KSAs for a dispersed workplace...
The key employee knowledge, skills and attitudes (KSAs) when working in a dispersed, technological environment are:
- Self-management.
- Virtual communication.
- Cultural sensitivity.
- Trust building.
- Competence in using electronic information systems and communication technology
Social capital a key ingredient...
The first task of a distance manager or virtual team leader is to develop a sense of presence and rapport among the workers or team members, as well as develop a viable community. This takes time. While it may feel not relevant, if the "familiarity" among members does not emerge, it is much harder to develop the respect, trust, and credibility needed to openly engage in honest dialogue, creative decision-making, risk-taking, and close collaboration.
Cohen and Prusak (2001) in In Good Company: How Social Capital Makes Organizations Work state: "Most of us know from experience that trusted colleagues help us to accomplish our work....Most of us know that the experience of working in isolation for any length of time can be lonely and dispiriting. We know too that we are more likely to give energy, talent, and loyalty to an organization if those around us are helpful and honest as opposed to uncooperative and devious, and if leadership of the organization takes a fair and equitable approach to the people who work for it. We know we do better work if we get a chance to know our coworkers rather than continually adjust to a changing roster of team members."These authors further share that social capital is "the norms and social relations embedded in social structures that enable people to coordinate action to achieve desired goals....[It]...refers to features of social organizations such as networks, norms, and social trust that facilitate coordination and cooperation for mutual benefit....Social capital consists of the stock of active connections among people: the trust, mutual understanding, and shared values and behaviors that bind the members of human networks and communities and make cooperative action possible."
We conduct business and work in a dispersed workplace with telework and virtual teaming as ordinary components of the workplace, and employee work relationships. So how can "social capital" be accomplished in a dispersed and technological work environment? How can "satisfying" and "productive" work be accomplished where people who have to collaborate do not see each other, and often feel like they are working "alone"? How can rapport and team spirit be established and maintained? Ho can an overal organizational culture and identity be developed in a global work environment?
Coaching and community building...
A manager, besides leading and supervising staff members and teams, is also a coach. Because of the feeling of separation and isolation due to the physical distance and limited social interaction, (s)he must consciously work at building a strong feeling of common identity and camaraderie among employees. (S)he must enable them to be feel valued, and see his/her contribution to the organzation, and/or project team. Thus, routine noting of employees contributions and progress, and reward systems are vital.
The manager must build a collaborative workforce and community. Clear workplace work task goals and operational procedures, plus effective communication methods that fit the employees personalities and communication styles are critical. Further, ways for dispersed worplace members to get to know each other by integrating informal phone calls into the work day's activities, and encouraging the sharing of online digital pictures and communications about personal and professional interests are important. Since they cannot "meet each other in the hallways" the dynamics of that experience has to be created in a "virtual manner."
These are not easy mangerial task, and there are not ready answers to resolve questions or challenging issues. But it is a challenge that we have to accept and face, because we have already developed an economy and business structure based upon a globalized strategy.
Professionals and scholars have been grappling with this issue for awhile, and virtual teams are working, and becoming more successful. But why? Are people changing? Is technology getting better? Is the organizational structure shifting, and the workforce adapting? Is the nature of teams evolving?
Chuck Piazza
12 comments:
As I have stated before the way the world does business is changing. The economy is changing. The end of the modern era is here. Globalization, information technology, a “flat” business world and other variables have led to major changes in business practice including virtual or cyber working units.
Virtual trends must exist and they do for international and national companies to be sustainable. Virtual teams work. Company can do business international 24/7 and across time zones. Business projects, strategies for growth and success are made reality with the utilization of virtual team national and worldwide. Virtual teams are cost effective.
To manage a virtual team takes incredible effort for varying reasons. Manager must incorporate team member abilities, team communication style, trust is very critical for its success, and other critical factors. International virtual teams have an added component, cultural sensitivity. Consideration to culture is very critical to the success of a project or desired outcome.
People are changing. The workforce desires flexibility and organizational leaders are also changing how to lead by adjusting to trends in world business.
Technology improves daily. It is amazing to look bake 20 years and even 5 years to see drastic changes in the capability of information technology. With this change comes improved innovative venues for doing business nationally and internationally. I have really enjoyed this section and continued to grow leaps and bound. I hope other feels the same.
Although Dr. Piazza, you didn't really seem to catch on to my comment in our in class session about coaching and insurance, I would like to post it here. I have watched my mother build a career from the ground up. She has no college degree, but has risen to VP level through a life long career in telecommunications. She has done this through following her mentor, whom she supports and is loyal to at every turn in her life. This mentor has taken her with him on his way up through the telecommunications rank, has relied on her for support at meetings, in decision making, and in other crucial situations and has rewarded her with job offers whenever he was promoted. I feel like this relationship is silent insurance for him to always have the support of his trainee, and for her to always have a job. Now, they work side by side as equals, backing each other up when needed.
The five KSA's for a dispersed workplace are also KSA's for any work environment. In a global work force, the development of these skills becomes more critical but they are no less important in other team structures or even working solo.
Virtual teams and are working and becoming mroe successful as we become more aware of what it takes to make them successful. People are different. Technology is more available and yes it is getting better; people are more willing to look at different ways of structuring their work life; adn peopel are changing. Work teams are much more the norm. Seldom do we see the maverick producer - even a top producer needs a team to support him/her because the stakes are so much higher.
One of the benefits of virtual collaboration is that team members and leaders have a number of ways they can complete tasks, interact, and communicate. Virtual teams are working and becoming more successful because:
• Team members can invest the time they would have spent traveling to identify and manage cultural differences and geographical disparities at the onset of the project.
• Team members can develop meeting norms and workgroup protocols that preserve and integrate cultural differences. They can determine, for example, group expectations for punctuality to team meetings, and frequency of checking e-mails or group bulletin boards.
• Managers can develop performance measurements that include the team member's virtual work as well as assignments in the home office.
• Managers can designate someone to mind the "virtual water cooler." Regular one-on-one telephone conversations with team members will help clarify local priorities and concerns. This will help coordinate the players, manage the project, and identify and bridge any gaps that arise.
I believe that people are changing and become smarter day by day and I think it is good for the business world. The changes for better always provide progress to the society. As Darwin says “survival of the fittest” and I agree with this quote that person who will adapt the changing environment will survive as compared to people who resist changing.
Technology is not only getting better it is becoming affordable too. There was a time when only few people had cell phones now nobody can think their life without cell phones. Now cell phones are not only meant for talking but it also contains many other facilities in it like internet.
The organization structure is shifting and the workforce is adapting. Adaptation can occur very rapidly if teams are trained on the technology as well as on work processes that best exploit it. The nature of the teams is evolving which is good for modern era.
People don't really change, but the technology has gotten better and with that more teams working working in a dispersed manner. Because the members of the teams are often split up so of course the organizational structure and workforce have made changes. Many companies are working on a 24/7 basis as well to serve their customers better, so as a result the people in teams are spread around the world. I believe that the nature of teams has evolved because the members are spread around the world instead of just working in one building.
I think people are accepting that relationships can be developed through virtual communication. Online social networking shows how many individuals are meeting first on the internet and creating friendships that can become very meaningful. As more people buy into these sites (Facebook, LinkedIn, Match, etc.), they are picking up tools on how to connct with others through virtual means. People are also becoming more comfortable with Skype and using webcams to talk with each other. Video conferencing used to be something you would only see in the movies. Now advances of technology have made it commonplace. As people come to value these newer uses of available technology, organizations can capitalize on building virtual teams with individuals will take advantage of technological resources.
People are changing in accordance with the rise of new technologies and new ideologies. Technology is getting better and changing people’s views through the access and learning of new unseen cultures and new perspectives in the world. People are changing along with technology, and businesses are doing the same, taking advantage of the benefits of faster responses between organizations and among people around the world. Moreover, I believe that technology is a way to maintain family relationships. Why not apply this to a business family? Creating links between co-workers is important to maintain healthy relations to improve business efficiency.
Some are becoming more successful and some aren’t. The ones that are successful are made up of people determined to grow and change. Those that are less successful are made up of people who are holding on to the old ways. Or maybe their leadership is not strong enough to bring them up. Humans are a very resilient group and are wired to change – survival of the fittest. Technology will always be getting better and doing so at a faster rate. Organizations are going through a major shift right now due to the various forces of technology innovation, economic constraints, and the push for globalization.
The best work has always been done in teams. The definition of teams is expanding as the team has become more variable with virtual teams connecting and disconnecting as the need arises.
I believe with the introduction of video conferencing and high speed data lines the lines between the traditional workplace and the virtual workplace are fading. Being able to interact with team mates on the other side of the planet via video or phone allows them to get to know one another as they would if working in the same office space.
Everything is changing. Businesses and people are realizing that change will happen with or without them and it is better to be part of the change. The X generation has grown up in the digital age. They are more comfortable with technology then their predecessors.
Technology is changing how we do business. Company's understand that if you do not innovate and adapt you will be left behind. The speed that technology is changing is incredible. To think in the time it took to make the first automobile in 1885 by Karl Benz to the first satellite launch (Sputnik) in 1957 was 928 years. The time it took to land a man on the moon after Sputnik was 12 years.
I think the workforce is adapting because of the globalization of the workforce. The organizational structure is slowly shifting to follow the workforce shift. Company's are playing catchup with what is happening. There are so many variables such as technology that is forcing the company structure to shift.
Teams by their nature will always be evolving. Virtual teams more so due to everyone being in another place, physically. With more company's using virtual teams to get things done the dynamics of virtual teams will evolve and the people managing these teams will evolve with them.
I believe the success in virtual teams is becoming more successful because the same type of skills are used that have been effect over time in the business world. These skills are just being enhanced by this new global environment. Communication has always been an essential ingredient in success and continues to be so. It is just more challenging in a virtual work environment but it can be down with great success as long as people care about their jobs and what they are accomplishing. The key to communication continues to be mutual respect and a caring attitude.
People are changing but they continue to change over time as our world changes. Change has become more normal. I think most of us are able to adapt to new things and some even welcome a sense of challenge and vigor in their workplace.
Technology is getting better. Huge advances have been made in communication, for example, virtual meetings. That has greatly helped especially with communication and the spreading of information world wide. Our society is no longer sheltered from the rest of the world. Information technology also opens up communication internally in companies as well. This enables employees to stay abreast of things occurring within the company. This allows them to better adapt to change better and faster.
I believe the success in virtual teams is becoming more successful because the same type of skills are used that have been effect over time in the business world. These skills are just being enhanced by this new global environment. Communication has always been an essential ingredient in success and continues to be so. It is just more challenging in a virtual work environment but it can be down with great success as long as people care about their jobs and what they are accomplishing. The key to communication continues to be mutual respect and a caring attitude.
People are changing but they continue to change over time as our world changes. Change has become more normal. I think most of us are able to adapt to new things and some even welcome a sense of challenge and vigor in their workplace.
Technology is getting better. Huge advances have been made in communication, for example, virtual meetings. That has greatly helped especially with communication and the spreading of information world wide. Our society is no longer sheltered from the rest of the world. Information technology also opens up communication internally in companies as well. This enables employees to stay abreast of things occurring within the company. This allows them to better adapt to change better and faster.
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