The improved technology in Internet has made the organizations to work in a special system where people are spread globally and everyone works as a team member to achieve the goals. As stated by Rad & Levin (2003), the virtual teams have changed the project management because the task assignment in virtual teams is conducted on a member-by-member basis, and the resource allocation and schedule adjustments are conducted on a member-by-member basis, but across the entire project. This method is unlike the traditional project management in which the project is divided into packages and assigned to separate teams.
Teams that work remotely face a challenge to be motivated and lose concentration towards achieving the assigned tasks. Communication is an important aspect in virtual teams and the mode of communication can be through instant messaging, video conferencing, social networking and email. There are many tools available on internet like the Yammer that is like the Facebook, Skype helps in video calling, chat and file sharing, Freshbooks is mostly used as a web based invoicing application. Time Doctor is a tool that can be used for tracking the productive and personal time of the virtual teams.
Advantages of virtual teams are less or no commuting time, flexible work timings, cost effective, and efficient organizational entity. The major advantage of a virtual team is that the team is not physically bounded, and it can be formed very quickly (Rad & Levin, 2003). The disadvantage of virtual teams according to Rad & Levin (2003) is that the team might span multiple cultural and language boundaries, project procedures must provide guidelines so that the resulting diversity will become an asset and not a liability. Less team spirit and a willingness to work only in an office is also a disadvantage.
I am capable of working in a virtual team as I am goal-oriented. I am self-motivated and I possess the ability to work as an individual contributor and as a team member. As I have upgraded my technical skills to understand the tools used by the virtual teams, I can perform in any organization that manages the projects virtually. I am very trustworthy and my communication skills keep improving on a regular basis. I understand these are the basic skills required for me to prove as an efficient virtual team member.
References
Rad, Parviz F., Levin, Ginger., (2003). Achieving Project Management Success Using Virtual Teams. Illustrated. J. Ross Publishing.
