Virtual Team Performance: Challenges and Pitfalls, Essay Example

The creation and use of virtual teams in the modern day world of business has been necessitated by the need to cut down on operational costs. While setting up a physical meeting of company associates from all over the globe may appear to be an achievement, it uses up a great deal of company resources making it expensive and unaffordable. However, with the help of technology, the creation of virtual teams has enabled companies to assemble and allocate resources from all over the world in a seamless manner, creating a global virtual network. There are numerous pitfalls and challenges towards optimal virtual team performance. This paper will highlight the key pitfalls and challenges associated with virtual team performance.

Optimal virtual team performance can only be realized when the appropriate technological and physical framework is in place. When an efficient and reliable physical and technological framework is set up, it can support seamless virtual communication and coordination (DeRosa & Lepsinger, 2010). This may at times not be realized owing to the fact that technological standards are not the same across the globe. Certain operation functions are bound to either fail or be delayed in their execution as the appropriate technological framework does not exist in its geographical area.

Optimal virtual team performance can also be realized only when all unit of production (i.e. units of labour) are well appraised on the use of sociological technologies. The use and functionality of these technologies determine how fast certain functions will be executed. This may become a potential barrier to virtual team performance as an in-depth knowledge and experience with social technologies may not be a skill most have. (Meister & Willyerd, 2010) The introduction of these technologies in the execution of business functions may be faced with opposition as most individuals do not accept or adapt to change easily.

Cultural barriers are considerable hindrances to optimal virtual team performance. In a global virtual team, different labour units reside in different geographic areas with distinct cultural values. In the course of daily operations, certain aspects of one culture may collide with another, interfering cohesion between the given units of labour, slowing down the production process by reducing the value added time and increasing the non-value added time in the production process.

Team cohesion can only be realized if and only if, the team is united and in synchronized harmony in the manner in which they execute their specific functions. This can be achieved through team building. This is a difficult fete to achieve with a virtual team as team members may meet only once or twice a year (Meister & Willyerd, 2010). It is difficult to maintain the desired level of virtual team performance while minimizing costs through reduction of traveling costs for team building.

Communication in a virtual team is limited to the verbal cues that one gives. Owing to the difficulty realized with the different levels of technology employed within the different geographical areas, non-verbal cues are either not visible to the other team members or are difficult to decipher due to poor quality of the image display (DeRosa & Lepsinger, 2010).

In conclusion, pitfalls and challenges to virtual team performance vary widely depending on numerous geographic, economic and structural factors. A poor technological framework can prove to be a huge challenge in effective virtual team cohesion. Cultural barriers hinder team cohesion while a poor communication platform limits the speed at which specific business functions can be executed.

References

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/