A research about problems in virtual projects/teams

T

Tony

I’m doing a research about problems in virtual projects/teams

I have created a list of problems that member within virtual projects
experience, according to Brake, Robb, Harvey, Herzog, Oertig Cascio,
Lee-Kelly, Duarte and Snyder.

My question is for managers and member who work in virtual team/group.
Do you agree that the problems below are accurate,
Or are there any problems that shouldn’t be on the list,
Or are there any problems that I should add to the list.

Evident problems in virtual teams are:
• Cultural differences
• Project members’ backgrounds
• Lack or different experiences and education
• Communication difficulties
• The geographic distance
• Time difference
• Isolation
• Lack of social interaction
• Confusion
• Unclear directions
• Humans’ resistance against new technology and new methods
• Lack of technical possibilities and knowledge in certain countries.

All help is much appreciated!!!
 
J

JLatham

Some of these are problematic in non-virtual teaming also, so you may want to
qualify/quantify the definitions of such entries as
Cultural Differences (we have real teams composed of multi-national personnel)
Project member's backgrounds - qualify/quantify: almost everyone's
background differs from others, and in some cases it's beneficial as it adds
skills to the group.
Lack or different experiences and education - again, needs quantification -
depending on the project you may want individuals with diversified
experience. It's also why you have "apprentice", "journeyman" and "master"
groupings for specific positions.

Other than time and distance, it would appear that the problems of virtual
groups are very similar to real touchy-feely groups. But some, such as
"confusion" and "unclear directions" can be elevated in such conditions. I
suppose that "lack of coordinated effort" falls into the "confusion"
category?

There are portions of process improvement programs, such as ISO9001, CMMi,
Six Sigma and others that can be effectively utilized to help overcome many
of the problems, especially in the areas related to coordination and
communication. There are processes that can be implemented to clearly define
requirements, require personal acknowledgement of responsibility for work to
be performed, and use of requirements traceability matrices to document
project progress and provide a two-way problem-to-solution tracking mechanism.

Hope this serves as a little food for thought.
 
C

CLR

Hi Tony.........
I don't want to start an argument, nor rain on your Group parade. I just
want to mention my observation that it seems that almost anything in the
world could be fitted to one or more of your encompassing
categories....(maybe that's what you want). But, I do not see any clear
recognition to the fact that not everyone is cut out to be a Team Member,
nor do they even want to be. Many of us prefer to work alone, or only to
seek specific advice on subjects and to extents we define, when WE want to,
and not have to endure the merry-go-round of a group environment. Sometimes
we are forced to participate in Groups against our well, and don't really
contribute much, only wanting to "get the experience over with". Also, some
"Group experiences" are meerly so in name only and actually are just led
along by the strong facilitator to his own predetermined end, and the
results presented at tho they were a Group-effort when in reality they were
not.

Enough soap-boxing, just wanted to give you some more things to think about.

Vaya con Dios,
Chuck, CABGx3











I’m doing a research about problems in virtual projects/teams

I have created a list of problems that member within virtual projects
experience, according to Brake, Robb, Harvey, Herzog, Oertig Cascio,
Lee-Kelly, Duarte and Snyder.

My question is for managers and member who work in virtual team/group.
Do you agree that the problems below are accurate,
Or are there any problems that shouldn’t be on the list,
Or are there any problems that I should add to the list.

Evident problems in virtual teams are:
• Cultural differences
• Project members’ backgrounds
• Lack or different experiences and education
• Communication difficulties
• The geographic distance
• Time difference
• Isolation
• Lack of social interaction
• Confusion
• Unclear directions
• Humans’ resistance against new technology and new methods
• Lack of technical possibilities and knowledge in certain countries.

All help is much appreciated!!!
 
P

Pecoflyer

Tony;322648 said:
I’m doing a research about problems in virtual projects/teams

I have created a list of problems that member within virtual projects
experience, according to Brake, Robb, Harvey, Herzog, Oertig Cascio,
Lee-Kelly, Duarte and Snyder.

My question is for managers and member who work in virtual team/group.
Do you agree that the problems below are accurate,
Or are there any problems that shouldn’t be on the list,
Or are there any problems that I should add to the list.

Evident problems in virtual teams are:
• Cultural differences
• Project members’ backgrounds
• Lack or different experiences and education
• Communication difficulties
• The geographic distance
• Time difference
• Isolation
• Lack of social interaction
• Confusion
• Unclear directions
• Humans’ resistance against new technology and new methods
• Lack of technical possibilities and knowledge in certain countries.

All help is much appreciated!!!
Click to expand...

Hi, could you please clarify what your question has to do with XL?


--
Pecoflyer

Cheers -
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