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Pros & Cons |
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LESS
TRAVEL: The principle advantage of virtual
teaming is that it saves the travel times
and costs of assembling people in the same
location for a F2F program. TECHNOLITERACY:
The initial challenge of virtual teaming
is that participants must be competent at
employing the chosen communication
technology (such as email discussions,
teleconferences, videolinks, etc.). Prior
"technoliteracy" skills training can
eliminate this concern. With
virtual teams, certain pros and cons are
associated with the communication PLACES
(assembled or dispersed), TIMES
(synchronous or asynchronous), and
CHANNELS (textual, graphical, aural or
optical). Knowledge
of these pros and cons can help select the
best combinations of PLACE, TIME and
CHANNEL, or can eliminate concerns by
avoiding the pitfalls associated with
each. ASSEMBLED
teams (same place) may fear contributing
in a face to face crowd when there is a
chance of being identified with
controversial ideas. Here technology can
be used to guarantee anonymity and allow
team members to respond freely without
fear of failure or retribution.
Facilitators can alleviate the
confidentiality, anonymity, and fear
issues through open discussion. However,
the use of technology for equal and
simultaneous contributions can lead to
tangential discussions and getting stuck
on single repetitive topics with face to
face groups. So, gather the team together
and use technology when anonymity is
necessary and only when action is
essential or lengthy reflection is not
possible. DISPERSED
teams (different place) can hide through
technology. Some people can become
inattentive or absent (may balance their
checkbook) when everyone is not in the
same place. Ascertaining who is engaged
and who is not fully participating in
exchanges can become difficult. However,
facilitators can check their perceptions
and assumptions on a side channel (like
telephone) to avoid interfering with the
main flow of contributions (on chat). So
use technology with a team that is spread
out when travel is not convenient and only
when alternate channels of communication
are available to back up the main
channel. SYNCHRONOUS
exchanges (same time) favor extroverts,
who tend to be quick thinking and fast
responding. However, when contributions
are instant and simultaneous, some people
can get overloaded with too much
information and they can have trouble
focusing on a multitude of topics being
discussed in parallel. Facilitators can
counter these by consciously increasing
interaction and sharing, reducing the
number of topics, breaking the team into
smaller subgroups per topic, adding break
times, or slowing the pace of
contributions. Therefore, use synchronous
exchanges when time is of the essence and
only when someone is able to address the
information overload and parallel
processing concerns. ASYNCHRONOUS
exchanges (different time) favor
introverts, who tend to need time to sort
out their thinking before they express
themselves. However, when contributions
are infrequent, some people can feel
ignored or bored by the time lag.
Prolonged delays can lead to
disintegration, as members lose interest
and eventually abandon the team.
Facilitators can counter these by
preparing people for slow interactions,
encouraging reflection or absorption
before taking turns to respond, and
scheduling synchronous side conversations
on other channels. Therefore, use
asynchronous exchanges when people need
time to think about their responses and
only when time is plentiful. All
communication CHANNELS have some
shortcomings related to missing body
language and/or voice intonations,
however, they also require differing
bandwidths (related to the speed and
volume of data exchange). Combining some
channels (like audio and visual links) can
lessen these worries, but at the cost of
consuming great bandwidth. Accessing
sufficient bandwidth can be an ongoing
concern for companies in some developing
nations. TEXTUAL
and GRAPHICAL lack both body language and
voice intonations. Facilitators can remedy
this with alternative ways to portray
feelings, such as: capital letters,
different type (sizes, styles, fonts, or
colors), nested words, "emoticons"
(smileys) and acronyms. AURAL has
voice intonations, but body language is
absent. OPTICAL may have body language,
but voice intonations are absent.
Facilitators can compensate for some of
these by seeking new ways to indicate that
they are paying attention, maintaining eye
contact, welcoming contributions,
responding to feelings, and showing
empathy. For all of
the above cases, facilitators can ready
people for misinterpretations that will
inevitably result and help them to confirm
the message content (by summarizing and
paraphrasing) and its format (with
behavior description and impression
checking that verbalize observed actions
and verify feelings or emotions). These
forms of feedback are critical to
effective communication. |
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