With greater global expansion, more organizations are collaborating on projects with teams consisting of people who are based in dispersed geographical locations, having different cultural backgrounds and value systems. These are virtual teams that have many advantages but also present a unique set of managerial challenges—team bonding, understanding different cultures, working across different time zones, and having the same standards when recruiting employees. Many organizations using virtual teams have concluded that working within the same physical space versus working remotely using communication tools makes no difference to their performance. However, it is not necessarily easy to transition employees into virtual teams when they have been used to working and communicating in close proximity to each other or have had little experience in working in a “virtual way.”

The University of Tsukuba in Japan and the Grenoble Ecole de Management in France have recognized that equipping students with skills required to work in virtual teams is fundamentally important to their careers. As a result, both universities decided to create a joint program in 2013 to enable students to have real experience of working in virtual teams, and was evaluated for its impact in its fifth iteration in 2017. The postgraduate students at both institutions represented 11 different nationalities and were asked to participate in problem-solving projects to experience working in a global business environment. The students enrolled in the program had varying levels of industry experience, and both universities never met face to face before the program began.

Students used tools such as Zoom, Skype, and Adobe Connect as a basis of communication to meet virtually and discuss how to achieve tasks, while reflecting on issues of relationships and cross-cultural challenges. Some of the initial issues reported in participating in the virtual teams were in building trust, getting the format of communication right and overcoming cultural differences between team members. Additionally, taking ownership of the overall quality of deliverables were sometimes problematic.

However, after spending some time in the virtual environment, the teams began to understand each other mutually. Rather than appointing leaders, some students naturally began to take the lead, often more than one student leading the teams. This led to a collective responsibility toward the outcomes of the tasks set. Other benefits suggested that because of the use of technology, they could see their work developing more rapidly because of the use of collaborative tools, as members of the team contributed over different time zones. As students set up their own communication methods and ground rules, it meant that they took ownership of them and were more motivated to contribute. Today, joint ventures in Universities are quite common. Many have introduced

“Collaborative Online International Learning” (or COIL) initiatives, for students to interact, work with and explore cultures of their peers using virtual settings.

Outside of an educational setting, the principles of working in virtual teams are the same. Organizations such as Dell and Upworthy use this approach and suggest that giving ownership to values and practice are key to the success of virtual working.

Managers recognize that giving autonomy to employees with the tasks assigned can reap rewards and lead to the team self-organizing and ultimately thriving. In addition, the program managers at the two institutions have learned from their students what is important in helping to shape future “virtual team”-based programs.49

 DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
13-1. As a participant, how would you approach such a program? What challenges might you face and how would you overcome them?
13-2. What are the important factors a manager should consider when setting up a successful virtual team?
13-3. Explain whether you think there is an ideal group-size to complete tasks in a virtual team.
13-4. Do you think it is important to have a dedicated leader in virtual teams? Why?