Leading Virtual Teams

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Virtual Teams : Benefits and Challenges

Working in teams has been an old time favorite strategy done in school and in organizations . Possessing teamwork skills are very essential since , nowadays , most projects are done in groups . However , working in teams does not just involve physical presence it is also done virtually , or specifically , in the cyberspace . Technological advancements have allowed teamwork to evolve this way . Just like any other approach , this virtual team ' has its own benefits and challenges . In this , I would

like to examine the practices involving a virtual team and later on discuss the different benefits and challenges it entails

The benefit of virtual teams is that it allows flexibility among the members and the organization (Gould 1 . It also reduces congestion and pollution caused by commuting . Space is also saved with this approach since the space consumed here is a virtual space . In virtual teams , one would need a software or program (like Lotus Notes and Exchange ) which will allow such communication . Websites are also a popular storage for materials and other s

About a hundred people engage in a virtual team (Gould , 2 . They mostly use telephones and e-mail for their meetings . He enumerated the following characteristics of a virtual team according to his observation . First , he said that virtual teams can successfully finish a job . The people in the team are trustworthy . Also , only a few are 100 virtual . They also try to meet up once in a while . Moreover , the structure of a virtual team is the same with the original face-to-face ' team

In terms of leading a virtual team , it involves a different framework as compared to a normal team because of the physical separation (Gould 3 Giving recognition by team leaders was done through a public voice conference call . Moreover , team celebrations were viewed to be impractical due to geographic barriers , thus it made no sense to really celebrate . The team members only just wish that if ever they were at the same place , then they could celebrate . Team leaders only provide seldom support and coaching for their members (Anjum 6

Undeniably , communication problems will likely to happen . Since , members are working in different places they cannot seem to put together individual work properly . Sometimes , feedback is also a problem because not everyone can just go online at the same time . Meanings of texts are also quite confusing since you cannot hear the voice . You would not know how the sentence was pronounced and delivered - if the person was mad or not . However , with emoticons , it can be very helpful . However the real intention of the person will still remain a mystery . A person can easily hide their expressions

Such problems can be solved with the following tips (Gould 5 . He said that it is important if the team meets face-to-face occasionally to establish a real relationship and truly build camaraderie among them However , sometimes this is impossible especially if the members are located in...