| Team Building In A Virtual Team Environment |
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With the advancement of telecommunication technology and the increase in demand to control operating costs, many businesses have taken up the virtual route. Today, the concept of people working in virtual teams has really caught on.
In such conditions many people tend to dispose off the traditional team building and member appreciation aspects. The fact is that it is a very bad idea. If people are working in virtual teams, the operational modalities may tend to differ but the basics still remain the same. As the internet connectivity has improved, the principle of online working and virtual teams has become a norm for many sectors. With easy availability of online collaboration tools including free tools and paid tools, team members can work from different geographical locations. This has also allowed international collaboration where offshore operations work with on-site teams as if they are sitting in the next room. At the same time, the difference in locations means that traditional team building tactics do not work either. Researcher Darleen DeRosa conducted a study about this fact way back in 2005 when virtual team concept was still a new one. The study was conducted over 213 individuals who came from 21 different virtual teams from various organizations. The research report revealed that as many as 65% of people were totally devoid of any team building effort or its outcome. In another study conducted by the highly reputed market research agency Gartner, it was found that by the end of year 2010, corporates would have aligned themselves such that more than 41 million people would be working in a virtual team environment. Without proper team building measures, such diversified projects would only end in problems as teams would be completely dysfunctional. The answer here is very simple, the tool that is being used by the team to collaborate can also be used as the platform for team building exercises. Team building exercises can easily be conducted in a controlled environment and those days are long past when a team building exercise meant that everyone and their family went to baseball or paint-balling! The primary aspect of team building exercise is to get to know other members of the team. As members get a chance to bond with each other, the team becomes more tightly knit. As team members get to know the capabilities, strengths, weaknesses and aspirations of each other, they can find out things which are common among them. Thus, they can work together and help each other achieve their goals. Team building in a virtual environment is as necessary as it is in a physical environment. Verily, the means may differ but the end remains the same and equally necessary. Related Articles
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