The challenges faced in virtual projects are specific to the nature of being dispersed. For instance, the utilization of electronic communications enhances the convenience of virtual projects. Team members situated in different locations can communicate effectively and collaborate on detailed plans using electronic communications. A common problem in projects is the need for a solid foundational knowledge that can be applied across all projects.
The effectiveness of in-person communication for establishing shared knowledge is clear. However, managers are finding it difficult to have face-to-face meetings due to time and cost limitations. As a result, virtual project technologies have become popular for building effective teams. Electronic tools such as email, faxes, Google document, Google insights, and Google trends can help address the challenges faced by virtual project teams. With Google document, multiple individuals can simultaneously share and edit documents.
Google calendar serves as a public table that displays a shared schedule for various departments or team members. This helps them stay organized and complete their work on time. To address issues within virtual teams, it is important to focus on developing group identity, relationships, and trust. Sharing information and establishing standard structures and policies are also effective solutions. Additionally, forming informal subgroups or “cliques” and working towards a common goal are crucial elements in managing team challenges.
Irregular and inconsistent communication, lower level of comfort and familiarity among team members, and an “us vs. them” attitude result in fewer shared experiences, lack of cohesion, and little understanding of other members’ roles and responsibilities. It is difficult to share adequate levels of information across distances without formal opportunities to discuss work-related issues or a common system to transmit information.
The team members have uncertain roles and responsibilities, and there are clashes between cultures, resulting in different expectations. Additionally, there are a few clearly defined processes for decision-making. This leads to the formation of cliques, causing antagonism and competition between the team and the project manager, among team members, or even among the cliques themselves. Moreover, each team member possesses inconsistent information, incomplete information, and a different perspective on the information. All these inequities in informational thinking are seen as the fatal problem.
Virtual projects present various challenges, such as irregular and inconsistent communication, a lack of comfort and familiarity among team members, and an “us vs. them” mindset. Moreover, these projects tend to be brief in duration with team members or partners potentially never meeting in person, hindering the establishment of lasting relationships. Additionally, organizations must enhance their flexibility and adaptability to match the pace of rapid technological advancements and global competition, particularly when dealing with intricate organizational structures.
