Successful Virtual Team Characteristics, Behaviors and Differences _计算机网络论文.docVIP

Successful Virtual Team Characteristics, Behaviors and Differences _计算机网络论文 Successful Virtual Team Characteristics, Behaviors and Differences _计算机网络论文 Abstract This paper discusses some of the key requirements that facilitate successful virtual teams and identifies some of the behaviors/actions of team members and managers of successful teams. The material is based on a recent study by the researchers (publication in progress), researchers’ personal experience and on insights from the available literature. While successful teaming has many components, the researchers identified the following four clusters as key requirements for successful virtual teams: · Good communication · Avoiding communication breakdowns · Effective reporting procedures · A Solid work structure · Strict assessment processes to determine suitability of team members · Effective team leaders · Team hierarchy Recommendations for best practices are made and the presentation concludes with perceptions of differences between traditional and virtual teams. Introduction: Today’s organizations experience ever-greater pressures to increase productivity and profit. Global markets, ever more competitive, can be characterized by “complexity and extreme performance pressures“ (Quinn, Faerman, Thompson, and McGrath (1996). The ubiquitous emergence of team cultures in organizations, large and small, is a response to these challenges. Lipnack and Stamps (1999) agree that today’s organization “is made up of virtual teams and network of teams and the network, not the pyramid, becomes the conceptual model of how people work together to achieve goals.” The current team culture gained currency because teams became seen as cost-effective ways to organize the work process, offering flexibility and “enabling quick, low-cost, high-quality performance while responding to a highly dynamic environment that calls for ongoing change” (Quinn, Faerman, Thompson, and McGrath 1996). Recent advances in technology have facilitate