MGHB02H3 Chapter Notes - Chapter 7.8-7.9: Personalization, Virtual Team, Fax
7.8 Explain the logic behind cross-functional teams and describe how they can operate effectively
Cross-functional teams: team composition focuses on having different functional specialties
• Can be self-managed and permanent if task is recurring and not too complex, otherwise formal
leadership is needed
• Known for product development teams; innovation, speed, quality
• More efficient from tradition development (from department to department in stages vs. all
specialties together from the start); traditional style was slower, had more conflict,
miscommunication/not understanding
Effectiveness
• Composition: needs all relevant specialties for all necessary perspectives
• Superordinate goals: desired outcomes only achieved through collaboration (big picture goals,
instead of specialty function goals)
o Physical proximity: members need to live close to each other
o Autonomy: from the larger organization to prevent micromanaging from functional
managers or upper-level people
o Rules/procedures: basic decision procedures are necessary
o Leadership: needs to possess strong social skills plus task expertise
• Share mental models: everyone shares the same information on social and task aspects
o Enhance performance and coordination
o “hare the sae uderstadig of the task; tough truck to a desiger vs tough truck
to an engineer
7.9 Understand virtual teams and what makes them effective
Virtual teams: work groups that communication across space, time and organizational boundaries
through technology; often cross-functional
• Asynchronous: allows time before responding (email, fax, voice mail)
• Synchronous: communicate in real time (chat, video calls, group phone calls)
Advantages
• Around-the-clock work: work can be passed on as people wake up
• Reduce travel time and cost
• Larger talent pool: access to global talent, extra flexibility for work-life balance
Challenges
• Trust: hard to develop due to lack of physical contact and socialization
• Miscommunication: lack of non-verbal cues to communicate (humor/metaphors/praise/threats
does’t translate across cultures)
• Isolation: No casual time to socialize between members can lead to isolation and detachment
• High costs: technology and maintenance of tech needs to be maintained; can be expensive
• Management issues: how to assess performance, monitor diligence, ensure fair treatment, etc.
• Lower volume of information exchange, more likely to share unique information
o Unique information shared because working in a virtual team requires more reflection
o Performance depends on having a high volume of communication to complement the
unique information
o Openness encourages cooperation, cohesion and trust
Lessons to manage virtual teams
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