Shingleseal Standstill, Case Study Example

The virtual team led By Rachel Phillips has become dysfunctional with little to no progress of work. The team is faced with the lack of vital management structures to give the team proper guidance. Rachel has failed to take charge and assert control on all units of production, i.e. the different members of the team. The following are suggestions and recommendations that would help Rachel develop an efficient and effective team.

Resize

I would recommend that Rachel reduce the size of the virtual team. This would create a leaner team that is much more efficient and effective in execution of business functions and responsibilities. The ideal size for a virtual team is five to ten (DeRosa & Lepsinger, 2010). A team of five to ten is much easier to manage as team members can schedule their work to incorporate the time zone differences for those in different geographic areas. Rachel should reduce the team from 34 to a probable 20. The selected 20 are chosen on the value they would add to the project and how crucial their expertise is to the project. These are then divided into groups of four that act as a unit. All the unit leaders form the project’s management body. The California team is huge in particular. A smaller team size would ensure that there is clarity in the definition of roles and responsibilities of every team member.

Communication

The reduction of the team size and the structural changes will have to be communicated to all the team members. This will be done through email. The new structural changes will be conveyed with their next roles or duties as required. This will be enhanced with the use of video conferencing for all meetings to be held. Each unit will be required to get in touch twice a week. This communication policy will ensure a seamless flow of inform across all levels of management.

Team Building

Schedule a face-to-face meeting for all the team members in the new project structure. This face-to-face meeting will be done outdoors in a period of three days. The team members will engage in team-oriented activities and challenges to foster a sense of unity and teamwork. This will help build cohesion within the virtual team.

Technology and File Sharing

Get the team to review the probable technology platforms that they can employ to engage the different business functions and responsibilities. The team would highlight the probable technologies, their advantages and disadvantages, weaknesses and strengths, while putting into consideration the limits in resources, the set time deadlines for deliverables and accessibility to the given technology (Beyerlein, Beyerlein, Bradley, & Nemiro, 2010). Get the team to review the possible ways of sharing files. One could consider using emails as a way of sharing files. However, for large file, cloud computing may offer a viable solution.

Roles and Responsibilities

Develop a clear and detailed framework that defines the roles and responsibilities of each team member according to their level (Meister & Willyerd, 2010). This is crucial in ensuring that all business functions are executed in a timely manner, and all team members execute their functions as required. This will create a seamless flow of work and information from one unit to another, with all members involved in the decision making process in one way or another.

In conclusion, Rachel need to restructure the whole project in terms of personnel and management strategy. She needs to streamline the size of the team while incorporating a communication policy that will ensure a seamless flow of information from one team member to another. The team has to have a face-to-face meeting in which they build cohesion while deciding on pertinent issues such as the technology platform to be used, the file sharing technique to be employed and the regularity of video conferencing.

References

Beyerlein, M., Beyerlein, S., Bradley, L., & Nemiro, J. (2010). The Handbook of High-Performance Virtual Team. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

DeRosa, D. M., & Lepsinger, R. (2010). Virtual team success : a practical guide for working and leading from a distance.San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Meister, J. C., & Willyerd, K. (2010, June 30). Leading Virtual Teams to Real Results. Retrieved from HBR Blog Network: http://blogs.hbr.org/2010/06/leading-virtual-teams-to-real/