virtual & local teams: communication success and failure

Virtual vs. Local Teams: Communication Success

and Failure

Kathy MooreSTC SummitMay 22, 2012

©2012 K. Moore

Crashing into VirtualityCrashing into Virtuality

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Preview Preview

● Employers assign web-savvy workers to virtual teams with no qualms– Smooth communication is assumed– Multiple factors at play on virtual teams

● Online ubiquity does not guarantee communication success on virtual teams

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AgendaAgenda

1. Meet Kathy

2. Virtual team characteristics

3. Challenges and strategies

4. Communication is key

5. Social! media

6. Who is joining our teams?

7. Summary and bibliography

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Virtual and local teamsVirtual and local teams

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● (Local) Team: Group working together at one site with a common objective

● Virtual team: Group of geographically, organizationally and time dispersed workers brought together by information technologies to accomplish one or more objectives of the organization*

– Many flavors; telecommuter; on-site + consultant; multiple local offices; open source projects; nonprofits; worldwide team. (Some in 1 time zone.)

* DeSanctis and Poole, 1997

Virtual team characteristicsVirtual team characteristics

● Virtual team defined by:1. Purpose

2. Members

3. Connections

● Advantages– Productivity; customer access; flexibility, cheap

● Disadvantages– Mistrust; communication break downs; conflicts;

power struggles; and management issues

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Virtual team vs. Local teamVirtual team vs. Local team

Virtual Team1. Geographic dispersion

2. Time shifted

3. 24-hour cycle

4. Increases diversity

5. Tech-dependent

6. Minimal face time

7. Flexible

8. Malleable definition

Local TeamOne site (approx.)

One time zone/office

Time constraints

Accustomed diversity

Usual platforms

Customary interaction

Corporate time ethic

Traditional “team”

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Comments from STC members*Comments from STC members*

Supportive● Work from home,

overcome disabilities● 24-hour turnaround

possible● Minimizes distractions,

increases productivity● Better than silos● F2F important● Communicate!

Drawback● Inundated with emails● Trouble understanding

accents● Very time consuming● Infrastructure issues ● Virtual team was

marginalized● Success depends on

leader● Upsets time routines

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* Email responses from SIG members and TECHWR-L archives.

AgendaAgenda

1. Meet Kathy




5. Social! media



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Geographic dispersion consequencesGeographic dispersion consequences

1. Barriers to team bonding

2. Time zones = time conflicts

3. Source of cultural diversity (challenges)

4. Difficulties in status monitoring, management

5. Overdependence on technology

6. Imbalance between members

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Challenges and strategiesChallenges and strategies

● Barriers to team bonding and trust: – Face to face meetings– Ongoing team activities

● Time spread:– #1 issue for virtual team managers!– Site awareness– Rotate discomfort– Personal policy

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Culture: Iceberg modelCulture: Iceberg model

ABOVE Surface: 20% Obvious like clothes, language, dress, art, etc.

AT Surface: 5% Subtle but discernible: Personal space, hierarchies, table manners, etc.

BELOW Surface: 75% Obscured, subconscious, like beliefs, prejudices, time ordering, body language, kinship, etc.

• External culture (the tip) is easier to understand and change.

• Internal culture (underwater) is based on underlying beliefs and thought patterns and is more difficult to change.

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Example: Cultural challengesExample: Cultural challenges

● Manager gives mildly worded instructions, such as “Why don’t you…”

● Team members elsewhere hear a mild suggestion, not an order– Chaos on team if orders are not received– Resentment between manager and member

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Overcoming: Cultural diversity challengesOvercoming: Cultural diversity challenges

Culture is #2 challenge for vTeam leaders. Nationality, regional, generational, religious, socioeconomic, corporate● Keep your mind open. Think before

(e-)speaking● Learn about team members● Be aware of your own cultural conditioning● Study cultural effects● Consider personality profiles (MBTI, etc.)

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Culture defines members’ responsesCulture defines members’ responses

● Individualist: Personal initiative, success, advancement, independence, are valued.

● Collectivist: Group harmony, agreement, cooperation, are valued; disagreement is avoided.

● Gender Perception: Fluid or rigid roles● Uncertainty factor: Accepting or avoiding

– From Dutch anthropologist Geert Hofstede*

15* Geert-hofstede.com

Collectivism in world culturesCollectivism in world cultures

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Collectivism in world cultures. Yellow is low in collectivism, red is high. From Chiao and Blizinsky 2009.

Virtual team = Intensified teamVirtual team = Intensified team

V-teams (typically) require MORE● Management● Team building● Project infrastructure● Communication● Cooperation● Infrastructure / Technology● Attention● Time

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AgendaAgenda

1. Meet Kathy




5. Social! media



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Communication treats illsCommunication treats ills

● Communication is medicine for:– Isolation– Cultural differences– Team status and administration– Shortage of esprit de corps

● Improves: – Quality of team’s work – Day-to-day experience of members

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Nonverbal: Endangering virtual teamsNonverbal: Endangering virtual teams

● 70% of face to face communication is nonverbal: Virtual teams at risk

● Overcommunicate– Enunciate clearly, speak with energy– Walk, gesture, aim voice at target or photo– Be theatrical

● As the camera that adds 10 pounds, so the electron muffles the message

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Define team communication protocols Define team communication protocols

● #1 complaint from virtual teams relates to communication flaws

● Clearly define team communication protocols, early

● Explicit discussion of email turnaround, cc policy, out-of-office messages, etc.

● Team-building:– Include communication exercises

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Virtual teams have extra issuesVirtual teams have extra issues

● On local teams, 70% avoiding a crucial conversation

● Of 14 all-team issues, 13 much more frequent with virtual teams

● Handled by:1. Avoidance, screening calls, ignoring calls and

emails, leaving other out of the loop

2. Undermining by gossip, criticism, complaints

● Remote problems significantly more difficult to solve and last longer

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Long-Distance Loathing: The Hidden Dangers of Virtual Teams, March 2009

Poor communication: NASAPoor communication: NASA

● Loss of NASA Mars Climate Orbiter in 1999● Two teams worked jointly on the orbiter● Failed to realize: One used

metric units, one used Imperial (English) units

● The routine project communication and oversight did not uncover their assumptions

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AgendaAgenda

1. Meet Kathy




5. Social! media



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New face of communicationNew face of communication

● iPads and tablets● Cell phones, androids, iPhones● Facetime, WebEx, GoToMeeting, wikis,

blogs, forums, agile, crowd sourcing……These accumulate to a new nexus of work interactions, empowering virtual teams

● Connections now “always on”● Workers always “on demand”

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Control the medium, control the messageControl the medium, control the message

Hierarchy of other’s proximity and resignation of control in electronic media:

1 Text: Terse, ~synchronous in use, revisable1 Chat: Wordier, emotions, revisable, ~synchronous2 Email: Asynchronous but verbose; revisable3 Cell call: Voice is human interface; often multi-

tasked and interrupted4 Landline call: Tied down, reduces multi-tasking

and interruptions5 Video call: Most vulnerable. Cannot multi-task,

emotions revealed

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Work, especially virtual, is influencedWork, especially virtual, is influenced

● Texting, IM-ing, emailing, calling, chatting, … preferences are molded in private life

● Impress upon work behavior too, especially as virtual team lacks in-person reinforcement

● The chatter chats, the IM-er IM’s, the emailer mails– Clashes when “talking” to each other

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Flood of e’s on virtual teamsFlood of e’s on virtual teams

● Communication is oxygen to virtual teams● But flood of electrons is overwhelming● Email fatigue degrades quality of questions

and responses– Writing to medium, not to the issue

● Movement online to make email more considerate and efficient– Email Charter: emailcharter.org

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Meet my avatarMeet my avatar

● Worker controls virtual persona● Worker may control virtual personas● Missing:

– Body language– Serendipity of real life– Negotiation and surrender of control– Synchronicity– Full attention

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Virtual teams are theatricalVirtual teams are theatrical

● Virtual teams = writing, editing, revising:

Performance● Harder to “know” the team members: as

people, as competencies, as potential, as other than what they choose to present

● Easier to hide sub-optimum work

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Electronic media impinge on virtual workElectronic media impinge on virtual work

“‘It was almost surprising that no one seemed to notice [how much time I spent reading the site]. But you could say in a sense it was cutting down my productivity, because I could have been experimenting with stuff and improving them a bit more. But everything was working fine.’ As Joseph began to think of Slashdot as an addiction, he began to think about his unrealized potential. He was functioning ‘fine’ at his real job, but falling down on his idealized one.”

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Chan, A.S. The Inner History of Devices 2008.

Disconnecting?Disconnecting?

● Some hyperconnected people crave “down time” and sign off Facebook or chat– Some try―yet fall back to their “old” ways

● Pulled away from real-life accomplishments● Some find it easier to be unkind, rude, or

unethical to online connections, even knowing this phenomenon is occurring

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Type a mile in whose thumbs?Type a mile in whose thumbs?

● Study: Less empathy in college students today vs. 1980s/1990s

● Therapists report more patients divorced from bodies and unaware of basic courtesies; “unaware of people around them except to passively see them as tools.”

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Electronic media steal our controlElectronic media steal our control

“I went away to a cabin. And I left my cell phone in the car. In the trunk. My idea was that maybe I would check it once a day. I kept walking out of the house to open the trunk and check the phone. I felt like an addict, like the people at work who huddle around the outdoor smoking places they keep on campus, the outdoor ashtray places. I kept going to that trunk.”

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Turkle, S., Alone Together 2011.

AgendaAgenda

1. Meet Kathy




5. Social! media



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Introverted wonksIntroverted wonks

● Classic head-down introvert embraces the isolation of virtual team

● Quiet, overlooked in meetings● Prefers working, own stuff to team

activities, socializing. ● Hides or is a lost voice in teleconferences

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Introversion, autism-spectrum increasingIntroversion, autism-spectrum increasing

● Temple Grandin of An Anthropologist on Mars: “NASA is largest sheltered workshop in the world”

● In California, 7 new cases of autism per day● High-tech areas reproducing geeks, nerds,

dorks, introverts● Geekier geeks enter the workforce ● We adapt to these traits on teams

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Welcoming the introvertsWelcoming the introverts

● Get good voice technology for low talkers● Pause, query, rotate, roll call● Discover introverts’ personal goals,

hobbies: Weave into team doings● Ping for their progress● Actively, repeatedly seek their opinions● …Or, leave them in their solitude and check

in as needed

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Welcoming Gen Y tsunamiWelcoming Gen Y tsunami

● Gen Y workers (1980s - 90s) are flooding into our teams

● Approximately 80 million Millennials– 44 - 50 million Gen Xers (1965 - 1980)– 76 million Baby Boomers (1946 - 1964)

● Teams likely to expand with Gen Y’s

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Gen Y traitsGen Y traits

● Confident but seeking feedback● Self-absorbed but philanthropic● Job-hopping entrepreneurs● Collaborative crowd-sourcers● Friendly to diversity and inclusion● Techno-savvy data mining info-seekers● Comfortable getting authority figures’ tips

These are good traits for virtual teams

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AgendaAgenda

1. Meet Kathy




5. Social! media



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DiscussionDiscussion

● Survey– How did you react?– Results

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FutureFuture

● Virtual tools are trending into the local office

● Building our skills as virtual teammates will make us more effective, efficient, humane team members

● We can be the “just right” connected colleague, prepared both to contribute and to assist others

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SummarySummary

● Virtual teams are intensified teams● Communication is key● New media are everywhere, everywhen● Media can distance us from our teams ● Help your teammates by recognizing and

adapting to their quirks ● Know your own quirks; be adaptable● Social changes may affect team make-up

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BibliographyBibliography

Arnison, L. and P. Miller (2002). "Virtual teams: a virtue for the conventional team." Journal of Workplace Learning 14(4): 166-173.

Brewer, P. E. (2010). Communication and Miscommunication in Virtual Workplaces.

Brown, M. K. (2004). Building an Effective Multi-Site, Multicultural Team. Management SIG News, Society for Technical Communication. 8: 3-4.

Brown, M. K., B. Huettner, et al. (2007). Managing virtual teams: getting the most from wikis, blogs, and other collaborative tools. Sudbury, MA, Jones and Bartlett: 6327.

Economist Intelligence Unit (2009). Managing virtual teams: Taking a more strategic approach.

Email Charter. (2011). "Email Charter." Retrieved February 12, 2012, from emailcharter.net.

Fisher, K. and M. Fisher (2011). Manager's Guide to Virtual Teams. Briefcase Books. New York, McGraw-Hill: 4412.

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BibliographyBibliography

Pongolini, M., J. Lundin, et al. (2011). "Global Online Meetings in Virtual Teams - from Media Choice to Interaction Negotiation." C&T'11(29 June - 2 July 2011): 108-117.

Skill Soft. (2008, Dec. 13, 2011). "Leading Teams: Managing Virtual Teams" from http://learning.acm.org/courses/course_detail.cfm?course_id=125722.

TECHWR-L archives. (2002). "Virtual Teams thread." Retrieved Feb. 17, 2012, from http://www.techwr-l.com/archives/0201/techwhirl-0201-01172.html.

Turkle, S., Ed. (2008). Inner History of Devices. Cambridge MA, MIT Press.

Turkle, S. (2011). Alone Together: Why We Expect More From Technology and Less From Each Other. New York, Basic Books: 7517.

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Thank You

virtual & local teams: communication success and failure

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