Virtual Teams

RUNNING HEAD : Virtual Teams 1

Virtual Teams (Your Name (Your University

A virtual team is one of the newest trends in business . A concept conceived in the 1990s , virtual teams have since gained popularity alongside globalization (Pauleen , 2004 , as the need for a group of individuals who work across time , space , and organizational boundaries with connections strengthened by ICT , has become inevitable (Management Help , n .d

There are several benefits of virtual teams . This includes employing the best employees wherever on earth they may be (Management Help , n .d . As

this is the case , only the best and brightest minds come together to solve business problems . Moreover , workers in virtual teams are more flexible and tend to have work-life balance as they allot time for work and at the same time accomplish other things important for them Furthermore , virtual teams guarantee productivity and increased competitiveness and responsiveness because work is not limited to eight hours but is a 24 /7 process . Virtual teams also have lower costs base and smaller premises that are advantageous to owners and managers (Business Link , 2010

Nonetheless , virtual teams also pose several challenges . Since members may be culturally diverse , difficulty in comprehension of directions and dissimilar goals may surface due to different languages and communication techniques . In line with this , members may also value different things on varying levels , which makes it hard to understand each other (Pauleen , 2004 . Also , several actions may be overlooked because members assume that someone else is already doing it...