Society Publishing Managing Virtual Teams

Globalization and advances in technology have given ways to the emergence of virtual teams. Virtual teams are those teams in which the members are interacting in an online environment, while being located in different geographic locations and coming, usually, from different cultural background. Managing a team with such complexities involves lot of efforts and dedication. A manager who has shifted from a traditional team where people work under the same roof, to a virtual team, finds it difficult to manage the team. To manage a virtual team, it is not just the responsibility of the manager, but also the team members, who are equally responsible to manage and nurture it. This book helps the reader to get a grasp of virtual teams and their management, along with the challenges and strategies involved in team management. To be specific, the book helps readers understand the changes that occur in the middle of the project. Managing the changes in a virtual team demands the involvement of the team members and facilitators to overcome the hurdles. This book covers a wide range of prospects from managing virtual teams, and overcoming the challenges faced while managing such complex teams. Chapter 1 of this book gives us a brief description about what exactly virtual teams are and how they are different from the traditional teams. In this chapter, we come across and discuss situations and challenges which are responsible for the instability of such teams. Chapter 2 sheds light on the development of the team and the importance of developing a virtual team. Chapter 3 provides an insight on the methods which are required to establish effective communication and collaboration within the team. Effective communication acts as a binding tool for the virtual team members. Effective communication and collaboration are the most important factors in managing virtual teams, due to the fact that the team members are not physically connected to each other. Chapter 4 and 5 delivers the full review of leadership management, and towards the later part, it leads to conflict management in the team. It also discusses about the processes involved in forming and manage these teams effectively. It is important to understand that, while managing these teams and establishing effective communication within the teams, many challenges are encountered by leaders as well as by team members. In chapter 6, all such challenges have been discussed with appropriate solutions to handle those challenges. Along the same line, chapter 7 delivers the steps involved in managing the changes, which occur in the middle of the virtual project. Following the changes, the most important factor in managing the virtual team is conducting the meetings for team members sitting in virtual, scattered locations. For discussion on those virtual meetings, chapter 8 has been framed to highlight the tools involve in facilitating the virtual meetings. After following the set procedures, protocols and management guidelines, the most important factor in managing the virtual teams is, evaluation of success. It is essential to evaluate the progress report of the team members, so that the leader or the manager is able to understand the loopholes prevailing in the team, and is able to tackle them on time without delaying the project. For evaluation purposes, chapter 9, explains the dynamic role of metrics in a virtual team and also the role of technical tools which help in analysing and evaluating the success rate of the project. A separate chapter on case studies is also included, to give an idea about how various organizations manage virtual teams and what kind of strategies are adopted to maximize the performance of the members in a virtual team environment. This book intends to teach and guide readers on how the emergence of virtual teams has changed the working style of the corporate sector. This book helps us to understand the ambiguity and complexities associated with virtual teams and what are the key parameters that are critical to managing a virtual team in the most efficient way. The book lends us the opportunity to deal with all the challenges which might prevail in a virtual team environment.