Virtual Teams

THESIS

Virtual teams…. What are they? Well, virtual teams are groups of geographically and/or organizationally dispersed coworkers who use a combination of telecommunications and information technologies to accomplish an organizational task (Williams, 2016). Layman’s terms, its people who work together but do not work in the same office. They may never meet face to face, or may once and a while meet face to face. Erin gives his advice based on study and research in an article called “The Four Keys to Success with Virtual Teams”. He starts the article out with a basic explanation as to why there are more virtual teams these days, I am assuming that there are even more now that it has been five years since this article has been written. Basically

there is more of a financial constraint on companies and/or the company may have had to pick up members from across the globe for whatever reason. Instead of having the person relocate the option of a virtual team seems to be viable. Erin points out that the skills that are needed for managing a team in a traditional setting are not only different, but they are the total opposite then what is needed. He gives his four key tools that will aid a person in managing a virtual team. The four tools are, lead differently, arrive at decisions differently, build trust differently, and finally communicate differently. Leading differently in a typical work environment may look more like a manager as a facilitator, but in a virtual team a manager has to have clearly defined direction. This removes all ambiguity and each person knows what has to be done by oneself and others on the team. This does not exclude the manager, the people on the team have to know what the manager is doing as well. Once the direction has been set the team has to know how to arrive at a decision, not all cultures do this the same. The manager’s job is to find one cut way for the team to make decisions that work for the whole group. This may include trying a few different things until the one that works is found. In order to be able to work effectively as a team there has to be a level of trust. With the lack of face to face interactions this can be hard to achieve. A good way to do this would be by establishing a process where team members deliver specific results in a repeated sequence. This establishes accountability and accountability equals trust. In order to get the team to a point of understanding and productivity there has to be communication. Erin points out that when a person is talking to a group of people he/she is usually walking back and forth and using gestures. This helps communication be more effective. The fact that virtual teams do not get that as a norm hinders the effectiveness of the communication. The suggestion is that when a person is in a meeting, with people via something like Skype, to use gestures to help enhance the persuasive edge of the message. It also can enhance the voice quality. I find these four tools very beneficial in a society that is relying on technology more and more. I have a feeling that in my career I may be in a situation where I am either part of or managing a virtual team
PERONAL/PROFESSIONAL APPLICATION
With my generation technology is becoming more of a requirement.

My ability to be a part of or manage a virtual team may depend on me having a job or not. It may be possible that I am offered a job and that job is managing a virtual team. I will need to have the skills and tools in order to be an effective manager. These four tools will be very handy if ever in that situation. These tools are not ones that I was fully aware of. I got the basic idea of what it would be like in a virtual team, but it is always good to look at situations form all perspectives. One thing that I can foresee myself needing to work on is my ability to convey a meaning via video chat. Form experience I know that I am a person who just sits and talks as if I were on the phone. I think part of me feels a video call is the same thing as a phone call. I will have to adjust my thinking and treat the video call just as if I were in a board meeting. Another thing I will have to work on is leading in a virtual setting. I personally have always been a facilitator, I facilitated my brothers and their happenings, group projects, and some work projects. This is something that comes naturally to me. Now knowing that a successful manager of a virtual team does not necessarily facilitate but rather has a clearly defined direction for each person including the manager. I don’t think having the direction will be my issue, but rather starting off with the direction rather than just facilitating. I feel confident in my ability to use different methods of decision making, but it is always a good idea to keep in mind other cultural norms. Trust is very big for me and it is a value that I hold very high. I think the tool Eric gave for trust will be very beneficial to me. Basically he states that accountability is trust, and I cannot agree

more.
CONCLUSION
The article “The Four Keys to Success with Virtual Teams” by Eric Meyer has given me four tools I find beneficial to not just myself but anyone who is planning on pursuing a career in business. The world is changing and gearing more towards technology. There is no longer a way to escape it, it is everywhere. There are more and more virtual teams as people partner up with people from other countries. The technology is readily available for anyone to use. The four tools Eric gives are simple but valuable to just about everyone. The tools are as follows, lead differently than you would in a typical office setting, arrive at decisions differently as you may be working with different cultural norms, build trust differently than you would if you were working face to face, and finally communicate differently because you won’t have your whole body to work with. All of theses tools are ones that I will be applying to my professional life as I start my journey in the business world.

References
Meyer, E. (2010, August 19). FORBES. Retrieved from FORBES: http://www.forbes.com/2010/08/19/virtual-teams-meetings-leadership-managing-cooperation.html
Williams, C. (2016). MGMT. In Principals of Management. Cengage.