The use of information and communications technology (ICT) has increased tremendously in the recent past. The use of ICT has revolutionized organizational structure by enabling virtual teams to exist. Companies that incorporate virtual teams have a competitive advantage for they can hire skilled personnel from anywhere in the globe. Nonetheless, information sharing which is the most important asset of any organization is constrained by time zone differences, cultural diversities, response, and feedback delays, and information misinterpretation.
Cultural diversity is known to increase a team’s creativity by having a wider knowledge base. Contribution by team members can create a perspective useful towards the accomplishment of an organization’s goals. Extremely diverse cultural practices and beliefs among team members can hinder their openness and thus limit the amount of information shared within the organization (Kimble, 2011) . Moreover, varied cultures have varied languages. It may be difficult to communicate effectively where an interpreter is needed. Information is distorted and changed significantly when translated from one language to another. This could be through omissions or prejudice from the translator.
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In an attempt to build successful virtual teams, team members need to be encouraged to appreciate and respect one another’s cultures and peculiarities. Team members will develop a sense of belonging where they are valued and esteemed. Also, a reward system should be put in place by the management to encourage team members to share information about their locality and expected changes that would be useful information for the execution of the team’s objectives (Lillian, 2014) . Lastly, real-time translators can be employed in a team to offer an accurate interpretation of information conveyed by the team members. This enables the original meaning to be preserved.
References
Kimble, C. (2011). Building effective virtual teams: How to overcome the problems of trust and identity in virtual teams. Global Business and Organizational Excellence , 6-15.
Lillian, S. C. (2014). Virtual teams: Opportunities and challenges for e-leaders. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences , 1251-1261.
