Teams in Modern Organizations

What?

One of our assignments in "Elements of Team Leadership", was the Maroon-Orange Game. For this assignment Dr. Kaufman selected a leader for each project team in the class. We were only allowed to communicate with our team on scholar in the group forum section. Each team was paired with another team to conduct trades of either a maroon or orange card for each round. There were four rounds; the first three rounds only allowed communication within our team. For the final round, the team leaders were allowed to discuss the trade. Depending on which card was given and received, each team either gained or lost a certain amount of points.

So what?

As the leader of my team, it was my job to begin discussions on the group forum. According to Driskell, Radtke, and Salas, a virtual team is one whose member interactions are mediated by time, distance, and technology. With online communication the only type being allowed, we were considered a virtual team. Just as with any virtual team, there were advantages and disadvantages to the use of the internet for communication.

On one hand, using the group forum for discussion allows for anyone to have input any time they have a free moment. Not having to set up meeting times that work for everyone's busy schedule can help relieve stress on the group and make communication easier. On the other hand, the biggest disadvantage is that it can hurt the team when some members do not or cannot give their input. With a system like the group forums on scholar, internet access is required and motivation to post. In my project team, hours would sometimes pass before a post was answered leaving nothing to do but wait between posts. One member was unable to comment in any round, which made it impossible to have full cooperation.

Now what?

In future projects with virtual teams, we need to find solutions to make the group more efficient. If my team was able to communicate in other ways than through scholar, we could have accomplished our tasks faster and with full cooperation. If we could have talked to team

members through phone conversations, email, facebook, or texting, we would not have had to waste time waiting for responses. We also would have been able to find out that our one teammate could not get on scholar and could have found other ways for him to give his input.

When Levi discusses virtual teams, he talks about how virtuality is a matter of degree. Such teams do not have to be completely virtual. Looking forward, it is best to use virtual aids as a helpful tool rather than the only form of communication. Teams should not be limited to one form of communication. They must be able to work together the best way to accomplish tasks.