As the rapid development of globalization manifests, more organizations are realizing the importance of virtual teams. Sometimes referred to as “global teams,” virtual teams are groups of individuals who work together via information technology. These teams may be part of the same organization or can be made up of individuals from several organizations. For the sake of this article, the focus will remain on intraorganizational teams.

Virtual teams have a set of dynamics that are both similar and different from traditional teams. Perhaps most obvious is the opportunity for diversity. Because virtual teams are made up of individuals across the world, they often contain individuals from diverse work ethics and cultural backgrounds.

Because virtual teams rarely have face-to-face communication, they can be less effective than traditional teams. It is important to realize, however, that when managed properly, the team can effectively communicate and thus produce high performance results. It is just harder to get to this point.

Trust is the foundation of successful teams. This key trait can be a hard one to nurture within a group of people, especially when the individuals involved have different perceptions of trust patterns and style because of their cultural background.

As with any business environment, learning is a critical factor in improving effectiveness, productivity, and innovativeness. This is especially true during time of uncertainties. When considering a virtual team, however, the importance of learning increases ten-fold. This is because virtual teams tend to harbor more uncertainty. To squash the uncertainty, the team must learn more. This can be especially challenging if the team members are not familiar with how to learn in a virtual environment.

In conclusion, a virtual or global team is a group of individuals who work together while they are physically apart. Because the team is diverse in terms of cultural backgrounds, it faces a series of challenges when it comes to communication, building trust, collaboration
, and learning. By identifying these challenges and addressing them, the team can overcome obstacles and achieve the level of high performance.

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