Re: Virtual Teams, further defined

[Annamarie Pluhar <apluhar -at- mindspring -dot- com>]

Peggy you say:

"We're trying to move away from just being fascinated with the 
technology, to finding out how to mold the technology around the 
humans involved. How is this high-quality level of communication 
established? Does it mean just using web conferencing and other 
tools? What are the peripheral issues, such as how to deal with 
difficult people on the team, how to garner enthusiasm for new ideas, 
etc.?"

I've been thinking about your question. Having trained hundreds of 
teams in the eighties (literally) I think I understand what you are 
looking for.  "Virtual teams" have the same needs as local teams: 
clarity and agreement on goals, roles and procedures.

The responses that describe technology and the need to communicate 
are right on the money. The project teams I've worked with have been 
infinitely helped by instant messaging. Yes, everyone has to have 
Internet access throughout the work day. Conference calls, emails and 
server access to distribute work-in-progress are essential. Status 
reports fill out the picture. Reading the project manager's status 
report is of value.

I think that virtual team members have to hone a skill in knowing 
when to reach for the phone to have a real-time conversation with 
someone rather than relying on email/IM. It's a judgement call. 
Emails document questions and decisions, conversation allows ideas to 
generate, problems to be discovered.

Difficult people? In some ways , dealing with difficult people is 
easier.  One can scan emails and delete them. The physical separation 
means that  attitude/tempers etc. are less in one's face. The 
question is: do they do the work they are supposed to do?

Job performance can be an issue. Since the team isn't in one location 
it may not be apparent that a team member isn't doing what they are 
supposed to do. Case in point: on a recent project I was asked to 
step in and support a developer who had been on the project 3 months 
before me. It took me a week to realize that she was relying on me to 
make all the decisions. I ended up doing 7/8 ths of the work and the 
PM didn't realize this until I told her (I was happy for the work) a 
week before the deadline. I thought she knew, since the developer I 
was working with was in the same office as the PM.

I wonder whether others on the list have stories about managing job 
performance in virtual teams?

Hope this is useful.

Annamarie
--
Annamarie Pluhar

IDD Tech Solutions
Instructional design and development for technology.

(301) 588 - 4001
(301) 646 - 5002 (Mobile)
apluhar -at- iddtechsolutions -dot- com
Http://www.iddtechsolutions.com
Silver Spring, MD

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