Innovation through virtual teaming

With the recent wave of technological developments, teams are being used in more
and more innovative ways in order to produce optimum results. Whilst
traditional methods such as brainstorming and the Delphi technique still have
their value, there is a new, virtual approach to group work.
Whether you are a manager, a homemaker, a subordinate, or a student, it is almost impossible to avoid being a
member of a team. A survey by the American Society for Quality Control (ASQC) found that two thirds of fulltime employees indicated that they participated in teams and 84 per cent participated in more than one team.
The importance of teams
Today's manager leads a global workforce and manages worldwide operations across national boundaries. And
when Lawler, Mohrman & Ledford carried out a study among Fortune 500 companies they revealed how
employee involvement in teams had a strong positive relationship with several dimensions of organizational
and worker effectiveness.
Key benefits of teamwork:

More ideas and information are produced

There are higher motivation and performance levels

Teams offset personal biases and blind spots that hinder the decision process

Decisions made are more likely to be more innovative and risk-taking

A key to success with modern teams involves the continual use of information technology to support team
activities. Groupware information systems make it possible for a group of collaborating individuals to carry out
computer-supported co-operative work.
Innovative ways of better using teams
Groupware has facilitated unprecedented change when looking at how teams function within an organization. It
has opened up the doors for new and innovative methods of teamwork, many of which are already in practise
today.
Global networks/teams
Many international-based organizations are constantly moving their managers from one foreign subsidiary to
another to help them develop a global view and an international network of contacts. For example, Ford Motor
Company has a global design network that ties managers and employees together world-wide. This increases
the likelihood of speedy, effective problem solving.
"The modern organization is being transformed from a structure built of jobs into a field of work that
needs to be done. Individuals no longer take directions from a job description or a supervisor. Signals
now come from the changing demands of the project and the team."
Team-based strategic planning

It is common to find teams of line and staff managers with a wide range of ages and cultural backgrounds
involved in the strategic planning process today, as it is accepted that a good strategic planning process must
allow ideas to surface from anywhere and at any time.
Flexible-jobbing
New technologies are changing the traditional, fixed-jobs approach into one which teams perform tasks and the
composition of these teams changes as the tasks evolve. Intel, for example, will hire an individual to be a
member of a specific project team. The project will change with time and the individual's duties and
responsibilities will change with it.
Horizontal corporations
These organizations are characterized by lateral decision processes, horizontal networks, and a strong
corporate culture. This concept is currently used by large global firms, such as General Electric, who have an
electronics/computer-based orientation.
Virtual corporations
Virtual organizations are usually a temporary group of independent companies formed to exploit a specific
opportunity. This method often covers a wide geographical area which makes the use of electronic technology
a necessity. Examples of firms using the concept of virtual corporations include Nokia, Nike, Intersolve Group
and Apple Computer.
Case studies of virtual teams
Sun Microsystems made the decision to utilize virtual teams to provide a "lean and mean" organization. They
consequently integrated these teams into their total operations:
The SunExpress' Customer Order Cycle Team developed an electronic data interchange system which
allows major customers to place their orders online and receive them within three days. By using weekly
conferencing calls they finished their work in seven months without ever having met face to face.
SunService's Live Call Transfer Team had a major impact on customer response time by entirely
overhauling and simplifying SunService's call answering process. They introduced an email process and
significantly reduced customer response time.
Overall, the virtual team concept has been considered a resounding success. Three aspects of Sun's virtual
team projects may point to success for other organizations wishing to utilize virtual teams: executive
sponsorship, preparation, and infrastructure.
Management Implications
Are you a manager considering virtual teamwork as a method of innovation? If so, you may face
problems in the form of:

Loss of contact with management and workers

Resistance to the unstructured nature of the virtual organization

Lower productivity because of an inability of people to handle the freedom of the virtual environment

Miscommunication to be more prominent than ever as more importance is placed on written messages
via e-mail and other forms of electronic communication

Security problems as a result of data sharing, open lines of communication, and "hacker" intervention

Less employee "frankness" and "honesty" in communication because of e-mail file retention and lack
of privacy

Dissatisfaction with the reward and recognition systems for outstanding performance

Strategic Recommendations
These strategic recommendations will help ensure the success of your virtual team initiative:

Virtual teams must be recognized and rewarded for "small wins" or interim goal achievement
throughout their existence and/or the evaluation period
The entire internal management structure must support the virtual team concept and play a strong
sponsorship and facilitative role

Education and training concerning the use of virtual teaming must be conducted throughout the
internal organization(s)

A set of directions and criteria for measuring virtual teaming effectiveness must be prepared and
consistently used

Virtual teams must be from diverse locations, time zones, functions, companies, etc. to take advantage
of the information technology infrastructure

Virtual teams must become an organizational tool for speed-up of most processes in order to be
classified as success stories

Face-to-face socialization meetings are periodically desirable for "contact" and "celebration" among
virtual team members

Establishing the essential element of trust among virtual teams must receive high priority because of a
lack of face-to-face interchange

The lack of an actual work site and the resulting mental hurdle this creates for many managers and
workers must be overcome through both personnel selection and training system initiatives

The key idea of using virtual teaming to take advantage of technology and capitalize on existing
"experts" within or across organizations must be constantly emphasized

Although the telecommunication system cannot be a substitute for face-to-face communication, it will facilitate
the development of commitments among virtual team members. Information technology definitely has the
capability to assist teams in becoming dynamic entities in the new millennium.
The use of information technology may have a greater impact on the team dynamic than the traditional
approaches of striving to improve face-to-face interpersonal communication, and therefore improve an
organizational commitment to innovation.

This is a prcis of an article entitled "Virtual teaming: a strategy for moving your organization into the
new millennium" originally published in Industrial Management & Data Systems Volume 100 Number 8.

The authors were Stanley Stough, Sean Eom and James Buckenmyer of the Southeast Missouri State
University, Cape Girardeau, Missouri, USA