I used this presentation during the module Management of virtual teams. Aim was to summarize our knowledge about teams, to stress the importance of communication, to list some online/offline solutions for the management of virtual teams and to introduce the virtual team handbook.

1. Management
of virtual
teams
Andrea Lelovics
FH Burgenland, 6.9.2013

2. Program
 Introduction
 Teams – summary
 Virtual teams
 “Work smart not hard”
 Home assignment – Case

3. Teams
What did we learn in June?

4. Exercise I
 Teams: definition, difference between groups and teams, factors
influencing team performance
 Team roles
 Team development stages

5. Teams – Definition
A team is “a small number of people with
complementary skills who are committed to a
common purpose, set of performance goals,
and approach for which they hold themselves
mutually accountable.” (Katzenbach & Smith)

6. Teams are more than groups
 Shared leadership roles
 Individual and mutual accountability
 Specific team purpose that the team itself
delivers
 Collective work products
 Encourages open-ended discussion and active
problem-solving meetings
 Measures performance directly by assessing
collective work products
 Discusses, decides, and does real work
together

7. Teams – Factors of success
 Team
 Task
 Environment
 Leadership
 Motivation
 Efficiency
 Satisfaction

8. Teams – Team roles
 Plant – creative, problem solver in unconventional ways
 Monitor Evaluator – logical eye, impartial judgements
 Co-ordinator – focus on team objectives, work delegation
 Resource Investigator – contact to the “outside world”
 Implementer – plan and implement workable strategy
 Completer Finisher – scrutinise the work for errors
 Teamworker – “gel” to the team
 Shaper – driver to keep team moving
 Specialist – in-depth knowledge of a key area

9. Team development stages I
Forming Storming Norming Performing Adjourning
Tuckman’s Model

10. Team development stages II
Hersey and Blanchard’s Situational Leadership ® model
3.
participating
2.
selling
4.
delegating
1.
telling

11. Team development stages III
Use of authority
by the manager
Area of freedom
for subordinates
Tannenbaum and Schmidt Continuum

12. Virtual teams
Social and complex systems

13. “I work with Tom Koch.”
 20 years ago?
 Today?

14. Virtual teams – Definition
A virtual team works across organizational
boundaries, space and time. Its members are
linked together through information and
telecommunication technology.

15. Virtual teams
 Physical, face-to-face meetings
 Virtual meetings
 Combination
 Virtual teams in EU projects

16. Virtual teams – Challenges
 Time zones
 Cultural differences
 Engagement
 Team dynamics
 Not knowing each other
 Performance measurement
 Know-how transfer
 … Communication

17. Exercise II
 Communication

18. Verbal vs. nonverbal communication
What you can find on the Internet
…
Albert Mehrabian’s communication research
Source: ivanteh-runningman.blogspot.com
Source: www.glogster.com

19. Communication
 Oral, written, printed, analog electronic,
digital electronic
 One-way, two-way
 1:M, 1:F, 1:1, F:F, M:M

20. Social systems
 Minimum two members interacting
 Boundaries: inside – outside
 Identity
 Purpose

21. Complex systems
 Simple systems
 Complicated systems
 Complex systems

22. Exercise III
 Virtual team development stages
 Challenges faced by cross-cultural virtual teams during stages of team
development

23. Virtual meetings
and technology

24. Phases of virtual meeting
 Planning
 Start of the meeting
 The meeting
 Follow-up

25. Planning of virtual meeting
 Objective(s)
 Schedule
 Attendees
 Medium / technology / IT staff
 Documents
 Security

26. Start of virtual meeting
 Signalize “in meeting” for people in your
office
 F2F meeting first
 Introduction of participants
 Rules
 Record keeping and regular summing up

27. The meeting
 Everyone should be active
 Easy identification of participants
 React to each comment, idea, etc.

28. Follow-up
 Minutes
 Tasks
 Reminders
 Information about progress

29. Technology
 How does it help
 Communication tool
 When does it not help
 Decision making
 Personal ownership
 Context sharing
 Trust building …
 Solution?
 Team culture
 Leadership

30. Communication tools for
virtual teams
 Email
 IM (AOL, Google Hangouts, Skype, …)
 Discussion boards (online PM software, project
websites, Facebook Groups, Basecamp, …)
 Voice and video chat (Google Hangouts,
Skype, ..)
 Screen sharing (Skype, GoToMeeting, Webex,
MeetMeNow…)
 File sharing (Google Drive, DropBox, …)
 Task tracking (online PM software, Trello,
Google Calendar, Basecamp, Central Desktop,
TeamWorkLive, …)

31. Exercise IV
 Technology used by virtual teams
 Tool
 +
 –
 When would you use it?

32. “Work smart not hard”
Based on Chapter 8 Working Smart of Lipnack, J. &
Stamps, J.: Virtual Teams. Reaching Across Space,
Time, and Organizations with Technology. John Wiley &
Sons, Inc. 1997

33. TEPA – Training of European
Partnership Animators
Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland,
Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden

34. The Basics
Phase I
 Virtual team identity
 Virtual team goals
 Key people
 Connections
 Team type

35. Virtual team identity
Team concepts: People, Purpose, Links
 Virtual team name
 Statement of purpose
 Overall results
 Delivery dates
 Location

36. TEPA Virtual team identity
 Virtual team name: TEPA – Training of
European Partnership Animators
 Statement of purpose: Urgent need for local
animators of development working across
sectors and with EU funds.
 Overall results: Develop curriculum for trainers
of local animators.
 Delivery dates: 10/2006 – 01/2009
 Location: SK, CZ, HU (2), PL(3), SLO, SWE

37. Virtual team goals
 Handful or two key goals that cover the
purpose and overall result
 Plan goal-oriented sub-teams

38. TEPA Key goals
 Develop and publish a manual and didactic
material in EN, CZ, HU, PL, SK, and SLO
 Publish DVD with video case studies from
countries: CZ, HU, PL, SK, and SLO with
subtitles in national languages
 Foster networking of experts in the region

39. TEPA Goal-oriented sub-teams
 S1: Sub-team for text development with
international teams of experts on topics:
 S1-1: From local participation to cross-sector
partnership
 S1-2: Rural resource management
 S1-3: Strategic planning
 S2: Sub-team for DVD production (PL)
 International sub-teams for pilot training
implementation:
 S3: HU & SLO
 S4: CZ, PL & SK
 S5: Slovak sub-team for international conference
organisation

40. Key people
 List of key people
 Team size and bands of involvement

41. TEPA List of key people
Name Organisation Location
JT VIPA Banská Bystrica, SK
MB VIPA Banská Bystrica, SK
AL VIPA Šamorín, SK
GS SRDN Piran, SLO
LB CELODIN Budapest, HU
HC CpKP Ostrava, CZ
…

42. TEPA Bands of involvement
& team size
“Inner circle”= Core
team
Extended team
External Partners
9
17
70

43. TEPA List of key people
Name Organisation Location Subgroup
Band of
Involvement
JT VIPA Banská Bystrica,
SK
S1(L), S1-3, S5 Core team
MB VIPA Banská Bystrica,
SK
External partner
AL VIPA Šamorín, SK S5(L) Core team
GS SRDN Piran, SLO S1-2, S3 Core team
LB CELODIN Budapest, HU S1-1(L), S3 Core team
HC CpKP Ostrava, CZ S1-1, S4 Extended team
…

44. Connections
 Contact information

45. TEPA Contact information
Name Medium Address
Andrea Lelovics Snail mail
Email
Mobile
Skype
Kapitulská,
Banská Bystrica, SK
lelovics@...
+421 90…
and…
…

46. Team type
Space & Time Organisation
Same Different
Same Collocated Collocated
cross-organisational
Different Distributed Distributed
cross-organisational
TEPA

47. Planning for
Action
Phase II
 Purpose
 Process elements
 Responsibility and leadership
 Media plan
 Virtual team handbook

48. Purpose flow
Vision
Mission
Goal
Goal
Goal
Goal
Task Task Task
Task
Task
Task
Task
Result
Result
Result

49. Process elements
 Process elements by goal
 Task timing

50. TEPA Process elements
Goal Tasks Results
Develop and publish a
manual and didactic
material in EN, CZ,
HU, PL, SK, and SLO
1. Plan topics
2. Write texts
3. Coordinate chapters
4. Finalise draft for pilot trainings
5. Finalize and edit texts
6. Translate
7. Publish manual as book
8. Publish didactic notes as PDF on
websites of project and partners
Manual and didactic
material containing best
knowledge and
experience from the
region, published in 6
languages
Publish DVD with
video case studies
from countries: CZ,
HU, PL, SK, and SLO
with subtitles in
national languages
9. Plan DVD structure
10. Choose national cases
11. Prepare sripts
12. Record material
13. Cut films
14. Add titles
15. Finalise DVD
DVD with 5 films as case
studies in national
languages and subtitles
in EN, CZ, HU, PL, SK,
and SLO
Foster networking of
experts in the region
16. Pilot trainings
17. International conference
International network of
experts and local
partnership animators

51. TEPA Task timing
Task Start Finish
1. Plan topics 11/2006 03/2006
…

52. Responsibility and leadership
 Responsibility and leadership matrix

53. TEPA Responsibility &
leadership matrix
JT LB HC …*
1. Plan topics L R
2. Write texts L (1-1) R
3. Coordinate chapters L R
…
*Core team + Extended team

54. Media plan
 Members/media matrix
 Media plan

55. TEPA Media plan
Media Type Interaction Frequency Location Record
Kick-off
meeting
oral 2-way, F:F 1, 11/2006 Banska
Bystrica,
SK
Meeting
minutes
Email digital
electronic
2-way, 1:1 whenever
needed
Internet Email
saved
Skype oral 2-way, 1:1
and F:F
monthly Internet Chat log,
summary of
results
…

56. TEPA Members / media matrix
AL UBS …
Kick-off meeting ✔ ✔
Skype ✔ x
…

57. Virtual team handbook
 Purpose and plan
 Team directory (incl. media information)
 Calendar and communications (deadlines,
milestones, events, holidays, other
significant dates)

58. Recommendations for virtual
teams of EU projects
 Focus on people & interactions
 Plan face-to-face meetings once a year at least
 Take into account “soft skills” when setting up teams and
sub-teams
 Clarify tasks and processes, not just goals and roles
 Build trust
 Foster commitment
 Agree on common language
 Use technology as a tool, not as a goal
 Foster shared leadership
 Create a virtual “coffee machine”

59. Thank you!
lelovics@dci.sk