Future Trends

2011 ◽  
pp. 480-493
Author(s):  
Debra D. Orosbullard
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Teams ◽  
Virtual World ◽  
Virtual Team ◽  
Future Trends ◽  
Business World ◽  
Geographically Dispersed ◽  
Doing Business ◽  
The World ◽  
Dispersed Teams

The business world is running at a faster pace than ever before. Globalization has partnered the world and new ways of doing business to meet increasing demands are inevitable. Teams now have members dispersed around the globe, distanced by location and brought together by technology. Where these geographically dispersed teams work is known as a “virtual” world. The “virtual” team is different from the traditional team many are familiar with requiring that new skills be learned to be a successful member. This chapter will introduce the virtual team and discuss how it is different from traditional teams. The skills required of the leadership and members of a virtual team will be identified and detailed. The various types of virtual teams will be examined to determine how they are utilized in today’s business world.

Aided System of Competence Management for Virtual Team Building Adapted to Specific Needs of Design Projects

2010 ◽  
pp. 293-312
Author(s):  
Marinita Schumacher ◽  
Julie Stal Le Cardinal ◽  
Jean-Claude Bocquet
Keyword(s):  
Functional Analysis ◽  
Product Development ◽  
Virtual Teams ◽  
New Product Development ◽  
Team Building ◽  
Virtual Team ◽  
Future Trends ◽  
Virtual Design ◽  
Competence Management ◽  
Design Projects

Virtual instruments and tools are future trends in Engineering which are due to the growing complexity of engineering tasks. Individuals who are working in Virtual Teams must be equipped with spanning competencies that provide a basis for Virtual Team building. In the first step this chapter gives a broad insight to the field of Competence Management and Virtual Teams. The second step responds to the need of a method of Competence Management to build Virtual Teams that are active in virtual design projects in the area of New Product Development (NPD). Due to the systemic approach of the functional analysis, we present an Aided Competence Management for Virtual Team Building System (Aided CMVTB System) that permits to be adapted not only to organizations but also to design projects without a real organizational structure. The focus of this work is set on the generic aspect to highlight the adaptability and flexibility of the system.

Successful Communication in Virtual Teams and the Role of the Virtual Team Leader

2011 ◽  
pp. 39-52 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jamie S. Switzer
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Teams ◽  
Communication Strategies ◽  
Team Leadership ◽  
Virtual Team ◽  
Team Leaders ◽  
Organizational Boundaries ◽  
Successful Communication ◽  
Virtual Team Leadership ◽  
The World

The world now lives and works in cyberspace. Often, organizations have their people perform functional tasks by working in virtual teams, where members use technology to cooperate across geographic and organizational boundaries. As the use of virtual teams in the workforce becomes more prevalent, those involved must have the knowledge to communicate efficiently and effectively, especially the virtual team leaders. This chapter provides a general overview of virtual teams and virtual team leadership, and discusses specific communication strategies and competencies necessary for virtual team leaders to be effective and successful communicators.

Removing Space and Time

2011 ◽  
pp. 14-23
Author(s):  
Christie L. McDaniel
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Teams ◽  
Virtual Team ◽  
Communication Barriers ◽  
Team Cohesion ◽  
Team Dynamics ◽  
Team Members ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Managerial Styles ◽  
Geographic Boundaries ◽  
The World

Virtual teams are become more and more popular as the world becomes more connected; furthermore, research is suggesting that virtual teams are as effective as face-to-face teams (Baker, 2002). This chapter compares and contrasts virtual teams with face-to-face teams in order to determine what differences exist as the workplace become virtual. It investigates how relationships between team members change when geographic boundaries are removed and how managers should adjust managerial styles when leading a virtual team. Also, a discussion of team dynamics—including the development of trust, team cohesion, and communication barriers—is included. Tips and techniques for developing an effective team are provided for virtual team managers.

Compliance within virtual teams

2016 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Daphna Shwartz-Asher
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Teams ◽  
Virtual World ◽  
Team Member ◽  
Human Resources Management ◽  
Virtual Team ◽  
Team Members ◽  
Resources Management ◽  
Traditional Definition ◽  
Team Task ◽  
Definition Of

In light of the growing phenomenon of virtual teams as a new concept within the Human Resources Management (HRM) world, the traditional definition of team member 'compliance' should be redefined. In order to measure the influence of the virtuality level on the team member’s reaction to instructions, an experiment was designed, in which a team task with a set of instructions was given to 150 subjects who participated in virtual or non-virtual task solving' meetings. This study’s main finding indicates that while the structured virtual team members complied with the directive to divide the labor between them and to appoint a chairperson, the structured non-virtual team members did not comply. It seems that pertaining to the task of appointing a chairperson, as for the division of labor, the use of the “formality” variable may explain the compliance of the structured virtual team members as opposed to the lack of compliance among members of the structured non-virtual team members. This research contributes to a better understanding of virtual team HRM strategies in the hope of improving the teams’ compliance and management within today’s virtual world.

Cross-Disciplinary Learning in Virtual Teams

2011 ◽  
pp. 78-81
Author(s):  
Scott P. Schaffer ◽  
Therese M. Schmidt
Keyword(s):  
Software Development ◽  
Virtual Teams ◽  
New Product Development ◽  
Virtual Team ◽  
Knowledge Bases ◽  
High Performing ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Geographically Dispersed ◽  
New Product Development Teams ◽  
Better Than

The prevalence of global software development and new product development teams is on the increase, and such teams face unique challenges (McDonough, Kahnb, & Barczaka, 2001). First, these teams often are comprised of individuals from different disciplines (software engineering, graphic design, instructional design/educational technology). Second, these teams often are required to communicate and share information virtually, since they are geographically dispersed. These challenges make management of such teams difficult, and very little is known about the conditions and factors that impact virtual team performance. While the task of overcoming these challenges is daunting, the benefits that an effective virtual and cross-disciplinary software development team can have are large. Cohen and Gibson (2003) state, “when organizations compose virtual teams with people from different perspectives and knowledge bases, innovation is more likely to occur” (p.8). In addition, the possibility of creating teams that are virtual allows an organization the opportunity to have the best people for a project actually work on the project, regardless of geographic location. Major questions related to the study of such teams include: Do virtual teams perform better, worse or the same as face-to-face teams? What makes one virtual team better than another? Are group dynamics fundamentally different in a virtual group than in a face-to-face group? Warkenton, Sayeed and Hightower (1997) found that face-to-face teams outperformed virtual teams, and the latter were less satisfied with the experience. Advances in asynchronous communication tools since this study may have improved the situation for virtual teams, but the question of what makes one virtual team better than another is intriguing. Ocker and Fjermestad (2000) investigated factors that distinguish high- vs. low-performing virtual teams. High-performing teams communicated more and more widely related to design decisions than did low-performing teams. Such teams summarized and reflected more often on processes and deliverables, and essentially mirrored face-to-face teams. Similar findings were reported by Baker (2002) in a study of the effects of technology on decision-making in such teams. Another key driver of virtual team development and success is the level of cross-disciplinary learning that occurs during the completion of a project. Fruchter and Emery (1999) define cross-disciplinary learning as the individual’s progression from a state dominated by discipline-centric thought to a state in which the individual understands the terminology and processes of another discipline. It is important to investigate how this learning can be supported and assessed.

Teaching Virtual and Cross-Cultural Collaborations: Exploring Experiences of Croatia- and U.S.-Based Undergraduate Students

2020 ◽  
pp. 105256292097217
Author(s):  
Maya Vidovic ◽  
Michelle Hammond ◽  
Jenna Lenhardt ◽  
Michael Palanski ◽  
Joy Olabisi
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Behavior ◽  
Virtual Teams ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Time Management ◽  
Virtual Team ◽  
The United States ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Business World ◽  
Team Efficacy

Two important characteristics of contemporary teamwork are working with colleagues from diverse cultural backgrounds and working in virtual teams. Hence, preparing students to successfully navigate through the business world must include developing these two skills. To investigate learning for both cross-cultural and virtual collaboration, we conducted a cross-cultural virtual team experiential exercise with 635 undergraduate students comprising 189 teams. The exercise was part of Organizational Behavior classes at three university campuses—two in the United States and one in Croatia. Data analysis examining skills development and efficacy demonstrated a significant increase in virtual team efficacy for all students and a significant increase in cross-cultural efficacy for students in Croatia. Qualitative results point to differences in key lessons learned between U.S. and Croatian students, such as communication skills, time management skills, and intensity of the experience. We provide a description of the exercise, lessons learned, and suggestions for future use, including adaptations to smaller class sizes.

Sociotechnical Design Factors for Virtual Team Performance

1996 ◽  
Vol 40 (15) ◽  
pp. 786-785
Author(s):  
Arnoldo R. Cano ◽  
Brian M. Kleiner
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Teams ◽  
Team Performance ◽  
Virtual Team ◽  
Geographically Dispersed ◽  
Sociotechnical Systems Theory ◽  
Sociotechnical Design ◽  
Sound Theory ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
Design Factors ◽  
Communication And Information Technology

Recent developments in communication and information technology, coupled with an increased need to coordinate organizational activities across geographically dispersed locations, have led to the development and use of virtual teams. Evidence, most of it anecdotal, points to the benefits that can be obtained from the use of such teams. Unfortunately, a comprehensive understanding of the factors that affect virtual team-based system performance is lacking due to little empirical evidence and sound theory. In this paper, sociotechnical systems theory is used to identify design factors for virtual team performance.

Removing Space and Time

2011 ◽  
pp. 2275-2285
Author(s):  
Christie L. McDaniel
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Teams ◽  
Virtual Team ◽  
Communication Barriers ◽  
Team Cohesion ◽  
Team Dynamics ◽  
Team Members ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Managerial Styles ◽  
Geographic Boundaries ◽  
The World

Virtual teams are become more and more popular as the world becomes more connected; furthermore, research is suggesting that virtual teams are as effective as face-to-face teams (Baker, 2002). This chapter compares and contrasts virtual teams with face-to-face teams in order to determine what differences exist as the workplace become virtual. It investigates how relationships between team members change when geographic boundaries are removed and how managers should adjust managerial styles when leading a virtual team. Also, a discussion of team dynamics—including the development of trust, team cohesion, and communication barriers—is included. Tips and techniques for developing an effective team are provided for virtual team managers.

Managing Relationships in Virtual Team Socialization

2010 ◽  
pp. 1626-1635
Author(s):  
Shawn D. Long ◽  
Gaelle Picherit-Duthler ◽  
Kirk W. Duthler
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Teams ◽  
Communication Technology ◽  
Virtual Team ◽  
Job Design ◽  
Distributed Environments ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Geographically Dispersed ◽  
Technological Advances

The traditional organizational workplace is dramatically changing. An increasing number of organizations are employing workers who are physically and geographically dispersed and electronically dependent on each other to accomplish work (Gibson & Cohen, 2003; Griffith, Sawyer, & Neale, 2003). Recent technological advances, combined with more flexible job design, have helped increase the number of people working in distributed environments. Hence, more employees are working individually and on teams that seldom, if ever, meet face to face. These virtual employees have the same work responsibilities as traditional employees in addition to the challenge of operating within the dynamics of these newly designed mediated workplaces. Rapid developments in communication technology and the increasing influence of globalization and efficiency on organizations have significantly accelerated the growth and importance of virtual teams in contemporary workplaces. Virtual teams are becoming more commonplace because of the possibilities of a more efficient, less expensive, and more productive workplace. Additionally, PaulLurey & Raisinghani, 2001; Piccoli & Ives, 2003).

Effective Virtual Teams

2011 ◽  
pp. 1272-1278
Author(s):  
D. Sandy Staples ◽  
Ian K. Wong ◽  
Ann-Frances Cameron
Keyword(s):  
Best Practices ◽  
Virtual Teams ◽  
Virtual Work ◽  
Virtual Team ◽  
Full Potential ◽  
Success Rates ◽  
Team Members ◽  
Geographically Dispersed ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Collocated Teams

Virtual teams are now being used by many organizations to enhance the productivity of their employees and to bring together a diversity of skills and resources (Gignac, 2005; Majchrzak, Malhotra, Stamps, & Lipnack, 2004), and it has been suggested that this will become the normal way of working in teams in the near future (Jones, Oyund, & Pace, 2005). Virtual teams are groups of individuals who work together from different locations (i.e., are geographically dispersed), work at interdependent tasks, share responsibilities for outcomes, and rely on technology for much of their communication (Cohen & Gibson, 2003). While the use of virtual teams is more common in today’s organization, working in these teams is more complex and challenging than working in traditional, collocated teams (Dewar, 2006), and success rates in virtual teams are low (Goodbody, 2005). This article suggests best practices that organizations and virtual team members can follow to help their virtual teams reach their full potential. In this article, virtual team best practices are identified from three perspectives: organizational best practices, team leadership best practices, and team member best practices. Ideas for best practices were identified from three sources: six case studies of actual virtual teams (Staples, Wong, & Cameron, 2004); the existing literature on virtual teams; and the existing literature on traditional (i.e., collocated) teams and telecommuting (i.e., research on virtual work at the individual level).

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