Virtual Team Management
What would be the best way to structure this large virtual team?
Virtual teams are unique in that they possess the ability to transcend typical geographic boundaries. This innate characteristic allows the team to be both more productive and efficient in regards to their overall objectives. With 300 individuals however, the task of effective organization can be daunting. This is particularly true, as each member will only be working 5-10 hours on a volunteer basis. As such the best structure, I believe, would be one that provides specialization of labor. I would first structure the team within similar time zones to ensure efficient communication between the groups. Since each member, on average, will only volunteer for roughly 10 hours, timing is essential. In addition, within the specific time zones, I would create functional teams with specific goals and objectives. This format serves three purposes. For one, the time constraint in terms of volunteer hours is burdensome. To alleviate the time concern, I would want individuals specializing in a specific task within a given time zone. With a predetermined objective the individuals groups will be better able to meet deadlines and be better focused overall. Second, the separation allows the best individuals to work on the tasks in which their skill sets are best suited. This provides for a more effective means of minimizing carbon emissions as the volunteers skills are being used to the maximum benefit of the organization. Third, by separated the groups into time zones, the functional teams can provide better solutions plaguing their particular region. For instance, the team in America may need differing solutions to those in Europe. As such, innovative and thoughtful solutions can be shared and matriculated throughout each time zone. This helps diminish the process of "group think," which stifles innovation and creative solutions (Gomez-Mejia, 2008).
List the three most important issues that you foresee in managing this team. How would you solve these issues?
The three most important issues in regards to managing the virtual team are as follows:
1) Time- Time is vital in regards to the volunteers. As volunteers, these individuals are not getting paid...
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