Question

Project Management Question:

Case Analysis: Virtual Teams

Based on these two articles: (1) PMI - Managing Virtual Teams for High Performance; (2) 3-Ways-to-Improve-Interpersonal-Communication-in-a-Virtual-World

How can I answer the following questions?

1. What are some of the challenges with teams that are not in the same location?
2. Describe the ways PM can improve communications with geographically diverse teams.
3. Which method(s) do you think might be most effective and why?

Answer 1

Virtual teams are a group of people who work across the space,time and also the organisation boundaries. Here the electronic communications being the main form of communication .

A) The virtual team has to face lots of challenges, because the team members are not in the same place. The main challenges faced by the team are:

1.Poor communication

The one of the serious challenge or issue faced by the virtual team is poor communication. The communication is the backbone of every process. In a team the need of communication is very necessary and without the proper communication the team can't survive. In the case in virtual teams,the members are not in the same place,so the lack of informal and every day face to face communication that leads to the loss of information or miscommunication.

2. Lack of trust

The another challenge is faced by the virtual team is lack of trust.Here they team members are not the same place and the electronic communications being the main form of interaction. So the members has lack of trust to share the information.

3.Diverse multicultural team

The members are from different place and different cultures. So the cultural differences are the another challenge. The different in culture may affect the virtual team.

4.Loss of morale and team spirit

The another chat is the loss of morale and team spirit between the members. The members have no every day face to face communications. They communicate oy through the electronic communications technologies.so it make loss of morale and team spirit.

5.Time zone difference

The one of the crucial challenge is the difference in time. It make lots of issues in the group . Time plays the vital role in every process and activities.

B)way to improve communication with geographically diverse team

1.Manage cultural diversity

The proper management of the cultural diversity will helps to improve the communication . In every virtual group,the cultural differences is the major problem to the lack of communication. So manage the cultural diversity.

2.Develop a strong communication strategy

The another best way to improve the communication is create a strong communication strategy within the group. It will helps to increase interaction between the members and each member take initiative to communicate anothers and also share the informations.

3. Promote team bonding

A good and strong team bond is necessary for the better performance of the team and also the effective communication. So first the team make a strong bond between the members and also make trust.

4. Leverage Technology

The another way is to use web based project management tools to provide regular updating and information and keep everyone on the same page.

C)In the case of virtual team,members face lots of challenges. Cultural differences,time, difference in attitude, opinions and also characters.Bt nowadays,these are not a major issues because the members can solve this issues by themselves. The technologies are very much helps to improve it. The methods mentioned above are equally good to the improvement. The proper communication between the members will reduce all the challenge.