Virtual Teams

Posted: October 17th, 2013

Virtual Teams

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Virtual Teams

Introduction

In the current days of technology, a lot has changed in the organization. How teams used to be formed in the olden days has changed to accommodate technology in the firm. In the past, the team members used to be from the same geographical location and from the same company. These days the members of the team are not located in the place and it is not necessary they be of the same companies. Companies have seen that collaboration between themselves and other companies is a strategic tool for success. This groups that work across time, space and boundaries with links being strengthened by the current technology are referred to as the virtual teams (Kimball, 1997). There are three common types of virtual teams. These types can affect an organization’s leadership styles and strategies in relation to the employee-management relationship.

Discussion

The first type of virtual team is the executive teams. The members are usually the managers of the business in an organization. Additionally these groups are formed by default since they are for the managers in relation to their position in the company. These groups are semi-permanent with their duties being to specific divisions or functions in the organization (Kimball, 1997). The main advantages of these teams are that managers can share ideas that help them to make their department improve. This can improve those departments that are not performing well in the company. The main disadvantage of these groups can be miscommunication. One manager may fail to communicate a crucial point to the other mangers making them to lag behind and the company general.

The executive teams do not affect the employee-management relation much because in these teams the employees are not involved in anyway. These teams are exclusive for managers of the company only. The only way these teams can help improve the employee-management relationship is when the different heads share strategies or tactics of how to improve the relationship. In this case, the relationship of two parties, the employee and the management, will be improved leading to high output in the company work performance.

The other type of virtual team is the project teams. These types of teams are formed for a specific purposes and reason. The members of these tasks are selected based on their expertise or knowledge of the task they are expected to perform (Kimball, 1997). The advantage of these teams is that the company is able to save money and select the best members for the task. The only disadvantages is that some members of the team will start feeling special than the others because they are seen as the best. Therefore, there will be no room for improvement for the other employees. However, this type of virtual team help in increasing the employee-management relationship because the members are selected based on expertise. Therefore, the employee morale is boosted.

The last type of virtual team is the community of practice teams. These types of virtual teams are formed on voluntary basis by the members and the sole purpose of these teams is to study (Kimball, 1997). In this case, the company may decide to open them for their employees for the purposes of training them. The disadvantage of these teams is that they can have irrelevant information if not utilized well since they are voluntary. On the other hand, they can be the best teams for the management to collect the ideas from the employees thus improving the employee-management relationship.

Conclusion

Technology has changed the structure of how the different teams were formed in the past. It has given birth to the formation of virtual teams. If organizations can realize this change, they can have a competitive advantage over their competitors in the global market. The management styles of the companies might be affected due to the way the information might be trickling down the hierarchy. Moreover, the techniques of the company strategies are expected to change and become better. Lastly, all these teams have the ability of improving the employee-management relationship for the better future of an organization.

References

Kimball, L. (1997). Managing Virtual Teams. Toronto, Canada: Federated Press.