Essay on the Challenges of Managing a Virtual Team in an Organization

Question

The challenges of managing a virtual team stem from the fact that a virtual team might span functional areas, time zones, geographic locations, languages, and cultures. Many people feel that communication is the biggest challenge of managing a virtual team.

Tasks:

Consider the following scenario:An international company wants to upgrade its Web site to make use of a recent advancement in technology. The chief executive officer wants the new Web site to be operational in a short time; therefore, it is decided that two information technology teams should work together to upgrade the Web site. One team is in the U.S. and the other in Japan. Either team has the expertise to do the entire job on its own; however, because of the time constraint, the job is divided between them. It is decided that the primary communication method will be e-mail because of the time difference between the two countries. After a month, the project manager notices that some work is being duplicated and that a few issues raised by the quality team are not being addressed. What actions can the project manager take to ensure that the two teams coordinate their efforts so that a working Web site can be completed on time? Suggest ways that the problem can be solved and analyze the likely result of each suggestion, if implemented.

Summary

The question belongs to Management and it is about virtual team maintenance. An example of a multinational company has been given where two teams separated geographically have to coordinate and complete one task within a short time and due to the physical separation, there is a chance of miscommunication and that’s when virtual team management comes into picture. It is as important or perhaps more important to be very careful in virtual team maintenance.

Total Word Count 520