According to Kayworth & Leidner (2001/2002 Winter) the first disadvantage in virtual teams is the environment. Linking versus face-to-face detracts from the team efficiency (pg. 9). I don’t know that is still the case. Multi-media innovations have come a long way since 2002 and if the technology is put forth in its most efficient means virtual team meetings are just like being face-to-face. There is still the loss of social presence as Kayworth & Leidner stated but it is more subtle with new technologies.
What is missing is the minute-by-minute interaction of teams physically located in the same place versus virtual teams. Once the meeting, conference, session is completed and the lines are shut down no further direct communication is felt. A team member can’t just sit at his desk and let the team know verbally he’s found a promising direction for a problem that has been plaguing the project. He must email, call or wait for the next conference. This causes delays in the resolution or if he decides to pursue the avenue it may cause wasted time on his part that could have been avoided had he had immediate consultation with team members.
Leadership in these situations calls for heightened awareness of this lack. Glen (2003) states that leaders should make decisions in bursts otherwise they may be perceived as micro managing a project (pg. 216). Perhaps that has to change when faced with virtual teams. A leader must be fully accessible to ALL members of a team no matter their location. Given different physical locations and possibly time zones that perception has to be prevalent. Leaders also have to be able to make quick decisions based on the information given them without waiting. When the team member with the new direction contacts him, the leader must be aware of all other aspects of what the team is doing in order to give the contact viable and reliable information as to whether they should proceed or not.
With rising costs of fuel, budget deficits, heightened awareness of marketing challenges virtual teams are becoming necessity. Many of the leadership challenges mentioned in the textbook (Glen, 2003) hold even more so in virtual teams. Special care must be taken to include everyone in awards, for example. Team members not in the same physical location as the leader could be feeling left out or segregated and it is a leader’s job to make sure they feel they are included in everything.
References
Glen, P. (2003). Leading geeks: how to manage and lead people who deliver technology. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Kayworth, T. & Leidner, D. (2001/2002 Winter). Leadership effectiveness in global virtual teams. Journal of Management Information Systems, 18(3), pgs. 7 - 40.
