Real Teamwork in the Virtual World

From Anita Borg Institute Wiki

Moderator: BJ Wishinsky, Anita Borg Institute

Panelists:

• Lynn M. Koch, Global Delivery Competency Leader, GTS Server and Storage Services
• Eileen Sullivan, Client Services Group Director, Cadence Design Systems
• Leslie K. Lambert, Vice President, Information Technology, Sun Microsystems, Inc.
• Sylvia Lam, Consulting IT Specialist, IBM Corporation

Overview:

Work is increasingly performed by virtual teams whose members may be distributed geographically, culturally and organizationally. Effective virtual teams make up for the challenges of cultural and time zone differences, and for the loss of physical cues and hallway conversations, using a variety of technologies and best practices. This panel drew on the experiences of industry women who successfully lead or participate in virtual teams, and invited participants to share their challenges and solutions.

What are the greatest challenges faced by virtual teams?

• Technical issues:
  • Hard to tell in teleconferences when you're talking over each other
  • Latencies in phone transmission
• Cross-country and cross-border issues:
  • Language barriers
  • Time zone differences
  • Developing effective relationships when you haven't met in person
  • Cultural issues, for example, "Yes" may mean "I hear you" rather than "I agree"
• Building trust without facial expressions
• People may find it hard to get a chance to speak in virtual meetings:
  • Especially when there is a core local group and a few remote people, it can be hard for the remote team members to be heard

What is one thing you do when leading a virtual team that really contributes to team success?

• Try to see the team in person if you can
  • Job shadowing can help in better understanding each other's roles and contributions
• Be very deliberate about expectations and roles
• Build an environment of openness where people share knowledge without fear
  • Generate an attitude of "Share your skill and then go develop a new one!"
• No multi-tasking!
  • No checking email, etc. while you're on the phone
  • It's harder work but it makes a big difference
• Make sure the team has a shared vision and that everyone understands their role in reaching team goals
• Be very organized with materials
  • Use meeting time well because it will always be an inconvenient time for someone

What technology do you find most useful in working with or leading technical teams?

• Teleconferencing:
  • Ability for the moderator to mute everyone else when needed can be very helpful
  • One low-tech solution to making a space to be heard: Hit the phone keypad which will make a beep
    • Everyone should agree to this first!
• Instant Messaging:
  • Examples:
    • SameTime
    • AIM
    • Yahoo IM
  • Benefits:
    • Roughly equivalent to the comments you might quietly make to someone next to you in a meeting
    • Nice if everyone can put in a picture of themselves that pops up when they IM
• Videoconferencing
  • Not that useful because it's not always available to everyone
  • More useful for seeing people than for shared display
• Shared Displays:
  • Examples:
    • NetMeeting - Free with MS Windows
    • LiveMeeting
    • WebEx
  • Benefits:
    • Keeps everyone on the same page
    • People don't have to wonder what you're looking at or whether their contributions have been captured accurately
    • Allows you to create something together online
• Collaboration spaces:
  • Examples:
    • SharePoint Meeting Space
    • Wikis
  • Benefits:
    • Share documents
    • Share photos so you can see who you're meeting with
    • Wikis are also great for collaboratively creating content together asynchronously
• Second Life
  • Starting to be used for meetings and education
  • Useful for seeing who's talking
  • Useful for training
  • Some companies are starting to use; lots of interest
  • Not secure for highly confidential material
    • Same is true for Social Networking Sites

Best Practices for Virtual Meetings

• • Speak slowly
  • Particularly important when participants do not share the same first language
• Learn and use the Global Pause
  • There are often transmission delays in international calls
  • Make space for people to hear and respond
• Share photos so you can see who you're meeting with

Best practices for team members

• Before participating in a virtual team or meeting, clarify your role and any expectations with the team leader
  • This will make you valuable to the leader
  • This is much preferable to making a strategic mistake or potentially broadsiding the leader in the meeting!
• Always contribute something in every virtual meeting:
  • Ask a question
  • Answer a question
  • Express an opinion
  • Agree with someone
    • They'll love you for it!