Virtual teams are just teams with amplified collaboration needs
Lisa Kimball of Group Jazz observes that virtual teams are just teams with amplified collaboration needs.
What are the top three reasons virtual teams fail? According to Lisa, these are:
1. People lose the sense of the whole. They only see what they are doing and have no way to “look across the room” to see what others are doing. Lack of context kills.
2. Assumptions are not explicitly stated.
3. People don’t enjoy it – they don’t have fun. Without the laughs to go along with the work, it feels less “human” and the lack of personal interaction is dispiriting.
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Well, I have to say, I’ve been telecommuting, leading and participating in a wide variety of virtual technical teams for about 8 years now, and these three points can also be benefits to a project IMO, so long as some balance is maintained in all these respects. For instance, losing sense of the whole can breed innovation that is hidden when overburdened with context, which tends to be distracting. In addition, I can’t say that I’ve ever avoided the assumptions not being explicity stated problem in either virtual or traditional collaborations; this is an issue of shared knowledge; and relying on our memories doesn’t count. Finally, if you don’t have fun participating virtually, why are you doing it in the first place? Of course, it can get lonely working in isolation, but I’ve rarely been on a project where the virtual collaboration was not almost constant.
Comment by OpenGeek — 6/11/2005 @ 11:32
I love the concept of a virtual team. I think the problem with the office is that everybody has to work on the same schedule (ie. 9-5). If I can work virtually at home, I can set my hours to be when I am more productive. So, if I am not a morning person I can sleep in and work, for example, 11-7.
Comment by Tino Buntic — 6/11/2005 @ 18:49
Lisa is wise and has got it right IMHO.
You can read the whole story in Steven Denning’s new book [Leader's Guide to Storytelling - page 169], but this is often true…
“Like a picture is worth a thousand words, a day F2F is often worth a thousand emails!”
Comment by Valdis — 6/11/2005 @ 21:04