Virtual Team Processes

Virtual Team Processes

Abstract

Technological advancements have made it easier for people from different parts of the globe to work on one project without having to relocate to one location. This has led to the formation of virtual groups that are used to develop various projects. Communication has, however, been a major challenge in ensuring that the team members are able to share ideas and goals concerning their work. Establishing frequent and clear communication as well as appreciating the contribution of each and every team member will help in solving communication difficulties in the team. This will make it possible to complete different projects in time with the use of minimal resources.

Virtual Team Processes (Poor Communication)

Virtual team processes involve a group of people working across time, space, and organizational boundaries using electronic communication as the main form of interaction. The team can complete various projects while working from different geographical locations and time zones. Several organizations have become more effective and efficient through the use of new technologies such as computer-mediated software that enables a team to work collaboratively on a project without being co-located. Virtual team processes present various issues and sometimes unique social problems mainly due to lack of face to face interaction.

Poor communication is a major social problem faced in most virtual team processes. The teams lack every day informal face to face communication, which leads to miscommunication and loss of vital information. The team members might for several days without communicating with each other, which eventually results in a feeling of isolation (Graham, Daniel, & Doore, 2019). If the team members are not able to communicate effectively and efficiently, this will hinder innovation and decision making. Although the virtual teams are working on projects with goals to achieve together, lack of connection to each other might affect the teams’ motivation.

The lack of everyday interactions among virtual groups makes working on a particular project to be draining since it becomes hard for the group members to establish and develop working friendships. When the team members are not able to see how their projects and combined efforts fit as a whole, they end up becoming despondent and demotivated (Han & Beyerlein, 2016). It is challenging to increase the overall team effort because it is not easy to engage the members in different locations. The lack of physicality affects how the group can be effective. It has always been a problem to establish and maintain a clear sense of group identity due to the restrictive contact, less contact, limited personal interactions, and few opportunities to create and enhance relationships that are essential to the team’s success.

Virtual group processes are usually associated with mistrust among the team members, and this has been a major challenge in managing a virtual team. It is challenging to establish and sustain group dynamics within virtual teams (Laitinen & Valo, 2018). When a group lacks stable and functional norms, it is difficult for a project to be successful since there are more restricted communication and fewer social cues. This makes it difficult to establish consistent expectations and goals, as it becomes more complicated (Dulebohn & Hoch, 2017). Although the quality of communication among members in a virtual group can be improved through computer mediation, it is not possible to employ an extensive range of communicative acts that are available in face to face communication. When members are working at different locations and at different times, they cannot see what other members of the groups are doing and cannot get immediate responses (Hassell & Cotton, 2017). Lack of trust becomes a major issue and problem in such scenarios since it is not easy to set clear goals and expectations.

When a virtual team is made up of people with different cultures and from varying ethnic groups, poor communication leads to a lesser liking for and acceptance by the other team members. Such people experience social anxiety due to an increased feeling of loneliness and isolation. It is difficult for the members to come together and feel as if they are part of the group (Han et al., 2017). One’s social network becomes smaller in the long run. Some of the members will show lower cohesiveness and end up feeling not closely connected to the other team members (Gibbs, Sivunen, & Boyraz, 2017). Although technology is blamed for poor performance among virtual teams in most cases, social and individual factors are the major causes of performance decrement—poor communication results in inappropriate expectations as well as unclear lines of control or accountability. When the team cannot communicate effectively, it is difficult to determine who is actually responsible for a particular task.

Communication among people of diverse cultures is a key challenge since every person wants to follow their way of conducting various tasks and leaders have a difficult time trying to establish common grounds of managing the team members.  It is a tiresome process for the leaders to make the group agree on some team customs and work ethics (Chen, 2019). Decreased productivity will eventually be witnessed due to a lack of relational communication found in face to face communication. A lot of misunderstanding as a result of poor communication is likely to occur in virtual group processes (Pozin, Nawi, & Romle, 2016). If the team is experiencing poor communication, the members are not working towards a shared engagement, collaboration, and vision (Lippert & Dulewicz, 2018). There no strategic team building and shared mission, resulting in decreased productivity.

Virtual groups lack close attention needed in relationship-building to improve communication. When the team is no longer united, there is a lack of direction and clarity. It is always important to convey the correct message when communicating with all members of the group to improve the relationship. Poor communication leads to confusion among the members, strains their relationships, and leads to misalignment of goals. When the relationships in a virtual group are in jeopardy, it is difficult to complete projects in time (Marlow, Lacerenza, & Salas, 2017). Communication clarity keeps team members on the same page and enables them to move in the right direction. When a message is misinterpreted, there is a lack of clarity, and the intended message will not be conveyed. Unclear messages lead to misinterpreted intentions, missed deadlines for projects, and misguided actions (Newman, Ford, & Marshall, 2019). Since the members of the virtual group might be coming from different cultures, some slang terms may be misunderstood when someone is trying to convey a message. The lack of appropriate and clear communication builds a negative reputation for the members.

Some people find it difficult to send confidential information and prefer to deliver it in person. Face to face conversations are more personal and allow an individual to ask any questions at the right time. A lot of useful information can be lost when virtual group members are communicating through an insecure channel. Some of the members are not able to ask the right questions through the communication channels used by the team (Kasemsap, 2016). If the leaders fail to ask the essential questions, it becomes difficult to determine if the members are working towards completing a project. There is also the likelihood of hiring incompetent personnel since it is easy for an individual to provide false information.

Virtual group members might be less productive because the leaders and other members are not passing the right message to them (Graham, Daniel, & Doore, 2016). Some of the people might fail to use their time wisely since there is not day-to-day oversight as well as a motivational message coming from the other members. With poor communication, there will be no clear expectations and the members of the team will not be motivated.

Chances of losing team spirit and morale are usually high when there is not effective communication within a team. Working at different locations makes it more difficult to create the cohesiveness required in keeping the teamwork spirit high (Asplund, 2019). There is a cold relationship between the members created by the physical distance. This is likely to affect the competence of the virtual team if their communication process is poor. It becomes difficult to delegate since some of the members fail to create a sense of ownership and commitment to a project.  Some sections of the virtual team might fail to recognize the existence of other members, hence delaying the completion of projects.

The communication among members of a virtual group is less compassionate and less empathetic. It is not easy to internalize what the other person is saying since one cannot take note of the body language, such as eye contact and facial expressions of the other person. As a result, a lot of suspicions is witnessed among virtual team members (Bhat, Pande, & Ahuja, 2017). Most people in the group show limited commitment towards the completion of various projects due to the limited sense of ownership associated with virtual groups. The contribution of one member towards the final project may end unrecognized through words or acts of appreciation. This might negatively affect how members make contributions to the development of new projects as well as work towards achieving organizational goals.

Poor communication in virtual groups results in frequent second-guessing of expectations. Since the members are not aware of what will happen in the future about the projects they are undertaking, they prefer to use guesswork in making predictions. People in the team may start criticizing one another without hindsight because they lack a close personal relationship (Alsharo, Gregg, & Ramirez, 2017). There are low levels of transparency since the members might not share detailed information about their work with their teammates. Poor-quality or delayed projects will be the outcome of any misunderstandings among the virtual team.

Solution

Enhancing communication requires increasing everyday interactions. This will make the members of the team feel that they are actively involved in every step of decision making, and their contributions towards the completion of various projects are highly appreciated. It is important for the virtual group leaders to create smaller interdependent tasks and develop partnerships that will give members of the group objectives to achieve together (Marlow, Lacerenza, & Salas, 2017). The leaders should focus on increasing social interactions by engaging people in written communication. The members should be regularly communicating with each other to improve the overall team effort.

The leader should keep fostering a culture of communication among all members of the team. This should start by providing regular updates to the team. When the members notice that their leaders are effective communicators, they will pick up the good habit and start sharing useful information amongst themselves. To ensure that the communication is frequent, clear, and consistent, the leaders will need to have a more planned contact with all members of the group at a distance. This will help in creating personal connections and empathy among the members (Mysirlaki & Paraskeva, 2019). It is important to set it clear how the members should communicate by removing any ambiguity in communication and providing a written outline that explains the type of messages that should be sent to other people. The leader should also outline how members are expected to interact with each other.

Creating awareness of the achievements and contributions of every group member will help in improving trust in a virtual team. The team managers should be supportive by setting clear goals and expectations that will help in building trust among the members of the group. Since some people might be from diverse cultures, the team should clearly communicate and agree on team customs and work ethics to promote cultural understanding.  When poor communication has led to the loss of team spirit and morale, the team can create cohesiveness and become more engaging through shared leadership. There should be a clear direction which has been established to make sure that all team members are working words a common goal.

All members should feel that they are required to contribute to every step of developing a project. It is the duty of the team leaders to ensure that they create a sense of commitment by paying attention to every team member. It is advisable to choose software and tools that make communication easier. The tools must meet the need of the team to ensure that they communicate effectively. It is also important for the leader to be constantly updating the group on why they are doing a particular project (McLarnon et al., 2019). The message should not only speak about the organization but should also focus on the general good of humanity. It is worth stating the mission clearly and demonstrates how the projects are aiming at improving the welfare of various people (Wieland & Wolf, 2016). This is a way of making the members feel that their time and efforts are being used in a productive manner.

Putting into consideration the tone to use when sending a message helps in improving the relationship between virtual group members. The content of the message should contain emotional nuances to make the recipients happy. Access to information should be instant among all members of the team. Every member should consider the importance of providing feedback since it helps in determining how the teammates are taking a particular matter, and it is a way of giving reassurance. It would be ideal to have an occasional meeting to ensure that the team meets face-to-face. If the meeting is not possible, the group should try video conferencing to enable the members to talk to one another.

The productivity of virtual groups is determined by how all members are able to share ideas and actively participate in the development of projects. Communication has a major role to play in ensuring that the team members coordinate and work towards shared goals. Although most people are used to conducting their social lives remotely, they find it difficult to come up with an effective team that can complete a project due to poor communication. Virtual group processes require constant innovation of new ways of bringing the scattered members together in the shortest time possible and ensuring that effective and efficient communication is achieved.

References

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