Virtual Team Research Paper Sample

Ans 1: Performance of the team can be effectively achieved by setting up goals and benchmarks, and accessing the team effectiveness. The goals of the team would be based in accordance with business, individual goals and team goals. Being in a learning and development team the goals for the designer would be learning new skills, time management, effective team member and contributor, project responsibilities and aligning requests with objectives. The senior designer goals would be similar to the designer with additional goals such as Mentoring, Coaching, Team configuration, and extemporary project participation.
Ans 2: Performance reviews help achieve the effectiveness of the team and address issues that hinder the performance, set and manage the achievement and set the expectations, and manage the effectiveness of the employees. As a leader of the virtual team the performance reviews would define accountability and I would react with defining the description and responsibilities, not overload the staff with lot of commitments, are clear with prospective employees and track the progress regularly by involving myself in the project.
Ans 3: The top 3 issues faced with the Virtual teams are Space, Time and Culture. Space issue is addressed as the team members are located in a remote area that does not require a complete office space. Time is saved by commuting less to the office, that is cost effective and the teams have flexible work timings. Space and Time are associated with each other. Virtual teams are geographically set at different places, and the diverse culture of the team members may span numerous cultural and language boundaries and this issue can be resolved by providing project procedures and guidelines that result in diversity becoming an asset and not a liability.
Ans 4: As Virtual Teams are geographically located at different places, I believe that the Facilitator, Coach and Living Example competencies are mostly needed to support these teams. It is important for the leader to be competent in these roles to provide appropriate resources for the team to perform their duties, and ensure the team meetings are successful. Coaching the team is vital as it involves training in technical and interpersonal skills. The leader is also required to be a role model to the team by exhibiting these competencies.
Ans 5: Voice of the Customer (VOC) is the customer feedback on their experiences that range from products and services to add value to the organization. Customers always speak about the company and their voices are louder even if more communication vehicles are provided to them. VOC can be instilled in the team by implanting the key features of value chain analysis such as identifying the key customers, clarifying the customer needs, identifying internal and external partners, clarifying expectations of and for the internal and external partners and discussing the performance on a regular basis.
Ans 6: Business is best defined not by what a company or team sells, but by what its customers want to buy. There can be no business without customers and it is important to develop a business plan to know who the customers are and their buying strategy. A business can produce any product, but would it be useful for the customer. A customer defines the needs and requirements of the products on which the business develops the products. For example, if a customer has purchased a notebook and calls the support number for a technical issue and the technical support agent tries to sell him an antivirus disc after providing the solution; the customer may not buy it as it is not needed. Here customer is defining the business.
Ans 7: The genuine right of a person to use influence or make decisions that result in actions and delegate work to other members is called Authority. The onus of a subordinate to whom a duty is assigned to perform is called Responsibility. The transfer of authority to subordinates that qualifies them to take decisions and use resources is called Delegation.
Ans 8: In my current experience I would use the six steps of problem solving in case of any issues with the virtual team members. I would define the problem, find the root cause, identify alternative solutions and select a solution, define the success criteria and implement the solution.
Ans 9: An example of stereotype turned into generalization is “All Europeans are extremely courteous”.