Everyday organizations face complex problems and mounting tensions. For the virtual team, those tensions often amplify on account of the lack of face-to-face interaction. “Why is collaboration so difficult? In virtual settings, the answer seems to be a function of the boundaries that need to be spanned in order for effective sharing, idea generation, and use of knowledge to take place.” That is, take all the challenges that every team facings, and then add to it the challenges of geographic and time separation.
Below are some of the unique challenges that virtual teams must overcome on their way to high performance. Virtual teams must overcome…
- The challenge of team-building - developing trusting relationships among team members is difficult when the team members are separated.
- The challenge of constant change and the resulting fear - technology changes rapidly and even those who like technology can put off by the constant change.
- The challenge of “always on” - people become so connected by technology that they forget how to take a day off and relax.
- The challenge of relational disconnectedness - virtual working relationships cannot replace face-to-face relationships for the deep social needs of people.
- The challenge of enslavement - technology is designed to empower, but when it enslaves and becomes the focus rather than the people, it has failed as a tool.
- The challenge of incompatible systems - different operating systems and different file types often inhibits the sharing of information.
- The challenge of system downtime - network outages, viruses, computer crashes and more can bring team progress to a screeching halt.
- The challenge of technology for its own sake - when technology hinders rather than supports team operations, it should be replaced.
- The challenge of misunderstanding - it is so easy for an email message or blog post to be misunderstood or misinterpreted.
