Principles and Practices of Effective Leadership Critical Thinking Mod 5 Leading Teams - Essay Example

Virtual teams Face to face teams Requires constant communication using online communication tools Can inspire the team using positive reinforcement techniques.2. Monitor team progress over time. 2. Utilization of team leader position to manage teams. 3. Important to obtain a good work-life balance.3. Incorporate the use of intrinsic and extrinsic rewards to motivate the team members.4. Imperative to keep the lines of communication open and maintain an environment of trust among the teammates.4.

Leaders must watch the body language of the members of the team to adjust leadership strategy based on the mood of the members of the team. 5. Avoid information overload because doing so can lead to inefficiencies between players on team.5. Comply with the employees five needs based on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. The use of teamwork has become a critical success factor in the work environment of the 21st century. Companies are using teams in the workplace more than ever before in the past.

A team can be defined as a group of people who work actively together to achieve a purpose for which they are all accountable (Schermerhorn, Hunt, Osborn, 2003). In the fast pace work environment of today technology dominates the workplace, thus the use of virtual teams has become of the hottest trends in the workplace. A virtual team is a group of people that are geographically dispersed who primarily interact electronically (Seanet, 2006). One of the advantages of the use of virtual teams is that it allows companies the ability to optimize the use of its human capital.

Companies that use virtual teams are able to take advantage of the skills and capabilities of employees of the company that are located in foreign countries. There are differences in the managerial approaches that leaders use when working with a virtual team in comparison to face-to-face teams. Leaders that have a face to face team can use any of the traditional managerial concepts and theories such as Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, equity theory, ERG theory, acquired needs theory, or reinforcement to lead the staff.

The five needs of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs in ascending order are physiological, safety, social, esteem, and self-actualization (Cherry, 2013). Intrinsic rewards are effective to keep the members of a team productive and motivated. An example of an intrinsic reward is telling a person they did a good job on a task. Managers have to pay attention to the body language of the members of team as a preventive measure to ensure the members of the team are not suffering from morale problems. When dealing with a virtual team the manager has to adapt his leadership strategy.

Virtual teams require the use of electronic communication tools such as groupware or video chatting capabilities. An excellent website that allows people from different parts of the world to communicate using video chatting is Skype. It is important for leaders to closely monitor the progress on the project by following up with the members of the team. Avoiding information overload in virtual teams is important because information overload can cause stress and inefficiencies among the members of the team.

“There are more global virtual teams today than ever before” (Meyer, 2010).ReferencesCherry, K. (2013). Hierarchy of Needs. Retrieved April 16, 2013 from http://psychology.about.com/od/theoriesofpersonality/a/hierarchyneeds.htm Meyer, E. (2010). The Four Keys to Success With Virtual Teams. Forbes. Retrieved April 16, 2013 from http://www.forbes.com/2010/08/19/virtual-teams-meetings-leadership-managing-cooperation.html Schermerhorn, J., Hunt, J., Osborn, R. (2013). Organizational Behavior (8th ed.). New York: John Wiley & Sons.Seanet.com (2006).

Virtual Teams. Retrieved April 16, 2013 from http://www.seanet.com/~daveg/vrteams.htm