Transcript EBT Online Publishing Seminar

Virtual Teams
Mary Lou Maher
University DECO2005, Semester 2, 2005
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A TEAM is not only a group of individuals who share
norms, beliefs and objectives which bring them
together, but also a group of individuals, called
stakeholders,
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who act together to achieve a shared purpose and
whose tasks are dependent on the work of others.
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Teams are seen as systems. They have the
following properties:
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Interrelated parts – team members
Purpose – the team’s objectives and goals
Energy transfer process – the work of the team
Inputs – team resources
Output – team outputs
Structure – nature of the teams
Feedback – discussion in a team
Characteristics of a team:
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common goal - objectives
size, number of people
personalities: sex, culture, age
technical skills,
experience, worked before
tools they have – resources
Beliefs, values
Communication, collaboration tech
tasks
Task characteristics
1: generate ideas, creativity tasks, generate plans
2: choose a correct answer, intellective tasks, choose a
preferred solution, decision making tasks
3: negotiate conflicting views, cognitive conflict tasks, negotiate
conflicting interests, mixed motive tasks
4: execute in competition with an opponent,
contents/competitive tasks, execute in competition against
external performance standards, performances/psychomotor tasks
Technology characteristics
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Properties of any technological systems (both hardware and software) used
in the group for communication, for
 Information input
 Information output
 Communication
 Task support
Design Teams
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Project and development team
May consist of diverse, specialized experts
May come together to produce a one-time output, a design
Whenever their work is complete , the project team disbands
and the return to their units, or move other project teams
Temporary structure
Relationships are short-lived, and interactions are temporary
Design team
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What are the advantages and disadvantages
of designing as a team?
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Advantages:
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Disadvantages:
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Some teams experience a bitter and
frustrating working relationship with members
that they thought were bright and talented.
Some others experience the most productive
and successful working relationship that they
have ever had with a colleague or a client.
Why is this?
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In a team, members may be:
In competition with each other
(COMPETITION)
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In disagreement with each other
(CONFLICT AND CONTRADICTION)
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In consensus with each other
(COLLABORATION, COOPERATION)
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Collaboration
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A process through which parties see different
aspects of a problem
Constructively explore their differences and search
for solutions that go beyond their own limited version
of what is possible.
Compromise is not needed
Team members recognize and respect each other –
pool diversity rather than compromise differences
Win-win situation, where everyone strives for the
optimum situation
Example?
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When conflict is good
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Lead to new ideas
Lead to new approaches to organizational process
Increased interest in dealing with problems
Facilitates the surfacing of important issues
Opportunities for people to develop their communication and
interpersonal skills.
Handling Negative Conflict
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1.
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Five accepted techniques (Nelson, 1995):
Direct Approach – leader confront the issue
Bargaining – Third party resolve conflict;
compromise on both sides; both walking equally
dissatisfied.
Enforcement of Team Rules – Avoid it. Hard
feelings towards leader and team. Leave team.
Retreat – Problem is not real. Avoid it or working
around it.
De-emphasis: form of bargaining where the
emphasis is on the areas of agreement.
Virtual teams
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transcend distance, time zone and organizational boundaries
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Creating Virtual teams: hard task
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Trust
Expectations
Cultural differences
Work Co-ordination
Group dynamics
Leadership
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Planning and Designing of Virtual teams
require consideration of:
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Organizational design
Job design
Team design
Coordination of work through technology
Design
Process
Where 1 = Request, 2 = Work, 3 = Plan, 4 = Discuss, 5 = Present, 6 = Choose
Generic skills
in virtual teams
Generic
Skills
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Ability to utilise generic teamwork skills in the virtual
environment
Skills Classification & Profiling
1
Design Activities
Teamwork Core
Skills
Project
Management Skills
Virtual Team
Skills
Orientating
Adaptability
Leadership
Trust
Subdividing the
problem
Shared situational
awareness
Communication
Culture
Establishing roles
Performance
monitoring and
feedback
Conflict resolution
Archiving
Information seeking
Leadership / team
management
Negotiation
Skills Classification & Profiling
2
Design Activities (cont)
Teamwork Core Skills
(cont)
Project Management
Skills (cont)
Information sharing
Interpersonal relations
Listening
Monitoring
Co-ordination
Team building
Negotiating / understanding
Communication
Relationship management
Designing
Decision making
Planning
Building
Contract management
Evaluating
Problem solving
Groupware Technologies
Groupware Technologies
Groupware Technologies