Teamsmith

Virtual Team Olympics

An interactive analysis of Teamsmith’s real life formation and development

as a high performance virtual team

The Competition• Teamsmith is the sole contestant, but depending on how well it

does as a virtual team, it will receive a Gold, Silver, or Bronze medal in each of the virtual team “sports”

• The medals:GOLD = high performing VTSILVER = a regularly performing VTBRONZE = a virtual working

group

Before we play, let’s review …

Teamsmith’s High Performance Virtual Team

Toolkit“In order to understand the complex nature of leadership in a virtual/self-managed team environment, we apply the leaderplex framework (Denison et al. 1995; Quinn 1984) (see Figure 1), which consists of eight different roles: Innovator, Broker, Producer, Director, Coordinator, Monitor, Facilitator and Mentor” (Carte, Chidambaram & Becker, 2006, p. 326).

“While support can be found in the leadership literature to support all eight of our leadership behaviors positively impacting group performance, our specific context of virtual, self-managed teams may benefit from some of these behaviors more than others” (Carte, Chidambaram & Becker, 2006, p. 329).

“Our findings suggest that in such environments [self-managed virtual teams], shared monitoring and concentrated producing behaviors were more likely to be exhibited by high-performing teams” (Carte, Chidambaram & Becker, 2006, p. 340).

The Teamsmith Toolbelt

The Leaderplex Model

The 9 Virtual Team Sports in the VT Olympics are:

Innovator Broker

Producer Director

Coordinator Monitor

FacilitatorMentor

Chief Experience Officer (CXO)

Which VT “sport” envisions, encourages, and facilitates change?

Innovator

Which VT “sport” acquires resources and maintains a network of external contacts?

Broker

Producer

Which VT “sport” seeks task completion and motivates others to do the same

Which VT “sport” engages in goal setting and role clarification?

Director

Which VT “sport” maintains structure through scheduling, coordinating, and problem solving?

Coordinator

Which VT “sport” collects and distributes information to provide a sense of continuity

Monitor

Which VT “sport” encourages the expression of opinions, seeks consensus, and negotiates compromise?

Facilitator

Which VT “sport” listens actively, supports legitimate requests, and attempts to facilitate development?

Mentor

Which VT “sport” oversees and improves the overall experience of team members and outside constituents?

Chief Experience Officer (CXO)

And now …Let the virtual team olympics

begin!

Teamsmith

• All four team members engaged in innovative and visionary behaviors in the process of developing the two team deliverables.  

• Two team members generated ideas for the deliverables, and one of these suggested a target audience.  Another teammate developed a web page and twitter account.

• Another member facilitated a transfer to Google video conferencing when Wimba was eliminated as an option.

• One team member suggested switching the group timeline onto a Google calendar in order to consolidate all of the team documents on one site, and oversaw that process.

Innovator envisions, encourages, and facilitates change

Bronze, Silver, or Gold?

Medal Awarded:  GOLD

Teamsmith:• Three members of the team ran questions by the course

instructors in order to most accurately meet the project objectives.  

• One team member communicated with another virtual group about a deliverable they were producing and entertained the possibility of aligning our groups’ deliverables since they are aimed at the same target audience.  

• One team member tapped into a resource who was able to assist with a technology issue.

• These contacts were not necessarily maintained throughout the life of the project.

Brokeracquires resources and maintains a network of external contacts

Bronze, Silver, or Gold?

Medal Awarded: SILVER

Teamsmith:• All four group members took responsibility for

completing one part of the group task.• Team members were eager to move the project

forward by taking on tasks.  • They worked on their tasks independently  for a time

(concentrated producing), and then coordinated with each other in pairs in order to merge their parts together seamlessly.

Producer seeks task completion and motivates others to do the same

Bronze, Silver, or Gold?

Medal Awarded: GOLD

Teamsmith

• All members of the team engaged in goal setting and clarification - asking questions, making suggestions, and checking for understanding.

• One group member took inventory of project tasks and noted one outstanding assignment.  A teammate agreed to cover that piece of the project.

• The team did not discuss specific roles as separate from tasks.  

• Once the team did resume its work, members produced in an efficient manner.

Director engages in goal setting and role clarification

Bronze, Silver, or Gold?

Medal Awarded: BRONZE

Teamsmith

• One group member initially put forth a proposed agenda that launched the work of the team.

• Two group members set up a timeline and then a calendar to ensure that group members were clear on task completion expectations. 

• All team members posted documents on a Google docs site, so that all teammates could add to, edit, and coordinate documents.  This eliminated the need for additional video chats.

Coordinator maintains structure through scheduling, coordinating, and problem solving

Bronze, Silver, or Gold?

Medal Awarded: GOLD

Teamsmith• Each team member was diligent in checking email

regularly and responding to teammates.• All teammates viewed, commented on, and/or

contributed to the various documents throughout the project.  

• Members moved the group forward by coordinating activities.

• Members identified missing pieces of deliverables and took steps to ensure they were covered.

• Deadlines were monitored and met.

Monitor collects and distributes information to provide a sense of continuity

Bronze, Silver, or Gold?

Medal Awarded: GOLD

• The team has been very mindful of seeking consensus and making sure each team member is comfortable with decisions and actions steps.  On several occasions, members have asked one another by name if they are okay with a particular direction.

• Team members have made requests of each other and asked each other’s opinion on questions of coordinating final pieces of the deliverables.

Facilitator encourages the expression of opinions, seeks consensus, and negotiates compromise

Bronze, Silver, or Gold?

Medal Awarded: GOLD

Teamsmith:• One team member supported another team member

two times by providing a phone connection during virtual conference sessions when audio problems interfered with communication

• A team member reminded the rest of the team about one member’s travel schedule that would necessitate strict adherence to deadlines and would result in an inability to communicate.

• One team member facilitated a video conference session fraught with technical challenges by patiently walking team members through various problem solving steps, resulting in all four members eventually being able to participate fully.

Mentor listens actively, supports legitimate requests, and attempts to facilitate development

Bronze, Silver, or Gold?

Medal Awarded: GOLD

Teamsmith:

• At various points, each team member contributed to the overall team experience, albeit in a piecemeal fashion.

• Ideally, all team members should take responsibility for assuming this role.

Chief Experience Officer (CXO)oversees and improves the overall experience of team members and outside constituents

Bronze, Silver, or Gold?

Medal Awarded: SILVER

Medal Awarded: GOLD

All-around results for Teamsmith: Bronze, Silver, or Gold?

Teamsmith has been awarded a GOLD medal for the all-around competition, due to its effectiveness as a high performance team.  

Analysis of Our Team’s Effectiveness

Effectiveness measured by SWOT Analysis and TeamSpeak’s characteristics

of high performing teams

A team SWOT check!StrengthsWhat is working well?

WeaknessesWhat needs improvement or modification?

Our diversity as a team.  Our pre-existing trust and sincere affinity for each  Our culture of participatory decision-making and collaborative leadership.  Our appreciative and affirming spirit, individually and as a group.  Our shared commitment to project completion and success.

Our incompatible schedules.  Our geographical distance.  Our high sense of trust has caused assumptions that have caused lags in communication and periods of unproductivity.  Our initial slow start in communication.

OpportunitiesWhat opportunities are around us?

ThreatsWhat obstacles do we face?

Our project serves as a hands on learning laboratory for virtual team performance.  Our varied contexts.  Our lessons are extremely applicable.  Our opportunity to learn and master

virtual communication mediums.

Our connectivity challenges.  Our virtual communication systems were interrupted and deleted.  Our novice experience in cultivating a high performance VTs.  Our limited timeframe.

Interdependence is high: Shared goals and joint action are

trademarks of teams that demonstrate a healthy interdependence.

Teamsmith initially had to bring definition to the goals it was given to accomplish. Slowly, brainstorming began and role ownership took place; ideas emerged and the group was able to formulate more specific plans of action. At that point, each team member had a specific task to work on, but the tasks were all toward the same end: the two team deliverables. In this way, all four members were engaged in joint action. They worked on their part, ran it by the others, invited input, offered feedback, and refined the finished products. One specific example of interdependence was when one team member could not do her part until a teammate provided the background for it. This interdependence made each person accountable to the others, and it built trust on the team, as each person depended on others to provide what was needed in a timely manner. Levi (2011) writes: “Developing trust among team members is the foundation for both task and social communication in virtual teams” (p. 270).

Appreciation is high: The very best teams have a two-to-one

ratio of positive talk to negative talk.

Teamsmith members expressed appreciation, or perhaps commendations, to one another at various points in the process, either directly or by way of complimenting a teammate’s work in an email to the full team. Negative talk among Teamsmith members was non-existent, so the team exceeded TeamSpeak’s recommended two-to-one ratio of positive talk to negative talk.

Authenticity is high: When support, openness, awareness of self

and others, and risk taking are present, a high level of authenticity exists.

Teamsmith had a great experience with risk taking. One team member was out of the country, which already put constraints on how accessible the project would be for him on certain days. But then his city got flooded, making internet access close to impossible. He did manage to email the team to explain his situation. Team members prayed and assured him that the project would get completed one way or another. Fortunately, the water subsided, and team member was able to finish his portion of the deliverable; but the team was ready to jump in if necessary! Support and openness characterized the team, particularly during that period.

Social distance is close: The very best teams have team

members that feel very close to each other socially.

As stated previously, the four members of Teamsmith entered this assignment as fellow members of a close cohort. Trust and enjoyment of one another were already in place when the team started its work. That being said, the four members had never before worked together as a team, let alone as a virtual team, so we did still have some growing to do in terms of learning how each member typically operates in a team context and the expertise that each would bring to the project. In the end, each member made significant contributions to the overall work, and we were impressed with the skills that teammates demonstrated! If this team were to take on another virtual team task, start-up time would likely be quicker since the social distance has decreased over the course of this project and the team has been reminded of the importance of consistent communication.

Power differential is low: Members contribute whatever they can to the team’s success while deemphasizing

their higher-power.

The four team members of Teamsmith entered the project at the same power level; there was no sense of hierarchy within the team. On the one hand, that is great, because each member can feel free to contribute without being inhibited by or limited by power structures. In fact, Levi (2011) states, “Decision making is improved in virtual teams by more equal-status communication” (p. 272). On the other hand, there was not a clear “leader” who was viewed as the initiator. The role of CXO that we propose adding to the Leaderplex model would eliminate any hesitancy or confusion that results from not having a designated leader. The leader would not have to possess more power, but rather serve as a facilitator and a person committed to keeping tabs on the big-picture experience.

 Levi, D. (2011). Group dynamics for teams. Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications, Inc.

Inquiry & advocacy are balanced: Team communication should be comprised of near-equal

amounts of honest inquiry and personal advocacy.

Teamsmith members engaged in both inquiry and advocacy, with members showing particular expertise in asking questions to gain clarification or to stimulate thinking in another direction. Virtual team communication, however, leaves listeners with only words and tone of voice (unless the video provides a clear visual) to convey the meaning of the message. Without body language and facial expressions to read, virtual team members may not fully comprehend the message being communicated by the speaker. That being said, members of Teamsmith listened to each other well. They took turns speaking and asking questions. Team members spoke their mind, but in a respectful way. Some pushed an idea or thought strongly at times, and occasionally, a team member gave pushback to something shared, but as with any team setting, members had to be self-aware and exercise discipline in when to speak, when to push an idea, when to back off of a proposal, and when to put aside an individual perspective for the sake of team effectiveness.

• sharing a strong common goal • working interdependently to accomplish a goal  • sharing a strong sense of community • building trust and respect and engaging in open dialogue

and communication • maintaining a high level of trust • engaging in both task- and relationship-oriented behaviors• engaging in open dialogue and communication• subscribing to distributed leadership• emphasizing shared monitoring and concentrated producing

Criteria for this designation include the actions above and the following broad behavioral categories that are true of both virtual and face-to-face teams.