Coordination of virtual teams in multi-site projects

Virtual teams consist of individuals who work across time, space and organizational boundaries to achieve their goals while utilizing computer mediated communication technologies. Virtual teams offer benefits such as tapping into high quality workforce, flexibility in the team structure, and reduced costs etc. which have contributed to the increase in the number of virtual teams around the world. Due to lack of face-to-face interaction and cultural differences, virtual teams are susceptible to conflicts, misunderstandings and communication breakdowns. The objective of this thesis work is to study the functioning and operations of virtual teams in a multi-site setup and devise a criteria to gauge the performance of such teams. To achieve these objectives a detailed study of existing literature is conducted and a framework focusing on different phases in the lifecycle of virtual teams is developed. The framework takes into account the elements critical to the smooth operation of virtual teams such as team selection, communication tools etc., and the disruptive factors which can negatively impact their functioning e.g. lack of cohesiveness between team members. The proposed framework is then used to study the working of a high-tech organization operating in virtual setup. Online survey and interviews are conducted in the target organization to assess its functioning. Based on the study recommendations are made to the organization management about the steps needed to further enhance its effectiveness. The recommendations mainly focus on reducing the number of tools and processes in the organization and utilizing them more efficiently, improving multi-site collaboration, and enhancing knowledge creation. To improve the multi-site collaboration the organization needs to invest in cultural awareness trainings and promote direct communication between the team members. Knowledge creation is one of the key benefits of virtual teams and can be enhanced by having a harmonized and well defined document creation, sharing, and storing mechanism between distant sites