E-Learning Concepts and Techniques

Chapter 10 – Managing the Data

10.1 Project Management for Virtual Teams

Vince Basile

As organizations become larger, team project managers often find themselves trying to work with a team that is geographically dispersed. While virtual teams have been shown to be an effective and efficient approach to business projects, there are some added conditions that must be met if a virtual team is to be successful.

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Why virtual teams?

Virtual teams are formed for many reasons. A company may, for example, have many different corporate locations. Each location, in turn, may have a particular corporate focus, with personnel who can uniquely contribute to a particular project. Alternately, a team may be addressing an organization-wide business initiative. Personnel may be located in many different places within a country, or in many different countries.

In other cases, certain employees may be telecommuters. When these individuals are selected for project teams, their availability and contribution is limited by the same factors that made telecommuting a necessity.

Increasingly, organizations are partnering, or joining forces, in order to better handle the demands of complex projects. This may take the form of a corporate merger. It may also be a temporary alliance that brings together different areas of corporate expertise. In either case, the individuals who are assigned to a combined project team will generally be selected for their ability to bring needed skills to the team.

Finally, individual consultants may be brought in from outside the company. These individuals will generally be selected to serve as temporary members of an ad hoc project team. They bring to the team a particular area of expertise that may not be available within the corporation.

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The Benefits of Virtual Teams

Regardless of the specific factors that lead to the formation of a virtual team, the decision to do so is almost always influenced by a need to limit costs and improve team performance. Virtual teams have the ability, for example, to reduce project costs in several different areas. Among these are travel-related costs. These include the cost of travel itself, plus associated costs such as lodging, meals, parking, on-site commuting and others.

Another cost factor is a decrease in the loss of productivity associated with increased time away from other work assignments. Although the modern business person has a variety of productivity-enhancing tools at his or her disposal, there is still an inevitable decrease in efficiency and productivity that goes with time away from home base.

In many cases, virtual teams eliminate the need to assign dedicated project space. Most companies do not have the luxury of having unused, yet well-equipped work areas available for assignment to short-term projects. Spaces that are available may require considerable renovation or relocation of existing services. In some cases, a decision may be made to lease space for the project team, adding considerable additional cost to a project.

On the productivity side, effective virtual teams have the ability to respond quickly to business opportunities. Companies that master the use of the virtual team approach may have a significant edge over their competition in the ability to meet the demands of rapidly changing business situations.

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Special Considerations for Virtual Teams

While there are many solid reasons to consider utilizing a virtual team, there are also aspects of this approach that must be taken into consideration as well. Standard project teams, with close proximity of team members, provide many opportunities for team interaction. This, in turn, promotes the development of close working relationships and enhances effective communication.

In the virtual team approach, many of these opportunities are missing. Informal interactions occur much less frequently, with the result that members may feel more isolated. We are denied the subtle clues that we, often unknowingly, receive from facial expressions, tone of voice, body language and other related factors. Virtual team members may feel isolated and fail to develop the close working relationships that we take for granted with close-proximity teams.

This sense of isolation may be even more apparent when there are cross-cultural considerations. As globalization becomes a more significant factor in business, teams are frequently made up of individuals from different countries and cultures. Differences in language, working habits, communication styles and overall cultural context can significantly impair the ability of team members to work effectively together. In close-proximity teams, these differences tend to be noted and taken into consideration as a team learns to interact with one another. The virtual team approach does not offer as many opportunities to work past the differences and increases the possibility for misunderstandings.

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Tips for Virtual Team Project Managers

The benefits of virtual teams can far outweigh the drawbacks. The task of making the situation work falls (naturally) on the project manager.

First, recognize that there are very few completely virtual teams. Take advantage of any possible opportunities for interaction and try to schedule them as early in the team-building process as possible. Some project managers believe that building a foundation of trust and communication requires at least an initial face-to-face meeting of team members.

Communication protocols become a very large issue with virtual teams. When possible, establish communication guidelines, such as acknowledging receipt of requests or a maximum amount of time (24 or 48 hours) for a response. Try to send frequent updates to all team members so they continue to feel part of the process. Consider using visual aides, such as project schedule charts, to show progress that has been made in various phases.

Remember that there are forms of communication beyond e-mails. Conference calls, for example, give the opportunity to hear each others' voices, offering a better set of clues about the way that team members are actually reacting to a discussion than can be obtained through e-mails alone. Possible benefits of still other forms of communication, such as video conferencing for example, should also be explored.

As possible, personalize communications. Remember that close-proximity teams give multiple opportunities to get to know each other. Many project managers advocate small talk as a way of getting to know each other. Others make a point to learn a bit about their team members' interests and inquire about them with each communication. Having a photograph of a person with whom you are communicating can make the interchange much more personal.

In essence, it's all about building and keeping trust. One author encourages project managers to establish and maintain an atmosphere of DWYSYWD (Do What You Say You Will Do). Encourage all team members to follow through on commitments. This fosters an atmosphere that encourages respect for each other's time, and therefore, for each other.

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10.1 Summary

Virtual project teams can be effective business tools. In order to make them work, however, project managers need to recognize those factors that make them different from close-proximity teams, and take steps to maximize communication and trust.

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10.1 References

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10.2 The Key to Managing all the Data

Steve L Brink

With the ever-growing popularity of online communication and the development of virtual teams, communication methods and channels are evolving and changing everyday. Not long ago, before computers were a staple in most homes and offices, meetings were held so that information could be transferred from team member to team member, with the main communication channel being verbal. Someone would usually take minutes, but that was for archival and references purposes; not a major form of communication. Nowadays, with teams being constructed with members from around the world, and people's schedules becoming less and less flexible, much communication is being conducted via email and other online text-based methods.

With this new form of communication come some great advantages and some great disadvantages. For clarity and focus, email will be the main form of text based communication discussed. Email has many advantages (Industry News & Trends, 2006):

Even with all the advantages of email, there are some characteristics of email that hinder instead of help ("Using email effectively"):

The debate on whether email is good or evil will continue. The debate on which program is best for online communication will continue. What many overlook in these debates are two of the most basic skills people have been learning since the beginning: reading and writing. Much research has been done concerning the misunderstandings of text based communication, focusing on the writing aspect and the lack of clarity. Let's assume a piece is clearly written; written communication still takes a considerable amount of time to get through.

The ability to read quickly with a high level of retention is a skill that is going to have to be further developed as societies continue to move towards written communication. As was mentioned, email is time consuming, easy to misunderstand, and confusing, which is most likely due to inadequate writing skills. However, even if a piece is very well written, reading is time consuming and most people spend a majority of their day reading one thing or another. Tomorrow, take note on how much of your day is spent reading. You wake up and probably read the newspaper. You may turn on ESPN and read the scores scrolling across the screen. Then you get to work and read your emails. Then you may hit a few of your favorite websites and read some more. Afterwards, you read random documents throughout the day. You check your email again, and again, and again. You come home and read a cookbook for dinner. Then you check your email before going to bed. Finally, you settle down with a book before getting some rest. The point is made: you read, A LOT.

Most people read between 240-300 words per-minute in a textbook type reading (Increasing your reading rate), but are capable of nearly doubling that speed with a little training and practice (Clarke, 1989). And contrary to most beliefs, studies show that along with increasing the rate of reading, the retention of the material also increases. So what effect does that have? Imagine being able to get through twice the amount of material in any given day, and effectively remembering more than if you only got through half! You would be much more productive, much more valuable and would have much more time to complete other tasks. As opposed to doubling the amount of work you could get completed in a given amount of time, imagine completing the same amount of work in half the time. For some, that means instead of 13 hours a day responding to email, they could cut that down to 6-7 hours, freeing up another 6-7 for other uses.

The sheer volume of communication that is being done non-verbally in the 21st century is going to force people to become more effective readers. There are numerous courses that will help to increase reading speed and retention. Just go to the Web and do a search for speed reading and you will receive numerous packages. I believe that everyone should take some time and work on increasing the reading ability in order to keep with today's new communication channels.

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10.2 References

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10.3 Virtual Leadership in the 21st Century

Susan Oliver

What is Virtual Leadership?

According to Webster's, the following definitions apply:

vir•tu•al adj.
  • Existing or resulting in essence or effect though not in actual fact, form, or name: the virtual extinction of the buffalo.
  • Existing in the mind, especially as a product of the imagination. Used in literary criticism of a text.
  • Computer Science. Created, simulated, or carried on by means of a computer or computer network: virtual conversations in a chat room.

Virtual <jargon, architecture> (Via the technical term virtual memory, probably from the term "virtual image" in optics)

  1. Common alternative to logical; often used to refer to the artificial objects (like addressable virtual memory larger than physical memory) created by a computer system to help the system control access to shared resources.
  2. Simulated; performing the functions of something that isn't really there. An imaginative child's doll may be a virtual playmate. Opposite of real or physical.
lead•er•ship n.
  • The position or office of a leader: ascended to the leadership of the party.
  • Capacity or ability to lead: showed strong leadership during her first term in office.
  • A group of leaders: met with the leadership of the nation's top unions.
  • Guidance; direction: The business prospered under the leadership of the new president.
Virtual Team

Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia does not define Virtual Leadership but does define a Virtual Team as:

A Virtual Team — also known as a Geographically Dispersed Team (GDT) — is a group of individuals who work across time, space, and organizational boundaries with links strengthened by webs of communication technology. They have complementary skills and are committed to a common purpose, have interdependent performance goals, and share an approach to work for which they hold themselves mutually accountable. Geographically dispersed teams allow organizations to hire and retain the best people regardless of location. A virtual team does not always mean teleworker. Teleworkers are defined as individuals who work from home. Many virtual teams in today's organizations consist of employees both working at home and small groups in the office but in different geographic locations.

Another definition of a virtual team is: is a group of individuals who work across time, space and organizational boundaries with links strengthened by webs of communication technology. (McNamara, 1999)

Virtual Leadership

In reading all these definitions, how do we define virtual leadership?

We can say that it is the act of leading others in an environment that is other than physical.

It could be leadership of individual whom you may have never met, in environments that you may never be physically in. It is considered virtual because the leadership and the team are simulated, meaning they are performing functions of a team that does not physically exist as a fact. Each team member is located somewhere else and what ties the team together is the use of technology as a means of communicating. The team leader may be in California, the other team members dispersed in different cities or countries. They meet and make decisions with the use of technology, either asynchronously or synchronously. Some tools that may be used are teleconferencing, virtual meeting rooms on the Web, email, etc.

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Why have Virtual Teams?

Virtual teams are necessary in the 21st century. Businesses and individuals are dispersed all over the world. Many times, organizations that are globally based cannot rely on the skills and resources that are only local to the organization. Organizations are also managing around functions rather than by geographic location. This management allows for better integration of virtual teams.

Because of technology, time, space and organizational boundaries are not defined as they were before. Here are a number of reasons for Virtual Teams (Kostner, 1994):

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What factors make a Virtual Team successful?

Most critical to the success of virtual teams are the trust, strong leadership, motivation and collaborative nature or the building of relationships of the virtual team.

Trust is a word that is used a lot, but is very difficult to define and measure. One way to measure trust is to develop and build relationships. Although difficult in a virtual environment, relationships can be built over time. It is easier to trust someone you have built a relationship with. In a virtual setting, individuals have to be very deliberate about building relationships as they cannot meet people at lunch or down the hallway by the water cooler. Leadership in a virtual environment has changed and requires that leaders have exceptional skills. The following quote explains the role of leadership in virtual environments: It will require a certain kind of human being to be able to manage in the future, predicts Kelly-Radford. While the idea of coaching has taken hold in team-based work environments, she says, the new crop of leaders will need to be master coaches. But, Kelly-Radford warns, being inspirational alone will not cut it. We are beyond charismatic leadership, she says. A leader has to have grounding and authenticity, but also a good business understanding and very strong interpersonal skills. Flash with nothing behind it will not work anymore. (McGuire, 1998)

The next question you may ask is how are virtual teams managed, what are the best practices for virtual leadership?

Challenges of Virtual leadership

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10.3 Summary

In conclusion, virtual leadership is becoming the norm in the 21st century. To visualize the future, I give you a quote:

Charles Handy comments on the 'virtual organization' by citing a man using a laptop, a fax and a phone to transform his car to a mobile office and argues that the organization of the future may outsource all processes and its employees will be communicating like that man (Handy, 1989). (Dafermos, 2001)

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10.3 References

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10.4 Virtual Workplaces and Tools

Susan Oliver

To begin with, let's consider the 21st century and the new workplace. Let's take the example from the previous chapter of the individual working from his car. He can work anytime and anywhere. He has a GPS system, a laptop with broadband access with collaborative software and a cell phone. All he is missing is a desk and an office. He could move from his car to his hotel room and still work in a virtual environment. He can move from the hotel room to an airplane and still work in a virtual environment. He can move from the plane and arrive home and still work in a virtual environment. What you see here is an example of a virtual workspace. Ever changing but allowing for the same flow of work and productivity.

For many employers the virtual workplace, in which employees operate remotely from each other and from managers, is a reality in the 21st century. As technology advances, it will become even more commonplace. What a dramatic change to ho we work and what dramatic challenges it presents to managers and employers! How do employers manage workers in a virtual environment if they don't see them? The answer is, you manage them with the collaborative tools that are available. Let's look at some examples of these tools.

There are three basic tool categories: email, instant messaging, and collaboration software tools.

  1. Email - is asynchronous – one person sends a message to another person.
    • Microsoft Outlook Express or Outlook 2003
    • Novell GroupWise
  2. Instant messaging - It is a synchronous form of communication, often referred to as chat.
    • AOL Instant Messenger
    • Microsoft MSN
    • Yahoo Messager
    • ICQ
  3. Collaborative Software tools - There are a wide variety of tools available on the Web, some with different strengths than others.
    • Microsoft Project 2003 (project management software)
    • Ace Project (web-based project collaboration)
    • Place Ware (on line presentation-ware)
    • WebEx (allows teams to share documents and presentations on real time Synchronous environment.
    • Eroom (collaborative software)
    • Groove (collaborative software)

These are just a few examples of the most popular tools in the 3 main categories. In addition there are:

  1. Conferencing – there is 3 types of conferencing:
    • Audio Conferencing – use of a polycom
    • Data Conferencing - Blackboard or chat
    • Video Conferencing – Microsoft's Netmeeting is one example.
  2. Projectors – connect to PCs become very useful in meetings. Hard copies can be easily made.
  3. PCs – Personal computers and laptops are necessary tools.
  4. Calendar systems - used to coordinate schedules. Built into email systems such as Outlook and Groupwise.
  5. Other – PDAs and Cell Phones. Again, necessary tools.

In conclusion, it is simple to see the ever-changing workplace of the 21st century and the tools needed to work in a virtual environment. The benefit of all these tools is easy to see; they allow you to collaborate with your employee, your business associate, or your customer from the security of your home office, your car and an airplane. Working in a virtual workspace with a virtual team is not easy, but there are many tools out there to help you be successful in the 21st century. The only steps necessary are for you to plug in and get connected!

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Last updated October 13, 2006

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