Virtual teamwork is taking the workplace by storm aided thanks to the technological growth that has spread the internet usage to almost every corner of the world. This arrangement primarily depends on the internet and internet-enabled gadgets for communication to enhance teamwork. However, just like any other phenomenon, the virtual teamwork faces a wide range of challenges in the effort to effectively facilitate the operations. This essay major on how the diversity of the team members, including culture and time zone differences challenge, can be turned into an opportunity.
The first strategy is extending work hour for everyone to work in a shift in favor of their time zone. Many virtual team works advocate for operating in accordance to the time zone of the main branch which means that some members would be working at night while their families are asleep, while others are at the same time working conveniently in the day time. This arrangement only limits the working hours to a specific duration, let's say ten working hours per day. As a leader, I would allow each employee to work in accordance with their geological time zone. Additionally, cultural differences such as faith also plays a role in this situation. For instance, a team may be composed of Christians, Islam and other faiths which have specific days for worship. The opportunity here is, since the worship days are different, the service will be continuous as people from one faith take charge when others are worshiping. By doing this, the institution will be working almost around the clock, as different people are taking charge at different hours. This will be an opportunity for the institution to offer their services around the clock without overworking their employee, as everyone works according to their convenience, hence maximizing the revenue.
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The second opportunity is expanding business operation areas. In this case, individual members act as the institution's representatives in their places of residence. For instance, a group member can examine the available market demand on behalf of the company, which could have cost so much if the company opted to send expatriates from the main branch. In response, the company will implement the recommendations by the particular member to suit residents' taste hence boosting business as well as expanding the operation area.
In assessing the outcome achieved after employing these strategies towards mitigating this challenge, I would compare the revenue flow after the implementation, which will outrightly turn out to be growing, and more so the employee satisfaction level, which is key to our business prosperity.
References
Dubé, L., & Robey, D. (2009). Surviving the paradoxes of virtual teamwork. Information systems journal, 19(1), 3-30.
Qureshi, S., & Vogel, D. (2001). Adaptiveness in virtual teams: Organisational challenges and research directions. Group Decision and Negotiation, 10(1), 27-46.
