Managing Globally Distributed Teams - Assignment Example

Team Management Introduction Companies are nowadays distributing the teams they have globally to different continents. The main reason for this is to create a wider pool through which the organization can get information and knowledge about the things it deals with. Despite this being beneficial, it can be of great disadvantage if the management of the teams is not synchronized properly. Therefore, it is good to have some technology to bring these team members together in decision making and achieving of the organizational goals. Dq 3.1 (1) What factors create trust for globally distributed knowledge worker teams, in which many of the team members will never meet each other face-to-face? Many companies have adopted the idea of having teams that are stretched globally in different aspects. The main reason for these companies to adopt this technology is to have them make decisions that favor the entire global market. Having a globally distributed team comes with the challenge of mistrust among some team members. However, there are some factors that the management can rely on to create trust among these team players in different parts of the world (Allison, 2013). The first factor to be considered is having directed and reflected knowledge to be shared among the team members. Directed messages will always tell the exact information being conveyed. Due to this, members trust their fellows since there are no irrelevant stories to hide the reality. Having the information that the team share reflected in some reference point also boosts trust. Social communication is another factor that is helpful in building trust in team members who will never meet face-to-face. In this level of communication the workers will discuss informal factors such as how their holidays or weekend were spent. In the process of doing this they get to know each other more and the trust is created. For example, a worker based in America can chat with his fellow in Asia discussing the summer holidays. In the process, these workers will trust each other (Carmody, 2012). The ability of the team to combine resources despite the distance between them is also crucial for trust to exist. In this case, the team members at different points in the world they operate from get to coordinate themselves and share what the team needs to accomplish its goals. If they can do this then eventually the members will create trust among themselves (Chesebro, 2012). Dq 3.2 (1) Conduct an Internet search to locate at least one new technology that contributes to improving communication for distributed knowledge worker teams. One of the new technologies that organizations are nowadays adopting to improve communication among their team members who are globally distributed is the groove virtual office. The technology relies on the ability of the Microsoft software that can connect many servers from different parts of the globe (Keller, 2012). Groove virtual office enables collaboration of team workers who require documents from their fellow teammates to complete their duties. Generally it’s an application that joins different word and PowerPoint documents that are sourced from far places. The unique part of this technology is its ability to connect work from members who are not always online at the same time. It is also favorable for workers who are usually off-line in most cases. Groove virtual office uses servers that require the users of the system to log in to have access of the data and information that the management and fellow team players have left behind (Kiesler & Sproull, 2011). As other members log on to the server later since they cannot be online for long hours, they get to see what others had for the team while they were off-line. It is on the home tab where the information that is general is placed. Otherwise, there is an option of sending instant messages. At this point the workers get messages through their communication devices as fast as they are dispatched from the servers. Messages that are crucial and need immediate action are well passed through this technology (Matheson, 2011). (2)Describe why and how this tool improves communication for these types of teams. The groove virtual office technology is a tool that improves communication for globally distributed knowledge worker teams. It improves the communication since it makes it possible for the distanced teammates to work together and coordinate the different tasks that they have to do for the team to score its goals. A well coordinated task force is a sign of good communication among the team members. It is a great advantage to the team or organization when the people working for it are doing work together in an organized manner (Peter, 2012). The way that this Microsoft technology works to improve communication among dispersed team workers is unique also. The technology connects workers from different places through a centrally run main server. Every other worker can access information on the site by logging on this server. Generally, it is like an office where people get to report at any time they can get online. When a member is online, it is indicated and others who are also online can note that another member is available. From this level the workers can then start conversing on issues that are in hand for the team to handle (Prablanc, 2012). All members of the task force are going to be involved in the activities and decision making of the team regardless of their regularity in the online platform. The fact that all members are always connected makes this tool a good platform for improving communication among team players who may never get to meet face-to-face. (3)Would this technology also be beneficial for co-located teams? The groove virtual technology focuses at making the distributed worker teams connect without difficulties. Co-located workers can benefit from this technology when they are keen enough to make good use of it. Co-located teams in most cases work in different environments and sometimes found in different time zones. There are very many benefits that the co-located teams will get from the groove virtual office (Shapiro, 2012). The ability of this technology to connect dispersed tem workers through instant messages is an important advantage it gives to the team and organization. It is not possible for the entire team to be at the same place for the twenty four hours in a day even if they work at the same work station. Some workers who don’t spend a lot of time online usually play a major role in the team. Therefore it is crucial that they be alerted when some duties have to be allocated instantly. In this case, the instant messages become of great use to the team or organization using this technology. Despite being very useful to workers located very far away from each other, this technology is also crucial to co-located workers. Groove virtual office makes coordination of work easier especially for the kind of duties that have to be done in bits by different team members. (4)Do you believe that the results from use of the tool would justify its cost? One big challenge that organizations and teams face when implementing new ideas is the mode of financing these projects. Costs of operation and implementation become a major determinant before organizations decide on whether to adopt a technological idea. Getting the software needed to run the groove virtual offices would cost some cash. The revenue that will be spent in this area may be very big. Another cost that comes along with adopting the technology is the cost of running the software and the servers. There has to be some professionals to manage the entire system so that it becomes beneficial to all the team members. Also the professionals will cost the team some cash to hire. Despite the fact that the expenses faced with the team management due to the implementation of the groove virtual office technology are high, the outcome is worth the cost. For instance, the team saves a lot of cash that could have been used to finance traveling of workers from place to place. This technology enables the team members to communicate efficiently without making expensive travelling arrangements. Dq 3.3 (1) what is the effect of not having visual cues regarding those with whom you are communicating? Visual cues are important when making communication effective. They include things such as maintenance of eye contact, laughter, smiling, chuckling and even crying. They basically involve things that can only be seen. Due to this reason it is very hard for people communicating far from each other to make good use of the visual cues. Lacking visual cues with the people we are communicating to have some negative impact on the effectiveness of the communication. For example, it becomes hard to know the exact feedback that the people being communicated to had about the message being conveyed. People respond differently to the information they get and this might lead to some receivers of the message being satisfied while others are annoyed. Therefore if one lacks visual communication with the person he or she is communicating to, the feedback received might be wrong. This is because there are some people who else find it hard to say that they are not satisfied with the message, but through visual cues such as facial expressions this can be noted. Another effect of lacking visual cues is the fact that the messenger fails to know if the means of communication was efficient. The visual cues help one to know if the message being passed to the listeners has been perceived appropriately. For example, when the person we are communicating to nodes when we issue a point it shows he or she has understood the point. (2)What methods do you use to become acquainted with your fellow classmates and colleagues to compensate for the lack of visual cues? It is good to make sure that I get acquainted with the things I missed out when I never attended the communication session that involved visual cues. The classmates who attended such sessions are usually more informed and thus ahead. There are many methods through which one can get acquainted with the rest who had the visual cues. Some of the methods include the following; Consulting my colleagues who attended the sessions is an effect way of keeping me at par with the rest. I do this by asking questions and clarifications about what was communicated. Consulting the person who was passing the information is useful in get one acquainted with the rest of the team. The person who was in charge of the communication can clarify all that one missed in clear way since he or she was the one conveying the message. Conducting studies in the library and from any other reliable sources can also be one method of getting acquainted with what others grasped. From the library, I will ensure I analyze all the important points that relate to the information that was passed across and I missed the visual cues involved. The same way the visuals facilitated understanding of the message, conducting further studies on the same topic will boost my understanding of the information. Therefore, I will get an opportunity to be informed the same way my colleagues and classmates were informed in details. 3) Discuss both the advantages and disadvantages of the absence of visual cues for communication in globally distributed teams. Communication between globally distributed teams lacks the visual cues that are usually used in passing of information. There are some advantages that they enjoy out of this challenge. For example in such communication it’s rare for one to get rational to his fellow teammates. Due to this, the relationship is enhanced between members of the team. Lack of the visual cues also helps in avoid prejudgments that hinder effective communication. For example when one starts to criticize the way one stresses or pronounces words while communicating. Such prejudgments make people to forget that they should concentrate on the information being passed across not pronunciations. Even though it seems beneficial to lack the visual cues, there are some disadvantages along that. For instance the passing conveying the message fails to stress some information he or she thought is very crucial. The immediate feedback read from the faces of the audience is not possible in this case. The globally distributed teams rely on responses sent from communication tools which may just be given to favor something but not sincere. Conclusion The fact that we need to disperse our team members all over the world is beneficial. The main benefit is that we get to have a variety of ideas from people in different parts of the world. However it is crucial that these team workers be coordinated in all the work that they do for the team. Therefore, these tools that connect team workers distributed globally are important. The same way, the visual cues are important in enhancing communication. They make communication easier in different ways. References Allison, T. (2013). Social perception from visual cues: role of the STS region. Trends in cognitive sciences , 267-278. Carmody, M. A. (2012). The influence of task type, group structure and extraversion on uninhibited speech in computer-mediated communication. Computers in Human Behavior , 264-272. Chesebro, J. W. (2012). Computer-mediated communication: Human relationships in a computerized world. Vol4. Tuscaloosa: The University of Alabama Press. Keller, P. R. (2012). Visual cues: practical data visualization. Los Alamitos: IEEE Computer Society Press. Kiesler, S., & Sproull, L. (2011). Connections: New ways of working in the networked organization. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press. Matheson, K. (2011). Computer-mediated communications: the focus is on me. Social Science Computer Review,10 , 1-12. Peter, G. (2012). Visual size cues in the programming of manipulative forces during precision grip. Experimental Brain Research , 477-482. Prablanc, C. (2012). Static and dynamic visual cues in the control of hand movement. Biological cybernetics , 183-187. Shamp, S. A. (2011). Mechanomorphism in perception of computer communication partners. Computers in Human Behavior , 147-161. Shapiro, N. Z. (2012). Toward an ethics and etiquette for electronic mail; Vol 5. Santa Monica, CA: The Rand Corp. Siegel, J. (2013). Group processes in computer-mediated communication. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes , 157-187. Read More