Large companies, especially multinational corporations, often establish online working groups – groups consisting of members who are geographically distant from each other – to carry out a project according to the company's allocation.
PART ONE: OPENING THE LESSON
Time and space are modes by which we think and not a condition in which we live.
Time and space are methods that depend on the way we think, not the conditions in which we live
Albert Einstein
In this way, they can get the best employees for the project. However, making a virtual team work effectively is not an easy task.
Continuously improving communication technology makes communication easier than ever. Technically, coordinating with remote colleagues or holding meetings with people scattered around the world is no longer a challenge.
However, in reality there are still many barriers that prevent the activities of these groups from being as effective as companies expect. Different time zones make it difficult to quickly exchange necessary information, and cultural differences can cause misunderstandings, sometimes serious, between team members. It has been found that in groups whose members do not meet each other face to face, it is difficult to develop the kind of chemistry that is common in groups whose members have frequent direct contact with each other. This catalyst is the human relationship, which is an important factor in creating team productivity.
A recent survey at several multinational companies about virtual work groups ranging in size from four people to nearly 200 people showed that many groups encountered difficulties from the above barriers. Meanwhile, companies increasingly want to reduce costs for face-to-face meetings, and employees do not want to travel far to attend meetings regularly because it will affect their health and personal life. Therefore, finding a way to help virtual teams work better is one of the key issues for companies.
The survey looked closely at high-productivity virtual teams at major companies such as British Petroleum (BP), Nokia and Ogilvy & Mather. In addition, a research team from the London Business School also polled more than 1,500 members of 55 virtual work teams at 15 multinational companies in the US and Europe.
LET'S REFER TO THE 10 GOLDEN PRINCIPLES GIVEN BASED ON SURVEY RESULTS FROM THE RESEARCH GROUP
Principle number 1: Invest in an online solution so team members can quickly learn about each other
Because they are far apart, team members often face one of the biggest challenges: they cannot learn about each other easily, nor can they clearly know each person's work on a project. Online tools can help solve this problem. These tools act like social networking sites that help students learn about other members of their community. The survey shows that such tools are not commonly used in virtual teams even though they are very useful in communication between them.
David Ogilvy, founder of the advertising agency Ogilvy & Mather based in New York, USA, has paid great attention to sharing knowledge within the company. More than a decade ago, he built an intranet called Truffles, named after an expensive mushroom. As a gourmet, Ogilvy appreciated the taste of this mushroom, and he believed that people must “hunt” for knowledge with all the energy and enthusiasm like a pig plowing through the ground to find this mushroom in the forest.
Truffles gives all employees access to shared projects and the company's knowledge database. It creates a forum for hundreds of communities within the company with different interests, where they can share ideas, thoughts and aspirations. Truffles also has a directory detailing information about all of the company's employees. This directory is updated regularly, and each employee can include their preferred areas of work.
Such systems help group members quickly get to know each other. For example, when a large Ogilvy & Mather client wanted to launch an advertising campaign simultaneously in all of its markets around the world, a virtual team could start working together effectively in just a few days.
Principle number 2: Choose members you know to form a group
Virtual teams are more likely to be creative and productive if some members already know each other. These relationships play a very important role in quickly building communication within the group.
However, there is one thing to keep in mind: if most of the group members already know each other, group activities can become boring. It has been found that the insights of these new groups of colleagues often generate innovative ideas.
Principle number 3: Ensure that at least 15% of the group are “bridge builders”
“Boundary spanners” are people who have connections to many other useful people outside the group because of their personality, skills or work history. They will be the ones who create the connection between group members and outsiders, helping to expand the group's borders.
But if the group has too many “bridgers”, it may lose unity and common goals.
Principle number 4: Develop a team of “bridge builders” in the company's activities
The connecting role of the “bridge person” is very important in drawing separate virtual work groups closer together. Therefore, the company must always develop this team.
At Nokia, for example, new hires are typically introduced to at least ten people inside and outside their department. Nokia also has close relationships with faculties of more than 100 universities to jointly organize scientific conferences, share research initiatives and support the work of graduate students.
Principle number 5: Divide the group's work into small parts so that the progress of one part does not depend too much on the progress of another part.
Coordinating the work of members in different time zones is a difficult problem. Many of the workgroups we studied encountered a lot of frustration when one department had to wait for another department to complete their work.
Whenever possible, we must distribute work to team members in different geographical areas so that they can develop their work and connect the results with the work of others as quickly as possible.
Principle number 6: Create a website where members can collaborate, exchange ideas, and encourage each other
Strong virtual teams often share a common online workspace that all members can access at any time. This ensures that members who sometimes have to work relatively independently can still closely follow the work process and understand the ideas of other members.
In Ogilvy's Truffles system there are project-specific areas in which teams can share their plans, revise a piece of common work, and exchange ideas informally. This ensures that at any time, everyone can quickly see where their work is going, and how it fits with the work of others.
Principle number 7: Encourage regular communication. However, don't force everyone to meet face to face
Members of successful virtual teams are in frequent contact with each other. Interestingly, the method of communication was not considered an important factor. For example, at Nokia, many people's preferred communication tool is text messages, while at other companies many people prefer to use email or voicemail. It is important that communication is quick and frequent.
During the project implementation process, groups also choose a few suitable times for everyone to meet each other. We discovered that the timing of such events can have a big impact on a group's success.
For example, when a new team is formed, creating an attractive working atmosphere with a clear goal is more useful than trying to organize a meeting. But when the group is well developed, an informal meeting can play an important role in building each member's trust and goodwill.
Principle number 8: Only assign tasks that are interesting and challenging
Because the work of virtual teams often receives little supervision, they must be challenging and engaging to keep members focused.
The survey shows that one of the main reasons why virtual teams fail is that members do not feel interested in their work. Since then, they participate less and less in conversations or post ideas on forums. It's not that the members don't like each other. Simply because the working environment is boring and lacks dynamism.
Principle number 9: Make sure the task is meaningful to the team and the company
The team's mission must be consistent with the values of each member, both personally and professionally. At the same time, it must also make sense for the company.
We've found that teams get really fired up when they're so excited by a question or a task that's so interesting and engaging that everyone in the company is engaged. For example, BP's former chief executive John Browne more than a decade ago asked everyone at the company how BP could become a company with staying power. Many groups have enthusiastically sought answers. One of them researched how to produce electricity from sustainable resources such as solar and wind power. It was the energy and intense focus of this group that led BP to research a sustainable energy source very early on.
The importance of meaningful work and exciting perspectives was best demonstrated in two virtual work groups: the collaborative creation of the online dictionary Wikipedia, and the creators of the open source Linux operating system. The success of both of these groups is due to the members – who contributed to the project – inspiring each other to create dedication to a meaningful project.
Principle number 10: When building a virtual team, attract as many volunteers as possible
When Wikipedia and Linux appeared, these two groups grew rapidly as many people with good skills volunteered to join.
Nokia also sees a link between success and the openness of a virtual team to volunteers. Many of the firm's teams are made up of volunteers to tackle future strategic challenges.
Summary:
Instead of having to work during office hours and go to the company, employees and businesses can work more flexibly. Reduce transportation costs incurred when going to work. Reduce travel time… Work online provides the ability to work proactively according to each person's schedule and time frame. However, this is also a working method that takes time to adapt and apply depending on the work group. Hopefully this article will help you gain experience and knowledge to deploy online work for your company and organization.
Author
BIÊN TẬP VIÊN FHC
