You are a virtual group working on a team paper so that is what you are being asked to analyze! There are positives and challenges to working as a group in a virtual environment. Answer the following questions in relation to virtual teamwork in organizations:
Part I.
Propose the most effective way (i.e., a set of logical recommendations) to structure a virtual team (with members located within and some external to the United States) to meet the goals of
1) Team member satisfaction/growth.
2) Producing results that achieve the team’s directive from leadership.
As part of your analysis of how to structure the team to meet those goals, your analysis, based on course concepts and research, should address the following issues:
- Differentiation
- Integration
- Formalization
- Centralization
- Mechanistic versus organic designs
Part II.
Identify five challenges that cause workgroups to fail, a recommendation to address each challenge, and the role of the group’s leader in implementing each recommendation.
The focus of the assignment should not be specific to one organization/industry and the researched material should be grounded in the current literature related to team structuring and related issues, why groups fail, and the best practices for addressing the failures and getting the group on the road to success.
Introduction
In this contemporary business era, the role of technology is in the limelight. Companies are making different virtual teams to meet goals and objectives. United States companies employ members from around the world. However, some members are to be gathered from outside the United States. Technology is needed to come up with an effective virtual team and make the difference. Shaping the virtual team to meet the goal has become one of the top priorities of companies. Formation of virtual teams seems impactful.
Modern businesses have embraced many ways to formalize virtual teams. Technological, human, and financial resources are needed to make a team that can meet objectives and align with the strategic directions of the firm. The study is segmented in several parts. The first phase of the content elaborates ways to structure the virtual team. The second phase illustrates some root causes of the team or group failure. Team leaders or managers can obtain insights and make strategies to form the am successfully and make it sustainable for the long run.
Part 1: Proposing the effective way to structure the virtual team
Working in a group or team is a positive approach. Some challenges occur in virtual team environments. The management must structure the team effectively to reduce the visibility of issues or challenges and enhance positivity. Effective ways to structure the virtual team are as under
To create or structure the virtual team, it seems imperative to gather all team members physically. Face to face communication between team members is important to foster trust and build long-term relationships. After enhancing the communication process and building the relationship, the management must clarify roles and responsibilities. The process of the team is to be designed. Tasks, to be assigned to team members, must be elaborated along with some key insights and necessary details. Team members are co-located, and the delegation of the task with the clear description is mandatory. Communication in terms of emotional state and frequency is the big challenge in the virtual team environment. Team leaders and member have to face this challenge by executing good strategies. The effective structure is based on the disciplined communication pattern, and it seems one of the most prominent ways to structure the virtual team (Fisher & Fisher, 2011 ).
Moreover, leveraging the best technology in virtual team development is viable. Leveraging technology is the main part of the virtual team structure. The team leader intends to navigate best technological alternatives and choose the best one to hold virtual meetings. It does not mean adopting the new technology. The factor of reliability matters. The adaptation of the technology, which can be generally accepted, is the best approach to structure the team in an effective and lucrative manner. Team members in the United States and outside of may face lack of work-life balance. It can lead towards inefficiency and inconsistency. When structuring the team, the better way is to regulate team meetings and report sharing. It will organize the team and make it consistent in performance. Shared language, shared leadership, and tracking commitments through technology are some additional effective ways to structure the virtual team (Karimi, Somers, & Gupta, 2001).
Now, after structuring the virtual team, the functionality of the team should be ensured by accomplishing some goals. Further elaboration is as under.
Meeting Goals
· Team Member Satisfaction/Growth
The growth and satisfaction of the team members can be gained through delegating the work and giving all team members complete control on different tasks. In a virtual team, the control of different tasks is linked with access to the best information technology. The effective use of technology can help team members take control of the work. The information technology platform enables the pertinent environment for team members to produce high-quality outputs. For Instance, if an organization shapes the CRM strategy, it has to make pertinent investments regarding information technology. Well equipped, delegated, and authorized team members in virtual teams lead towards the team member satisfaction and goal accomplishments. It creates a positive impact on the customer service process of the company (Kock, 2009).
· Producing Results that Achieve the Team’s Directive from Leadership
Structuring the team is purposeful. It can help to meet goals effectively. The pertinent goal is to implement the directive leadership approach. All virtual team members, which are co-located, have to focus on the concrete objectives. The structure of the virtual team has been designed to make members assertive in the following instructions. The main goal of the virtual team is focus. The team leader can be a part of the virtual team structure, and it can compel or motivate others to produce high-quality results according to expectations (Kuruppuarachchi, 2009).
Now, the effective team structure and goals are triggered by some key concepts and initiatives. Based on the analysis, it seems interesting to navigate different issues and come up with key solutions to portray predictable outcomes.
Differentiation
The management of the company intends to make the virtual team different from another. The effectiveness of the team can be achieved. However, some thoughtful considerations bring the differentiation. The major element to bring the differentiation or create the differentiated team is the technology. Using technology, which is triggered by speed, reliability, and customization, can make the team different. For Instance, the concept of marketing automation is in the limelight. The virtual team can use data analytics and lead generation as key tools to provide the best customer service solutions to people. Also, internally, members can make better CRM strategies by just focusing on people’s issues. Advanced technology provides a lead to the advanced technique, and it differentiates the virtual team (Philbin, 2013).
Integration
Again, information technology is the main source of virtual team integrity. Advanced technology can help virtual team members stay connected and available. When observing the big picture, keeping promises when structuring the team brings integrity. Making promises with team members and following them is a remarkable approach to contain integrity. The virtual team leader can create an integrated system through technology, which can allow all team members to connect. The concept of customer service topology from different research studies has been derived. Through technology and skills development, team members can manage to create the configuration of a communication network. In a customer service process, the customer service topology can be built on the same principle, and it shows integrity. It can be said that technology and skills development are solutions to enhance virtual team integrity (Fisher & Fisher, 2011).
Formalization
Virtual team formalization needs some key considerations. It is the base of the virtual team. The formalization process needs team members physically meet each other and find some ways that may help to create collaborative culture. People or team members usually talk about the particular project, background, and interest in the initial meeting. This gathering of people formalizes each team member. It opens ways for the team leader or managers to move forward and complete all stages of the team development process. The best solution to depict the effective or workable formalization is to set the direction and communicate goals and objectives (Karimi, Somers, & Gupta, 2001).
Centralization
The decentralized organization can use different teams in different business segments or sections. However, in a team, especially in a virtual team, a centralized approach is important. The team leader has to lead the team and make decisions. Applying the concept of leadership, the democratic approach can be used in the virtual team. The team leader has to collaborate with other team members in different online meetings and integrate with some key views, ideas, opinions, thoughts, and reservations. Thus, mutual decisions can be made or done in a centralized structure, and it can increase its effectiveness (Kock, 2009).
Mechanistic Versus Organic Designs
The effectiveness of the virtual team can be increased through streamlining the organic design. Employees work together and share different tasks. The organic design can increase multitasking. On the other hand, using a mechanistic approach for a virtual team can be costly and unproductive. People specialized in a single field cannot work with other people. An organic design of the virtual team shows that team members focus on verbal communication instead of written communication. The organically designed virtual team streamlines the effectiveness and works simultaneously. Now, the better solution for the team leader or manager is to create some space for team members to work in different capacities and simultaneously to accomplish goals and objectives (Management Association, Information Resources, 2010).
Part II. Five challenges that cause Workgroups to Fail
Many challenges in large and small organizations cause workgroup failure. Despite having clear goals and objectives, some factors create an impact on team performance.
1. Lack of Envisioning
Lack of envisioning has become the top cause of the workgroup failure. The team management or top authorities do not communicate with team members. Without a clear vision, it seems a big challenge to make team members motivated and assertive to achieve goals and objectives. Communicating the vision properly in a mega team project is a big challenge. Sometimes, the vision cannot be understood or accepted by team members. The vision is to be made at the top level. It looks a great challenge to create the urgency at the bottom line. The result of this challenge is failure, as team direction in the organization can be altered (Lafair, 2015).
2. Technology Road mapping
Virtual teams face the challenge of the technology road mapping. With the passage of time, the firm must have to evolve regarding technology to improve the performance of groups or teams. Due to limited technological resources, the firm may lack technology road mapping. Technology forecasting is a major challenge for firms or groups. The right technology at the right time is rare in many companies. It leads towards poorer work performance, traditional working approaches, and limited outcomes (Lafair, 2015).
3. Enabling the Trust
Enabling trust among team members is a big challenge that can cause group failure. People in the company usually avoid giving information to each other, and it directs poor performance and decision making. Withholding information is destructive in a group. Poor communication in a virtual team can create barriers in achieving the project goals. For Instance, if a company is looking to improve the workplace to ensure employee safety, withholding information can direct the management or team to create wrong measures.
4. Dealing with Conflict
Developing the ability to deal with conflict is a big challenge. It often results in group termination or member elimination. Unfortunately, the team management does not execute effective conflict resolution strategies. Due to this challenge or issue, team members can lose control over work and objectivity and depict failure (LIM, 2016).
5. Replacing Simplicity
Replacing simplicity with creativity and excellence is also a prominent challenge. People usually depict resistance in the change management process. Simplicity is in the comfort zone of team members, and in this modern business or work era, it is destructive.
Recommendation to Address Each Challenge
Lack of envisioning can be tackled through adopting best ways to communicate the vision. For Instance, framing the vision statement, planning a positive delivery, leading consistent meetings, and enabling the two-way communication are some recommendations to communicate or streamline vision. The most important thing is to depict a roadmap through the vision. The vision can be understood effectively (LIM, 2016).
Identification of the technology alternatives early is highly recommended for groups. Training group members is the best solution to avoid group failure. Work should be done to adopt skills and reinforce the positive behavior to integrate with the technology reduce resistance.
Enabling trust among team members is a big challenge. However, the effective recommendation is to create the effective group culture, which can make the group members assertive in collaboration. The collaborative culture can also regulate employees or team members to share information as an obligation.
The group leader can embrace different strategies to resolve the conflict and regain work efficiency. Though, concerning the most valuable option in contemporary business, especially in the virtual team, the leader has to identify and navigate the position of each member deeply. Each team member may influence the conflict, and therefore, this consideration is vital. (Management Association, Information Resources, 2010).
It is necessary to train group members to eliminate the simplicity in the group. Training and developing them can make them able to streamline different ideas and contribute to team success. Employees should be motivated through the training and development process to contain the creative and innovative work in an innovative culture. Theory Y, a prominent management concept or theory can be applied. For Instance, the firm can motivate the team members through participative or democratic management style. It can help members work under supervision and rationalize their creative work (Kock, 2009).
The role of the group’s leader in implementing each recommendation
The role of the group leader is in the limelight, as far as the implementation or each recommendation is concerned. In the contemporary business environment, the group leader may demonstrate optimistic behavior. He can be a theory Y manager or leader, who can delegate the work or recommendations with a proper direction. The group leader can create an effective communication pattern to communicate some new strategies. He can direct the change in a group and recreate the whole structure to implement the change. He can manage to lead group members and execute the recommendations through some improvisations. Power, authority, and control can work to strengthen the group. This aspect highlights the importance of the group member when it comes to the execution of the recommendations (Kock, 2009).
Conclusion
In the end, it is to conclude that effective teamwork can contribute to the success of an organization. Teams in the company need strategies and implementations with the passage of time. All these recommendations have been proposed according to the current state of the group’s performance. With time, the group has to evolve and incorporate some modern work trends. The group’s failure must be avoided by executing these recommendations along with proper management control.
References
Fisher, K., & Fisher, M. (2011). Manager’s Guide to Virtual Teams. McGraw Hill Professional.
Karimi, J., Somers, T., & Gupta, Y. P. (2001). Impact of Information Technology Management Practices on Customer Service. Journal of Management Information, 17(4), 125-158.
Kock, N. (2009). Virtual Team Leadership and Collaborative Engineering Advancements: Contemporary Issues and Implications: Contemporary Issues and Implications. IGI Global.
Kuruppuarachchi, P. R. (2009). Virtual Team Concepts in Projects: A Case Study. Project Management Institute.
Lafair, S. (2015, September 18). Top 10 Reasons Why Teams Fail and What You Can Do To Stay Strong. Retrieved from https://www.inc.com/sylvia-lafair/top-10-reasons-why-teams-fail-and-what-you-can-do-to-stay-strong.html
LIM, R. (2016, August 31). Top 10 Main Causes of Project Failure. Retrieved from https://project-management.com/top-10-main-causes-of-project-failure/
Management Association, Information Resources. (2010). Virtual Communities: Concepts, Methodologies, Tools and Applications: Concepts, Methodologies, Tools and Applications, Volume 1. IGI Global.
Philbin, S. P. (2013). Emerging Requirements for Technology Management: A Sector-based Scenario Planning Approach. Journal of technology management and innovation, 8(3), 34-44.
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