T ! "1 LINE DUBE ^ G U Y PARE GLOBAL VIRTUAL TEAMS Recent interviews with GTV leaders and members offer critical advice from the trenches regarding the challenges and coping strategies for collaborating on a global scale. VIRTUAL TEAMS LINKED PRIMARILY THROUGH ADVANCED COMPUTER AND TELECOMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES ARE FAR MORE PREVALENT IN ORGANIZATIONS TODAY. G L O B A L VIRTUAL TEAMS ( G V T s ) DIFFER FROM MORE LOCALIZED VIRTUAL TEAMS IN SEVERAL RESPECTS. I N D E E D , G V T MEMBERS ARE DISPERSED AROUND THE WORLD AND RARELY MEET FACE-TO-FACE, IF AT ALL, DURING THE COURSE OF A PROJECT. I N ADDITION, MEMBERS REPRESENT DIFFERENT CULTURES AND SPEAK DIFFERENT LANGUAGES, AND GVTs FACE PARTICULAR TECHNOLOGICAL DILEMMAS AROUND ACCESSIBILITY AND COMPATIBILITY. We recently conducted in-depth interviews with 18 GVT leaders and members representing large and small firms in the telecommunications, hanking, manufacturing, and IT services arenas in Quebec, Canada. Our findings suggest GVTs confi'ont significant challenges over and above more localized virtual teams. Indeed, the principal challenges facing organizations in deploying GVTs involve people and technology (see the accompanying figure). Gultural diversity represents an enormous chal-^ lenge fot GVTs but also offers potential richness. National and organizational cultures define how people behave in any working context. In a GVT, cultures and management styles ofi:en clash. For example, people from different cultures may have different ideas about what constitutes good performance. Communication styles may also differ. Fur- thermore, notions of accountability can vary according to whether a culture is more collective or more individualistic. GVT leaders should be mindful of these issues and understand their own cultural biases and how they may affect their judgments. Tolerance, empathy, and the desire to discuss potential confiicting situations with an open mind are all necessary for members of a GVT to develop an effective level of synerg)'. Our respondents recommended that all members of a GVT be given cultural training at the beginning of a project. Learning about national, organizational, and even Rinctional cultures can be very useful, no mattet how experienced the team members. Such training should address issues that might affect team performance such as normal working hours; expected behaviors; expected levels of performance COMMUNICATIONS OF THE ACM December 2001/Vol. 44. No. 12 71 Lind involvement; how decisions are made; how work will be reviewed and approved; and how to resolve conflicts. Nothing should be taken for granted. The meaning of terms such as accountability, coordination, and collaboration^^and how they should be operational within the teamalso need to be discussed to ensure all team members share a common understanding. In short, bringing cultural issues to the surface in a positive light can help create a GVT that is enriched, and not paralyzed, by cultural differences. Language represents a particular difficulty for GVTs. English is the de facto language of most HnKey issues in implementing GVTs. PEOPLE Culture Language IT proficiency TECHNOLOGY 1 Accessibility, reliability and compatibility Appropriate technology use guistically diverse GVTs. However, while it may be typical to have English as a second language in many countries, it is not the case everywhere. Therefore, the fact that one or more team members must speak in a foreign language can easily impede team performance. Gommunication barriers become even more severe in an electronic context. For example, it is difficult to flilly participate in a teleconference when one does not speak the language fluently. As a result, a team may lose vital ideas and information or take a wrong direction. Structured communication sessions directed by a formal leader can give every member the time to speak. Tolerance and empathy are necessary to encourage participation in this context. Writing minutes at the end of an oral communication session will help assure all participants understood the same message. Appropriate training in a foreign language (often English) is also highly recommended. Finally, helpful technology such as grammar and spell checkers, as well as language translators, can be integrated into email software to facilitate communication. In a GVT, there can be wide discrepancies in the participants' technological proficiency. Some team members might be comfortable working with groupware, whiteboards, and videoconferencing, while others might need to be taught how to attach a file to an email message. Since GVT success is dependent on effective communication and knowledge sharing among members, it is essential they feel knowledge72 D