Virtual Teams Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Virtual Teams - Essay ExampleAnd within this culture it is necessary for each individual to take his won developmental path, which is rattling the core of the functioning of realistic(prenominal) organizations.Virtual Teams have become an integral part of many organizations because of all increase in corporate restructuring, competition, and globalization. A virtual police squad is also defined as one that conducts its work al nearly entirely through electronic technology. Virtual group members, who are normally separate both geologically and organizationally, hardly ever meet face to face while relying on technology for task-related communication (Matthews-Joy & Gladstone, 2000).Because communication is often seen as the most important factor in coordinating work among team members, effective communication is vital for virtual teams. However, in virtual teams, separated by geographical distance, the process of developing a shared understanding is more challenging (Ancona & Cal dwell, 1992). In particular, such teams must address three gainsays to accomplish their goals.The first challenge is compensating for the lack of face-to-face interaction. When meeting in person, team members can depend upon voice levels, smiles, and raised eyebrows to determine whether they are being understood however, virtual teams do not have these nonverbal cues and can fail without communication strategies to manage the lack of face-to-face communication or silence. Because research continues to support the findings of Mehrabian that communication is predominately nonverbal, virtual team members lack one of the primary elements for generating shared understanding. Even in the best videoconferencing, facial expressions can be difficult to pick up if the infection is poor, if someone is off camera, or when the mute button is pressed. Therefore, it is essential for individuals who are about to become part of a virtual teaming experience to be alter to the importance of this ba rrier and how it may be addressed.Second ChallengeA second communication challenge for virtual teams is building relationships. Successful teams are founded on a relationship of trust, and relationships are easier to build face to face. Virtual teams are confronted with the challenge of establishing trusting working relationships through technological interaction alone. Virtual team leaders need to pay close attention to the first interactions team members have with each other to support the creation of positive interpersonal relationships. slew who are being prepared for participation in virtual teams need to be taught methods of increasing the likelihood of getting off on the right alkali with each other.Third ChallengeA third challenge is accessing and leveraging the unique knowledge of each member to successfully achieve the teams goal. While a team is working on a project, usually the project is like a puzzle, and each team member is responsible to work on an depute piece of the project. The team must develop a system for sharing information so that nothing relevant to solving the problem is lost. What some team members may consider the most insignificant piece of information may prove to be critical to the final solution. Whereas