Every Team Member Took Ecom 201 Seu Virtual Team
Virtual Team Successes and Stresses
A Case Study
As widespread as diverse and dispersed teaming is these days, leading a virtual team can be a
challenge. This case study offers ideas on making the best of diverse and dispersed team structures.
Virtual teaming, that is, working on teams whose members are not present in the same location, is
a fact of our modern, globalized business world. Virtual (or diverse and dispersed) teams are
prevalent not only in multinational companies with offices in different countries, but also in
academic and non-governmental institutions with bases across the world. In such team structures,
members often have to communicate and collaborate with others who could be thousands of miles
and many time zones apart.
As widespread as diverse and dispersed teaming is these days, leading a virtual team can be a
challenge. Team leaders need to not only account for practical matters such as scheduling across
time zones, but also technical issues such as varying rates of connectivity and access to
communication platforms. However, one of the biggest factors in creating successful collaboration
among diverse and dispersed teams is culture – specifically, tailoring the team’s mission, plans
and procedures to the preferences of the different cultures represented on the team.
The following is a case study provided by a Cultural Navigator subject matter expert in diverse
and dispersed teaming:
“A virtual team leader named Rebecca, originally from the United States, recently led a virtual
project team with members from Japan, Mexico, Germany, Korea and the US. Rebecca was
focused on setting the team up for success, and although she deliberately used strategies and tools
made available by her company, she learned some valuable lessons along the way.
“Before initiating the project with a kick-off meeting, Rebecca made sure that everyone filled out
their Cultural Orientations Indicator (COI) assessment to get to know their own work-style
preferences. She then invited all members into a team message board on the Cultural Navigator,
and encouraged them to share their profiles to better understand each other’s work-style
preferences.
“The team was not able to have a face-to-face kick-off meeting, so during their first virtual
meeting, every team member took time to introduce him or herself. The members talked about the
different preferences in their team using the non-judgmental vocabulary of the Cultural
Orientations Approach. At the end of the call, the team agreed on some ground rules for their
upcoming teleconference and then closed the call.
“As the project continued, the team leader noticed that key team members were regularly not
sharing their sales pipelines during their calls as agreed upon. Rebecca used humor during their
sessions to lighten the mood, thinking some of the team members were nervous. However, she
noticed the same people began to skip the calls, and were reluctant to speak when they were in
attendance.”
In the above case study, the team leader Rebecca had done her due diligence in preparing the team
to accommodate different cultural preferences among its members. But then she hit a snag. What
had she done wrong?
The subject matter expert offered this reading of the situation: “In retrospect, Rebecca realized that
even though she had set ground rules, she could have had an individual talk with each member
before finalizing the team structure and processes. Perhaps in those discussions she would have
understood that Woo-jin, her Korean colleague, worked in a strict hierarchical office environment
and had to clear most decisions with his direct supervisor before sending anything to her. Woo-jin
had hoped his team leader realized he did not have this approval, however Rebecca was not aware
of this.
Similarly, the Japanese team member named Kamiko was concerned about the strict data
protection laws in Japan, so she did not feel comfortable sharing her sales pipeline information.
Kamiko had tried to indirectly convey this limitation to Rebecca, who wasn’t able to understand
this message.
As for Rebecca’s use of humor during teleconferences, she did not realize how many cultural
references she was using in her jokes, which her colleagues from outside her own culture had little
understanding of.”
In essence, while Rebecca began the team’s collaboration with most of the components necessary
for success, throughout the project duration, she learned the hard way that cultural mishaps often
stall even the best plan.
While cultural due diligence and careful preparation are necessary components of working with a
virtual team, the team leader and members need to exercise cultural awareness and cultural
competence all along the way.
Though there can be challenges to working in diverse and dispersed teams, they are a fact of
modern work life. The good news is that, when managed well, virtual teams can be as effective
and productive as their traditional equivalents.