Roles of a Supervisor in Virtual Organization - Essay Example

Roles of a Supervisor in Virtual Organization Introduction Virtual organizations are increasingly becoming more popular day-in-day-out. Although virtual organizations are becoming efficient and productive, it can also be an uphill task if not properly supervised. Obstacles such as feelings of isolation, communication barriers and inefficient rapport are some of the common obstacles facing virtual organizations. Therefore, due to their increasing popularity, virtual organizations have become one of the emerging markets in the world today because organizations have become geographically more distributed across the industries. More and more organizations are switching to virtual organizations due to critical resources, logistical issues and personnel. The realization by organizations that there is need for collaborative work has made it important for the use of virtual organizations because virtual organizations come with the following benefits: reduced expenses of the real estates, increased productivity, high profits, improved customer service, global market access, environmental benefits among etc. (Rue, Ibrahim & Byars, 2013). However, virtual organizations also come with such disadvantages as maintenance costs, cultural issues, isolation feelings, lack of trust etc. While technology offers varied solutions to problems facing virtual organizations, it can also raise many questions like, how can members build understanding and trust? What appropriate culture to choose that will address cultural issues? Etc. Supervisors as well as managers in virtual organizations have evolved their roles to fit into the environment of virtual organizations. Supervisory Roles in Virtual Organizations Supervisory roles in virtual organizations require creation of world-class systems of learning to enhance the innovative competitiveness of the organization to match world-class standards. Supervisors for virtual management require thorough training and experience to be able to manage and coordinate the various activities of the virtual organizations. Facilitation of performance is one of my key role as a virtual supervisor. As a supervisor, I will boost performance by encouraging employees in their virtual work places to work harder while at the same time removing obstacles to successful performance. Some of the notable obstacles that I will concentrate on to remove include obsolete technology, delays in the transmission of critical information and inefficient work design. Recognition of the issues, analysis of the causes, and identification of the solutions earlier can help to differentiate between success and failure of the virtual work team. Therefore, as a supervisor, I will put proper mechanisms in place to address the aforementioned issues by using communication the appropriate tool. Through communication, I will strengthen the member identification by providing members of the virtual organization with the opportunity of creating and sharing their varied views of the defining features of the organization. Another supervisory role I will perform is organization identification because organization identification plays a vital role in any virtual setting. It effectively compensates the loss of traditional aspects of organizations to enhance coordination, cooperation, and long-term employee efforts. Additionally, organization identification has been identified by researchers to be the most efficient method to supervise employees rather than the direct method of supervision. It gives the employees the discretion to self-analysis and development of cooperative behaviors. I will put proper measures in place to facilitate organization identification among various virtual workers. These include determination of the nature of contact between the organization and the workers, membership visibility, and the uniqueness of the organization identity. If efficiently and effectively implemented, organization identification will play a critical role in the smooth learning of the virtual organization. Providing timely feedback and resolving of the performance problems is a key to my role as a virtual supervisor. In order to smoothly execute this role, I will put proper communication channels in place to facilitate feedback. I will carry out more research, collection and analysis of the relevant facts. Virtual organizations require critical assessment of the communication systems in order to ensure timely feedback and decision-making. Virtual supervisors are also tasked with the responsibility of ensuring that the members’ conflicts are resolved to promote harmony within the work group. I will achieve this by interacting freely with the members and try to solve any conflicting issues. Coordination and control: the coordination and control of the virtual organizations comes with several barriers. The barriers come because of non-existent networks, transitory nature of the virtual organizations. As a virtual supervisor, I will ensure information flows throughout the organization. The multidimensional accompanied by the coordination and control of the virtual organizations comes because of geographical dispersion geographical in terms of locations, and telecommunications (Berman & Marshall, 2014). Maintenance of the key competences. Virtual supervisors should closely monitor the virtual organizations in regard to the advancement in technology. If not properly checked, virtual organizations are faced with the risk of losing their core competencies permanently. As a virtual supervisor I will strive to ensure the maintenance of the firm’s competitive position in order to boost the organization to the next technological level. Therefore, as a virtual supervisor I will enter into alliances with a keen interest of preventing the organization from technological exposure from other organizations. Core competencies are important in order to maintain the long-term goals and objectives of the virtual organization. and the strengthen the firm’s competitive position. Coming up with the employee development programs. Virtual supervisors should come up with training and development plans for the employees especially in a virtual environment where the knowledge, technical skills, and the continued development are important for the organization’s success. Therefore, as a virtual supervisor I will ensure that employees maintain an operational or strategic control. Knowing that their concerns are taken into consideration by the virtual supervisors, the virtual workers will be more motivated and work harder. By training the employees, as a virtual supervisor I will be able to eliminate errors associated with the workplace. This will further help understanding the changing demands of the virtual workers while finding the ways of meeting them. Maintenance of evergreen technology while continuously ensuring information flow improvement: virtual supervisors should continually analyze and act on the in information provided. In addition, the supervisor should continually update the information technology. If effectively done, the virtual workers will go a long way in defining the characteristics of the virtual organization thereby improving on the flexibility and speed of information technology. The use of computing technologies and telecommunications are the major enablers for the survival of the virtual organizations. The use of such technologies has enabled easier and faster support of the dispersed network of virtual workers. However, the technologies have led to difficulties due to supervision by the virtual workers. Virtual supervisors find it hard to effectively and efficiently direct and control their supervisory roles due to the barriers brought about by technology. Therefore, as a virtual supervisor, I will use computing technologies and telecommunications enablers to boost the operations of the virtual organization. Compatible and reliable technology should be maintained by the virtual organization. The virtual supervisors should take a forefront role in ensuring that the technology used within the organization is easily understood and compatible within the work group. Thus, as a supervisor I will ensure that technology is thoroughly tested and proven by the experts before being introduced fully into the system to prevent incompatible and unreliable technology (Jones, 2005). In addition, as a virtual supervisor I will ensure that the technical assistance provided is not only readily available but also competent to facilitate smooth flow of operations. Virtual organizations unlike traditional organizations deals with an environment characterized by complexity. The complexity of the environment calls for carefully analysis and evaluation of the virtual organizations in order to be able to elevate all the risks that might be associated with the environment. Proper coordination and monitoring of the virtual organization is the key to prediction and understanding of the future problems of the organization. Additionally, there exist other organization complexities such as strategic complexity, goal complexity, interactive complexity, structural complexity, vertical complexity, horizontal complexity, and spatial complexity. All these complexities are vital for the better supervision of the virtual organization. As a supervisor, I will make sure that I have enough information and resources to ensure careful and accurate monitoring of the organization complexities so that I can eliminate the risks associated with them. Leveraging technology and innovation to Produce Business Solutions is another important supervisory role in virtual organizations. I will access various data such as organizations’ intranet and internet site, the financial information, employee files, memos, and the contracts. I will take additional initiative to go through the business plan so that I come up with a succession plan. For example, if it’s the education program, I will use the virtual school plan in order to help me check the various scores of the students to be able to set up an optimal learning program in the school. Identification of measurable goals and carefully following them to ensure they are successfully implemented. The virtual workers should properly be given information of what is expected of them. Therefore, the goals, assessment and measures of the virtual organization, should leave no doubt in the minds of the virtual workers. The goals and objectives should be properly evaluated to avoid any surprises in the performance process while also ensuring regular feedbacks. This will enhance employee responsibility and the meeting of their standards as set by the virtual organization. Development of an effective communication system. Communication is one of the challenges facing supervisors in a virtual setting today. As I a virtual supervisor, I will use my communication skills to facilitate information sharing between the virtual-workers. Additionally, I will promote other means of communication apart from the use of emails such as voice mails, face-to-face communications, and video conferencing. I will perfect the audio meetings and set some ground rules to ensure that a specific communication system is followed to promote smooth communication to avoid confusion. Giving of motivational and formative feedback. Corrective feedback should be provided to the virtual workers about their actions, behaviors, styles, or strategies that are affecting others. This will translate to positive change and thereby enhancing the productivity of the virtual workers. If virtual supervisors properly implement motivational and formative feedback, it will result to improvement of the virtual workers’ personal development, improvement of the interpersonal relationships, improvement of the communication, performance improvement, improvement of the climate within the organization, and increasing the effectiveness and efficiency of the virtual workers. Managing Virtual Teams Because of the unfamiliarity and dynamics of the virtual organizations, virtual supervisors should spend more time to develop comprehensive milestones for the deliverables. This will enhance the clarity of the roles within the various virtual teams. While the choice of technology is an important aspect of ensuring information clarity, virtual supervisors should note that information overload can lead to provision of information that is too much to the virtual worker (Drucker, 1998). Therefore, virtual supervisors should be virtually present to ensure close monitoring of the team members and take notice of any factors or changes that may affect the delivery of the tasks assigned. Such factors include changes of the goals, adjustments in the task requirements and the modifications of the milestones. As a virtual supervisor, I will give priority to team member behaviors like training of new team members, and improving on the internal quality strategies to enhance the team effectiveness in addition, to the maintaining of the objective measures. I will monitor the team e-mails, electronic discussions, and other important team activities. Additionally, I will do peer evaluations to supplement the records that I have collected on the virtual employees. Through this role, I will be able to efficiently evaluate the quality of the work done by the virtual employees. Examining of the virtual teams is also an important role of the virtual supervisor. As a supervisor, I will consider diversity in my workforce in terms of the virtuality of the virtual members. The richness of the communication media, the distance between team members both in terms of geographical dispersion and time zones, and the cultural diversity are some of the factors that contribute to virtuality of the members. I will make sure that I fully understand the workforce of my organization to be able to solve the aforementioned issues. As a virtual supervisor coping with isolation is of paramount importance. Professionals working in the virtual environment are prone to challenges such as the feelings of isolation. Some workers feel that the organization has “forgotten” them especially those who are working remotely. As a supervisor, I will take positive steps to enhance the support and connection of the virtual workers. I will further encourage the virtual workers to use the platforms available to maintain contact with the support team. The platform will provide creative brainstorming solutions to the workers thereby curbing the menace of isolation. Further, I will encourage the workers to socialize and engage with people outside the workplace, joining the online communities etc. (Kangilaski, 2014). Managing Virtual Workers Long term evaluation of virtual employees. A virtual supervisor should put proper mechanisms in place to ensure that the subordinates are evaluated effectively. Evaluation of the virtual workers is the most difficult and subjective task and therefore, as a virtual supervisor I will do extensive research to deal with this complexity. Evaluation of the employees is however, confronted with certain issues such as lack of the physical presence of the employees, organizational relationships absence, and potential of hidden agendas leads to hostility and anxiety. This presents employees with conflicting demands on the organization. Like traditional supervisors, virtual supervisors are also tasked with the responsibility of safeguarding the confidentiality of employee’s information, ensuring and maintaining worker’s security, safety, and productive environment. Virtual organizations are faced with safety and security issues and therefore, supervisors should guarantee virtual workers maximum security in order to remove any obstacles that may act as hindrances in the proper execution of their duties. Therefore, as a virtual supervisor I will ensure that I am maintaining confidentiality and privacy of virtual workers information. In addition, virtual supervisors should ensure that virtual workers are treated fairly. This includes fair promotions, and delegation of the duties. Though it’s hard to notice unfair treatment in the virtual organizations, care should be taken to ensure that this does not happen. Building of trust is an important aspect of virtual organization. The structure and management of virtual organization calls for the management of virtual organizations by trust. As a supervisor I will develop an excellent rapport with the workers to promote an environment of openness, trust and understanding between the employees. Trust can also be enhanced by delegation of some duties. I will delegate some of my duties to not only show trust in workplace, but also boost the leadership skills within the work force. Relationship building is an important aspect of building trust. Collaborative works and social interactions are some of the important ways of enhancing trust. As a virtual supervisor, I will perform my role of building trust through keeping my word, following up of what ought to be done and what you have said, demonstration of integrity and honesty in the work ethics. Spotting talents and nurturing them is an important role of the virtual supervisor. Virtual organization deals with diversified roles and professions. By developing and nurturing talents, I will not only boost the productivity of the organization, but also the continuity of the organization. The talents can be spotted from the work teams or from the external sources. Additionally, training of the employees can help to identify the various talents. Integration: virtual supervisors are tasked with the responsibility of ensuring that there is smooth integration of the different individuals, organizations, and groups in the virtual organization in order to effectively achieve success and synergy of the individuals within the workplace. Therefore, to ensure there is proper integration role, as a virtual supervisor I will ensure there is greater level of cooperation, collaboration, and trust. Employee self-discipline is a vital task of the virtual supervisors. He or she is tasked with the responsibility of ensuring that the virtual workers stay focused even without adequate managerial oversight. The virtual supervisors should instill self-discipline in the workforce through setting specific guidelines on how workers should conduct themselves in the workplace. A disciplined workforce is important for achieving both short and long term goals and objectives of the organization. Additionally, the virtual supervisor should set the limits of the responsibility as well as defining the goals. This is an important role as it prevents the duplication of the efforts in the virtual organization. Fostering cooperation and empowerment of the virtual workers. Cooperation and empowerment is an essential ingredient in ensuring that virtual workers are working together towards achievement of the common goals and objectives of the organization. Thus as a virtual supervisor I will ensure that each worker is a contributing identifiable asset or strength. In doing so, I will promote equality among the workers and identification and appreciation of the contributions made by the individual workers towards the organization. Therefore, just like traditional organizations, virtual organizations also require that employees’ efforts be recognized by the organization. In lieu of the above, it’s true to conclude that the supervisory roles of the virtual organizations are more expansive than those of traditional organizations. Virtual organizations are becoming more and more common due to the advantages associated with them. However, it is imperative to note that, if virtual organizations are not properly they can be disastrous and hence become a total failure. Therefore, virtual supervisors should embrace their roles and be ready to execute them. Ultimately, although virtual organizations are becoming increasingly many in the world, many are in the verge of failure if not properly managed and supervised. References Berman, S., & Marshall, A. (2014). Reinventing the rules of engagement: three strategies for winning the information technology race. Strategy & Leadership. Jones, C. (2005). Teleworking: The Quiet Revolution (2005 Update). Stamford, CT: Gartner. Kangilaski, T. (2014). Planning Virtual Organization in Partner Network. In Industrial Technology (ICIT), 2014 IEEE International Conference on (pp. 664-669). IEEE. Drucker, P.F. (1998). “Management’s New Paradigms,” Forbes. Rue, L.W., Ibrahim. & Byars, L.L. (2013). Supervision; Key Link to Productivity. McGraw-Hill Companies. ISBN: 0078029228 Read More