July 2008
Virtual teams are here to stay: to succeed, we must learn how to work with them
Not that many years ago, working on a team project meant meeting members of your group face-to-face, perhaps over coffee and donuts. The topic of conversation during these sessions could range from the weather to how the kids are faring in softball to, of course, the project at hand. If you had a question, you could ask it, get feedback on the spot, engage in discussion with other members of the group, and gauge each other's responses through tone of their voice and facial expressions.But the business sector's growing use of technology over the last dozen years or so has changed all that. E-mail and videoconferencing are now much more common ways for groups to interact. And especially with more companies conducting business globally — and when expertise on a particular subject may be found anywhere from Beijing, China, to Carmel, Ind. — meeting in person is expensive, time-consuming and simply not practical. Members of some teams never have the opportunity to meet face-to-face.
So how are projects getting done? Businesses and organizations are now turning to what are called "virtual teams," which are groups working together to achieve a goal but infrequently or never meet in person and instead rely on electronic communication. The technology is improving but the process and interpersonal skills of working together effectively in a virtual environment remain the key to the team performance.
Purdue University will examine virtual and other types of teams at the Sept. 14-17 conference "Collaboration and Innovation 2008." More information can be found at http://www.cci.purdue.edu/
While there are disadvantages and limitations to working in virtual teams — such as an inability to read the nonverbal signals (eye contact, finger tapping, etc.) of group members — successes can and do happen every day.
One of most common examples can be found in the manufacturing world. Gone are the days when an automobile is built completely in-house. Today, designers, engineers, assembly line workers and a variety of others, often from different countries, must successfully work together. For instance, a car may be designed in California, the engine made in Japan, and the entire automobile assembled at a plant in Ohio. Since bringing this team together physically is not practical, much of the communication must done through virtual methods.
The key to making virtual teams work for you is to keep in mind some simple strategies based on basic meeting management techniques. These are little things, but they can go a long way in making sure the project is a success.
One strategy is to conduct the first team meeting in person, if possible. This provides an excellent opportunity to establish norms and goals for the project. Also, it enables the group to get a chance to know each other and learn a little about the personality traits of each member. This can be especially helpful down the road when dealing with a person via e-mail. For instance, a seemingly blunt or caustic e-mail from a person you've never met may be a little harder to take than the same e-mail sent from a person you've had a chance to get to know a bit.
Another strategy is to use meeting facilitators. This is a person who serves as a group leader to make sure everyone has a chance to be heard, help the group stay on topic and make sure any technical problems are solved immediately. Often, team projects become unproductive because everyone has something to say, but no one is taking the lead in putting the ideas into focus or one or two members monopolize the conversation. And if a computer stops working or an Internet connection is lost for a group member, the value of the meeting is diminished. The cost of team members sitting around waiting for technical support to reconnect them adds up quickly. Having a facilitative leader in any group setting is vital, but it's even more important in a virtual setting, because each point of view needs to be shared and then all of them integrated.
Finally, it's important to celebrate your successes, both along the way and at the end of the project. This holds true whether a group meets traditionally or virtually. Celebration can take a variety of forms including congratulatory e-mails. And during the project, you can help keep your team members in mind by doing things such as keeping pictures of team members near your computer or on a shared website. When the project is completed, if at all possible, it can be very rewarding and even educational to celebrate in person. For instance, if you're working with people from Thailand, setting up a meeting in their country could be a wonderful way to show your appreciation and expand your worldview at the same time. This is also an investment in the next project, since some of the team members may be working together again. If traveling is not possible, then perhaps celebrate by eating at a Thai restaurant to recognize and celebrate part of your team's culture.
Working in virtual teams can take some adjustment, but the experience can be extremely rewarding. Since more and more meetings are being conducted electronically, and that number will be growing because of the globalization of the supply chain, it is important for all managers and employees to learn ways to function in this new virtual world.
Michael Beyerlein, a professor and head of Purdue University's Department of Organizational Leadership and Supervision, is one of the editors of "The Handbook of High Performance Virtual Teams: “A Toolkit for Collaborating Across Boundaries," published in April by John Wiley & Sons. He can be reached at (765) 494-0448 or mbeyerle@purdue.edu .
Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu
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