Mastering Virtual Teams: Strategies, Tools, and Techniques That Succeed, Third Edition

Chapter Six. Team Member Roles and Competencies

The need to balance coordination and collaboration with autonomy exists in any team situation. On a virtual team, this challenge is more complex because time, distance, and organizational boundaries separate team members. Frequently, when people work on a virtual team, they believe that it will be pretty much like working in a traditional environment or that they can multitask their way through, especially since they do not have to physically attend meetings or see other team members. Although they may correctly calculate the difficulty of the technical task of the team, they may underestimate the extra time and effort that they need to spend in coordination and collaboration activities. Consequently, they may overcommit themselves and end up trying to manage too many tasks.

Balancing Coordination and Collaboration

Successful virtual team members understand the importance of balancing coordination and collaboration with autonomy. Maintaining this balance may not be easy. Team members may be tempted to work independently because coordination and collaboration are more difficult in a virtual situation and because common interests seem less compelling than local needs and preferences. Virtual team members often need to behave autonomously to perform activities traditionally performed by the team leader, such as networking, resolving conflicting loyalties, and clarifying ambiguous situations. However, the virtual situation also requires ...