Virtual Team

Effective Virtual Team Communications

Synergy of an effective team is when the sum of the whole team is greater than the sum of the each individual. One aspect of achieving team synergy is effective team communications. Communication plays a key role in group decision making (Aakhus, 2002). Anyone who has ever worked on a team to accomplish a task has likely learned that effective communication is a major key to the team’s success. Effective communications in a team that meets face-to-face can have its challenges but can you imagine some of the challenges a virtual team faces? What are some things a virtual team can do to optimize virtual team communications?

One of the first steps a team must take to be successful, according to Combs and Peacocke (2007), is to “…create a team charter that explains the team’s mission, the business problem the team is attempting to solve, and the team’s objectives” (p. 27). Furthermore,

the charter should include an agreed upon plan that includes the methods of communication, individual roles/responsibilities and some general ground rules. According to Gould (2006), teams need to develop a common approach or method on how they will work together to accomplish their purpose. It’s important for every member on the team to understand the common set of objectives to ensure the team progresses to success (Effective Team Vital, 2007).

Another critical element for effective virtual team communications is open and honest dialog. It is critical that team members not embarrass, reject, mock, or punish one another for sharing ideas and perceptions (De Janasz, 2002). Team members that experience personal negative feedback after attempting to participate will feel their input is not of value to the team and will likely no longer provide input which defeats the purpose of team synergy. However, it is important that team members have the ability to question ideas and opinions that other team members may have. “Criticize ideas, not people. Criticize the content of different ideas without criticizing the people behind the ideas. вЂ?Your solution could create a safety hazard’ is a much different remark than, вЂ?Your solution is dumbвЂ™Ð²Ð‚Ñœ (Teamwork Basics, 2007, Ð'¶5).

Written communication in a virtual setting is far more complex than face-to-face verbal communication. Team members are unable to determine other team member’s body language, tone, facial expressions and other behaviors when communicating virtually. Because of this reason, team members need to communicate clearly and with discretion in a virtual setting. According to Vangen (2002), “experts in communication believe that the primary reason for interoffice, interpersonal, and professional conflict is a lack of understanding of the importance of clear and concise communications skills” (Ð'¶ 1).

One can point to several issues that impact the team’s ability to communicate openly. These issues impede the team’s decision making effectiveness, some of which have already been discussed. However, the three most common issues that teams should avoid are groupthink, polarization and inferential errors (Aakhus 2002).

According to Prentice

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