Preparation
Write a 10–12 page report for executive leaders that analyzes the predictable stages of virtual team development and offers recommendations for successfully moving through these stages supported by research.
Virtual teams have become more commonly used in the workplace, as businesses seek to find ways for employees who are not located in the same geographic area to work together efficiently and economically. Some of these newly formed virtual teams achieve great success in their collaboration efforts, while others never seem to get started.
Scenario
You are a member of your company’s organizational development team. Executive leaders have asked this group to help diagnose some of the organization’s problems involving virtual team success. Each year, teams of managers are assembled from across several global business units to tackle issues identified by executive leaders.
Each team is expected to work on its assignment for 12 months. Many teams in the past have been very effective; they have delivered specific, workable solutions that were responsible for important improvements to the organization. But just as many teams have become ineffective, stalled, and even disbanded with little or no results to show for their time and effort.
