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Chapter 1
Virtual Management
Virtual Management
The Need for Virtual Management
• The need for virtual management and geographically
dispersed teams continues to increase. Some of the
reasons for the increase are:
➢ Financial considerations
➢ Geographical diversity
➢ Faster time to market
➢ Pressures of the global marketplace and economy
Virtual Management
Differences Between Virtual and Traditional
Organizations
• A virtual company is any company that has at least
one team member working remotely.
• A traditional company is one in which all team
members work at a single location.
Virtual Management
Traditional Companies
• Characteristics of traditional companies
➢ Everyone works in the same location
➢ Workers see each other everyday
➢ Can easily communicate in face-to-face
conversations
❖ Email and phone can be used, but the option to
stop and talk in person is available.
➢ Employees do not necessarily all work in the same
building, but are based in the same general area.
Virtual Management
Virtual Companies
• Characteristics of virtual companies
➢ A virtual company has at least one worker who is
not based in the same location as everyone else.
➢ There are several different types of virtual
companies
❖ Some remote team members
❖ Split team
❖ Satellite team members
❖ 100% virtual team
❖ Outsourced team
Virtual Management
Virtual Companies
➢ Some remote team members
❖ The company has one or more local members who
consistently work from a remote location.
❖ Leaves the remote workers in a very isolated
environment.
❖ Remote workers can often be forgotten. Out-of-
site, out-of-mind.
❖ Managers have to work to communicate with virtual
team members and to use tools which connects
the team.
Virtual Management
Virtual Companies
➢ Split team
❖ Company has two or more locations where
employees work out of an office that is local to
them.
❖ Most non-management workers have a manager
on site.
➢ Satellite team members
❖ Companies that have a main office and many
satellite employees who work from a home office.
❖ Typical setup for a global sales company.
❖ Reduces overhead facilities cost.
Virtual Management
Virtual Companies
➢ 100% virtual team
❖ Company does not have a main office, all workers
work remotely.
❖ These teams are becoming increasingly popular
with small businesses.
➢ Outsourced teams
❖ Companies that have a main office, but outsource
certain functions to other companies.
❖ Company is considered virtual specifically if the
functions outsourced are important to the company
and are conducted virtually.
Virtual Management
Managing the Virtual Team
• Managing virtual employees requires a different
approach than managing local employees.
• Virtual managers need to create opportunities and
workspaces that facilitate effective communication.
• When remote employees are forgotten, all sorts of
problems can arise.
➢ If managers inadvertently leave remote employees
out of meetings, the remote employees can start to
feel their input is not wanted or needed.
➢ Remote employees will feel less valuable.
Virtual Management
Managing the Virtual Team
▪ Various forms of informal communication that can be
used with virtual employees. These forms of
communication include: ➢ Phone calls and conference calls
➢ Virtual meetings
➢ Audio conferencing
➢ Video conferencing
➢ Peer-to-peer instant messaging
➢ Peer-to-peer messaging using video and audio
➢ Sending emails
➢ Sending text messages
➢ Using a virtual private network (VPN)
➢ Using a virtual management workspace
Virtual Management
Managing the Virtual Team
▪ Good virtual managers: ➢ Take every opportunity to build teamwork.
➢ Be respectful of the team’s time. Plan meetings onsite well in
advance, so workers can make arrangements.
➢ Make yourself available by email, instant messaging, or by
phone.
➢ Set the same standard of expectation for remote employees
as you do for onsite employees.
➢ Important that virtual employees have a daily presence.
➢ Good system of tracking for remote employees contributions
and work.
Summary
▪ Working remotely is very appealing to employees.
▪ Once working remotely is successful, many local
employees work remotely for one or two days a week.
▪ Working remotely lowers facility and overhead costs.
▪ Global companies can be more competitive if costs
can be kept low by employing remote workers.
Chapter 2
The Virtual Manager
The Virtual Manager
• What is a virtual manager?
➢ Someone who has responsibility for at least one
team member, vendor, or project in another
location.
• Manager may be located in the same location as his
other direct reports but will manage remote employees
or vendors in a different city, state, or country.
• The virtual manager is responsible for building and
maintaining a highly productive and functional team
that incorporates all team members.
The Virtual Manager
Traditional Manager
• Still the primary form of management across the
country.
• Traditional managers work locally with all of his/her
employees.
The Virtual Manager
The Virtual or Hybrid Manager
• Virtual or hybrid managers manage a team or project that
is both a combination of traditional and virtual team
members.
The Virtual Manager
The Virtual Challenge
• Since it is a new process, there are few tried and tested
ways of doing it.
• Few management classes to teach managers how to
manage virtually.
• Requires a high-level of commitment to good-quality
communication with each team member.
• Virtual management is less “command and control” and
more “guiding and advising”.
The Virtual Manager
Virtual and Hybrid Management: What is Everyone Doing?
• Team members need to be responsive and responsible. ➢ Lay ground rules and expectations regarding communication.
➢ Make clear which meetings are compulsory.
❖ Team members should notify the manager when they are
not able to attend meetings.
➢ Remote workers need to agree to work within the virtual
structure of the company.
➢ Make sure to have an effective-team reporting system in place.
• To be successful, team members must commit to
communication, responsibility, and accountability.
The Virtual Manager
Virtual and Hybrid Management: Dual Management Roles
• Both of these management roles require the same skill
sets but applied in different ways.
• Manager must be skilled in situational leadership to blend
the traditional and virtual teams.
The Virtual Manager
Virtual and Hybrid Management: Dual Management Roles
• Responsibility of the manager to build and maintain a
strong and collected team.
• If remote team members are not invited to meetings with
the local employees, the team can become
dysfunctional.
• A virtual manager must never forgot about the remote
team members. ➢ Whether it is a birthday card or quick meeting, everyone should
be included.
The Virtual Manager
Skill Sets Required for the Virtual Manager
• Virtual management skills can be broken down into key
areas:
➢ General management
➢ People management
➢ Communication
➢ Technical knowledge
➢ Decision making
➢ Problem solving
➢ Team building
➢ Administration
The Virtual Manager
Skill Sets Required for the Virtual Manager
• Virtual management skills can be broken down into key
areas: ➢ General management
➢ People management
➢ Communication
➢ Technical knowledge
➢ Decision making
➢ Problem solving
➢ Team building
➢ Administration
The Virtual Manager
Skill Sets Required for the Virtual Manager
• General management skills include: ➢ Scheduling
➢ Organization
➢ Time management
➢ Leadership
➢ Prioritization
➢ Goal setting
➢ Tracking and reporting progress
➢ Managing change
➢ Budgeting and finance
The Virtual Manager
Skill Sets Required for the Virtual Manager
• People management skills include: ➢ Active listening
➢ Coordination and scheduling
➢ Hiring and firing
➢ Making pay decisions
➢ Setting goals
➢ Setting personal objectives
➢ Evaluating performance
➢ Facilitate meetings
➢ Resolve conflict
➢ Coaching and development
The Virtual Manager
Skill Sets Required for the Virtual Manager
• Communication skills include: ➢ Email
➢ Phone calls
➢ Instant messaging
➢ Team meetings
➢ Agendas and minutes
➢ One-on-one meetings
➢ Status reporting
➢ Communicating change
➢ Issues and disaster-management reporting
➢ Document management
➢ Presentations
The Virtual Manager
Skill Sets Required for the Virtual Manager
• Technical knowledge includes: ➢ Setting up a computer
➢ Connecting a printer
➢ Setting up a home network
➢ Installing and configuring software
➢ Setting up email accounts
➢ Configuring a connection to a VPN
➢ Creating spreadsheets and presentations
➢ Managing documents
➢ Setting up a mobile phone
➢ Setting up Internet service (cable or DSL)
➢ Trouble shooting connectivity or technical issues
The Virtual Manager
Skill Sets Required for the Virtual Manager
• Decision-making skills include:
➢ Communication
❖ Communication is the most important decision-
making skill.
❖ For critical information or decisions, communicate
the same information to virtual teams several
times within the same week.
❖ Virtual communication needs to be concise, to
the point, and accurate.
❖ It is important that all team members understand
the decisions being made.
The Virtual Manager
Skill Sets Required for the Virtual Manager
• Problem-solving skills include:
➢ Problems may not seem problems until they become
larger issues.
➢ Problem solving can be technical, political,
administrative, or managerial.
➢ Problem solving might be something about which
you have no direct knowledge.
➢ Meet regularly with your team members, requesting
and reading status reports, and building strong, open
communications and teamwork will allow managers
to identify when trouble is brewing.
The Virtual Manager
Skill Sets Required for the Virtual Manager
• Team building skills include:
➢ Encourage the use of instant messaging to keep
virtual team members connected.
❖ Instant messaging can be used for informal
communications.
➢ Have virtual team days to get everyone connected.
The Virtual Manager
Skill Sets Required for the Virtual Manager
• Administration tasks may include:
➢ Typing correspondence and reports
➢ Scheduling meetings
➢ Taking meeting minutes, typing them, and
distributing them
➢ Filing
➢ Preparing and submitting expense claims
➢ Reading and responding to emails
➢ Replenishing office supplies
➢ Sending and delivering mail
➢ Making travel arrangements
The Virtual Manager
Skill Sets Required for the Virtual Worker
• Remote worker skill sets include:
➢ General management
➢ People management
➢ Communication
➢ Technical knowledge
➢ Decision making
➢ Problem solving
➢ Team building
➢ Administration
The Virtual Manager
What Employees Want From a Virtual Manager
• High level of support and guidance
• Each member needs to feel like an important part of the
team
• Concise and continuous communication
• Regular one-on-one status meetings scheduled in
advance
• Build an effective and productive team
• Need to know what is expected of them
➢ Clearly defined roles and responsibilities
• Clear direction from the manager
Summary
• Virtual employees want to feel that they are part of the
team.
• Managers should strive for good communication
between themselves and remote workers.
• Requires a unique approach to communication, team
building, and time management.
• Plethora of tools available to help facilitate virtual
management
➢ VPNS
➢ Instant messaging
Chapter 3
Creating and Managing Virtual Team
Creating and Managing the Virtual Team
• Creating a successful virtual team requires essential
components.
➢ Virtual manager with the necessary knowledge and
skill sets to manage a virtual team.
➢ Remote workers with the necessary knowledge
and skill sets to work virtually.
➢ Virtual tools, processes, and a plan.
• Ideally, you would want managers and workers with
virtual experience, but this experience is not always
possible.
• Evaluate team members based on the skill sets in
Chapter 2.
Creating and Managing the Virtual Team
Virtual Work Locations
• Remote workers should work in an environment that is
conducive to productive an high-quality work.
• Suitable work environments could include: ➢ A home office
➢ A local library
➢ A local community center
➢ A cyber café or coffee house
➢ A hotel
➢ Onsite at a client location
➢ A shared office/hoteling office
➢ A bus, train, or airplane,
➢ A car
➢ A small local office (or a corporate office)
Creating and Managing the Virtual Team
Creating the Virtual Team
• Consider the special qualities and skill sets that a virtual
team member requires to be successful.
• Virtual team members must be comfortable working
independently.
• The manager will need to do the following to create the
team: ➢ Choose team members
➢ Interview team members
➢ Consider the team dynamics
➢ Consider the personalities of the virtual team members
➢ Evaluate the abilities of the team members
Creating and Managing the Virtual Team
Defining Virtual Team Roles and Responsibilities
• Each team member should have the following individual
documents that describe the employee’s job, the
employer’s expectations of the employee, and the
employee’s own expectations and goals: ➢ A detailed job description
➢ Annual of biannual performance objectives
➢ A growth and development plan
Creating and Managing the Virtual Team
Understanding Interaction Styles
• Every person has his or her own style of interacting with
others.
• This interaction style encompasses many parts of a
person’s personality, including: ➢ Typical behaviors
➢ Communication
➢ Reaction under pressure
➢ Motivators
➢ Demotivators
• To become skilled at interacting with different styles, you need to
understand what the styles are and how they interact with one
another.
Creating and Managing the Virtual Team
Understanding Interaction Styles
• Many organizations use the style characteristics
developed by Dr. David Merrill.
• The profiles use levels of assertiveness versus
responsiveness to determine style.
• The four main interaction styles are:
➢ Analytical: like to analyze
➢ Driver: highly motivated, strong-willed, independent
➢ Amiable: likes to please
➢ Expressive: outgoing, sociable, enthusiastic, and
positive
Creating and Managing the Virtual Team
Understanding Interaction Styles
• In addition to interactive styles, everyone has a learning
style.
• The learning styles are:
➢ Visual
❖ Learners learn by seeing
➢ Auditory
❖ Auditory learners learn by hearing
➢ Physical or Kinesthetic
❖ Learners learn by doing or touching
Creating and Managing the Virtual Team
Managing a Team Split between Two Locations
• Plan time so that it is shared appropriately among all team
members, regardless of location.
• Prevent the “us” and “them” mentality between local and
remote team members.
• Stay alert and keep tabs on general mood and morale of
all team members.
Creating and Managing the Virtual Team
Setting Goals and Objectives for Team Members
• Set reasonable goals and measurable objectives for all
team members.
• Virtual team member goals should be clearly understood,
unambiguous, well-defined, and measurable.
• Set goals and objectives that relate to the virtual world.
• Improve conflict-management skills.
Creating and Managing the Virtual Team
Managing Performance and Performance Reviews
• The key thing to remember when managing performance
is to manage performance.
• Manage employee performance all the time, not just
before review periods.
• Talk regularly with your team members about their
objectives.
➢ Have team members write their objectives so they can
refer to them as needed.
• Give regular feedback.
➢ Tell workers precisely what they are doing and what
they need to improve.
Creating and Managing the Virtual Team
Personal Development Plans
• Employee objectives document and the job description
describe what the company expects from the employee.
• Personal development plan should describe what the
employee expects from himself or herself and from the
company.
• Personal development plans are valuable because: ➢ Makes employees feel that your truly care about what they want
➢ Helps employees figure out what they really want
➢ Helps you understand your employees better
➢ Helps you to decide on the development priorities for each
employee
➢ Helps you to understand which employee is best suited to which
task or project
Creating and Managing the Virtual Team
Employee One-on-Ones with Manager
• Schedule regular one-on-one time with each team
member.
• Both parties should plan for the meeting.
• Do not use meetings to go through a big list of task. Use
meetings to talk about key tasks and issues.
• Use the time to discuss employee objectives, personal
growth, and development plan.
• Virtual one-on-ones should be done by phone.
• Do not give negative feedback by email.
• Document the one-on-one meetings.
Creating and Managing the Virtual Team
Virtual Training
• Instructor has to use creativity and intuition to replace
what is missing from the traditional classroom.
• There are different levels of virtual training
➢ Only the instructor is virtual
➢ Instructor might be in the classroom with some
participants and other participants are virtual
➢ The instructor and participants are both virtual
• Virtual trainer needs to leave lots of breaks and pauses in
the presentation to allow for questions.
• Ask specific questions in the training, not open-ended
questions.
Creating and Managing the Virtual Team
How to Make Virtual Training Successful
• When possible, have participants work together in the
same room.
➢ Participants can focus more on the training.
➢ Not so easily distracted.
➢ Can help each other if someone needs help.
• Keep classes small.
• Instructor should acknowledge each person as he/she
enters the training.
• Instructor should also do a personal introduction.
• Give participants exercised to complete outside of the
training.
Creating and Managing the Virtual Team
Online Training Tools
• Webinars
• Online meeting software
• Prerecorded presentations that include audio and online
slides.
➢ Participants can stop and start the training as needed.
Chapter 4
Managing Global Teams
Managing Global Teams
International Business and Global Marketplace
• If selling overseas, need to determine if it is more
financially viable to employ local workers in these
regions.
• Decisions will be based on how much overseas
business you are doing.
• What can a manager do to ensure that the team is
successful
Managing Global Teams
The Global Marketplace
• Reasons companies go global
➢ Gain competitive advantage and stay ahead of
competition
➢ Keep pace with competitors who are already doing
business internationally
➢ Reduce costs
➢ Increase revenues
➢ Expand into new markets
➢ Support existing clients overseas
➢ Support merger or acquisition
Managing Global Teams
Before You Start
• Prior to opening ➢ Understand local customs
➢ Business etiquette
➢ Decision-making processes
• Build strong working relationships with your team.
• Training is vital.
• Other things to consider: ➢ Tax laws
➢ Employment law
➢ Vacation time
➢ Paid public holidays
➢ Benefits
Managing Global Teams
Before You Start
• Public holidays can be broken down into two types:
➢ Religious holidays reflect the dominant religion in a
country ❖ Christian
❖ Islamic
❖ Hindu
❖ Jewish
❖ Buddhist
❖ And many others…
➢ Secular holidays are politically or historically
specific to a country. ❖ Labor Day exists in many countries, but may be called
something different.
Managing Global Teams
Time Differences
• Have a structure in place for planning meetings in
different time zones
➢ Identify geographical regions where each member
is located.
➢ Consolidate your regions into three or four
geographical areas.
➢ Keep a spreadsheet of all employees and what
time zone they are in.
➢ Try to have weekly meetings rotating through the
time zones. Meet with each region every three
weeks.
Managing Global Teams
Managing Cultural Differences
• Many areas contribute to cultural differences including:
➢ Family
➢ Religion
➢ Nationalism
➢ Education
➢ Separation of personal and business life
➢ Politeness and etiquette
➢ Personal hygiene, cleanliness, and appearance
➢ Social status
➢ Values
➢ Communication
➢ Ethics
Managing Global Teams
Managing Cultural Differences
• Importance and priority will vary from culture to
culture.
• Can take years to understand what the differences
are.
• Team members cannot interpret cultural differences as
weird or wrong.
• Managers need to set the rules and guidelines for the
team.
• Communication styles will need to altered to fit cultural
differences.
• Everyone needs to understand the decision-making
process.
Managing Global Teams
The Steps in Cultural Adjustment
• Moving to a new country can have a large impact.
• Cultural adjustments can sometimes be painful.
• Managers need to work with team members to
understand that adjusting to a new culture takes time.
• Four major stages of adjustment are:
➢ Honeymoon – enthusiasm
➢ Conflict – hostility
➢ Integration – adjustment
➢ Adaptation - home
Managing Global Teams
The Steps in Cultural Adjustment
• Honeymoon stage
➢ Team members will feel enthusiastic and excited.
➢ Team members will be happy and eager to please.
➢ Eagerness might be replacing comprehension.
➢ Communicate clearly and often to team members
➢ Follow up with team members and explain what is
expected.
➢ Team members in this phase are unlikely to tell you
anything is wrong because they do not want to
disappoint.
Managing Global Teams
The Steps in Cultural Adjustment
• Conflict stage
➢ Team members have lost their initial euphoria.
➢ They are starting to feel overwhelmed by lack of
familiarity and comfort.
➢ Team members might be homesick, feeling
isolated, and confused.
➢ Team members need support and understanding.
➢ Let them know that their emotions are normal and
that things will get better as they adjust.
Managing Global Teams
The Steps in Cultural Adjustment
• Integration stage
➢ Team members will start to feel more relaxed and
comfortable.
➢ They will be happier and will demonstrate humor.
➢ Team members will have started to make friends.
➢ Managers need to give team members lots of
encouragement and praise
➢ Provide positive feedback on the progress they are
making.
Managing Global Teams
The Steps in Cultural Adjustment
• Adaption stage
➢ Team members feel at home in their own culture
and the new one.
➢ They are settled and happy.
➢ Team members are more confident in the new
culture.
➢ Some of the adjustment stages might be repeated
➢ Team members should be able to discuss feelings
with others who are going through the same
changes.
Managing Global Teams
Building Teamwork in a Global Environment
• Recognizing cultural differences among team
members.
• Open a dialogue among team members from different
cultures. Have everyone talk about cultural differences
between one another.
• Recognize cultural celebrations across the team.
➢ Put together a schedule of events that you can
recognize as a team.
➢ Celebrate team member birthdays, but in accord
with their cultural background.
Chapter 5
Outsourcing
Managing Global Teams
Outsourcing
• Not a new concept. Has been around for centuries.
• Cottage industries were replaced by factories which
could produce the products cheaper and more quickly.
• Shift from cottage to factory signaled the beginning of
outsourcing.
Managing Global Teams
The Decision to Outsource
• Outsourcing overseas
➢ Referred to as offshore outsourcing or offshoring
• Outsourcing domestically
➢ Referred to as insourcing or farmshoring.
Managing Global Teams
The Decision to Outsource
• When evaluating outsourcing options, some important
elements to consider are: ➢ Why do you want to outsource?
➢ What are the cost savings of outsourcing?
➢ Are there any one-off or recurring setup and maintenance
costs?
➢ What additional costs will be incurred for managing the
outsource relationship?
➢ How much risk can you afford for the project?
➢ How important is quality?
➢ How important is schedule (timeliness)?
➢ Who will manage the outsource project?
➢ How independently can the outsource work?
Managing Global Teams
The Decision to Outsource
• Defining what you want to outsource will help you
evaluate the sustainability of the work for outsourcing
and the suitability of each outsourcing option.
• Companies that want to be streamlined and innovative
should focus on their core strengths and outsource the
rest.
• Companies outsource to stay competitive and keep
costs low.
• Public companies outsource to keep stock prices high
and costs low.
Managing Global Teams
Offshoring
• Two different types of offshoring
➢ Offshore outsourcing ❖ An outsource company in the target country is contracted
to provide specific services.
❖ The benefit - is that once the work is complete, the
company has no further obligation to the employees who
worked on the project.
➢ Offshore office ❖ Where the parent company opens an office in the target
company and directly employs the staff at that company.
❖ The benefit – office has to be maintained even if work
gets slow for a while.
Managing Global Teams
Domestic Inshoring and Farmshoring
• Two types of domestic outsourcing
➢ Inshoring ❖ Company within the U.S. provides the workforce.
❖ Government contracts are often restricted to domestic
outsourcing.
❖ Companies resist the urge to offshore for moral reasons
or due to long-term business concerns.
➢ Farmshoring ❖ Outsourcing or relocating of jobs to rural areas of the U.S.
➢ The benefit – cultural differences, language
differences, and employment law are nonexistent.
Managing Global Teams
Unique Challenges of Outsourcing
• Impact on existing employees
➢ Existing employees may feel that their jobs are at
risk specifically if layoffs have occurred.
➢ Can create unease in the existing workforce.
• Ongoing communication and teamwork issues will
need to be managed.
• Cultural differences between team members can lead
to hostile behavior.
• More than half the U.S. companies that outsourced in
recent years have brought the outsourced work back
in house within the first five years.
Managing Global Teams
Managing Outsourced Projects
• Need to determine what type of management you will
need for your project.
• Communication is key to management.
• Try to hire managers that can speak the language.
Managing Global Teams
Specific Project Outsourcing
• Specific project outsourcing can be split into two
separate categories:
➢ Product development
❖ Can require a lot of day-to-day management.
❖ Might be managing local and outsource
employees
➢ Outsourced services
❖ Services outsourced for a specific project that is
not ongoing work are generally self-contained.
❖ Do not require the level of management needed
for a product development project.
Managing Global Teams
Ongoing Business-Function Outsourcing
• Ongoing business-function outsourcing can be split
into two separate categories:
➢ Product development
❖ Can require a lot of initial setup time.
❖ Needs to have strong customer/vendor
relationships.
➢ Outsourced services
❖ Need more ongoing management, but work
tends to be straightforward.
❖ Customer support services will require some
level of reporting back to management.
Managing Global Teams
Building Relationships with Outsource Vendor Managers
• It is important to build strong working relationships with
the vendor project manager.
• Set up a process for daily or weekly reporting from the
project manager.
• Invite outsource managers to team days with your
team members.
• Communicate informally every now and then.
• Learn what styles and cultural differences the
outsource managers may have.
Managing Global Teams
Importance of the Statement of Work and Outsourcing
Contract
• Carefully document the work being contracted by the
outside company.
• The statement of work (SOW) defines the work tasks
and deliverables.
• The SOW should be very clear, concise, and
unambiguous.
• It is important to understand the laws in that country.
• Anything in the contract that is out of compliance with
a country’s laws will not be enforceable.
Managing Global Teams
Importance of the Statement of Work and Outsourcing
Contract
• Important elements of the SOW are: ➢ Introduction
➢ Objectives
➢ Project Scope
➢ Period of Contract
➢ Specific Tasks
➢ Schedule of Deliverables
➢ Completion Criteria
➢ Fees and Payments
➢ Roles and Responsibilities
➢ Assumptions and Constraints
➢ Staffing
➢ General Provisions
Chapter 6
Time Management
Managing Global Teams
Importance of Time Management
• Effective time management is an important factor in
any team.
• Many unique factors that make it hard for virtual
employees prioritize. These factors include:
➢ Team members who work alone generally have
less structure in their day-to-day activities.
➢ Less structure makes it harder to schedule regular
tasks.
➢ Frequent travel adds more complications.
Managing Global Teams
Time Management for Virtual Managers and Remote
Workers
• Each person must be responsible for his/her personal
time management.
• As the manager, you must take responsibility for your
own personal time management and the team’s.
• Working on shared tasks can be time consuming
virtually. It may take many emails back and forth to
accomplish a task.
• A lot of time management tasks can be accomplished
by using instant messenger.
Managing Global Teams
Team Time Management
• Managers should hold meetings regularly with remote
team members.
• Team members need to interact with each other and
the manager.
• Team members need to understand what is expected
of them and the priority for work.
• Every team member needs to practice personal time
management.
• As the manager, you need to provide knowledge and
effective time management tools to your team.
Managing Global Teams
Personal Time Management
• Managers need to be skilled at time management.
• Team members also need to develop time
management skills.
• Managers must learn how to get things done and plan
for the future.
• Managers must learn how to make decisions, take
responsibility for decisions, and communicate them to
others in an appropriate and productive way.
• Negotiation with the team may take place from time to
time.
Managing Global Teams
Personal Time Management
• Core requirements for a time management process:
➢ Identify the meetings and tasks to be accomplished.
➢ Prioritize meetings.
➢ Prioritize or rank tasks.
➢ Schedule tasks.
➢ Update and reprioritize as new tasks are added and
others are completed.
➢ Estimate and schedule tasks.
➢ Track and complete tasks.
➢ Communicate the progress and status of tasks in a
timely manner.
Managing Global Teams
Meeting Time Management
• Write out meeting minutes.
• Documents what was said and agreed to.
• Try not to schedule meeting prep time right before the
meeting.
• Start and finish meetings on time.
• Be respectful of the team’s time.
Managing Global Teams
Tips on Speeding Up the Process for Time-Consuming
Tasks
• Use email tools to sort and prioritize messages.
➢ You can automatically route messages to predefined
folders based on sender.
• Learn to scan emails so you do not have to read every
message.
• Schedule time everyday to read and respond to emails.
• Save a list of questions or tasks for each team member.
• Stay away from long email chains. Schedule a meeting
to discuss important communications.
Managing Global Teams
Prioritizing Tasks
• One method to prioritize tasks is the forced-pair
comparison.
➢ Allows individuals or groups to rank lists of
candidates or projects.
• Forced-pair comparison
➢ Works well for 20 items or less
➢ Quick and easy
➢ Takes very little time.
Managing Global Teams
Prioritizing Tasks
• To get started with a forced-pair comparison
➢ Generate a list of items to be prioritized
➢ Number the items for identification purposes
➢ Using the grid, compare each item with the other
items on the list
➢ Count the number of times each item number was
circled, and enter its score on the bottom line of the
grid
➢ Rank the list using the scores you have derived.
➢ Use less than a full grid for fewer than 10 items;
expand the grid for more items
Chapter 7
Virtual Teamwork
Managing Global Teams
Virtual Teamwork
• Teamwork is what transforms a group of individuals
working independently to achieve their own goals into a
team.
• A strong team with a high level of teamwork is: ➢ Happy
➢ Energized
➢ Innovative
➢ Creative
➢ Collaborative
➢ Honest
➢ Effective
➢ Productive
➢ Supportive
➢ Successful
Managing Global Teams
Discovering Commonalities
• With virtual teams, a manager must strive to find
commonalities among team members.
• Managers must help team members find commonalities
and help them share these commonalities.
• Most team members will not share commonalities, but
over time they will develop commonalities.
• During meetings, have team members share something
about themselves.
Managing Global Teams
Creating Trust
• Managers cannot demand trust from their team members.
• Trust and respect must be earned.
• The virtual team needs to have trust in itself and its
manager.
• Each member should feel comfortable speaking openly
and honestly about issues.
Managing Global Teams
Understanding the Dynamics of the Team
• The dynamics of the team are created by the unique
combination of personalities, learning styles,
communication styles, and personal and business cultural
backgrounds of the team members.
• The most influential contributor to the team dynamic is the
manager.
• The manager molds, directs, and guides the team.
Managing Global Teams
Understanding the Dynamics of the Team
• As a team spends more time working and interacting
together, the emergence of a virtual community is a
natural progression.
• Virtual communities are created from the use of email,
instant messaging, and phone calls.
• A successful virtual team community needs to be able to
function and thrive without the continual input and
supervision of the manager.
Managing Global Teams
Team Member Interaction
• Make sure teams have interaction.
• Do not let team members become isolated.
• Make sure there is a process to communicate why a team
member is not attending meetings and the reason why.
• Being a part of the team is part of the job. Make sure that
team members understand this concept.
Managing Global Teams
Virtual Communication
• Virtual team members communicate by phone, phone
conference, email, Internet, virtual workspaces, instant
messaging, and online chat.
• Team members will each prefer a different type of
interaction.
• Team members should be encouraged to interact with one
another directly.
Managing Global Teams
Virtual Team Days
• The virtual team day is a day that the team spends
together in person or virtually.
• Ideally, the team would meet in one location, but meeting
in person is often impossible for virtual teams.
• Managers should plan fun activities for the team.
• Make sure that all activities are appropriate for all
members of the team.
Managing Global Teams
Sharing Best Practices
• Define best practice:
➢ Proven way of doing something the “best possible
way”.
➢ Efficient and effective way of organizing or doing
something.
• Make sure everyone understands the best practice.
• Sharing best practices for virtual teams is highly
recommended.
Managing Global Teams
Sharing Best Practices
• Ways to share best practices
➢ The brainstorming process
❖ Define the purpose of the meeting
❖ Set rules
❖ Define categories or areas
❖ Capture existing best practices
❖ Sort and review by category
❖ Present summaries
❖ Select highest priority categories or issues
❖ Discuss the top priorities
❖ Define the best practices process, going forward
Managing Global Teams
Making it fun!
• Allowing and encouraging humor and frivolity in day-to-
day life on a team.
• The virtual environment can be impersonal, so anything
that gets the team working together and having fun is
encouraged.
• Allowing some fun and humor to coexist with the tension
and seriousness of a stressful situation will not make the
problems go away, but it will be more pleasant to deal
with.
Managing Global Teams
Celebrations and Rewards
• Managers should take the time to get to know team
members. Then, they can choose appropriate gifts.
• Gifts of team merchandise can also be good.
• If the budget allows, try to get the team together at
least once per quarter or review cycle.
• Can celebrate in team meetings.
• Managers can also reward team members in emails
and other written communication.
Chapter 8
Team Processes and Procedures
Managing Global Teams
• On a virtual team, it is important to have well-defined and
well-documented processes.
• Team members will rely on the processes and procedures to
exchange information, report and receive status updates,
and escalate problems.
• Process documentation should reside in one location so that
team members know where to go to find the information.
• Evaluate and update the processes as necessary.
• Processes should be continually improved.
Managing Global Teams
Communication Process
• The communication process/plan will define:
➢ What should be communicated
➢ Who it should be communicated to
➢ How and when it should be communicated.
• The communication plan should define the process for
all formal communications and include general
guidelines for informal communications.
Managing Global Teams
Communication Process
• The plan will include all types of communication such as: ➢ Meetings
➢ Conference calls
➢ Emails
➢ Letters of mailings
➢ Phone calls
➢ Documents
➢ Website updates
• The plan should define the following:
➢ Stakeholder groups
➢ Formal communication plan
➢ Informal communication/ escalation plan
➢ Communication rules
Managing Global Teams
Change-Control Process
• Change control is the process used to manage any
changes to projects or teams that will affect the
successful outcome of a project, job, or contract.
• Changes that do not affect the final outcome should
not be tracked or managed.
➢ For example, changes to a project schedule that
affect completion of a task, but do not affect the
completion date, budget, or quality of the final
deliverable do not need to go through change
control.
Managing Global Teams
Change-Control Process
• Changes fall into many categories, these categories
include:
➢ Resources
➢ Schedule
➢ Technical
➢ Organizational
➢ Business
➢ Scope
➢ New projects
➢ Maintenance
➢ Catastrophic failures or events
Managing Global Teams
Defect-Tracking Process ( for Technical Projects)
• There are many enterprise defect- tracking systems
available. Most companies use these tools to track
and manage defects ( and sometimes also
enhancements) across projects and groups.
• Everyone on the virtual team must have access to the
defect-management system, understand how it works,
and know the process for using it.
Managing Global Teams
Defect-Tracking Process ( for Technical Projects)
• The process should include the following information:
➢ Definition of a defect
➢ Definition of an enhancement
➢ Definition of a new feature or project
➢ Definition of access levels
❖ Who can submit defects
❖ Who can submit enhancements
❖ Who can submit new features or new projects
❖ Description of how to complete
❖ A defect report
❖ An enhancement request
Managing Global Teams
Defect-Tracking Process ( for Technical Projects)
➢ A new feature or project
➢ Description of the defect process, including process flow
➢ Description of the enhancement or new feature/ project
process, including process flow
➢ How to reopen a resolved or closed defect if it appears not to
be fixed
➢ How to appeal a decision to defer or close a defect report
➢ Process for prioritizing enhancements, new features, and
new projects
➢ Roles and responsibilities
Managing Global Teams
Organizational Processes
• Organizational processes are any processes created
by the organization to manage and control the way
things are done within the organization.
• These processes can include: ➢ Time tracking
➢ Requesting time off
➢ Requesting approval for travel
➢ Submitting expense reports
➢ Tuition reimbursement
➢ Status reporting
➢ Metrics
➢ Hiring
Managing Global Teams
Organizational Processes
➢ Grievances
➢ Internal technical processes
➢ Email or corporate communication processes
➢ Financial reporting
➢ Performance management
• All companies have internal processes and procedures
that must be followed.
• Virtual team members must be given access to the
written process documentation and the appropriate
tools, so they are aware of the rules and regulations
that exist inside the organization and are able to use
the processes effectively.
Managing Global Teams
Client and Vendor Processes
• Client and vendor companies will have their own internal
processes and procedures.
• Will need to adapt to each other’s processes and come
up with compromises that work for all parties
• involved.
• Change-control processes will need to be discussed and
documented to ensure that there are no
misunderstandings about when and by whom changes
can be made.
• Ideally, you will want to leverage existing team
processes and procedures for managing external
processes.
Managing Global Teams
Status Reporting Process
• There are different types of status reports. The following
are examples of status reports that the company might
use. ➢ Status report from team members to manager
➢ Status report from manager to team members
➢ Status report from project manager to client
➢ Status report to senior executives
• Copy team members on status reports as long as
sensitive information is not included in the report.
• These status reports will keep the stakeholders informed
and demonstrate the team’s progress.
Managing Global Teams
Escalation Procedures
• Establish well-defined escalation procedures.
• There are two reasons why issues need to be escalated.
➢ The first is when a critical problem occurs that risks
the success of a project or contract.
➢ The second issue is when a serious problem is being
created internally or externally due to the non-
responsiveness of an employee, a partner, a vendor,
or a client.
Managing Global Teams
Escalation Procedures
• Establish an escalation path. Break the path into
subcategories which include issues such as: ➢ Internal security issue
➢ External security issue
➢ Privacy issue
➢ Internal catastrophic system failure
➢ Client catastrophic system failure
• Once a path is established, a notification procedure should be put
into place.
• The escalation process should also contain a section to document
roles and responsibilities and to clearly identify the process owner.
Managing Global Teams
Risk-Management Process
• The risk-management process is designed to: ➢ Identify risks
➢ Manage risks
➢ Monitor risks
➢ Prioritize risks on an ongoing basis
• The first step in creating a risk-management process is
to define the procedures for identifying, evaluating,
prioritizing, and creating action/contingency plans for
risks.
• A risk is something that might happen and could cause a
problem if it does.
Managing Global Teams
Process Management
• Create a master team processes document.
• Everyone on the team should review the document.
• Make sure everyone on the team understands the
processes.
• Processes should be designed to: ➢ Make life easier
➢ Make work more effective
➢ Decrease time
➢ Increase quality
➢ Increase satisfaction
Chapter 9
Virtual Communication
Managing Global Teams
• Some early virtual communication methods included fire and
smoke, which are reported to have been used in ancient
Greece and Israel as communication methods as long ago
as 1,000 BC.
• Pigeons have also been used for thousands of years for
carrying messages over long distances.
• No longer is this type of communication used merely to relay
urgent messages to others over long distances; it is also
used for everyday communication.
Managing Global Teams
Communication Complexities
• There are other elements to communication that are
important to the virtual team. These elements include:
➢ Tone of voice ❖ The tone of your voice can communicate many things. Whether
you are happy or sad, frustrated or content.
❖ Tone of voice can also be deceptive. You might get loud when
you are excited about something.
➢ Body language ❖ Body language is similar to tone of voice because body
language can indicate how a person is feeling.
❖ Body language can also be deceptive. Someone with their arms
crossed might be cold, not angry.
Managing Global Teams
Communication Complexities
• Not all tones and body language are the same in every
culture.
➢ Nodding the head to signify agreement is common in
some countries, but not so common in others.
• In a meeting that includes both local and virtual participants,
the meeting facilitator needs to be the eyes of the remote
callers.
Managing Global Teams
Which Communication Method to Use in Which Situation?
• When considering the communication method, consider
your current situation and whereabouts, as well as the type
of information you need to communicate.
• Before communicating, think carefully about what you need
to communicate and the potential repercussions of the
communication.
• Over communicating to get someone into trouble or make
them look bad is unprofessional and unproductive.
Managing Global Teams
Effective Use of Email
• Email is overused and abused.
• No one knows how to fix the email problem.
• The thing is, what is considered junk by some people might
be considered useful information by others.
• The perception of junk email versus important email is the
reason for a communications plan.
Managing Global Teams
Effective Use of Email
• Do not send emails to communicate bad news.
• If a matter is contentious, do not send an email to
communicate the matter. A meeting should be scheduled.
• If you feel angry or upset, do not send an email. Your
emotions will override your common sense.
• If you are seeing contentious emails that include outside
clients, vendors, or partners on the recipient list, your
highest priority should be putting a halt to them as soon as
possible.
Managing Global Teams
Effective Use of Email
• Companies most often have email policies which state what
can and cannot be sent from company email accounts.
• Emails that are sent from company accounts should include
a disclaimer of privacy and that the email is property of the
company.
• Companies can review emails sent from company accounts
at any time.
• Email should be used appropriately.
Managing Global Teams
Effective Use the Phone
• The phone should be used for any matters that are not
appropriate for email and when the situation cannot facilitate
a face-to-face meeting.
• When communicating via phone, pay attention to what is
being said, and be “present” in the meeting at all times.
• When calling a team member for a nonscheduled chat,
remember to ask the person if it is a convenient time to talk
before you launch into a long diatribe.
Managing Global Teams
Effective Use Cell Phones
• Cell phones have a tendency to cut in and out of a
conversation.
• Do not use a cell phone while driving to have long
conversations with team members.
➢ It is not possible to devote sufficient attention to a phone
conference while devoting sufficient attention to driving.
• Be respectful of each other’s time. Do not call a cell phone
continually because someone is not answering the land line.
Managing Global Teams
Face-to-Face Communication
• If you have devastating news for your team, tell them in
person, if at all possible.
• Team building events are a great way of making good use of
precious face-to-face time.
• Meeting face-to-face with the team members is an ideal time
to study body language and to start understanding how
team members feel about each other and about the things
the team is working on.
Managing Global Teams
Project Meetings
• Project meetings might be strictly internal, or they might
include the client, vendors, outsourcers, and members of
other teams.
• Meetings should be structured and well-managed.
• Issues that relate to the project should only be discussed at
the meeting.
• The meeting facilitator should ensure that the meeting stays
on track, that only one person speaks at a time, and that
side conversations or detailed conversations are taken
offline so the meeting can continue on schedule.
• Offline topics and subjects can be put in a “parking lot”
during the meeting, so they are not forgotten.
Managing Global Teams
Team Meetings
• Virtual teams should have regularly scheduled meetings.
The ideal frequency being once a week.
• Occasionally, teams should be able to discuss items that are
not related to the project.
• Managers should never dominate the meetings with talk
about things only the manager is interested in.
• Team members should feel encouraged to speak during the
meetings.
• Team meetings are useful to discuss highlights for the week,
how the project is going, etc.
• Team’s should consider the meetings important and attend
the meetings regularly.
Managing Global Teams
Weekly Status Reports
• Weekly status reports are important for teams.
• This report will let team members know how the team is
doing and where they are in project.
• Status reports should contain only the pertinent information
about the team.
• The objective for each status communication should be
• contained in the communication plan, so the level of
granularity required in the reporting should be clearly
understood.
Managing Global Teams
Presentations and Reporting
• Web presentations to the team can be an effective way of
communicating important concepts and information.
• Managers can use webinars with audio and visual elements
which they record and can be viewed by team members at
their own convenience.
• Managers can also send the presentation out individually by
email to the team members to view.
• Formal presentations are not necessary to communicate
status reports.
Managing Global Teams
Communicating Bad News
• Managers should communicate bad news effectively.
• If face-to-face team meetings are not possible, managers
should communicate the bad news via an audio conference
to the whole team.
• Never send bad news via email.
• People skills, compassion, and common sense should play
a major role in deciding where, when, and how to
communicate bad news to your team members.
Chapter 10
Virtual Politics
Managing Global Teams
Virtual Politics
• It is important to understand what politics are, why they
exist, and how they manifest themselves in the virtual
environment.
• This knowledge is necessary to help you figure out what
political maneuverings are occurring and to anticipate their
impact.
• You might not be able to stop what is happening, but you
can at least plan to deal with the aftereffects.
Managing Global Teams
Understanding Company Culture and Politics
• Company culture is a major contributor to company politics.
• The type of culture defines the type of politics.
➢ Companies with rigid hierarchies and top-down
management tend to have a lot more obvious political
maneuvering than those with less hierarchy and more
bottom-up decision-making.
➢ A culture that encourages open and honest discussion
and feed-back without fear of retribution is going to have
less visible politics than one that does not.
Managing Global Teams
Understanding Company Culture and Politics
• Everyone has an agenda. Politics come from these
agendas.
➢ The agendas may be selfish or not.
• Company politics are about getting what you want and
influencing others to want the same things, so that you have
a better chance of getting things going your way.
• Virtual politics are no different. You just cannot see what is
going on behind the scenes.
Managing Global Teams
How Your Team Creates Its Own Politics
• Small, entrepreneurial companies tend to be less political
than large corporations.
• Small companies need teamwork to be successful.
• It is true that the organization’s culture and politics will
contribute to the team’s culture and politics, but one does
not dictate the other unless the manager allows it.
• You demonstrate good teamwork by applauding the results
of great team efforts rather than encouraging the team
members to continually try to outdo each other.
Managing Global Teams
How Your Team Creates Its Own Politics
• Good teamwork leaves much less room for politics to
squeeze their way in.
• Some very small changes on a team can make a huge
difference to how well the team functions: ➢ No complaining about or blaming each other or other teams.
➢ No superstars or superstar behavior.
➢ No reprimanding anyone in front of others.
➢ No rewarding or congratulating individual results in team meetings,
unless it is for something unrelated to what the team is working on.
➢ No comparing team members to each other.
➢ No derogatory remarks about team members or stakeholders.
➢ No thinking or assuming you are better than someone else. All jobs
are vital to the organization.
Managing Global Teams
Identifying Potential Troublemakers
• Identifying potential troublemakers is more challenging on a
virtual team than on a non-virtual team.
• Cannot see and hear nearly as much of what goes on
virtually as you can locally.
• There are some clues to help you identify people you need
to keep close tabs on. Some of these clues are very
obvious, while others are not so obvious.
• If you do not take steps to control potential troublemakers
early on, the politics will get out of control very quickly.
Managing Global Teams
Identifying Potential Troublemakers
• Some noticeable signs of a troublemaker are: ➢ A person who obviously has a hugely inflated ego is going to be
troublemaker.
➢ The person who is extremely negative about everything is also
potential trouble.
➢ Rumor mongers love to find out the dirt on everyone and spread it
around as quickly as possible.
➢ The attention-seeker wants to be the center of attention as much of
the time as possible.
➢ Less obvious is the team member who is quiet, tends to keep to
himself or herself, and is also rather negative or noncommittal about
everything.
Managing Global Teams
Identifying Potential Troublemakers
• Once you have identified a potential troublemaker, ensure
that you are working with that person on growth and
development plans.
• Coach that person to develop more positive and beneficial
behaviors.
• If team members come from environments where negative
behavior was accepted, you will have to help them relearn
how to effectively communicate and teach them how to
function as part of a virtual team.
• There is no room on the virtual team for troublemakers.
Managing Global Teams
Nipping Trouble in the Bud
• It is important to confront interpersonal problems as soon as
you become aware of them.
• Do not allow the team members to be disrespectful to one
another in public or private.
• If you cannot resolve the situation, and it is creating a
problem with other members of the team, be honest with the
troubled team members.
• Helping two people find commonalities can go a long way
toward easing the tension and eventually solving the
problem.
Managing Global Teams
Nipping Trouble in the Bud
• It is important to confront interpersonal problems as soon as
you become aware of them.
• Do not allow the team members to be disrespectful to one
another in public or private.
• If you cannot resolve the situation, and it is creating a
problem with other members of the team, be honest with the
troubled team members.
• Helping two people find commonalities can go a long way
toward easing the tension and eventually solving the
problem.
Managing Global Teams
Nipping Trouble in the Bud
• These things start with a problem between two people, but
at some point, others get dragged into it and pressured to
take sides.
• Troublemakers are not always trying to cause trouble.
• Sometimes they don’t realize their behavior causes
problems, or they might not know they are responsible for
the big mess resulting from something they did.
The onus is on you to help your team members behave well.
• At the same time, give them the benefit of the doubt as to
their intentions.
Chapter 11
Managing Conflict
Managing Global Teams
Managing Conflict
• Differences of opinion are common among teammates,
family members, friends, or members of any other group.
• Disagreements do not necessarily need to turn into conflict.
• A healthy level of disagreement on a team is required to
create the best ideas, innovation, and quality.
• Conflict arises for various reasons. ➢ For example, when team members do not interact respectfully, or
feel that their ideas are not being taken seriously, they will start to
feel anger and resentment toward each other.
• Sometimes, conflict arises due to personality clashes or
misunderstandings.
Managing Global Teams
Managing Conflict
• Corporate or organizational changes, or sudden changes in
policy, can cause confusion and lead to conflict between
team members or between the manager and a direct report.
• A hastily written email can easily spark a conflict, as can a
casual, and possibly innocent, remark during a phone
conference.
• Virtual team members often feel indifferent toward one
another until they have discovered commonalities and
started to bond as a team.
Managing Global Teams
Recognizing a Potential Conflict Situation
• Listening is the most important skill that the manager has.
• Listen to what is being said, and how it is being said. Pay
attention to the interaction among team members, and also
pay attention to what is being said by team members to you,
the manager.
• Being aware of subtle changes in the actions and reactions
of your team members will aid you in predicting and
anticipating potential conflict situations.
Managing Global Teams
Recognizing a Potential Conflict Situation
Managing Global Teams
Knowing When and How to Act
• As you become more familiar with your team members, it
gets easier to spot when there is an issue. It also becomes
easier to know how to address it.
• If team members are hostile, they can be difficult to deal
with.
• Do not wait too long to deal with the conflict. It will only get
worse.
• The key is to do something immediately when you suspect
there is a problem.
Managing Global Teams
Knowing When and How to Act
• As you become more familiar with your team members, it
gets easier to spot when there is an issue. It also becomes
easier to know how to address it.
• If team members are hostile, they can be difficult to deal
with.
• Do not wait too long to deal with the conflict. It will only get
worse.
• The key is to do something immediately when you suspect
there is a problem.
• You might also find that the problems continue, and nothing
you do makes them any better.
Managing Global Teams
Knowing When and How to Act
• If the situation does not get better, you may need to
consider removing one or both of the team members from
your team.
➢ This is a drastic step, but you cannot risk the entire team
due to a conflict between two team members who are
unwilling to resolve the problem.
➢ It is not fair to the rest of the team, and over time, you
will find that the turnover on the team is much higher
than it should be.
• Never get into a screaming match with your employees.
Stay calm and handle the situation.
Managing Global Teams
Mediating a Phone Conference
• When you have conflict between two virtual team members
who are located remotely from each other, you are
somewhat limited in your options for getting them talking to
each other.
• In the traditional world, you are able to get the two people in
the same room together and make them talk about the
issues openly and honestly.
• In the virtual world, you are limited to phone communication,
which means no personal contact when trying to resolve the
issues.
Managing Global Teams
Mediating a Phone Conference
• There are advantages and disadvantages to this. The
disadvantages include the following: ➢ You cannot see facial expressions or read body language to help
judge how either party is reacting or thinking.
➢ If one or both go quiet, you have no idea why.
➢ It is easy to refuse to participate via phone.
➢ The meeting participants might not even be listening to each other.
• The advantages include the following: ➢ It is sometimes easier to be honest when you don’t have to look
someone in the eye.
➢ Shy people sometimes feel more comfortable talking on the phone
than in person.
➢ The impersonal nature of the phone can make it easier to say things
you might feel embarrassed about saying in person.
Managing Global Teams
Mediating a Phone Conference
• You need to set the ground rules for the meeting and ask for
honesty from both parties.
➢ Request that they listen to each other and that they both
practice active listening so they both know they have
been heard.
➢ Ask them not to interrupt each other or to raise their
voices.
• You need to be involved as a facilitator and mediator in the
discussion.
Managing Global Teams
Proactive Conflict Management
• To be successful, conflict management should be put into
practice both on an ongoing basis and in special situations.
• Conflict can be avoided, diffused and resolved quickly by
taking a proactive approach to conflict management.
• Keep an open dialog going with all team members about the
current state of affairs.
• Employ active listening, and encourage team members to
speak out honestly and openly about issues and
perceptions.
• Conflict is risk. The more it can be contained and controlled,
the less risk to the team, the project, and the organization.
Managing Global Teams
Change Management
• Change management is not the same as change control.
• Change control is managing changes to a project, contract,
or job to ensure that the scope, costs, and timelines are not
adversely affected.
• Change management is working with team members to help
them adjust to, and embrace, organizational change.
• If the team members are feeling insecure about new ways of
doing things or about a new organizational structure, there
is a much higher probability that conflict will occur.
• Change can be a catalyst for conflict. It needs to be
managed like everything else.
Managing Global Teams
Removing a Team Member From the Team
• Removing a team member from the team can be a very
difficult process.
➢ Even if the reason for removing the team member is a
very good one, the other team members are going to feel
insecure about their own positions if they know that a
team member was asked to leave.
• Virtual team members have limited face- to- face time, they
can often feel more insecure about these types of changes
than traditional team members.
• Try to communicate the news of a team member leaving in
person or via phone whenever possible.
Managing Global Teams
Understanding Your Limitations and When to Ask for Help
• A virtual manager must know when to ask for senior
management help.
• Asking for help does not signify a lack of management skill.
• It signifies that a situation has arisen needing senior
management’s involvement or approval.
• One good piece of advice is to share any major personnel
issues with your manager during your one-on-one meetings.
• You cannot always deal with every situation alone
• Use the resources at your disposal, whether they be your
manager, your peers, or your direct reports.
Chapter 12
Virtual Management of High-Risk and Catastrophic Events
Managing Global Teams
• High-risk or catastrophic event can occur at almost any
time.
• The key to successfully managing either of these types of
events is planning.
• Managing high-risk and catastrophic events on a virtual
team requires a lot of close attention to communication.
• The manager must balance his or her time delicately
between managing the disaster and managing
communication.
Managing Global Teams
What Is a High- Risk or Catastrophic Event?
• High-risk event ➢ A high-risk event is one that has the potential to do major damage to
the business by its impact on the company, clients, vendors,
employees, or the general public, either immediately or at some time
in the future.
• There are four main categories of risks.
Managing Global Teams
• Catastrophic event
➢ Catastrophic events are ones that cause immediate
and serious damage to the business by its impact
on the company, clients, vendors, employees, or
the general public.
➢ These events might be unavoidable, occurring so
suddenly and unexpectedly that there was no time
to recognize and manage the risk.
➢ Catastrophic planning is planning for the
unexpected.
Managing Global Teams
Planning for High-Risk Events
• Risk management is:
➢ The process of identifying, evaluating, prioritizing, and
creating action and contingency plans for risks.
➢ Not all of those risks will fall into the high-risk
category.
• If the company is not going to go out of business or suffer
serious financial damage due to an identified risk, it does
not fall into the high- risk category.
Managing Global Teams
Planning for High-Risk Events
• High-risk events would seriously affect the company’s
revenues by
➢ Causing the company to have to make significant
workforce reductions
➢ Result in a significant stock price decrease
➢ Affect client or end-user confidence in the company
and its products or services
➢ Result in a lawsuit
➢ Result in the company changing business direction or
closing
Managing Global Teams
Planning for High-Risk Events
• Technology risks can also fall into the high-risk category.
➢ If the company is relying on a specific piece of
technology to make a project or job successful, and
that technology does not work or is not available, this
could seriously affect the success of the project.
• New products can also be high-risk.
➢ If a significant investment has been made in a new
product, and the company is relying on it for success,
this needs to be managed as a high risk.
Managing Global Teams
Planning for Catastrophic Events
• Catastrophic events include those that are caused by
both internal and external factors.
• A catastrophic event might be unanticipated, or it might
be the result of a tracked high-risk event that could not be
mitigated or contained.
Managing Global Teams
Planning for Catastrophic Events
• Internal catastrophic events could include: ➢ Hardware or network failures
➢ Large reductions in workforce
➢ Losing one or more very large contracts or accounts
➢ Loss of multiple team members at one time (perhaps a mass
exodus to start a new company or join a competitor)
➢ Privacy or security breaches that might become public
knowledge
➢ Faulty products that have to be recalled, or have caused harm,
and for which there has been negative publicity
➢ Environmental issues or damage caused by the company or its
representatives
Managing Global Teams
Planning for Catastrophic Events
• External events include such things as the following: ➢ Natural disasters
➢ Acts of terrorism or war
➢ Airplane accidents
➢ Client or vendor issues
➢ Strikes
➢ Lawsuits, arrests, or scandals
• Business continuity plans are necessary for all of the
external events and many of the internal events.
Managing Global Teams
How to Recognize and Respond to a Potential Catastrophe
• Recognizing a situation that might result in a catastrophe
starts with a review of your risk-management plan and
your company’s disaster recovery and business
continuity plan.
• Start to prepare action plans, and put the appropriate
people on alert so that immediate action can be taken
should the catastrophic event become a reality.
Managing Global Teams
Risk Management
• The high-priority risks that portend disaster must be kept
up to date.
• Something that is a low risk at the beginning of a project
might increase in risk level as the project progresses,
becoming a potential disaster by the time the project is
close to completion.
• Risk must be evaluated and re-evaluated on a continual
basis, in order for it to be effectively monitored and
managed.
Managing Global Teams
How to React to and Manage a Catastrophic Event
• The most important thing to remember when there is a
catastrophic event is to remain calm and not make any
rash decisions.
• Make sure you have all facts before taking any action.
• Most disaster situations take hours, days, or weeks to
resolve.
• Managing a crisis when your team members are
scattered throughout the country or globe has its own
unique challenges.
• Communication is the key to success.
Managing Global Teams
Evaluating the Catastrophe
• Catastrophic events can be evaluated using a red,
yellow, and green status system, as follows: ➢ Red—The issue is already catastrophic and requires immediate
attention of the manager and team members. Red status
indicates that senior management must be informed immediately
about the problem.
➢ Yellow—The issue is serious and has the potential to become
catastrophic.
➢ The issue might be escalating and need containment, or it might
have been downgraded from red status and is continuing to be
worked to reduce its severity even further.
➢ Green—The problem has not yet manifested itself (but is
imminent), or the issue has been resolved or reduced to the point
that it is no longer considered a high risk.
Managing Global Teams
Keeping Team Members and Stakeholders Informed
• Effective and planned communication is key to managing
an emergency situation as effectively and efficiently as
possible.
• The escalation procedures should define who is
responsible for communication during an emergency.
• It should be clear that all requests for information should
go through one central resource. ➢ You should have email distribution lists, IM lists, text lists, and
pager lists included in your escalation procedures plan, ready for
use in an emergency.
Managing Global Teams
Keeping Team Members and Stakeholders Informed
• The more time the manager and the emergency team
can spend on managing, controlling, and resolving the
catastrophic event, the more quickly the situation will be
resolved.
• It is important to make the stakeholders feel they are
involved in what is happening.
Managing Global Teams
Communication Methods
• Various communication methods are available for
managing an emergency.
• The communication methods available should include
some, following:
➢ Phone calls—landline and mobile
➢ Pager
➢ Text message via pager, or phone
➢ Instant messaging via phone, or computer
➢ Online chat
➢ Conference calls—audio or video
➢ Onsite meetings (face-to-face communications)
Managing Global Teams
Managing the Aftermath
• Catastrophic events can be very stressful and can have a
domino effect that creates all types of interesting and
unusual problems.
• The challenge for the manager is to figure out how each
person is feeling and ensure that he or she is being
managed appropriately.
➢ Talk to each team member individually.
• Before deciding on a course of action and implementing
it, make sure you gauge the reaction of your team
members to the plan.
Managing Global Teams
Lessons Learned and Best Practices
• Lessons-learned meetings are vitally important element
to managing and controlling catastrophic events.
• They provide a great opportunity for team members to: ➢ Vent frustrations
➢ Discuss issues
➢ Be heard
➢ Be catalysts for change
➢ Present ideas
➢ Make suggestions
➢ Perform root- cause analysis
➢ Be creative and innovative
➢ Improve processes
➢ Build teamwork
Chapter 13
Virtual Management and Communication Tools
Before Choosing Tools
• Do not confuse tools with processes
• Before choosing which tool to use, the processes and
functions will need to be defined
• When deciding which virtual tools are required, ensure that
the processes, procedures, functions, and methods are
clearly defined and documented first
Before Choosing Tools
• Think about the functions, locations, and mobility
requirements for each team member before deciding which
applications and tools will be the most appropriate
• Not every team member needs every tool
• No amount of virtual communication tools can replace good
process and effective management
Choosing Tools
• The more technology you use, the more things can go
wrong.
• Wherever possible, have backup processes or tools that can
be used if there is a problem with a specific tool.
• Too much reliance on one tool can result in unnecessary
problems, which could have been completely avoided with
some contingency planning
Collaborative Tools
• Virtual-management tools allow team members to share
virtual workspaces, so that each team member has
access to the same information, documents, and tools
• There are many combinations of features, accessibility,
and cost
• The most expensive tools are not necessarily the best
ones
• Most companies allow you to download free trial versions
of the software
Collaborative Tools
• Most tools fall into one of the following three categories:
➢ Online meetings
➢ Online document management
➢ Online scheduling
Collaborative Tools
• The virtual level of your team and how much
collaboration is required will help determine whether a
fully integrated tool is the best solution, or if more
specialized tools will better meet your needs
• With the integrated solutions, you are getting a lot of
tools in one, but you might not be getting the best tools
for the job
Document- Management Systems
• Virtual teams need a centralized document repository to
enable them to manage and have access to the same
sets of files
• Very difficult to maintain version control if documents are
distributed, reviewed, and updated by sending them out
in emails
– You don’t know if you have the latest version
• Storing documents online is a much more streamlined
and efficient process
Document- Management Systems
• Many online collaboration tools include some level of
document sharing
• Not all of them are true document-management systems,
but they do facilitate a central place for storing and
accessing documents
– Many of these tool lack support for document
versioning and source control
• Some online collaboration tools are primarily document-
management systems
Collaborative Tools
• Many companies are very good at designing and
developing one or two excellent features, while the rest of
the features are acceptable or, in some cases, barely
usable
• Make sure you have adequately prioritized the features
you need, and that you test the tools before purchasing
them to verify that they live up to your expectations
• It is not a good idea to base your purchase decision on
marketing materials
IM and SMS
• Instant messaging (IM) and text messaging (SMS, for
“short messaging service”) are helpful tools for the
virtual team
• SMS is a very effective communication tool for getting
short messages to recipients quickly
• IM is good for informal interactions. It is the virtual way
to drop by a co-worker’s office.
Video Conferencing
• Video conferencing is a great tool, but it doesn’t work all that
well for more than two locations, unless there is a presenter
in one location and the other locations are all calling in just
to view the presentation without two-way communication
• It would be too difficult for the presenter to try to squeeze
five or six video feeds onto one monitor and keep an eye on
what all the participants are doing
• This method of communication will work really well for the
split team, or for a team with only one or two virtual
members
Video Conferencing
• Great for communicating between two locations,
such as when running remote client meetings or
project kickoff meetings
• Often more time- and cost-effective for team
members to travel to the closest of two locations and
set up a video conference between the locations
• For one-on-one video conferencing, the cheapest
tool is a Webcam
Phone Conferencing
• Heavily used by both virtual and non- virtual teams
• Great tool for communicating with employees, clients,
and vendors
• There are hundreds of companies offering conferencing
services, just as there are hundreds of companies
offering other telephone services.
• You can find a service to meet every budget.
• The appropriate service provider should be chosen
based on the frequency of calls and the number of
attendees.
Chapter 14
Virtual Leadership
Qualities of Leadership
What makes a successful leader?
Competence Interpersonal Skills Trustworthy
Self-Assurance Ability to drive issues to resolution Inspired
Courage Character Motivated
Commitment Charisma Decision-Making Ability
Passion Focus Confidence
Integrity Initiative Communication Skills
Accountability Vision Generosity
Teaching Skills Team-Building Ability Listening Skills
Attitude Ownership/Responsibility Strategic Thinking
Self-disciplined Ethical Conflict Management Skills
Every leader does not possess every one of these. What is your unique mix?
Qualities of Leadership
Leadership is not the same thing as intelligence or knowledge
• Knowing more/being more intelligent does not alone make
for a good leader
• A good leader:
– Does not need to tell others what to do
– Inspires, encourages, and enables others to achieve
more and to realize their full potential
– Strives for commitment from others not compliance
Leading the Virtual Team
• You must have a very strong presence on the team
• Team members need to feel that you are influencing
every aspect of the work they do, even though you are
not involved in managing the details
• Don’t try to micro-manage your team members
– Your presence should be felt in a positive, non-
invasive way
Leading a Virtual Team is Different
On a traditional team, the manager is the de facto leader
• Establishes himself/herself as worthy of the leadership
title by demonstrating traditional leadership qualities, like
charisma and accountability
• Some managers in traditional organizations are not very
good leaders
• In many organizations, it’s acceptable to be an average
leader if basic management skills are present
Leading a Virtual Team is Different
In a virtual environment, no such thing as a de facto leader
• The manager has to become the leader through influence,
not through authority or implied right
• If the manager can’t establish himself/herself as an
effective leader early, the virtual team members will not
bond with each other or with the manager, and the team
will not be successful
• In virtual leadership, knowledge and experience have a
greater influence than charisma and ownership
– Opposite of how it works in a traditional leadership role
Leading a Virtual Team is Different
• On a virtual team, the ability to articulate and empathize is
more important than courage or generosity
• If you are unable to establish yourself as the team’s leader,
the team members will look to other members of the team
for the leadership influence they need
• Team members will not follow your direction, will take
direction from others
• You cannot emulate a quality that is mostly non-verbal
using primarily verbal communication
– Virtual leadership requires a different balance of
leadership qualities
Maintaining Professional Integrity
Integrity is:
– Being true to yourself and to others
– Practicing what you preach
• Practice integrity without compromise
• Know that your team members will be guided and influenced
by you and your actions. Lead by example.
• Can’t change fundamental beliefs of team members, but can
insist they maintain standards of behavior while part of team
• Your decisions might not always be popular, but your team
will know that your decisions are fair, appropriate, and made
for the right reasons
Maintaining Professional Integrity
• Consider working with your team members to create a code
of conduct for your team
• If team members have been involved in creating your team’s
operating values, they will be more inclined to follow them
• Examples of operating values:
– Integrity
– Doing the right thing
– Treating others with respect and dignity
– Honesty
– Teamwork
– Commitment
Controlling Your Emotions
• Emotional outbursts are extremely destructive for anyone
in a supervisory role
• Staying calm and unemotional are the keys to
successfully managing conflict and highly emotional
situations
• Never take action or communicate your opinions while
you are feeling angry
• Give yourself time to calm down, put things into
perspective, and think about the most constructive way of
responding to the situation
Controlling Your Emotions
• On a virtual team, when someone upsets you, it is not
possible to go to his or her office and talk. You need to
call or email. Wait until you have calmed down before
doing either
• Never:
– Send angry or accusatory emails
– Reprimand anyone via email. Do face-to-face or call.
– Copy anyone on an email that contains anything that
might make the recipient look bad or feel humiliated
• If worried about how a point you need to make will be
received, might ask for feedback from a team member
before sending
Professionalism At All Costs
Being professional means showing respect for others
• If you are unsure whether something you want to say
might be considered rude or disrespectful, don’t say it
• Respect the diverse values and beliefs of team members
• Be very careful when telling jokes
– Avoid jokes about religion, sex, race, sexual
orientation, gender, nationality, etc.
Prejudice in the Workplace
Prejudice takes two forms, Intentional and unintentional
Intentional
• Intentional Prejudice is premeditated discrimination,
intolerance, unfairness, narrow- mindedness, or
bigotry
– Destructive, should never be tolerated
– Usually obvious but is not always easy to prove,
people who take those kinds of actions careful to
cover up
Prejudice in the Workplace
• Unintentional Prejudice
– When someone says or does something
unintentionally that offends another person
– What was said was perceived as being unfair or
discriminatory, or made someone feel he/she is
less worthy than peers
– Can also be detrimental, but can often be put right
if immediate, decisive action is taken
Prejudice in the Workplace
It is not appropriate for managers to show favoritism based on
gender, nationality, race, religion, etc.
• Many discriminatory behaviors, opinions, and attitudes are
the result of stereotypes
• Generalizations are made about people based on gender,
race, religion, educational background, accent, nationality,
etc.
• Decisions based on these generalizations are prejudice
• People should be evaluated based on their personal actions,
proven abilities, and merit, not on a general idea about what
other people from the same place or background might be
like
Prejudice in the Workplace
Be aware of your own motivations, attitudes, and opinions
• Do not try to kid yourself that you have no prejudice
– Try to understand it
– Strive to make decisions about people based on facts
and observations, not on prejudice or general
assumptions
• You do not have to act on unsubstantiated gut feelings
– Your first impulse might be to do one thing, but the best
decision might be to do something else
– Show personal integrity, put your personal feelings and
biases aside and do the right thing
Inspiring Others
• Lead by walking ahead so that others can follow, rather
than by walking behind so you can push others where you
want them to go
• Let your actions speak louder than your words and reflect
an impeccable personal integrity, so others will aspire to
be like you
• You cannot inspire others by controlling them, or by
forcing them to your will
• Encourage and praise, rather than bully and reprimand
• Empower team members by giving them the authority to
make decisions, take responsibility, and be accountable
