o support many of the communicative and collaborative processes that traditional teams take for granted. Communication links are what distinguishes virtual teams from traditional collocated organizations. These links define the virtual part of the team. It is the degree of online communications not the dispersion or displacement of the team that primarily characterizes a team as virtual. Real team member is defined as someone whose primary focus is on that particular project. Real team members and virtual team members make up the project team. Virtual team members then use electronic communication to interact with the rest of the team. For business growth, many companies may take on projects that are not in the local geographic area. Also some of these projects require resources and skills that are not available locally within the company. A way to solve this problem is the establishment of virtual project teams. Some of the reasons for using virtual teams include:
В· Team members may not be located at the same place
В· It may not be practical to travel to meet face-to-face
В· Team members may work different hours
В· Employees with the necessary expertise may be located in offices around the world
В· Workers life style preferences, social and family commitments may prevent relocation
В· Workers tend to be more productive - less commuting and travel time
В· Possibility of providing a global workday of 24 hoursall projects are suitable for virtual teams. Projects requiring a lot of face-to-face meetings or hands-on physical or site work would not be suitable as the project team members have to be physically available on location for such meetings and tasks. Projects that require significant intellectual endeavors would be more suited to a virtual team arrangement. Team members contributions are mainly their knowledge and experience. As information can be easily transferred electronically, the project team members can deliver via electronic means from anywhere in the world.
of Literature Search
virtual team software development
Source # 1: Virtual Team Success: A Practical Guide for Working and Leading from a Distance (Jossey-Bass /A Wiley), there are 6 lessons for creating successful virtual teams:
) Focus on people issues
) ...
