &
Organizational Psychology, University of Wuerzburg,
Roentgenring 10, 97 070 Wuerzburg, Germany b University of Kiel, Germany
Abstract
This review summarizes empirical research on the management of virtual teams, i.e., distributed
work teams whose members predominantly communicate and coordinate their work via electronic
media (e–mail, telephone, video–conference, etc.). Instead of considering virtual teams as
qualitatively distinct from conventional teams, the degree of bvirtualityQ of teams is ... Show more
content on Helpwriting.net ...
In contrast to virtual teams, virtual communities are not implemented within an organizational
structure but are usually initiated by some of their members. Examples of virtual communities are
Open Source software projects (Hertel, Niedner, & Herrmann, 2003; Moon &
Sproull, 2002) or scientific collaboratories (Finholt, 2002). For reasons of feasibility, the current
review is restricted to virtual teams.
Apart from these more general differentiations, the more specific definition of virtual teams is still
controversial (Bell & Kozlowski, 2002; Duarte & Snyder, 1999; Griffith & Neale, 2001; Haywood,
1998; Lipnack & Stamps, 1997; Maznevski & Chudoba, 2000). As a minimal consensus, virtual
teams consist of (a) two or more persons who (b) collaborate interactively to achieve common goals,
while (c) at least one of the team members works at a different location, organization, or at a
different time so that
(d) communication and coordination is predominantly based on electronic communication media
(email, fax, phone, video conference, etc.). It is important to note that the latter two aspects in this
definition are considered as dimensions rather than as dichotomized criteria that distinguish virtual
teams from conventional bface–to–faceQ teams. While extreme cases of virtual teams can be
imagined in which all members are working at different locations and communicate only via
electronic media, most

Virtual Teams
Virtual teams are becoming increasingly common in the workplace, especially in media. Powell,
Piccoli and Ives (2011) define virtual teams as "groups of geographically, organizationally and/or
time dispersed workers brought together by information and telecommunication technologies to
accomplish one or more organizational tasks" Virtual teams are becoming increasingly important
and common as work processes have become more globalized. As the world continues to become
increasingly globalized, it is likely that virtual teams will continue to be implemented with
companies who encourage and implement a global strategy. However, virtual teams face many
problems in terms of communicated among members. The use of digital media applications and ...
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Telecommunications is imperative to virtual teams. Without telecommunications, the internet,
wireless, and mobile technologies, virtual teams would cease to exist There are many digital media
collaboration platforms that can allow virtual team members to share documents, have discussion,
share knowledge, and manage projects across locations and teams. One digital media application is
called Basecamp, which is a virtual project management platform that is easy to use and can be
organized by specific topic, message, or subject matter. Another digital media platform is Zoho,
which is a CRM tool that provides collaboration both internally and externally. It runs on the cloud
and is helpful for virtual teams on the go. Campfire is another platform that sets up chat rooms for
real time collaboration. Furthermore, these forms of digital media allow team members to not feel
isolated and solve many problems in terms of communicating, generating and sharing knowledge,
and project

Integrating Virtual Teams And The Development Of Employee...
Structuring Virtual Teams Introduction With the increasing progression of modern technology, and
the paramount development of employee expectations, society has seen great shifts in globalization.
Organizations have created new and innovative ways to teamwork, and many of today's
organizations have transformed their views from traditional teamwork, to a new phenomenon in that
of virtual teams (Daft, 2012). Due to globalization, organizations have become cross functional, and
utilizes modern technology such as e–mail, instant messaging, video–conferencing and other
information technology platforms to collaborate and perform organizational tasks (Daft, 2012). In
recent years we have seen an influx in the development and usage of ... Show more content on
Helpwriting.net ...
Work Design Option Because of the challenges faced by virtual teams, many organizations that
utilize them encounter significant obstacles to effective work processes (Piccoli & Ives, 2004). Team
leaders must understand that a properly designed virtual team, with a solid team structure provides
the foundation for effective team performance and offers a viable strategic approach (Prasad &
Akhilesh, 2002). Although there are various views on virtual team structures and their effectiveness,
research suggest that there are no specific criteria's to distinguish teams in terms of their virtual
structures, as a result, the most common way of understanding virtual team structures is through the
observation of their organizational chart (Prasad & Akhilesh, 2002). However, due to globalization,
and the fact that many virtual teams today are comprised of individuals in various geographical
locations, virtual team designs go far beyond a typical organizational chart. Virtual leaders should
understand that an effective work design must address the contextual elements, and the process and
procedures that individual team members bring to the team (Prasad & Akhilesh, 2002). McLean
(2014), suggest that there is no true effective approach to virtual team structures (McLean, 2014),
therefore, it is vital that team leaders realize that paramount to the success of the

Virtual Teams : A Threat Of Globalization Of Business Essay
The use of virtual teams as a result of globalization of business is on the rise. However, several
challenges have made virtual teams difficult to implement. Amongst such challenges are time
differences between global locations, technological setbacks, data transmission and bandwidth, trust,
number of meeting, and others. Coupled with real time discussions and actions, many global
companies that addressed above challenges were successful in forming and implementing global
virtual teams. Overall, the efficiencies measured in terms of quality and quantity increased as a
result of the use of virtual teams within global organizations.
INTRODUCTION
With constant and rapid innovation in the IT domain, many global organizations are moving to
virtual team structures in order to improve productivity and maintain synchronicity within their
global structure. Many companies have had success in forming global virtual teams, though some
have failed. As technology improves, there is a question of increasing effectiveness of virtual teams.
It is currently accepted that virtual teams are typically less productive than traditional face to face
teams. Global organizations span many time zones, and so temporal variances can play a large factor
for teams whose members reside in time zones with substantial time differences. Bandwidth of
communication can also be a hindrance for global organizations as well. Teams that need to share
data remotely face problems when dealing with large

A Virtual Team Between Uber Drivers
Context Uber is a company that I personally admire. It is such a great smart idea to have people
around the world driving other people, and the company just receives the money by controlling all
virtually. I like to use Uber when I travel, it is a reliable service, and it saves me money and time.
After developing this report, I expect to learn more about the company itself, how efficient the
company manage its operations. How the drivers are hired, it is all virtually? How the drivers
communicate with other Uber drivers? I believe it has to be a virtual team between Uber drivers.
Also, I would like to learn what the company problems are when managing it operations efficiencies
using multi–cultural virtual teams. This report will help me to understand the importance of muti–
cultural virtual team improving operational efficiency in a company, and in the future to use my
skills to work effectively with multi–cultural virtual teams.
Introduction Uber operates through a mobile app, where people need to create an account, and a
debit or credit card is required to make the payment. The app allows the consumers to request a trip;
then, the software automatically sends a message to the nearest driver around with the location of
the consumer. The drivers use their own personal cars. The application software calculates the fare
trip, and then transfer the money to the Uber driver. Uber is located around 66 countries in the
world. The company operates, leads, organize, and manage

Best Practices Of Managing Virtual Software Development Teams

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