 | | | | Virtual World Adds New Dimension to Work LifeThe College of Business Emerging Topics Seminar Series, "The Virtual World of Tomorrow," hosted by Professor Erik Larson, featured Bob Phillips, RW & Associates; Holly Gibbs, Summit Information Systems; Sakthi Angappamudali, Standard Insurance; Susan de la Vergne, PacifiCorp; Ilze Zigurs, University of Nebraska-Omaha; Bill Wickes, Boyd Lyon and Kim Sather, Hewlett-Packard;and Ketan Parangiape, Intel. These distinguished speakers shared their views on the impact of information technology on work and daily lives.
 |
Holly Gibbs, Summit Information Systems and Erik Larson, COB. | With information technology changing the world where we live and work, special attention is being devoted to managing virtual teams and projects where a plethora of electronic communications are replacing the traditional phone or audio conference call. Using collaborative technology such as e-mail, group calendars, instant messaging and video conferences, teams of people are able to communicate at faster rates and more easily share important data applications and documents. Through digital and virtual technology there is a gain in face to face communication, which is much richer than the traditional phone conferencing that has been exercised in the past.
Susan de la Vergne, PacifiCorp, quoted Money Magazine, which showed that 20 percent of the major U.S. companies have expanded their businesses outside of the U.S. Instead of working side by side, teams of people are working geographically distributed on common problems in efforts to achieve similar goals. Working with other countries opens up doors for corporations, including opportunities for expanding to a broader market and leveraging experience and knowledge across cultures.
Companies are organizing virtual teams into project groups for business analysis, design, implementation and testing. There are challenges with the time difference, relationships and cultural difference, but advantages can be much greater than the disadvantages. These globally distributed teams have the advantage of working around the clock, while others who are located in one time zone do not.
"It is nice having a project perspective of 24/7 because you leave work with an unresolved issue and come back the next day with the problem solved," said Ketan Parangjape, Intel Corp. "Because of the difference in time zones, a company can have teams working and are never losing time or money."
In addition to working together, leveraging experience and knowledge across cultures is key. Trust between team members is thought to be one of the most important factors when shaping and mending long distance relationships. Virtual teams do not have the normal social interactions that many people experience daily in their jobs. There are no hallway conversations, no way to communicate non-verbally and especially no opportunities to go out to lunch. Essentially, the lack of daily interaction can cause team members to disconnect and develop a lack of loyalty and commitment to the success of the team and organizational goals that have been established.
"Building trust when you are working side by side a person is not easy. Building that same trust with a virtual partner takes more effort, more communication, better clarity of goals, better understanding of deliverables and a commitment to making others successful," said Bob Phillips, RW & Associates, Inc.
Focusing on bridging relationships, especially culturally diverse relationships, is very important in developing a company and the teams with in it. Creating trust means collaborating on others views and comments, being predictable so that others will know what to expect, taking responsibility for your positive and negative actions, and understanding others and their suggestions. When understanding a fellow team member, it is important to understand their language as well as the culture from which they reside. Susan de la Vergne recommends incorporating cultural preparation programs or having one main person who bridges the global gap by becoming the main contact between offshore and onshore corporate sites.
The College of Business will host another Emerging Topics Seminar on a different topic next Spring.
|
