Virtual Teams in Project Management: A Literature Review

This report delves into the evolving concept of virtual teams, examining their increasing popularity driven by technological advancements and the need for geographically dispersed expertise. The report provides a comprehensive literature review, exploring the benefits such as resource savings, wider talent availability, and increased productivity, while also addressing limitations like technological issues, communication gaps, and potential social isolation among team members. The methodology involves a qualitative approach, analyzing academic and peer-reviewed journals to identify key themes. The report emphasizes the crucial role of project managers in setting clear goals, managing communication, motivating team members, and utilizing collaboration tools to ensure virtual team success. It highlights the importance of understanding the unique challenges of virtual team management, including the need to assess team member comfort levels and address potential feelings of isolation. Furthermore, the report discusses how virtual teams can enable organizations to operate around the clock, but also stresses the importance of addressing technological problems and communication gaps effectively.

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Contents
Abstract............................................................................................................................................3
Introduction......................................................................................................................................4
Methodology....................................................................................................................................4
Findings and Discussions................................................................................................................4
Theme 1.......................................................................................................................................6
Theme 2.......................................................................................................................................7
Theme 3.......................................................................................................................................8
Conclusions....................................................................................................................................10
References......................................................................................................................................11
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Abstract
The concepts of virtual teams is becoming more popular with each passing day as specialized
knowledge and skills is mostly geographically distributed where actually congregation of
individuals work remotely on a particular project of an organization by utilizing electronic
communication technology in order to meet deliverables from various work based locations. The
members of the virtual teams never meet face to face but can continue to do so in order to
prevent feeling of isolation which happens as a result of remaining socially isolated from other
members. So as to apply potential of team members it is very important that a project manager
possesses the required traits and qualities required to influence virtual team workers so that they
can work in collaboration not withstanding with their location. Project Managers need to ensure
effective project management by taking into considerations various aspects such as administering
objectives, administering correspondence, keeping team members motivated etc. There are
numerous benefits which are corelated with virtual team such as saving of resources, wider
availability of talent, low attrition rates, increased productivity etc. There are various limitations
also which are associated with working with virtual teams such as problem arising as a result of
technological issues, communication gaps, unequal dissemination of knowhow, disparity
regarding speed and timing.
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Introduction
The concept of virtual teams have grown popularity in the last decade as a result of technological
advancements which offers various benefits to organizations such as increased productivity,
increased task efficiencies, increased access to greater talent pool across various cultures and
geographies. One of the major challenges which is associated with virtual team members is
retention of employees who work in virtual teams because it lacks face to face interaction,
workplace integration and also lacks feeling of togetherness due to increased physical boundaries
which reduces team spirits. The current report focuses on conducting a literature review
regarding virtual teams in project management so as to get idea regarding conception of virtual
teams and the benefits and limitations which are associated with it.
Methodology
The research methodology which is followed in the current research is qualitative research
methodology in which literature review was conducted on various academic and peer-reviewed
journals which are relevant to the topic of study.
Findings and Discussions
The structure of the literature review which has been followed in the current research is thematic
in which literature review is conducted on various academic and scholarly journals and
accordingly various themes emerging out of literature review have been identified and discussed.
As stated by Davenport (2016) the rapid advancements in information and correspondence
technologies and various advanced project management tools, techniques and methods has
enabled geographically and culturally different group to function and operate in virtual
landscape. This phenomenon has led to the formation of virtual projects teams which have
allowed various organizations to utilize their expertise and knowledge of best resource,
regardless of the place.
As opined by Barnwell et al. (2014) concepts of virtual teams are becoming more popular with
each passing day as specialized knowledge and skills are mostly geographically distributed and
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therefore a virtual team is at times also referred to as a geographically scattered team, which
actually is collection of individuals working on a particular project of an organization by
utilizing electronic communication technology so as to deliver goals from various work based
locations. If the trend of setting and operating virtual teams continues, it is very significant that
the members of the virtual teams become effective virtual team workers and this will make them
valued assets in the project.
There can be various definitions of virtual team workers but they possess the following
attributes:
 Virtual project team workers work from a particular office which can be a home office or
a fixed home location.
 Virtual project team workers work from home for a few days per week and not expected
to travel regularly for workers.
According to Browne et al. (2016) virtual project management team of an organization
accomplishes projects of the business organization for a specific amount of scope, time and cost.
The associates of virtual project management teams have complementary goals and skills The
technological tools which are commonly used by virtual teams include email, groupware, video
conferencing, intranet, fax and telephonic conversations. The virtual team of business
organizations represents various departments and locations of the project management team
working on their projects. Like any other traditional teams, the virtual project management teams
of a business organization define their roles and discuss different aspects of their project from the
beginning to the end process. As opined by Zhou and Pazos (2014) the virtual teams of business
organizations work in close collaboration for achieving various project management goals and
objectives of an organization.
As opined by Zomorrodian (2017) in comparison to managing a co-located project teams,
managing virtual project teams presents more challenges. Working as a virtual team member is
not suited for every worker of an organization as there are greater chances that a virtual project
tam worker can encounter feelings of social isolation in comparison to traditional co-located
project team workers. As stated by De Paoli and Ropo (2015) if the set-up of a virtual team is not
correct in nature, then the workers of virtual project teams can have a tough time in managing
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and organizing themselves and towards focusing their efforts in accomplishing the goals and
objectives of the organization which increases their chances of un-successfulness.
Theme 1
Project Managers need to ensure effective project management by taking into
considerations, the following aspects:
Managing goals- As opined by Dumitraşcu-Băldău and Dumitraşcu (2017) an affective virtual
team project manager of an organization needs to set and define clearly goals and objectives
among the virtual team members as the members cannot physically approach or clarify with
managers of virtual project or with other members of team. Therefore it is very essential that
each and every associate of virtual teams have good interpretation of the aims of a particular
project of the organization and also have no confusion regarding their individual roles and
responsibilities in the project of which they are a part of.
Managing communications- As stated by Emerson (2016) nearly 90% of the time which is
associated with project management is spent on communication among the various members of
the virtual teams and while this is not vastly different with traditional or co-located project
teams, but a project manager who better understands communication style that is associated with
virtual project team associates are more effective than those project manager who fail to
understand the communication style of their team associates.
Keeping team members motivated- As stated by Ghaffari, Sheikhahmadi and Safakish (2014) the
motivational and extent of connectedness between virtual project team workers of an
organization is largely related with the performances and efficiency level of team members. As a
result it is vital for project supervisor of virtual team of an organization to interpret thoughts and
feelings of team members. They must also discover ways to keep the virtual team members
motivated and connected from the onset of a particular project to the completion of a particular
project.
Analysing the effectiveness of remote communication- As opined by Graham, Daniel and Doore
(2016) as the arrangement of virtual working is not suitable for all members within an
organization, therefore it is very significant for project supervisor of an organization to know
how to assess the level of comfort and willingness of the team members regarding working in
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virtual project teams, proper handling of the assigned tasks and also should have capable
knowledge to realise when a virtual team member can feel socially isolated and separated from
other team members.
Usage of collaboration tools and other similar technologies- As stated by Jurgens-Kowal (2016)
the tools and techniques which are used in case of virtual teams helps in assisting virtual project
teams to fulfil goals and objectives that are readily available. Hence it is very significant for
project supervisor of virtual teams to have appropriate knowledge regarding how to implement
and utilize those tools so as to ensure success of virtual teams and to provide them with better
advantage.
Theme 2
Benefits of virtual teams
Saving of resources- An organization can enable resource savings through the establishments of
virtual teams as it helps in saving the costs which are associated with the resources such as cost
of electricity, computer and internet and other admin services and utilities.
Wider availability of talent- As opined by Morgan, Paucar-caceres and Wright, G. (2014) if a
business organization is not bound by one single or limited geography regarding looking for
talent, then there are various avenues which open up and therefore an organization can get wider
availability of talent from various parts of the world and it also enables business organizations to
look for the most cost-effective resources also which enables the business organizations to earn
greater profits also.
Low attrition rates- According to Musil (2014) the employees enjoys working more from their
homes as they get more freedom which enables them to enjoy a good work-life balance and also
increases satisfaction towards their respective jobs. A greater level of satisfaction inspires the
employees to remain in the company for a longer period of time which in turn benefits the
company as due to the low attrition rates, business organizations are able to reduce their
recruiting costs and training costs and also enables them to have skilful resources working for
them towards achieving the goals and objectives of an organization.
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Avoid wastage of time-Very rarely companies or teams of an organization have a large number
of un-necessary meetings which are responsible for wasting a large number of precious time and
resources. The communication and coordination process among the teams of the organizations
and having pleasantries and discussion of various agendas consumes a large amount of time,
whereas virtual teams discuss in a very fast and precise manner.
Reduces travelling costs- As stated by Nnamdi et al. (2018) each and every organizational
employee experience tiredness as a result of traffic, pollution and adverse weather conditions.
Travelling in various public transport systems and also in case of private vehicles consumes a a
great amount of energy which affects the productivity of the employees after they reach their
work locations as it takes a large amount of efforts in order to work effectively in an
organization. However, in case of virtual teams, time, effort and costs of travelling to office is
saved.
Enlarged productivity- Staffs mostly faces various types of distractions in their daily professional
life created due to face distractions as a result of gossips, un-necessary comments, workplace
politics etc. These types of distractions are not present in virtual teams which help in increasing
productivity of the employees.
All round the clock work possible- If a company forms a virtual team belonging from different
time zones, the company can work and operate all round the clock which helps in increasing the
revenue of the company.
Theme 3
Limitation of virtual teams
Problem arising as a result of technological problems- Virtual teams fully rely on the internet and
the computer systems to get their work done and therefore power shortage, issues regarding the
hardware and software used, internet connection issues and virus attacks develops various types
of problems and as a result project of the virtual teams can entirely get on hold until and unless
technological problem is being corrected.
Communication gaps- As stated by Pavlova and Makarchenko (2018) being absent in one-to-one
communication can provide enough possibility of having a mis-interpretation as non-verbal
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interactions are often misjudged. The lack of one-to-one interaction between the members of the
virtual teams creates difficulties in establishing trusts and a common knowledge sharing ground
between them.
Reduced team bonding- As stated by Simms (2016) the members of a virtual team connect with
co-workers regarding discussion of a project and shortly disconnects with the member after the
completion of the discussion. These members hardly have the time to get to understand one
another and discuss among themselves other than project work which creates low team cohesion
among the members which at times contributes to reduced efficiency of the project.
Less cohesiveness- Business organizations act successfully as a result of the combined efforts of
the employees and therefore when a company encounters any sort of crisis, a combined effort to
solve the problem remains lacking in context of virtual teams
Uneven distribution of knowledge- As opined by Tela (2016) during discussion on critical topic,
it needs to be assumed that the same data is distributed and referred by everyone and based on
that the members of a team are expected to come up with an informed solution or suggestion. But
is often noticed that it does not happen when one or multiple team members have not received
the data or report mistakenly, therefore it creates problem and confusion due to lack of unequal
sharing of knowledge.
Differences regarding speed and timing- As stated by Wickramasinghe and Nandula (2015)
though recruiting and working with talent from all parts of the world can offer various benefits to
a business organization but there are certain challenges which are associated with it such as
difficulties regarding working with various time zones, issues of timing and cultural differences
among the virtual team members and as a result establishment of rules and regulations for virtual
teams becomes very difficult.
Confusion regarding the meaning of silence- A silence in the communication process while
working as teams can be considered as disagreement but in case of virtual teams silence can
occur due to technical issues also and therefore it creates confusion among the team members
and wrong perceptions regarding each other.
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Conclusion
Thus it is evident that the efficiency of virtual teams depends upon various factors such as the
effectiveness of communication between the members, amount of trust, leadership style being
implemented for administering teams, collaboration among members, skills and qualities of
virtual team leaders in context of conflict resolution, trust development, style of communication
which is followed in the virtual teams as well as technological advancements that is used for
correspondence. The limitation which is associated with the current study is that it did not
provide information regarding organizational structure which is necessary for administration of
virtual teams and therefore future research should focus on finding the relation between
organizational structure and effectiveness of virtual teams.
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