Global teams
Definition: Global teams refer to employees who work virtually or remotely in different countries to attain specific objectives and goals of an organization (Stan, 2018).
Summary
International organizations are known to have many employees; hence the best way to make them work effectively is to put them in teams (Stan, 2018). Global teams or virtual teams are usually composed of different employees who work together to ensure that the organization is successful. Since the global team can be composed of employees from different countries, it is of paramount importance for them to communicate regularly. Additionally, due to the factor of different time zones, all team members in the global teams must be able to schedule meetings where all of them can contribute towards the issues affecting them.
Additionally, when coming up with global teams, organizations need to consider the following fundamental factors. First is the cultural differences of the team members. Secondly, the organization ought to give the global team a compelling purpose or goal. Thirdly the organization must commit itself to come up with opportunities that will make the team members bond. Fourthly the organization, through the team leaders, ought to establish robust team norms to enable the global team to function smoothly in the long run.
Discussion
It is of paramount importance for business organizations to consider the merits and demerits of global teams before forming them. Understanding the advantages and disadvantages of global teams puts the organization in a better position to understand team dynamics and how to make the global teams work effectively.
Among the critical merits of the global teams include the following. First is that global/virtual teams save the organization lots of cash. Since these teams meet virtually, the expenses of having offices and other operational costs are significantly reduced too. Secondly is that the organization gets access to an enormous pool of talents. Since global teams are composed of employees from different countries, this gives the organization an opportunity of getting the best employees from various countries. Thirdly is that global teams make organizations operate for 24 hours, and this is very vital to making the organization’s profitability improve.Fourthly is that global teams reduce the negative environmental impacts the organization could have caused since their employees work virtually.
On the other hand, the following are the demerits of global teams. First is that the organization operates on the assumption of trust, and this can be detrimental in the long run. The second critical demerit of global teams is that it makes the employees socially isolated. This happens because the employees work virtually and do not get an opportunity to physically meeting others. The third demerit is that global teams face the challenge of time zones. Since the teams are formed by employees from different countries, the issue of time zones emerges, and this poses a severe problem when it comes to communication. Fourthly organizations incur high technology costs since they have to get their various employees the right devices and technological equipment for them to work effectively. Lastly, virtual teams face the challenge of different cultures that affect the cooperation of the team members and the efficiency of the teams too.