Virtual Teams Case 1

The Case Assignments for this course are tightly coordinated with the SLP and the Discussion assignments. In this Case Assignment, you will be considering the more conceptual topics that will guide you in structuring your team and its work. Your task is to apply what you learn from preparing the Cases to the way you build your team. The goal is that by the end of the course you will have had a chance to learn and practice what current management “gurus” are telling us about how to work in virtual teams and will be in a position to analyze how effective these practices are.

Case Assignment

Arguably the trickiest part of building and maintaining an effective virtual team is the task of balancing “togetherness” and “apartness.” Some insight was given to this question in the background reading. Now read an additional piece, which expands on this theme:

Nemiro, J. (n.d.). Chapter 1: Mapping out the creative process and work design approach. In Creativity in virtual teams: Key components for success (pp. 3-23). John Wiley & Sons. Retrieved from http://media.wiley.com/product_data/excerpt/46/07879711/0787971146.pdf

After considering the material in this reading as well as the background readings and any other research material you choose to use:

  1. Reflect on how a virtual team best addresses the balance between togetherness and apartness. Specifically, you will want to think about how the work in virtual teams is designed as well as how leadership is handled.
  2. What are the options for Work Design and Leadership of virtual teams?
  3. How do task requirements and team characteristics affect the choices of work design and leadership (such as rotating, etc.)? Be specific and give examples if appropriate.
  4. Assess the effectiveness of the structures/practices covered by the readings in this module for virtual teaming. (In other words, do they work, or are the authors of the readings hopelessly out of touch with reality?)

Assignment Expectations

Your paper, which should be 4 to 5 pages (excluding title and references pages) and include at least 3 scholarly sources, will be evaluated using the following 5 criteria:

  • Assignment-Driven Criteria (Precision and Breadth): Does the paper adequately address all assignment expectations? Are the concepts behind the assignment addressed accurately and precisely using sound logic? Does the paper meet minimum length requirements?
  • Critical Thinking (Critical Thinking and Depth): Does the paper demonstrate graduate-level analysis, in which information derived from multiple sources, expert opinions, and assumptions has been critically evaluated and synthesized in the formulation of a logical set of conclusions? Does the paper address the topic with sufficient depth of discussion and analysis?
  • Business Writing (Clarity and Organization): Is the paper well written (clear, developed logically, and well organized)? Are the grammar, spelling, and vocabulary appropriate for graduate-level work? Are section headings included in all papers? Are paraphrasing and synthesis of concepts the primary means of responding to the assignment, or is justification/support instead conveyed through excessive use of direct quotations?
  • Effective Use of Information (Information Literacy and References): Does the paper demonstrate that the student has read, understood, and can apply the background materials for the module? If required, has the student demonstrated effective research, as evidenced by student’s use of relevant and quality (library?) sources? Do additional sources used in paper provide strong support for conclusions drawn, and do they help in shaping the overall paper?
  • Citing Sources: Does the student demonstrate an understanding of APA Style of referencing, by the inclusion of proper end references and in-text citations (for paraphrased text and direct quotations) as appropriate? Have all sources (e.g., references used from the Background page, the assignment readings, and outside research) been included, and are these properly cited? Have all end references been included within the body of the paper as in-text citations?

Turn in your Case Assignment by the end of the module.

COURSE MATERIALS/BIBLIOGRAPHY

Module 1

Required Reading

Edmondson, A. C. (2012). Teamwork on the fly. Harvard Business Review. Retrieved from http://hbr.org/2012/04/teamwork-on-the-fly/ar/1

Malhotra, A., Majchrzak, A., and Rosen, B. (2007) Leading virtual teams. Academy of Management Perspectives, 21(1), 60-70.

Mapping out the creative process and work design approach. Retrieved from http://media.wiley.com/product_data/excerpt/46/07879711/0787971146.pdf

Pullan, Penny. (2016). Virtual leadership: practical strategies for getting the best out of virtual work and virtual teams. [Books24x7 version] Available in the Trident Online Library.

Optional Reading

Falconer, J. (n.d.) 10 free tools for collaboration.  Lifehack.  Retrieved from http://www.lifehack.org/articles/technology/10-free-tools-for-collaboration.html

The Simplex Process: A robust creative problem-solving process. (2007) Retrieved from http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newCT_10.htm

Module 1 – Background

STRUCTURING VIRTUAL TEAMS

Background Reading

Every team begins with a structure. Structure determines how the group works, how it is organized, and how it coordinates its activities. It also must be supported by the appropriate leadership style. The following background material will give you some tools to use when thinking about how to structure the team’s work.

Team Process

There is no doubt that most teams engage in a process of creative work—often centered around solving some type of problem. Min Basadur, author of The Power of Innovation: How to Make Innovation a Way of Life & How to Put Creative Solutions to Work (2001), outlines an eight-stage cycle of creative problem solving that is applicable to both group and individual problem solving.

Some of the steps in Basadur’s Simplex may be condensed in virtual teams due to faster pace: Problem finding, fact finding, and problem definition may be combined into an idea generation phase. Virtual teams may be more likely to be presented with a given problem, so less time is spent on finding the problem and more time on evaluating whether or not is it worthwhile to pursue. Thus, in a virtual team, the problem-solving process may look more like this:

  • Idea Generation
  • Development
  • Finalization
  • Closure

Just as with the eight-stage model, each step in this four-stage model must be executed competently for the team to function effectively. Read:

Pullan, Penny. (2016). Virtual leadership: practical strategies for getting the best out of virtual work and virtual teams. [Books24x7 version] Available in the Trident Online Library.

Work Design

Work design is concerned with how the team moves through these stages. It is generally accepted that there are three basic options:

Wheel design – In this design, the leader communicates with all group members, but individual members have little communication with each other. This design is particularly useful when decision making is centralized, there is permanent leadership, there is little task interdependence, and members have specialized expertise and high trust.

Modular design – This is perhaps the most commonly used design. In this case, the group meets to decide on task or project goals, work is parceled out to individuals, and then the group meets again to assemble the pieces. The advantages are that the task can be broken down, roles and responsibilities are clearly defined, there is no need for extensive feedback or cooperation, technology supports exchange of work, there is democratic decision making and accountability standards, and one person is ultimately responsible for assembling all pieces.

Iterative approach – With this design, work is drafted, presented to the team, feedback is given, the work is redrafted, presented again, followed by more feedback. This work design requires task interaction, sufficient time, high willingness to accept input and cooperate, honesty, open communication systems and norms, and work-sharing technology.

Leading Virtual Teams

Depending largely on the work design that is chosen, an appropriate leadership structure must be selected. There are basically four generic types:

Permanent – This leadership structure is associated with centralized decision making and a high degree of role differentiation (silos of expertise). The leader serves to integrate all work, and high interaction is needed between the leader and members, but not between individual members; hence there is low interdependence.

Rotating – Similar leadership roles are played by alternating team members. The team is characterized by a flat hierarchy, equal leadership abilities, high trust, low ego (the current leader must be willing to step down and submit to another leader), stability, standardized procedures and templates to insure consistency, and small size.

Facilitator or coordinator – In this case, no individual carries formal authority over the work product or team tasks. These teams are self-managing but need additional support (e.g., leading meetings, scheduling, or tech support). Most of these types of teams are project teams comprising members from various functions who have regular supervisors for daily work. They are characterized by equal status and high communication among members. It is essential for the facilitator/coordinator to have strong interpersonal/conflict/decision-making skills.

Leaderless – These teams are truly self-managed. All members have the same status, responsibilities are divided equally, and there is clarity of roles and high accountability. Power resides in expertise, decision making is democratic, and all members must possess equal commitment, shared outcomes, and high trust in each other.

Because virtual teams face the additional challenge created by spatial and temporal separation, any leadership role, whether shared or individual, requires that certain key processes are managed even more intensely than with the co-located team. These key processes include:

  • Building trust
  • Appreciating diversity
  • Managing the work cycle effectively
  • Monitoring progress
  • Enhancing visibility of team members
  • Ensuring that members benefit from the team

Read the following article (available in EBSCO – Business Source Complete Database) to learn how effective leaders of virtual teams approach these critical practices:

Malhotra, A., Majchrzak, A., and Rosen, B. (2007) Leading virtual teams. Academy of Management Perspectives, 21(1), 60-70.

Optional Reading

A synopsis of Basadur’s Simplex model of group process can be found at:

The Simplex Process. A robust creative problem-solving process. (2007) Retrieved from http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newCT_10.htm

Falconer, J. (n.d.) 10 free tools for collaboration.  Lifehack.  Retrieved from http://www.lifehack.org/articles/technology/10-free-tools-for-collaboration.html

Case Article

Mapping out the creative process and work design approach. Retrieved from http://media.wiley.com/product_data/excerpt/46/07879711/0787971146.pdf

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