Communication in Virtual Teams - Research Paper Example

Communication on Virtual Teams The Effects of Cultural Diversity in Virtual Teams Today technology advances so fast, and improves just as quickly, it is no wonder that human beings have come to rely upon it so heavily. Technology offers advantages, efficiencies, and conveniences that become more and more essential to everyday life. One small part of these great technological advances involves the use of the “virtual” medium to conduct business, receive education, and many other applications. Virtual teams of people may include people, business partners, colleagues, classmates, and peers, co-workers, and fellow team-mates, which are all in different parts of the world. Such technology based team-efforts, are being implemented in many different industries, most for similar reasons. It is considered to be, both cost effective and capable of contributing to greater productivity. There are many advantages that could be discussed; however, there are certain disadvantages that cannot go unaddressed. These issues become readily apparent when the virtual teams become “global” in nature. Communication is essential for virtual teams to operate successfully and function to its fullest potentials. In global virtual teams, or GVT, culture has a huge effect on how the teams function. Multicultural interactions can result in greater miscommunications that are anything but productive.(Heller , Laurito, Johnson, Martin, Fitzpatrick & Sundin, 2010) Multicultural teams, both, virtual and in person, have the makings to be unbelievably successful or a complete and total failure, there are few instances when it results in moderate success or failure; it is one extreme or the other.(Wiig Berg, 2012) Communication among member of any teams is hugely essential to how well that team functions, interacts, and the level of trust among the members; this is true whether you are one sports team, speech and debate, class assignments, or as part of your occupation. How the team members communicate to achieve a common goal will determine the flow, a team mate can know what another member is thinking by cue words, facial expressions, and physical demeanor. However, that dynamic within a team when the group functions almost entirely online, eliminates much of their physical dealings, becoming exclusively through emails, chat rooms, and other forms of computer-based medias. Face-to-face interactions allow for quicker bonding, understanding, and promote, potential group synergy; however, in online team endeavors this can be much more difficult. When one member or a number of members, on your team are separated by more than geography, but, also, potential language barriers and cultural misunderstandings, as well; the building of such teams and achieving group success becomes all the more difficult. It is entirely feasible that those members of the team that have different language proficiency, ideologies, interpretations, and, even, senses of humor. Such individuals may feel isolated and excluded from the majority of team goals, ideas, and projects concepts, and may lead them to feel that their opinions are less relevant or appreciated. It is not disputed that there are a serious, valid, advantages to virtual interactions. Many businesses point out that multicultural opportunities that GVT can offer a decrease in needed real estate costs, companies claim that it, also, leads to greater productivity, higher profits, and most importantly opens up businesses to the potentials of the whole global market.(Cascio, 2000) However, operating and maintaining a functioning and successful virtual team is how the diversity among team members is approached, handled, and respected. Many of the communication issues that result from verbal or written miscommunications that are unintentional and the other is an ignorance of another’s cultures and ideologies. For example, teams whose members in Israel are in fact, Jewish would, likely, not be able to attend team meetings or participate in work-related duties, on the “Sabbath” Knowing this leads to greater cultural and religious awareness. Language barrier often leads to misunderstanding. Without face to face interactions, the absence of verbal or visible physical cues, misunderstandings are forever likely.(Shacha, 2008) Also, lack of face-to-face communication can, also, cause international members to feel isolated and excluded from the decisions within the groups. In comparing multicultural teams in virtual settings versus real time, face-to-face environments, there are unique strengths and weaknesses to both. When language differences are not an immediate concern then virtual teams do benefit from a certain amount of anonymity, where ethnicity and culture are, in fact, less relevant and unnoticed. However, that same anonymity can cause a great deal of misunderstanding, after all, online chat and email communications lack the context of the speaker. Someone from a different culture may misunderstand the nature of the statement or, perhaps, be offended by it. A face-to-face team is less likely to have these sorts of misunderstandings.(Wiig Berg, 2012) Teams need to be educated on multi-cultural concerns, issues, or the misunderstandings and potential offenses, involving another team mate that is misinterpreting and misunderstanding much of what is being presented to him; these multicultural communication issues can have a profound effect on the focus, function, and overall success of the team effort as a whole.(Ferrell & Herb, 2012) Therefore reexamining and reforming how these teams are designed, operated, and initially chosen. As stated before, technology advances, innovates, and changes all of the time. Those things today identified as a disadvantage or area of concern will be rectified with a combination of superior technology of team interactions, but, also, greater education and awareness of diversity, multicultural, and global team members. Communication in diverse teams have to have more than just awareness and tolerance for others of different cultures, ideologies, and ethnicities, they must have respect and understanding. If they do not show respect then members may begrudge others and little productivity will then occur.(Wiig Berg, 2012) It is necessary to make certain that teams know the individual cultures that they will be interacting and then make a dedicated effort to understand the culture, religions, and ideologies of those individuals. In the end, communication is essential and it can be most successfully achieved by intermixing team leadership and team members to create a “virtual” environment that are, both, beneficial, but, also, encourage diversity, and supports communication that is clear, concise, and acknowledges, and respects cultural variables; turning the use of virtual team efforts into a advantageous global endeavors. (Blackburn, Furst & Rosen , 2003) References Blackburn, R., Furst, S., & Rosen, B. (2003). Building a winning virtual team. In C. Gibson & S. Cohen (Eds.), Virtual Teams That Work:Creating Conditions for Virtual Team Effectiveness (pp. 95-120). Retrieved from http://www.communicationcache.com/uploads/1/0/8/8/10887248/virtual_teams_that_work_creating_conditions_for_virtual_team_effectiveness.pdf Cascio, W. F. (2000). Managing virtual workplace. Academy of Managment Executive, 14(3), 81-90. Retrieved from http://www.communicationcache.com/uploads/1/0/8/8/10887248/managing_a_virtual_workplace.pdf Ferrell, J. Z., & Herb, K. C. (2012). Improving communication in virtual teams. Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, 1-7. Retrieved from http://www.siop.org/WhitePapers/Visibility/VirtualTeams.pdf Heller , R., Laurito, A., Johnson, K., Martin, M., Fitzpatrick, R., & Sundin, K. (2010). global teams: Trends, challenges and solutions. Manuscript submitted for publication, Center for Advanced Human Resource Studies, Cornell University, New York, NY, Retrieved from https://est05.esalestrack.com/eSalesTrack/Content/Content.ashx?file=981a8f37-c9af-4547-b96a-ad622a55a50b.pdf Shacha, P. (2008). Cultural diversity and information and communication technology impacts on global virtual teams: an exploratory study. Information and Management, 45(2), 131-142. Retrieved from http://eprints.rclis.org/15527/1/CulturalDiversity.pdf Wiig Berg, R. (2012). The anonymity factor in making multicultural teams work: Virtual and real teams. Business Communication Quarterly, 75(4), 404-424. Read More