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Far-flung Teams: Virtual Teams Version 10.0 Pitfalls and Best Practices

Far-flung Teams: Virtual Teams Version 10.0 Pitfalls and Best Practices. Dr. Arvind Malhotra Kenan-Flagler Business School The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Arvind_Malhotra@kenan-flagler.unc.edu and Dr. Ann Majchrzak Marshall School of Business

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Far-flung Teams: Virtual Teams Version 10.0 Pitfalls and Best Practices

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  1. Far-flung Teams: Virtual Teams Version 10.0 Pitfalls and Best Practices Dr. Arvind Malhotra Kenan-Flagler Business School The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Arvind_Malhotra@kenan-flagler.unc.edu and Dr. Ann Majchrzak Marshall School of Business The University of Southern California  2004 Majchrzak and Malhotra

  2. Agenda • What are Far-Flung Teams? • What challenges do such teams face? • Best practices of Far-Flung Teams • Strategic Intent • Technology Support • Leadership • Processes

  3. Example: Automotive Engine Manufacturer Co. Team Members U.S. Customer Main Office U.K. Co. Team Members Germany Customer Location Mexico Co. Design Engineering Group Brazil AIM: Design New Engine at New Location for a New Customer

  4. Example: Telecom Infrastructure Provider Ireland MA Germany OH OK NJ AIM: Global Demand and Supply Planning

  5. Example: Electronics Manufacturer Cambridge Berlin Montreal Boston Italy Beaverton Bangalore Tokyo AIM: Improving New Design Processes

  6. Far-Flung Teams:Virtual Teams Version 10.0 PURELY VIRTUAL GLOBALLY DISTRIBUTED FAR-FLUNG TEAMS REGIONALLY DISTRIBUTED VIRTUAL TEAMS GEOGRAPHIC SCOPE FACE to FACE TEAMS SAME LOCATION SAME FUNCTION SAME COMPANY VALUE CHAIN MEMBERSHIP

  7. Challenges of Far-Flung Team Far Flung Virtual Teams are extreme: • “Communications challenged” (conducting their core work mostly virtually through electronic medium) • “Culturally challenged” (different countries, functions, companies) • “Task challenged” (uncertainty in content of outcomes, process, or coordination because of team size, # languages, # time zones)

  8. BP #1: Far Flung advantage Intellectual capital, not cost Take Away: Benefits are in knowledge- sharing, not cost-savings

  9. E-Mail is Be All End All Rest is Just Fancy Shmancy BP #2: Successful Teams Ban the Use of email for Team Communications

  10. What are the technology needs of FFT? Things Could Be a Whole Lot Better with Video-Conferencing

  11. BP #3: Multiple Tool Use w/o Video being Dominant

  12. What are the communication needs of FFT? We only need regular conference calls to stay connected BP #4: The joint use of Real-time Synchronous + Persisting Asynchronous communication needed to stay connected

  13. A Virtual “Team Workspace” Instant Messaging Synchronous Discussion Threads Audio Conferencing Living Room Living Documents Web Conferencing Asynchronous Annotation Templates

  14. Using the “Team Workspace” Trust-building Own comments Annotation Web Conferencing Discussion Threads N-way realtime application sharing Brainstorming Focusing efforts Living Room Living Docs Knowledge shared in draft form; visibility into each other’s work Audio Conferencing Verbal clarification Templates Action items, Agendas, Minutes

  15. Will FFTs be as Creative as F2F? F2F meetings are required for brainstorming BP #5: Electronic brainstorming gives more time for reflection and quality ideas

  16. BP #6: Instant Messaging Used Correctly Can Be a Great Tool • Teams that used it swore by it • Why they loved it • Immediacy: expertise at hand • Team visibility • Water cooler • Backchannel communications during meetings • Unresolved issues: security, loss of discussion content, no standards

  17. Example: Telecom Equipment Mfr. U.K. Texas Beijing Hong Kong Brazil AIM: “Eating Your Own Dogfood” Best Practice: Webcams, I.M. “wildfire”

  18. BP #7: Run virtual meetings like events with a managed lifecycle --Review discussion items to focus on disagree-ment --Assign agenda items --Rotate team facilitation --Visible timelines & progress tracking Recreate feeling of inclusiveness Clear allocation of action items, meeting minutes posted rapidly Visibly ensure follow-up with discussion threads, progress tracking, & postings Member check-in through voting, IM, posting, application-sharing, & verbal discussion Activities Pre Start During End Between

  19. BP #8: Frequency and Nature of Virtual Meetings Depends On… ENTHUSIASM LEVEL TEAM LIFECYCLE

  20. How to lead Far-Flung Teams? Virtual means hands-off leadership

  21. BP #9: Far-Flung Team Leadership Communication-Intensive Frequent 1-on-1 Check-ins 1-on-1 mentor discussions Leaders Members Establish team communication norms Closely monitor & intervene

  22. BP #10: Trust is built through… Clearly Specified (& Visible) Timelines and Tasks Individual Accountability

  23. BP #11: Trust is built through… Establishing Communication Protocols Early (and being flexible)

  24. BP #12: Motivate Through Inclusion • Structure “inclusion activities” during virtual meetings (e.g., balloting) • Ensure everyone talks • Encourage voluntarism & creativity as motivators for inclusion • Recognize contributions • Share: hobbies, rewards, life concerns

  25. BP #13: Create Interdependent Sub-teams

  26. STRATEGY Framework forManaging Far-Flung Team Challenges PEOPLE • Picking the people for the team • Leadership for virtual teams • Chartering virtual teams • Challenges of virtual teams STRUCTURE PROCESS • Corporate policies • that support virtual teams • Structuring and • leveraging sub-teams • Executive stewardship • of virtual teams • Establishing norms to work together • Creating common procedures • Planning & conducting virtual • meetings TECH. • Using technology for persistent collaboration • Technology & group processes • Demonstration of software use

  27. Conclusion • Far Flung Teams require a special culture in which knowledge management & knowledge sharing are paramount

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