Copyright 2001 © IMD, Lausanne, Switzerland Not to be used or reproduced without permission...

L A U S A N N E - S W I T Z E R L A N D

Copyright 2001 © IMD, Lausanne, SwitzerlandNot to be used or reproduced without permission

Maznevski – Virtual Teams – 1

High Performance fromGlobal Virtual Teams

Martha Maznevski




My Background

Anthropology / Linguistics Education (Development, Learning) Organizational Behavior

• Business context• Social psychology, sociology, anthropology,

political science, etc.• Dependent variable is effectiveness

(organizational and personal)




Research Stream Global team effectiveness

• Multicultural, multifunctional, often multiorganizational

• Highly complex tasks, tight deadlines• Map-Bridge-Integrate model• “But most of the time we work virtually…”

Global virtual team effectiveness• Presented here

Global virtual network effectiveness• Current work, introduced here




Introduction

Virtual team• Group of people working together on a shared task• Members are in different locations• Members communicate using technology significantly

more often than face-to-face Great potential!

• Get the best people, no matter where they are• Members bring perspectives from their own locations• Test ideas in multiple contexts before making final

decisions




Research Overview Main empirical study

• Multi-method, in-depth study of 3 teams in one organization over almost 2 years; one success, one failure, one mixed.

Other studies• Less formal in-depth research with several

teams over several years• Interviews and observation in many teams,

many organizations to test and validate research ideas




Technology Is Not the Most Important Part!

Teams that focus on the issues of being “virtual” sometimes do well, but often don’t.

Teams that focus on being a team and getting their job done well generally figure out the technology anyway.




Three Simple Rules

1. Choose the right technology.

2. Manage by the task.

3. Sequence technologies in a rhythm.




Rule 1: Choose the right technology

Face-to-face

Videoconference

Telephone – 1 person

Teleconference

Email – 1 person

Email – List

Fax

Letter

Choose technologies by their “richness”

Media are richer to the extent that they

• Allow for feedback; and

• Communicate using multiple modes (senses, channels) at the same time




Rule 1: Choose the right technology.Complexity = Richness

The more complex the message, the richer the medium required.

More complexity:• Higher stage in the decision-process• Number of messages in the same interaction• Greater degree to which information depends on

context to be understood (tacitness)• Number of cultural, organizational, professional,

geographic, or time boundaries crossed• Degree to which the message must generate

commitment from the receiver




Rule 2:Manage by the task.

Most important task factor is Amount of Required Interdependence.

AB

C

Task

Pooled (low)

A

A

B

B

C

C

Task

Task

Sequential (moderate)

Reciprocal (high)




Rule 2: Manage by the task.Interdependence =

Frequency + RichnessThe more interdependence the task requires…

… the more frequent the communication should be; and

… the more complex the messages usually are, requiring richer media (see Rule 1).

The task may require different amounts of interdependence at different stages.




Rule 3:Sequence Technologies in a Rhythm

Create a heartbeat• A rhythm set by face-to-face meetings• Pumps oxygen and blood into the life of the

team and its relationships• Face-to-face meetings do not need to coincide

with major decision points! Rhythm is more important.

• Time between heartbeats depends on task (interdependence and complexity) and team member cohesion




Heartbeat Evidence 1

Effective team:

• Meets face-to-face every four months.





Effective Team:

• Meets face-to-face every six months.

• Meets by formal telephone conference every two months.





Ineffective Team:

• No established rhythms of face-to-face meetings.

• No rhythms of contact using rich media.




Some Finer Points

More effective teams and relationships…… also select technology based on receiver preference

… often use 2 or more technologies simultaneously (e.g., phone and email or shared database)

… explicitly talk about using different technologies

… if the relationship is strong, address and resolve conflicts over the phone rather than face-to-face (exception to the Rule 1)




Supporting Global Virtual Teams

Support your employees who are on virtual teams

Make available as many communication technologies as possible; give people access to good training

Remember this is dynamic: what you set up today is probably not how people will work next year




Current Research Notion of “team” is too constraining…

• Connotations of stable, bounded, unidimensional

• Real work flows are dynamic, open, multidimensional

• Capture this in networks Working much more with nature of

knowledge and knowledge flows, as well as collaboration and influence processes




Social Capital: Assets in Relationships

Organization

Team Resources

Combine Team and External Resources

Organizational Resources

External Resources

Organizational Performance

Managing Knowledge with Social Capital

Team Output

External Environment

Virtual Team




Empirical Study 35 global account management teams in a large

professional services firm, 10-100 people per “team”

Team networks for task advice, “people” advice:• Within the team• Between the team and the rest of the organization• Between the team and the client

Technology use Two points in time Multiple interviews, observations, etc.




Q3: How often have you gone to each of the people on your team to talk about task-specific issues

2

3 4

5

6

7

89

10

1

11 12

13

14Team (US based)

Team (overseas)

Team (not on partner’s list)




Q5: How often have you gone to each of the people on your team about account related people or HR issues

2

3 4

5

6

7

89

10

1

14

Team (US based)

Team (overseas)





Q8: ... have social relationship with people on your team

2

3 4

5

6

7

89

10

1

15

12

14

16

Team (US based)

Team (overseas)





Q9: How often have you gone to people within the firm not on your team to talk about task-specific issues

25

26

27

28

29 3

031

32

33

34

35

36 3

738

39

40

41 4

2

43

2

3 4

5

6

7

89

10

121

22

23

24

Team (US based)

Team (overseas)

Firm source




Q13: How often have you gone to CLIENT managers for task-specific issues

Team (US based)

Team (overseas)

Firm source Client source

25

26

27

28

29 3

031

32

33

34

35

36 3

738

39

40

41 4

2

43

2

3 4

5

6

7

89

10

121

22

23

24

51

52

53

54

55 5

6

57

58

59

61

62

63

64

65

66

67

68

69

707

1

72

73

74

75

76

77

78

79

80

81

82

83

84

85

Copyright 2001 © IMD, Lausanne, Switzerland Not to be used or reproduced without permission...

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