Effective Communication Strategies for Virtual Project Teams

This argumentative essay delves into the critical role of communication in facilitating teamwork within virtual project teams. It begins by highlighting the increasing prevalence of virtual teams in a globalized business environment and emphasizes the importance of proactive measures to ensure project success. The essay presents a structured argument, first outlining the significance of communication as a key element in the maintenance of virtual teams. It then examines various communication tools, strategies, and the impact of language barriers, concluding with recommendations for improving communication within these teams. The essay stresses the need for effective communication to overcome challenges associated with virtual environments and improve overall team performance. The essay also presents the role of communication in management functions, decision-making, and team member motivation. The essay highlights the importance of office hours, communication tools, virtual meetings, and check-ins to create a cohesive and effective virtual team. It concludes by reiterating the significance of communication in achieving project objectives and fostering a collaborative work environment.

Running head: ARGUMENTATIVE ESSAY
ARGUMENTATIVE ESSAY
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1ARGUMENTATIVE ESSAY
Table of Contents
Part 1................................................................................................................................................2
Planning of the Argument................................................................................................................2
Part B...............................................................................................................................................3
Title: Facilitating virtual project team work through communication.............................................3
Introduction......................................................................................................................................4
Discussion........................................................................................................................................5
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................9
References......................................................................................................................................11

2ARGUMENTATIVE ESSAY
Part 1
Planning of the Argument
 Virtual teams have become a critical part of the 21st century project teams. In addition to
this, these teams are set up in various parts of the globe and in different time zones.
 All the organizations, are required to undertake various measures, which go a long way in
ensuring that, the overall objective of the firm is achieved.
 The essay will present an argument about the role of communication in the maintenance
of virtual teams.
 The introduction of the essay will highlight the growth of virtual teams within the context
of an organization. In line of this, the usefulness of the project team will also be discussed
and the overall contribution of this, will be outlined.
o The main body of the essay shall began with the first argument in support of the
role of communication in the project teams.
o The following ideas shall be represented in the same:
 Communication has developed consistently and in line of this, different
teams can communicate easily through social media
 The different tools of communication will be discussed
 The rules to be followed by the teams will also be discussed.
o The second argument shall be placed with the following ideas:
 Language barriers which take place
 How these language barriers can be worked upon
 The manner in which the firm can improve its overall working

3ARGUMENTATIVE ESSAY
o The third argument shall be made with respect to the recommendations to be
made to improve communications:
 The role of communication in a team cannot be undermined
 Hence, various measures to improve the same shall be recommended.
 The essay will end the in the conclusion part and all the ideas which will be discussed
will be summarized.
Figure 1: The Structure of the essay
Part B
Title: Facilitating virtual project team work through communication
Executive Summary
In order to ensure long term success in the teams, communication can be understood to have an
integral role to play. In line of this, it is also required to be understood that due to the
Communication is the key
to success in a virtual team
Importance of
communication
why communication is
important
How information
technology has improved
it
Modes of communication
and the use of right
language
Business language and
importance
Appropriate channels to
be used
recommendations to
improve
Measures to undertake
How to maintain effective
communication

4ARGUMENTATIVE ESSAY
globalisation and diversified business operations, the development of the virtual project teams
has become increasingly crucial and with respect to this, it becomes important for the firms to
ensure that the are able to facilitate the virtual project team work with the help of
communication. Hence, the primary aim of the essay is to present an argument on the manner in
which the virtual team work related to a project can be essentially facilitated with the help of
communication. The essay will also outline the different mediums of communication which can
be assumed to be undertaken for the communication and team work. Lastly, certain
recommendations to improve the overall team work in the firm through employing better
communication techniques will also be provided.
Introduction
When the different team members of a project management team are present in a similar
workspace, then it can be considered to be relatively easier, for the team to effectively facilitate
the project team work because, consistency in the different meetings and the schedules can be
aligned successfully (Alexander 2006). However in the case of the virtual teams, it becomes
consistently difficult for the different team members to remain consistency in meetings and to
align the schedules. Hence, it can be understood that, the virtual project team can be rightfully
facilitated through effective communication. Effective communication takes place between the
different team members when the members interact with one another, using the right tone, the
right medium and the right point of time. Hence, the essay will focus on the manner in which
communication can be used to facilitate the effective virtual project team. Various arguments in
favour of the argument shall be provided which shall then be backed by appropriate reasoning.
The essay will follow a logical format with respect to which the arguments will be provided and

5ARGUMENTATIVE ESSAY
will then be followed by ideas in support of the same. Communication is the key to success in a
virtual project team and in line of this, without the effective communication a team will not be
able to attain the overall objectives.
Discussion
The effective communication can be rightfully understood to be an important
development tool for an organization. In line of this, it can be rightfully mentioned that, the
effective communication can be understood to be a critical aspects which helps to perform the
overall basic fucntions of management like Planning, Motivating, Organizing as well as
Controlling (Herrick 1995). The communication can be understood to be the foundation of every
facet of business and it is for this reason, that the communication can be understood to be the key
to success. In an organizational set up where the different members of the firm are present in
front of one another, communication is crucial because, it helps in integration of ideas and the
achievement of the overall goals of the team. However, in the case of a virtual project team, the
role of communication increases and it can be understood to be the foundation of various aspects
which will make a project team successful.
The communication is known as the foundation of motivation. In the case of a project
virtual team, the team leader would be successfully able to understand the manner in which the
overall performance of the team can be improved and how communication can be used as a
medium to communicate the overall goals of the firm and appreciate their efforts (Ubell 2016).
Another reason why communication is considered to be an important aspect of a project virtual
team because, it assists in the decision making procedure and identifying the courses of actions.
Once the different courses of action will be rightfully understood with the help of
communication, then the correct type of decision can be rightfully adopted by the firm.

6ARGUMENTATIVE ESSAY
Another reason why communication is known to facilitate the virtual team
communication can be understood to be the manner in which it helps to build up the attitude of
the different team members. This is because, communication helps to individually cater to the
needs of the different team members as present and in line of this, it also allows to inform all the
members with respect to the project and its updates. In addition to this, it can also be understood
that, the tool of communication is often also used as a controlling procedure which helps the
managers in evaluating the work effectively and also acts as a relevant medium of socialising
(Millward & Kyriakidou 2004). Hence, with respect to those, it could be rightfully understood
that the communication in a virtual project team has a serious role to play as it assists in ensuring
that the different members of the firm will be able to communicate effectively with one another
and ensure that the complexities of a project are resolved successfully. In the section, the essay
shall examine the different mediums of communication which are best suited for a virtual project
team in order to strengthen the bonds of the virtual separated members and to achieve the overall
team objectives.
Managing a virtual project team with its overall complexities as well as demands is a
very difficult procedure and in line of this, it is required to be understood by the firm that in case
it wants to ensure long term success , then certain rules with respect to the communication needs
to be maintained which will help in seeing to it that, the overall link between the different
organizational members and the team members who are located in the remote locations, will
remain open in the long run (Nunamaker, Reinig & Briggs 2009). The first manner in which the
communication can be maintained effectively in a project team can be stated to be by creating
office hours. There might be chances that the virtual project team tends to communicate as per

7ARGUMENTATIVE ESSAY
their office hours which tends to make it comparatively very inconvenient for the different
members of the firm to communicate and to maintain a flow of work.
Hence, when the particular office hours are maintained and all the team members are
required to communicate effectively at a stipulated time, then it becomes considerably easier for
them to ensure that the team can work virtually together and in addition to this, they are able to
stay in touch (Hertel, Konradt & Voss 2006). The communication tools also have a greater role
to play in ensuring that the firm is able to attain success in the long run and that the different
organizational members are all connected with the help of certain platform which is uniform in
nature and allows the different members to get into an engagement with one another effectively.
The choice of the right tool enables the different firm members to ensure that they are
successfully able to remain in constant contact using a simple messaging application.
When the different members of the firm are connected to one another through the
medium of an application, then it makes it easier to simply converse with a person and in line of
this, be also able to ensure that they are successful in engaging in a conversation with one
another and also be able to ensure that, all the important information can be easily communicated
in a timely manner (Godin et al. 2017). Although the phone calls and the emails can be used as a
medium to effectively but the messaging application serves as a direct manner in which the
different virtual employees can remain in touch with one another constantly and thereby
complete the requisites of the particular project easily.
Moreover, in line of this, it can also be mentioned that, although the communication
tools which are generally used by the firms are good for the overall welfare of the firm, the
meetings also form an important aspect of the organization and it is required to be understood
that, the managers are required to conduct regular virtual meetings which will help them to

8ARGUMENTATIVE ESSAY
discuss the overall progress of the project (Lee-Kelley & Sankey 2008). In line of this, they will
also be able to understand the overall success of the initiatives which are being adopted by each
one of them. Holding the different meetings will help in ensuring that the communication takes
place effectively and that all the members of the organization remain on the same page (Gilson et
al. 2015). For this reason, the best way to formally communicate with all the tram members can
be understood to be in the form of the meetings with respect to which, the different members
would understand the manner in which, they would communicate and what their schedule should
look like the entire week. Once they have been given a path, it becomes easier for the different
virtual team members to ensure success in the long run (Lee-Kelley & Sankey 2008).
Another crucial meeting of communication which can be effectively used by the
organizations can be understood to be the use of check-ins (Krumm et al. 2016). Although the
different meetings which are conducted assists in ensuring that the virtual team members are able
to communicate well with each other, however, it becomes easier to ensure if check-ins are sent
with the help of simple phone calls or emails as it goes a long way in ensuring that everyone is
on the same page. In addition to this, the language used for the communication also needs to be
aligned accordingly. This means that, the virtual team members would be required to see to it
that they are able to use a language medium with respect to which they are all able to interact
freely and that, it becomes successful for them to achieve the overall project team objectives
(Gilson et al. 2015). Lastly, another initiative which can be taken to ensure that the
communication is maintained strongly is that, the different members need to be motivated to
communicate with one another and should be encouraged to get close. This could be through
simple games as available on various social media websites which go a long way in seeing to it
that the objectives of the virtual team can be achieved.

9ARGUMENTATIVE ESSAY
Although various measures and mediums of communication are used by the different
members of the project team in order to facilitate communication and to ensure that the overall
successful completion of objectives, it becomes crucial to understand that, there are still certain
backlogs which take place in the communication and may have an impact on the overall success
of the virtual team. The first step which can be adopted by the project team can be stated to be
matching the technology with the task (Carter et al. 2015). Although there are various mediums
of technology available, it is required to be understood that, in order to ensure long term success,
the right medium will be required to be used for the right task as present. Hence, if the message
is urgent, the medium of call or text message may be made use of, however, in cases where the
message is not that important or takes the form of a notice then in such a case, it becomes
relatively important to understand that, the medium of an email or a notice board memorandum
might be chosen.
In addition to this, through the medium of communication the overall intentions of the
firm need to be kept clear. This means that, it needs to be clear and focused in a manner such that
it is barred from various interpretations. In this manner, it becomes easier to ensure that there
does not exist any miscommunication between the different members of a team as present
(DeRosa et al. 2004). In addition to this, it also becomes important to ensure that the firm is
successfully able to avoid any negativity and see to it that, the emotions of anyone does not get
disturbed.
Conclusion
Hence, with respect to this, it can be rightfully understood that in order to ensure success
in the long run, it becomes considerably important for a project team to engage in virtual
communication with one another in order to see to it that the overall project goals are achieved

10ARGUMENTATIVE ESSAY
successfully. The given essay outlined the importance of communication within the scope of a
firm and also outlined the manner in which the communication can bring about successful results
for the firm. This was then followed by the discussion on the different mediums to be used for
communication and certain recommended steps to be taken in order to make use of effective
communication to facilitate virtual project team work.

11ARGUMENTATIVE ESSAY
References
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Education, 47(2), pp.127-147.
Carter, D.R., Seely, P.W., Dagosta, J., DeChurch, L.A. & Zaccaro, S.J., 2015. Leadership for
global virtual teams: Facilitating teamwork processes. In Leading global teams (pp. 225-252).
Springer, New York, NY.
DeRosa, D.M., Hantula, D.A., Kock, N. & D'Arcy, J., 2004. Trust and leadership in virtual
teamwork: A media naturalness perspective. Human Resource Management: Published in
Cooperation with the School of Business Administration, The University of Michigan and in
alliance with the Society of Human Resources Management, 43(2‐3), pp.219-232.
Gilson, L.L., Maynard, M.T., Jones Young, N.C., Vartiainen, M. & Hakonen, M. 2015, 'Virtual
Teams Research:10 Years, 10 Themes, and 10 Opportunities', Journal of Management, vol. 41,
no. 5, pp. 1313-37.\
Godin, J., Leader, L., Gibson, N., Marshall, B., Poddar, A. & Cardon, P.W., 2017. Virtual
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Herrick, J.A. 1995, Argumentation: Understanding and shaping arguments, Gorsuch Scarisbrick
Publishers, Scottsdale Arizona. (extract of pages 29-39 is on UTSOnline)

12ARGUMENTATIVE ESSAY
Hertel, G., Konradt, U. & Voss, K., 2006. Competencies for virtual teamwork: Developmentand
validation of a web-based selection tool for members of distributed teams. European Journal of
Work and Organizational Psychology, 15(4), pp.477-504.
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teams. Human Performance, 29(2), pp.123-142.
Lee-Kelley, L. & Sankey, T. 2008, 'Global virtual teams for value creation and project success:
A case study', International Journal of Project Management, vol. 26, no. 1, pp. 51-62.
Millward, L.J. & Kyriakidou, O., 2004. Effective virtual teamwork: A socio-cognitive and
motivational model. In Virtual and collaborative teams (pp. 20-34). IGI Global.
Nunamaker, J.F., Reinig, B.A. & Briggs, R.O., 2009. Principles for effective virtual
teamwork. Communications of the ACM, 52(4), pp.113-117.
Ubell, R., 2016. Virtual team learning. In Going Online (pp. 27-33). Routledge.