Challenges and Solutions for Managing Virtual Teams

Running head: MANAGEMENT COMMUNICATION
MANAGEMENT COMMUNICATION
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Part 1: Memo
To: The Marketing Director, XYZ Company
From: Name of the Student
Date: 11.08.2018
Opening: A new form of technology has come into existence which is known as the virtual
team, which has brought a new approach to the aspect of teamwork. The virtual team consists
of members who is dispersed organizationally or geographically and are linked with each
other through an advanced form of technology of telecommunications and information. The
headquarters of the company in Sydney is forming a new team for marketing whose members
will be located in Sydney, Mumbai, Beijing and New York. They will establish virtual team
as a necessity which will be spread across different places consisting of different time zones
which will make the use of both synchronous which is real time and asynchronous which is
not concurrent communication. One of the basic advantages of having a virtual team is that
the most talented and skilled people can be brought together to complete any project of a
complex nature through their innovative ideas and creativity. Moreover, the time of the
employees and travel expenses are saved. However, there are many challenges that could be
faced while handling virtual teams, whose concern have been raised by various teams in the
organization. To address this concern, various ways are provided which specifies the ways
that these challenges could be overcome while managing virtual teams.
Discussion: Virtual teams are day by day becoming a part of every organization. They are
used to reduce the challenges that organizations face due to their geographical expansion, and
many organizations adopt this idea to reduce their cost and increase their flexibility in the
organization. However, managing a virtual team is very different from managing a face to
face scenario. There are many challenges such as cultural differences, difference in time

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zones, barriers of language and poor engagement which exists and are faced by the
individuals who manage virtual teams. There are certain areas which if managed properly
would enable the smooth operation of the virtual team. Firstly, a 24*7 cycle of work should
be built. This is because the difference in the time zones should not be viewed as a challenges
but as an opportunity for the organization to be more efficient in their work by working all
around the clock (Crisp and Jarvenpaa 2013). However, other challenges such as conflicts in
deadlines due to the time difference and language barriers would have to be eradicated by
paying attention to every small detail when the task is being delegated to the team members.
Secondly, the team members should always be ready with a backup plan in case the
technology fails them due to poor connection of the internet or any malfunction in the
software. The team members could have a setup of dial in umbers which could help to
continue the meeting one in case of any failure on the part of the virtual team (Lilian 2014).
Thirdly, there should be clarity among the team members regarding every aspect including
the responsibilities of each member. Proper responsibilities should be given to every team
member after the end of every meeting. However, if this has been not possible over the
conference call, a written communication should be avoided as this lacks the clear
instructions and directions about the responsibilities of each person and this is where they
rely on others to do their job. Fourthly, it gives a fair chance to new and emerging leaders to
share their views and ideas from among the group. The organization believes that the people
who are in the lower ranks have the ability to bring about a change in the company with their
innovative ideas and techniques (Pinjani and Palvia 2013). Lastly, it is very critical to
understand the various differences in the culture of each team member which will help to
understand the significant of informal and formal communication skills of each team
members and can be used to their benefit.