Comparison between Virtual Teams to Face-to-Face Teams - Research Paper Example

?Comparison between virtual teams to face-to-face teams I. Introduction Virtual teams are increasingly becoming a very effective way of achieving theorganizational objectives. “Virtual worlds are also known as immersive 3D worlds or the immersive internet” (Cisse and Wyrick, 2010). These are essentially computer-generated platforms which the users can experience like avatars (Kohler, Matzler and Fuller, 2009). Virtual teams mostly bring convenience to the members in that they are able to interact with the team members whenever and wherever they are. Workers like to interact in teams through teleworks, and flexibility in terms of time is often their top most priority (Kortez, 1999). Social media networks and online calling services have made it all the more convenient to do business through virtual teams. The constraints of distance and time have been minimized to a large extent. While virtual teams are very beneficial for the members in many ways, there are also certain unfavorable outcomes associated with working in this way. For example, employees who have never seen their employers are at risk of losing their jobs anytime. There is often no accountability. Employees have limited access to the company’s resources. This means that more power is assumed by the employers than what they have in the face to face teams. This paper explores several aspects of teamwork in virtual and face-to-face style. II. Building effectiveness a. Managing a virtual team “Dispersed teams can actually outperform groups that are colocated. To succeed, however, virtual collaboration must be managed in specific ways” (Siebdrat, Hoegl and Ernst, 2009a). In order to effectively manage virtual teams, it is imperative that the leaders encourage the team members to develop and display teamwork skills by providing them with the required support and resources, promote self-leadership among the team members, make necessary arrangements for the occasional face to face meetings, and promote a global culture in the team. One of the prime principles of managing a virtual team is designing of processes for the minimization of data latency. Owing to the importance of social issues and their huge tendency to affect the virtual teams, management needs to bring the members together at least for a short while frequently. This provides team members with opportunities to interact face to face and understand one another’s psychology so that when they interact virtually, they are able to draw only true meanings from the conversation. Frequent face to face meetings also allow the members to settle the intercultural differences and reach a culture of respect and harmony for maximal utilization of their potential. b. Member selection “[T]eams are usually made up of members from different national backgrounds, meaning the members come from different national cultures, possibly speak different languages, and were raised in different countries that may have different value systems” (Staples and Zhao, 2006, p. 389). Member selection in virtual teams is more complicated as a process than it is in face to face teams. This is due to the fact that communication in virtual teams is already affected by lack of face to face meetings and the presence of a medium of communication i.e. technology. Communication in virtual teams becomes even more complicated if the members are from different cultures and speak different languages. For virtual teams, it is advisable for the management to recruit only local employees so that all team members speak the same language and can converse with one another without experiencing linguistic barriers. In the face to face teams, management can broaden the criteria for selection and can also welcome foreign employees as body language plays a very important role in face to face meetings and the influence of linguistic barriers is minimized anyway. c. Team process Principles of effective teamwork in virtual teams include but are not limited to realignment of the reward structures, identification of innovative ways to enhance the focus of attention of the team members on the task, providing members with opportunities to know one another better, development of a virtual presence, establishment of standards and effective terminologies, encouragement of teams to achieve self-facilitation, and embedment of collaboration technology into routinely tasks (Runamaker, Reinig, and Briggs, 2009). Principles of effective teamwork in face to face teams include frequent interaction, conflict resolution, change management, establishment of a system of check and accountability, removal of interpersonal and cultural differences and enhancement of employees’ motivation and loyalty. d. Effective virtual teamwork Interaction from distance can at times be more cumbersome than otherwise. Since the functioning of virtual teams fundamentally depends upon the technology used for interaction, interaction in the virtual world can be affected by temporal lack of functioning of the technology. This can be potentially devastating at times particularly when the team members need to be in constant contact with one another. Lack of contact among the team members for a few minutes can sometimes incur the company a lot of cost and tarnish its reputation among the public. Face to face teams assume very little tendency to encounter such situations. Issues encountered by virtual teams include but are not limited to difficulties in coordination, inability to reach a general agreement and reduced trust. The virtual teams are likely to experience confusions because of the limited time for which they can interact. On the contrary, the face to face teams promote a healthy environment among the team members in that they get sufficient time to eradicate their differences and develop strong interpersonal relationships. III. Communication/Social Interaction/Conflict Resolution a. Differences between the two teams “The most important and most simple distinction between virtual and face-to-face teams may be that virtual team interactions are almost always mediated by various forms of electronic communication and computermediated-collaboration technology” (Berry, 2011, p. 189). There is very limited use of electronic medium in face to face teams. Face to face teams may require electronic medium for send memos or minutes of meetings to the concerned parties. Face to face meetings are more appealing in the sense that teams commonly make use of a combination of computer-mediated and face to face communication. Technology affects communication in virtual teams (Anderson et al., 2007, p. 2574). Owing to the presence of numerous differences between the virtual teamwork and the face to face teamwork, it takes immense effort on the part of the management to design innovative work processes to achieve the organizational goals. Ambiguity of communication, demands of attention, stable interpersonal relationships and development of trust among members are potential challenges for team members in the virtual networks. Face to face teams have an edge over virtual teams in that they promote group conversations. While two people may be able to effectively interact in the virtual teams, it becomes very difficult for groups to interact in the virtual world. b. Importance of social interaction – trust and communication Trust is one of the most basic predictors of success in teamwork in all kinds of environments. In order to achieve their maximum potential and contribute to the teamwork, it is imperative that the team members trust one another and expect the coworkers to behave predictably and fulfill their responsibilities. “Trust is critical in a virtual team because traditional social control based on authority gives way to self-direction and self-control” (Cascio, 2000, p. 84). Where there is lack of trust, precautions taken to manage the virtual teams effectively like informed selected of workers, managers’ and workers’ training and performance management are undermined. c. How to approach conflict resolution While frequent communication in the virtual teams is achievable with the use of technology, yet it may not be as effective as it often is in the face to face teams. Team members are psychologically influenced by the presence of the technological medium through which they interact and are thus not able to achieve their optimal potential in group conversations. “[T]he regular physical presence of coworkers improves people’s feelings of familiarity and fondness, and frequent informal interactions serve to strengthen social ties. Conversely, physical distance decreases closeness and affinity, which then leads to a greater potential for conflict” (Siebdrat, Hoegl and Ernst, 2009b, p. 64). Conflict resolution in virtual teams requires management to make the teams more punctual and organized. Proper alignment and management of the schedules of the team members is required for them to be able to interact with one another effectively and settle their disputes. Conflict resolution in face to face teams requires management to arrange meetings to listen to and solve the problems of the employees. IV. Cost Effectiveness a. Savings Literature review suggests that cost reduction is the most significant useful element for at least 73 per cent of the virtual design teams. However, there has been very little research on the direct costs involved in the virtual businesses, though it is expected that virtual teams incur the companies lesser cost as compared to the face to face teams (Cisse and Wyrick, 2010). Establishment of the virtual network and the high cost of technology make the virtual business costlier than the brick and mortar business. In addition, virtual teams also incur the companies many indirect costs in terms of declined productivity of workers caused by technological faults. References: Anderson, A. H., McEwan, R., Bal, J., and Carletta, J. (2007). Virtual team meetings: An analysis of communication and context. Computers in Human Behavior. 23: 2558-2580. Berry, G. R. (2011). Enhancing effectiveness on virtual teams. Journal of Business Communication. 48(2): 186-206. Cascio, W. F. (2000). Managing a virtual workplace. Academy of Management Executive. 14(3): 81-90. Cisse, A. and Wyrick, D. A. (2010). Toward understanding costs and benefits of virtual teams in virtual worlds. Proceedings of the World Congress on Engineering 2010, Vol. III, London, UK. Kohler, T., Matzler, K. and Fuller, J. (2009). Avatar-based innovation: using virtual worlds for real-world innovation. Technovation. 29: pp. 395-407. Koretz, G. (1999). The New World of Work: Flexibility is the watchword. Retrieved from http://www.businessweek.com/2000/00_02/b3663192.htm. Nunamaker, J. F., Reinig, B. A., and Briggs, R. O. (2009, April). Principles for effective Virtual teamwork. Communications of the ACM. 52(4): 113-117. Siebdrat, F., Hoegl, M. and Ernst, H. (2009a, July 1). How to Manage Virtual Teams. http://sloanreview.mit.edu/the-magazine/2009-summer/50412/how-to-manage-virtual-teams/. Siebdrat, F., Hoegl, M. and Ernst, H. (2009b). How to manage virtual teams? MIT Sloan Management Review. 50(4): 63-68. Staples, D. S. and Zhao, L. (2006). The Effects of Cultural Diversity in Virtual Teams Versus Face-to-Face Teams. Group Decision and Negotiation. 15: 389-406. Read More