Beezr PM - TEAM
/ Market Basket Virtual Student Collaboration Model
Project Management in Virtual Teams
Course Material
Please contact me for any open questions and comments!
03.08.2015 – Christian Steinreiber ([email protected])
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Goal and Agenda
Goal
• Overview of the specific characteristics for the management in
geographically distributed project teams
Agenda
• What is a geographically distributed project team?
• Opportunities and challenges of distributed project teams
• Key success factors for the project management in distributed
teams
• Learn more
2
What is a Distributed Team?
• Geographically Distributed or Dispersed Team (GDT) refers to a
group of individuals who work across space, but also often
across time and organizational boundaries.
• The use of Information and Communications Technology (ICT)
constitutes all or a significant portion of the interaction between
the team members. Therefore, GDT are called Virtual Teams.
3
The Bright and Dark Sides of
Distribution of Team Members
Opportunities
•
•
•
•
•
Participation in globalized
markets and corporate
activities
Access to diverse skills,
experience and market
knowledge
“Follow the sun” working
(24h instead of 8h per day)
Using improved
communication technologies
Cost advantages (?)
Challenges
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Different cultures
Different languages
Different time zones
Fewer personal meetings
Difficulties establishing team
spirit and trust
Good teamwork is more
difficult to achieve
Limitations of standard PM
approaches
4
Success factors for managing
distributed teams virtually
Project
manager/team
Be aware of project specific challenges when
selecting the project manager/team.
Culture
Be aware of cultural differences.
Goals and roles
Project goals and roles must be clear for all team
members from the very beginning.
Trust
Early trust building is very important.
Leadership
Prefer f2f meetings, encourage frequent
communication, ensure visibility of activities.
Coordination
Be aware of team cohesion, project structure,
time differences.
Control
Different tools to assess performance.
IT
Selection of adequate communication tools.
5
Learn more
• Wikipedia “Virtual Team”
• Beezr Course material on virtual collaboration tools
• DeRosa, Darleen, Lepsinger, Richard (2010), Virtual
Team Success: A Practical Guide for Working and
Leading from a Distance. Hoboken (New Jersey):
John Wiley & Sons,
• Duarte, Deborah L., Snyder, Nancy Tennant (2006),
Mastering Virtual Teams: Strategies, Tools, and
Techniques That Succeed, 3rd edition. Hoboken
(New Jersey): John Wiley & Sons
• McCabe, Laurie, Hurwitz, Judith, Kaufman, Marcia
(2009), Collaboration for Dummies: IBM Limited
Edition. Hoboken (New Jersey): John Wiley & Sons 6