Analysis of Virtual Team Management Strategies for Qantas Airways

This report provides an analysis of virtual team management within Qantas Airways, examining the benefits, communication methods, and challenges associated with this approach. The introduction defines virtual teams as geographically dispersed groups that utilize communication tools to achieve common organizational goals, especially relevant in a globalized business environment. The report includes a memo outlining the need for virtual teams in Qantas Airways to facilitate communication and coordination across international branches. It details the advantages, such as access to global talent, reduced costs, and increased efficiency. The report further explores both synchronous and asynchronous communication methods, highlighting their respective strengths and weaknesses. Synchronous communication, like video conferencing, allows for immediate feedback but may be hampered by time zone differences, while asynchronous methods, like email, offer flexibility but can lead to delays. The report also addresses critical considerations and challenges, including time differences, language barriers, lack of face-to-face interaction, technological differences, and potential issues with accountability. The conclusion emphasizes the significant benefits of virtual teams while stressing the importance of careful planning and consideration before implementation. The report references several books and journals to support its findings.

MANAGEMENT
COMMUNICATION

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
PART 1............................................................................................................................................1
MEMO........................................................................................................................................1
PART 2 ...........................................................................................................................................4
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................8
Books and Journals.....................................................................................................................8
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INTRODUCTION
Virtual team is defined as the groups which operates from different geographical
locations and interact with each other via communication tools in order to serve the common
organisational interests. With increasing trends of global exposure the concept of virtual team is
common method to enhance the global connectivity. The report will explain the various aspects
and methods of virtual team.
PART 1
MEMO
To: Marketing director, Qantas Airways
From: AB, supervising manager Qnatas Airways
Date: 13 August 2018
Subject: Virtual team management
Virtual team and their requirement:
Qnatas Airways is not restricted to the geographical boundaries, rather the organisation
is working across different countries and thus have its branch offices in various economies. For
effectively executing operational activities Qnatas Airways require establishing an effective
channel so that top management can coordinate and discuss with employees of all head offices
simultaneously and regularly (Hart, 2017). Virtual teams are defined as the organisational
groups who works together for organisation but from geographically distinct locations across
the globe. Since these groups cannot interact face to face they use virtual tools like video
conferences, e-mails and other communication tools for interaction. These virtual groups enable
organisation to effectively perform routine business tasks irrespective of geographical
boundaries.
Advantages of virtual teams:
The virtual team provides following advantages to Qnatas Airways.
 Virtual teams provides an opportunity to organisation for employing skilled human
resources all over the world.
 As at every moment of time some team members are working due to different time
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zones thus product development time and cost reduces. Due to global exposure
organisation can also access the raw material and operational resources at lower cost.
 Virtual teams increases the efficiency by eliminating unnecessary travel time,
unproductive meeting sessions.
Communication methods used in virtual teamwork:
The virtual teams of Qnatas Airways can use various tools like mails, video and audio
conferences, web logs and management systems (Dulebohn and Hoch, 2017). These
communication tools allows organisation to interact with virtual teams by following methods of
communication.
Synchronous communication:
When virtual team members communicate simultaneously then this method of
communication is known as synchronous. For instance the communication between various
team members located in different countries with the help of video conference or live chatting
involves the participation of all participants at the same time. This type of communication will
be effective when one team member want instant response from another one.
This type of communication method suffers from disadvantage of time variation. It may
happen that Sydney headquarter requires some information on urgent basis from its Beijing or
Mumbai office employee but as countries have different time zones so it may not be possible to
make communication at the same time. Sydney headquarter will have to wait until receiver is
able to communicate (Wadsworth and Blanchard, 2015). This method is effective when quick
information exchange is required. It also requires proper understanding of language variations
while speaking and listening.
Asynchronous communication:
This communication method involves the time lag between sender and receiver. It may
happen that participants do not communicate simultaneously instead they can exchange
information as per their suitability. The e-mail conventions, fax are examples of this type of
communication. This method is used exclusively when team member requires detailed
description which cannot be transferred orally or which requires written verification. Thus,
receiver may respond to sender as per suitability of time. The major advantage of this method is
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that it will allow time to think before responding directly, thus minimising the error
possibilities. It also gives the validation of information which is essential for future record
purpose. It suffers from the disadvantage that it may lead to time delay in decision making.
Various considerations and challenges regarding virtual teams
Following considerations are important for Qnatas Airways during formation of virtual
teams:
 Time differences and language barriers can make it difficult for the organisation to
effectively transmit information and to make quick decisions. The language barriers can
also give rise to misinterpretation of the message and hence organisation may suffer loss
due to these issues. The time differences can significantly cause improper coordination
between different teams.
 The lack of face to face interaction can make it difficult for the employees to properly
coordinate and thus it can cause delay to decision making. As employees do not have
any direct control over activities it can also cause conflicts in communication methods
and decision making process.
 The technological differences like speed and clarity variations in different countries can
affect the smooth exchange of information. The cultural differences also brings
deviations in formal and informal behaviour. These differences can create the improper
explanation of the conveyed information to the receiver (Carter and et.al., 2015.).
 Virtual teams may also give rise to the possibilities to transfer accountability from one
team to another. Since the interaction is remote it becomes easy for the members to
claim each other for accountability and responsibility. Thus, in case of errors or faults it
can become difficult to detect the actual source of mistake.
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PART 2
4

5

6

CONCLUSION
From the report it can be concluded that organisation can extract great benefits from
virtual team. However, it is essential for the organisations to consider various aspects of virtual
team before its implementation.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Badrinarayanan, V. and Arnett, D.B., 2015. Virtual New Product Development Teams: An
Integrated Framework of Interface Effectiveness. In Revolution in Marketing: Market
Driving Changes (pp. 109-109). Springer, Cham.
Carter, D.R., and et.al., 2015. Leadership for global virtual teams: Facilitating teamwork
processes. In Leading global teams (pp. 225-252). Springer, New York, NY.
Dulebohn, J.H. and Hoch, J.E., 2017. Virtual teams in organizations.
Hart, P., 2017. Information Security and Virtual Teams. International Journal of Systems and
Society (IJSS).4(2). pp.1-7.
Wadsworth, M.B. and Blanchard, A.L., 2015. Influence tactics in virtual teams. Computers in
Human Behavior. 44.pp.386-393.
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