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MGMT610groupproject.docxJust like with any other type of team virtual team members need time to get to know each other so that trust and respect can be developed. “When these types of teams are assembled, they must spend time in establishing the appropriate norms and structures for effective team function.” (Schaubroeck, J., Yu, A., 2017, p. 640). Learning how to communicate and which approach would work best for all the team members is important. All team members must feel free to express to leadership about what is working and what is not to be productive. “The quality of communication is particularly important for genuine work teams that are interacting virtually.” (Schaubroeck, J., Yu, A., 2017, p. 637). For a virtual team to be successful and for team members to feel satisfied an organic structure would work best. In an organic structure, roles and responsibilities are very fluid and effective communication flows both downward and upward. It gives employees the independence and empowerment to be responsible for their own behaviors by not having leadership dictating what they can or cannot do. This sense of “empowerment of employees intrinsically motivates them to take initiative, complete assignments with a sense of purpose, and be good organizational citizens.” (Dust, S., Mawritz, M., Resick, C., 2013, p. 418). Being geographically separated from each other during the process virtual teams needs the autonomy to make necessary changes and decisions when needed to be successful. The mechanistic structure will not be as effective because it is much more stringent, and leadership dictates the dos and don’ts of the employees that work for the organization. “Employees have a clear understanding of the scope of their job responsibilities, and jobs are layered in a hierarchy that offers a clear chain of command.” (Dust, S., Mawritz, M., Resick, C., 2013, p. 417). Communication usually only flows downward, and policies are created that employees must abide by. Virtual team members will not have the freedom to be independent if working in this type of environment.
Identifying contingency factors allows organizations to develop strategic plans for situations that may occur and become detrimental to its sustainability. Virtual teams are a relatively new concept, however, the demand for them are growing rapidly, so identifying potential issues can be vital to their success. A few factors that can interfere with the success of virtual teams are skill differentiation, temporal stability, and authority differentiation. Skill differentiation refers to “the degree to which members have specialized knowledge or functional capacities that make it more or less difficult to substitute members.” (Schaubroeck, J., Yu, A., 2017, p. 638). Team members communication with each other is going to be important. As they increase communication with each other, the more comfortable they will become regarding everyone’s skill level and eventually the amount of influence skill differentiation has on the teams’ outcomes will decrease. Temporal stability is “the degree to which team members have a history of working together in the past and an expectation of working together in the future.” (Schaubroeck, J., Yu, A., 2017, p. 639). Team members especially those who have not had the chance to work together have to take the time to get to know it other. As they develop some type of relationship, then understanding, and trust will follow, which can help develop an effective virtual team. Authority differentiation refers to who has the authority to make decisions. It is defined as “the degree to which decision-making responsibility is vested in individual members, subgroups of the team, or the collective as a whole.” (Schaubroeck, J., Yu, A., 2017, p. 637). The decision-maker must have the teams best interest as the top priority at all times during the process. Not doing so can cause a lot of issues and team will mostly likely fail. Requesting input from the team members in regard to making decision will keep them stay motivated and engaged. Finding ways to effectively communicate virtually will cause team members to feel supported, turn in will help them achieve their goals and ultimately the goals of the team. Communication is the most important tool to have and it can resolve any issues including the contingency factors that can damage the success of virtual teams.
References
Dust, S., Mawritz, M., Resick, C., (2013). Transformational leadership, psychological empowerment, and the moderating role of mechanistic-organic contexts. Journal of Organizational Behavioral, 35, 413-433. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/job.1904
Schaubroeck, J., Yu, A., (2017). When does virtuality help or hinder teams? core team characteristics as contingency factors. Human Resource Management Review, 27, 635-647. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.hrmr.2016.12.009
