MNG81001 Management Communication

Currently, many organization are establishing outsourcing projects by means of virtual team due to advancement in technology, in our case communication technology. Virtual teams can be defined as a group of individuals who work in the same organization or on a same project but in different locations. They rely on technology to hold meetings and communicate e.g. email, video calls and text messages (Kezsbom 2000).

The term often refers to a group of people who use communication technologies to share ideas and communicate with each other.

Advantages and profits of a virtual team.

Main advantage of a virtual team to an organization is cost-saving. Many businesses outsource their operations to low-cost regions where they are able to acquire raw materials at a lower cost and employees who don’t demand huge wages, hence reducing production cost which in turn yields profit for the organization (Bergiel and Balsmeier 2008)

Instead of employing only those who can commute daily or to those who are located in a nearby location, virtual team allows you can focus on finding the best skilled individuals  since virtual team management permits you to tap into a wider talent pool globally. Virtual team allows an organization to search for qualified individuals globally thus bringing experts and specialist from different locations to work together hence increasing knowledge sharing and great innovation.

Members of virtual teams span the time zone which in turn reduces time for both product development and response  to demand in both markets i.e. global and local, this is achieved through availability of different individuals working on the same project 24/7 where they can work in different time according to individual’s time zone.

Technological advancements has made it possible for workers to work from home. Virtual teams are of benefits to both employees and business.

Positive aspects on virtual teams.

More teams are becoming virtual teams due to advance in modern technology specifically communication techniques i.e. electronic records, tweets, text messages, blogs etc. Unlike other teams, virtual teams are comprised of individuals who rely on technology to communicate (Mockaitis, Zander, and Cieri 2018).

Virtual teams creates a room for innovation and creativity since an organization can choose talented individuals with the required qualifications who do not necessarily live in the same geographical location.

Individuals in virtual teams tend to be loyal to their employers since working from comfort zone gives them the flexibility needed for a better life balance. It’s very rare for a member of a virtual team to quit. The most vibrant characteristic of virtual teams is that they are free to include individuals from different locations globally.

An organization can recruit remote workers at a fairly reduced cost especially when they are sourcing globally. With virtual teams, an organization only pay for the quantity and quality of support service offered. Typically, many overhead cost like computers services, office installation and parking spaces etc. are avoided. Even if the organization fund employees to come up with a home office, cost remains significantly lower than building or renting an office.

Disadvantages and negative aspects of a virtual team.

Virtual team has many pros to both employees and organization, but also, it has some drawbacks. Understanding these drawbacks can make the team become more efficient and successful (Serrat 2017).

The first disadvantage of virtual teams is communication efficiency. Many research have proven that mostly, what humans communicate to each other is based to both their verbal and non-verbal language e.g. when a person communicates through email, all you can see are words and you are not sure whether or not the person is sincere.

If the members of a virtual team are not skilled and competent then the organization’s project is most likely to fail which in turn may lead to decline in production. The team can be greatly affected by one weak team member. Therefore, recruiting the right virtual team members plays an important role in the success of an organization (Carter et al. 2015).

Conclusion

Using virtual team has inherent benefits and disadvantages, successfully navigating these disadvantages can enable startups to provide top brands of products and services and also help them to remain responsive and flexible to customer needs (Pangil et al. 2014).

As I conclude, the following key points are likely to improve virtual teams’ effectiveness to the advantage of the organization:

• Select technology based on members’ competence in order to improve efficiency.
• Guide virtual team performance by providing feedback concerning individuals and team goals.
• To select well skilled and to train virtual team members to avoid incompetence.

References

Bergiel, B.J., Bergiel, E.B. and Balsmeier, P.W., 2008. Nature of virtual teams: a summary of their advantages and disadvantages. Management Research News, 31(2), pp.99-110.

Carter, D.R., Seely, P.W., Dagosta, J., DeChurch, L.A. and Zaccaro, S.J., 2015. Leadership for global virtual teams: Facilitating teamwork processes. In Leading global teams(pp. 225-252). Springer, New York, NY.

Kezsbom, D.S., 2000. Creating teamwork in virtual teams. Cost Engineering, 42(10), p.33.

Mockaitis, A.I., Zander, L. and De Cieri, H., 2018. The benefits of global teams for international organizations: HR implications.

Pangil, F. and Moi Chan, J., 2014. The mediating effect of knowledge sharing on the relationship between trust and virtual team effectiveness. Journal of Knowledge Management, 18(1), pp.92-106.

Serrat, O., 2017. Managing virtual teams. In Knowledge Solutions (pp. 619-625). Springer, Singapore.