Challenges Faced In Managing Global Teams: Virtual Project Management Techniques

Introduction to Global Virtual Teams

The term global team is the concept in which the team members are scattered all over the world and are working on a similar task or project.  Global virtual teams make the adoption of the of the concept in which the team members are made indulged in and make the attainments of the requirements of the project, with a minimum physical co-operation with the other members and allowing the other multinational corporations. There are number of reasons due to which the development of global teams for the multinational corporations rises and these teams offer number of advantages (Reiche, Stahl, Mendenhall and Oddou, 2016). The team members have access to all the data and the required information from any corner of the world which provides a boost to the operations and functionalities and also a flawless working environment is developed. There is the number of systems that are used by the global teams for executing operations and other functionalities which aid them in bringing an increase in their efficiency and effectiveness. For developing a global team setting a common goal for the teammates should be the prime most criteria and also a high level of transparency should be maintained in terms of the tasks and the projects on which the members are working. The below-presented review has been analyzed on the basis of the Assignment 1 which is made focused on the challenges faced while managing the global teams.  

Managing global team is an empirical task for any of the multinational corporations as these teams form a significant part of each and every business organization. The main purpose of this research is to make identification of the various challenges faced in managing global teams, the virtual project management techniques which are most effective for the success of dispersed teams. The entire objective of the thesis is to collect the data about virtual project management as well as the various factors which pose challenges in managing these virtual teams (Binder, 2016). In this research aspects of overcoming obstacles in virtual projects are covered. The main idea is to show how these can actually be jobs of the future. It is essential to prove that all the challenges of working in a distance can be overcome by making aid of project management and their benefits are worth it. This research is to help project manager’s virtual project leaders to manage from distance and to exchange ideas and information from each other and learn team-leading strategies to overcome all the hindrances faced by them by trying to innovate and giving new methods a chance. The theoretical structure includes numerous challenges and factors related to virtual management strategies as well the advantages happening all over the world. The practical conclusions were made to be usable by every virtual leader in the world. 

Advantages of Global Virtual Teams

For the convenience of this paper, the outline is developed for defining a virtual team concept, the main advantages and limitations of these projects (Luthans and Doh, 2018). The thesis does not cover any experience of a running project. There is an analysis of virtual communication and overcoming the challenges coming along with it. How to build the team from a distance. Evolving technologies that allow companies to become global? Virtual teams are emerging at an increased frequency and how successful they are in specific tasks. How it is a required competency for virtual leaders to develop a mindset and impact virtual teams (Downey and Bedard, 2018). The challenges faced and how to monitor and evaluate them. The conditions for the effects are presented for managers globally. Research suggests that distance teams can provide many benefits. The purpose of this paper is to tell the best solutions being used by the companies to overcome the challenges faced in managing the global teams. This paper aims at providing insight into what is identified as major hindrances for monitoring the challenges and evaluating performance along with recommendations.

One noticeable disconnects seen between the central management and the international staff is the global challenges faced by them. In a survey conducted approximately 58% of the managers are not well equipped to lead a team culturally. And according to the global manager’s majority of them are identified as fully equipped teams. There is some disconnecting for sure between their opinions and one of the biggest reasons is corporate communication. They do not know the pre-required infrastructure for it. Another major reason can be the cultural differences between the core management and the international staff. Infect, some of them reported this as the reasons.

Another challenge can be the global team’s origination of the hierarchy just correct. There might exist a problem due to geographical reasons. Some teams might be bigger than the others. The larger teams have more power than the minor ones. This might feel have a negative impact on the team on a whole. (Laudon and Laudon, 2016). This may cause them resentment. The smaller team feels that the majority is drowning them in terms of power and voice. One of the solutions to these problems is to increase the communication in the organization. In a local firm, communication is effective within the workforce through face to face. This is a better way to instruct and get an immediate feedback from the teams. In international companies, you can employ personal interaction as well by the use of virtual communication.

Systems Used for Executing Operations and Functionalities

Solutions like notably, stalks Meetings is a must have for virtual communication. This tool offers you a number of benefits as compared to the competition. There is a lack of clarity in global teams. When working with the team who has a native language, it’s normal to lose key messages during translation. Written communication should be adopted right after the call. This ensures that everyone gets similar takeaways. 

When there is only a small span of time then, it can take weeks to get a meeting scheduled on time for everyone’s convenience and video conferencing is the solution to it. A regular personal meeting is also important to improve team morale and collaboration. There is a disjointed conflict resolution as well while working mainly through email and that makes it difficult to deal with the issues and bring everyone on the same page (Lilian, 2014). Body language plays a big role in communication and without it; sensitive issues can be hard to handle correctly. Never communicate tough messages by email because they can be misunderstood. By talking to the individual one o one the person is more likely to get the person talking.

There is a conflicting cultural incorporate. Big companies depend on a constant interaction and team understanding between the employees. Such a process can be more difficult for the teams to define and implement. One should invest in their cultural training. Hiring a consultant to spend a day with the team for training purposes and they should split the group on the basis of the nationality. Answering questions based on values and family (Lasserre, 2017). Global teams need to know the direction and roles of team members and the expectations the staff. A lack of common ground for understanding leads to time wastage. Developing and defining clear targets help align members’ efforts for everyone to work in the same way. This is obvious to everyone when they are all members of the same culture. It is even more essential for the global teams.

Global teams cost less than face to face meet-ups. Teams including employees from diverse backgrounds create more innovative ideas than homogenous teams. Global teams have the greatest values when it comes to solving companywide problems (Bird and Mendenhall, 2016). They eliminate duplication of efforts that happens when the same problem is being worked on by every single division. It is clear, that the use of these teams will increase as the companies find ways to create competitive advantage all over the world. The primary challenge is how to get employees from everywhere to work mutually for sharing a common vision and attaining the targets (Bryman, 2017).

Ways to Monitor and Evaluate Team Performance

The below given are the primary and secondary questions that have been developed in the above-presented review:

What are the major challenges that are faced while managing the global teams?

What are the variants and the barriers that have been considered as the main reason for the encounters faced by the international corporations in handling the global teams?

Which are the top listed issues or the challenges faced by the multinational corporations while managing the global teams?

The below described are the various methodologies and mechanisms that have been utilized for executing the analysis and some of them are mentioned below: 

The following are the main steps in the process of Qualitative data analysis:

• Conducting and audiotape the interview
• Transcribe
• Code the data into themes (George, Grenville, Joshi and Tihanyi, 2016)
• Generalize and interpret the themes

As the research has been executed on the basis of some peer-reviewed journal articles and hence it can be stated that the research is reliable and valid (Gurung and Prater, 2017).

There are three major methods of sampling methods that can be used for collecting and analyzing the data in qualitative research.  Purposeful sampling is the most common method that has been selected. This method has been considered as one of the most common methodologies of sampling in which the participants are selected or sought after based on pre-selected criteria based on the research question (Gurung and Prater, 2017). The sample size in the qualitative analysis is small and it can also be large enough so as to obtain the feedback from the participants. There are three major methods that can be used for collecting data such as interviews, focus groups, observation.

The quantitative research method has been segmented in various phases and the same are mentioned below:

Phase 1 conceptual phase

• Formulating and delimiting the problem
• Reviewing the literature
• Undertaking clinical field work (Palacios et al., 2014)
• Defining the conceptual framework
• Formulating hypothesis

Phase 2 the design and the planning phase

• Selecting a research design
• Developing protocol for intervention
• Identifying the population to be studied (Sreejesh, Mohapatra and Anusree, 2014)
• Designing the sampling plan

Phase 3 the empirical phase

Phase 4 the analytical phase 

Phase 5 the dissemination phase

The instruments used in the quantitative research are the questionnaire and interview. For this literature, review questionnaire is the instrument that has been used for collecting and analyzing the data. The questionnaire is made focused on the questions related to the challenges faced by the management authorities while managing the global teams (Bryman and Bell, 2015). The research data is very much reliable and valid as the data has been collected after analyzing the questionnaire and interviewing the management authorities.

Conclusion

In the limelight of the above-executed analysis, it has been executed that the multinational corporations are facing the number of issues in managing the global teams. The above research is developed after collecting the data by making use of quantitative and qualitative research methods. Questionnaire and interviewing are the instruments that have been used for data collection. 

References

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