Manage Global Virtual Teams, Essay Example

Two of the major challenges faced by project managers when they manage global virtual teams are effective communication and bridging the gaps between cultural differences. Although both of these aspects are related, several concepts relate to communication. Firstly, it’s important to emphasize the temporal and geographic difference between members of a global team. Therefore, one of the major issues is that meetings that require groups from across the world to attend will occur at a time that is not convenient for several parties. For example, if a group in the New York City is organizing the call, it will never be held at a convenient time for a group in Beijing, China because they are 12 hours ahead. Thus, holding live calls will be difficult. Second, face-to-face communication is typically essential for ensuring that a message is completely understood. While this is possible using internet calling to some extent, team members will never be in the same room. Since there may be language differences between among team members, it will be difficult to alleviate this block in communication using body language, which is typically more prominent in person. Aside from this, it is difficult to convey even understandable ideas during global virtual communications because it is challenging to display spontaneously conceived images and figures that help demonstrate certain points.

To ensure that communication between global team members is more effective, I would hold physical team meetings at least once every six months or when important decisions need to be made in order to ensure that every member of the team is on the same page. This way, even if only managers travel to these meetings, they will be able to return home with a clearer idea of what the organization wants.