The Four Boosters of Virtual Team Performance, Essay Example

Virtual teams operating within an environment that allows them to realize full potential is required but not sufficient enough to ensure maximum output. There are four unique elements that have the ability of boosting the performance of any given virtual tea, regardless of the working environment.

Provide Support and Coaching

The virtual team leader gives the team direction and guidance to realize the desired goals. It is therefore the duty of the virtual team leader to constantly monitor the performance of each team member, giving relevant feedback when necessary (DeRosa & Lepsinger, 2010). This feedback will act as coaching tips and guides that help each team member get into synchronization. This coaching is best delivered wen it is on a one-on-one basis. However, it is difficult to achieve this when face-to-face meetings are rare. It is therefore essential that a constant line of communication be kept open, where communication will be done on a regular basis. This coaching is also employed in monitoring progress of each virtual team member.

Commitment from Team Members

In order for one to run an effective and efficient virtual team, team members have to carry out certain requests, implement decisions and support proposals given by either the virtual team leader or another virtual team member. A leader has to cultivate this support they need from the team members. This would lead to the team members taking ownership of their work product (team member buy-in) (Beyerlein, Beyerlein, Bradley, & Nemiro, 2010). Team leaders use four main strategies in gaining commitment from the team members;

Rational Persuasion: using logical reasoning and factual arguments to get the team members to adopt your point of view. These factual arguments highlight the potential benefits of a given proposal, its risks and disadvantages.

Inspirational Appeals: appealing to an individual’s emotions and value system. By arousing strong emotions in the virtual group member, the virtual team leader develops enthusiasm and passion in the virtual team member.

Consultation: seeking views and opinions of tea members on crucial and important facets of the business and its processes. This creates the ideology of their existence as stake holders and opposed to labourers of the company (DeRosa & Lepsinger, 2010). This is essential in creating a sense of ownership, obligation and duty in fulfilling their required tasks and responsibilities. This draws admiration and a sense of identity in the virtual team member.

Collaboration: providing the virtual team members with all the resources they require to execute their designated duties and functions. This is the mitigation of the costs and difficulty of carrying out a given task. This is a joint effort between the virtual team leader and the virtual team members.

Recognition of Contributions

It is essential that the virtual team leader develops a mechanism that allows him to identify the contributions made by each virtual team member (DeRosa & Lepsinger, 2010). By publicly acknowledging the effort given by a given virtual team member, the virtual team leader inspires and instils zeal into the recognized virtual team member and the other virtual team members as well. The prospect of recognition carries with it social status and respect amongst fellow virtual team members and the virtual team leader.

Fostering Accountability

It is difficult to hold virtual team members accountable for their actions. This is because there is a lack of a clear structure that defines the responsibilities and duties of each team member (DeRosa & Lepsinger, 2010). Also equivalently important is the identification of the extent to which a given virtual team member is accountable for their actions.

In conclusion, the four main boosters of virtual team performance include the provision of support and coaching from virtual tea leadership. Commitment from team members will increase output while the recognition of members’ contributions will inspire team members. Finally, holding each member accountable develops respect and efficiency.

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/