Somewhat leveraging the theme from Thursday’s entry, one way to cut costs in a struggling economy is to have employees who are not working in the same location meet virtually in order to cut travel costs. These people that work in teams over a network are sometimes called virtual teams and pose significant challenges to teambuilding. For one, technology can serve as a barrier to team building and makes it more difficult for team members to find each other relatable. The article link below states that “Virtual teams are governed essentially the by same fundamental principles as traditional teams. Yet, there is one critical difference. This difference is the way the team members communicate. Instead of using the full spectrum and dynamics of in-office face-to-face exchange, they now rely on special communication channels enabled by modern technologies, such as e-mails, faxes, phone calls and teleconferences, virtual meetings, and alike.” But to me communication challenges is just one type of pitfall.
Even more, team members are not likely to build up trust in the team over a network in the same way a face to face interaction would build trust. The challenges are great but there is definitely technology available to provide a “close to in person” experience when working virtually.
Enjoy this article about the pitfalls of virtual teams. http://www.time-management-guide.com/virtual-team.html
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