For a long period of time, many companies operated domestically and within particular localities. Most of the operations were done on a face-to-face basis. However, due to globalization and the need to reach many customers internationally many companies have grown to become multinational corporations. These companies work in different countries affected by different cultures, geography, and time among many others. This affected the important meetings. Most heads had to wait on a particular date to hold the meetings. Also, various leaders of various branches across the world had to travel to hold the meetings. In cases of local meetings and other interactions, the activity had to be adjusted and postponed until team would be able to make it in a single room. This problem has been reduced with the continuous technology advancement and globalization.
Advancement in technology has resulted in an environment where teams are able to communicate and collaborate in a virtual manner irrespective of their locations. This is something that has been welcomed by many multinational organizations across the world. Most teams today work virtually. This has not only been embraced by multinational corporations but also with domestic corporations. It has enabled members of a team to work and communicate without necessarily being in one location.
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It is, however, important to indicate that as much as collaboration and communication have been made virtually through the use of technology success of virtual teams is always uncertain. Reports indicate that unlike face-to-face collaboration and communication which is more productive, virtual teamwork sometimes fails to be beneficial enough. According to Duarte and Snyder (2006) , many leaders and team members find themselves bored hence ineffective. Also due to technology issues, the videos and audios lag. The use of emails has also been proven to be sometimes unproductive. The question therefore what factors come into play when discussing virtual teamwork.
Duarte and Snyder (2006) and Mayadas & Hultin (2010) indicate that there are seven success factors in virtual collaboration: human resource policies, Training and development, Standard organizational processes, Communication and collaboration technology, Organizational culture, Leadership, and Competence.
According to Duarte and Snyder (2006), human resource policies are important for teams to work virtually. The duo indicates that that for virtual collaboration to be successful then the systems involved must be integrated in such a way that it supports rewards for the team members who work virtually as those who work in the traditional methods. Some of the factors to consider for human resource policies are career development systems, rewarding cross-boundary work and results, and providing resources and support for working virtually. Greenberg (2007) and Mayadas and Hultin, (2010) say that team leaders must provide career opportunities to virtual team members in same and equal measure as those traditional team members. When leaders apply promotion and career development opportunities for team members fairly to those who work virtually then virtual collaboration becomes a success.
Another human resource policy is the rewarding cross-boundary work and results. In most cases and in many companies, reward and recognition of good work normally favour individual and functional work which commonly does not apply in the case of virtual team members. Most virtual teams work in cross-functional environments – cross-organization. Duarte and Snyder (2006) indicate that failure to make changes in such a way that virtual teams are considered in rewards then virtual collaboration is prone to failure. As such changes have to be made to recognize and reward general teams irrespective of whether they are traditional system workers or virtual collaborators. The human resource policies must, therefore, be designed to include working across boundaries to support the virtual team members. These people must be rewarded and recognized in terms of both efforts they put and the results they achieve.
Providing resources and supporting virtual working is another human resource policy that can steer virtual collaboration to success ( Greenberg, 2007) ). Without ensuring that all team members are provided with the right training, technology, technical support virtual collaboration is doomed to fail. According to Duarte and Snyder (2006), it is important that the team leaders provide the virtual team members with the support needed for virtual collaboration to succeed. For instance, it is the responsibility of the leadership of a corporation to ensure that the virtual team members have the right hardware, internet, required applications, and intranet connection to promote the success of the virtual collaboration.
One of the multinational corporations that have greatly considered human resource policies change to ensure the success of virtual collaboration is IBM as indicated by Duarte and Snyder (2006). Immediately the company introduced virtual collaboration the organization improved training of its team members in relation to technology advancement regarding virtual teamwork. Also, the organization scrapped the reward and recognition system that only considered results. It introduced a reward and recognition system that also considered the virtual works and efforts. The organization has also in a great deal provided support to the virtual team members by providing both training and required equipment for the same.
Another success factor for virtual collaboration is Training and development. Duarte and Snyder (2006) indicate that training, education, and development are integral factors to ensure the success of the virtual collaboration. According to the duo using technology in virtual communication and collaboration is important. Various organizations today who have welcomed virtual collaboration indicate that their failure is mainly because of training its teams on technology advancement. Organizations must, therefore, provide funds that help in the training and assist in technology learning ( Mayadas & Hultin, 2010) . Most organizations that only concentration in purchasing of equipment – applications, machines, software, and hardware – end up making great losses (Duarte & Snyder, 2006; Mayadas, & Hultin, 2010) ). According to Greenberg (2007) teaching people how to utilize the technology for virtual collaboration is essential towards ensuring the success of the same.
According to Duarte and Snyder (2006), just first training is not enough, it is vital that a curriculum is developed to ensure that the team members receive training and support that is always continuous. Many companies today provide continuous training and technical support through continuous learning program. Some of these companies include Amazon Inc. google, IBM, and Microsoft. Most of these companies have a website as well as intranet connection that provides classes to its members to continually learn. Through this, the team members are able to receive support at any time of need to ensure that virtual collaboration becomes a success. It is also important that training and development of the skills needed for the virtual collaboration take into consideration of the cultural and functional boundaries One company that has done this for many years is the Johnsons and Johnson company. The company has a learning system that ensures that virtual collaboration teams are provided with learning services that enhance collaboration skills that take into consideration cross-cultural and functional interactions ( Mayadas & Hultin, 2010) . According to Duarte and Snyder (2016), the Johnson & Johnson learning system is called Tea performance series and has worked for the organization for a long time. Any organization today must take into consideration training and development for virtual collaboration to succeed. This can be done by creating and implementing systems that enhance sharing of information, knowledge, and projects and ensuring consistent technical support. One organization that has ensured shared lessons, databases, information, and knowledge is NASA (Duarte & Snyder, 2006). The organization has even ensured chat rooms that enable the team members to learn and communicate.
Thirdly, standard organizational and team processes are another success factor for virtual collaboration. According to Greenberg (2007) , developing standard organization procedures and team process is important to ensure the success of the virtual collaboration. The duo indicates that using standard organizational and team processes help to save time and eliminate the need for uncalled for reinvention due to new practices as a result of the team charter. However, it is important that the practices are made flexible and adaptable to the virtual team in different situations. Some of the standards organizations and team process as suggested by Duarte and Snyder (2006) include defining the requirements, estimating of costs, the procurement processes, the team charters, project planning, documentation processes, reporting, and control of the processes. This is a process that many organizations today use. One of the recent companies that have considered this process is Facebook in the recent time. The company also has their preferred software for each of the processes indicated. Facebook normally employs standard project management software packages. This enables the virtual team is able to familiarize with the package for training processes. Apart from technical processes and specific software, it is important that any organization that has virtual teams have soft processes that ensure use through the organization to ensure successful virtual collaboration. Some of the processes in soft areas that most organizations take in consideration are communication procedures, conflict resolution, the establishment of team culture and general norms, and the channels of resolving disputes and communication among many others. Normally virtual teams have different team charters as compared to the traditional teams as such they have their own norms as well as standards of communication. Both the technical and soft process allows the organization to adapt effectively in cases of virtual collaboration.
Most organizations today, just like Facebook apart from having technical processes also employ the use of the soft process. This helps them to operate in different unique situations. With both the technical and soft processes the organization is able to ensure virtual collaboration success. Also in the Facebook Company, the culture support shared ways of doing business across teams given that all the teams' operations are under one roof. This is not the same in other companies like Samsung, Toyota among many others where various industries operate independently in producing parts.
Another success factor for virtual collaboration as described by Duarte and Snyder (2006) is electronic communication and communication technology. According to Duarte and Snyder (2006) selection of electronic collaboration and communication technology is paramount. The duo indicates that the technology must be able to meet the needs of the virtual team. Without proper technology and electronics, the virtual collaboration is prompt to fail. The organization must be prepared in three ways to ensure that the electronic communication and collaboration technology – desktops, groupware among others – works effectively. Firstly, the organization must have knowledgeable staff who are well funded and skilled in supporting the electronics in different geographical locations. Secondly, the organization must be committed to ensuring that the computers systems are updated frequently since the cost of not doing so might be detrimental to both the growth of the team as well as to the organization. Lack of software updates leads to loss of productivity which consequently affects organizations negatively. Finally, the organization should also have a properly connected network which is able to expand and accommodate growth, complex systems, and more users. This enables the success of the virtual collaboration. Most companies working in the software development are well known for following these steps to the latter, some of the companies which follow these conditions include Microsoft Inc., Intel Corporation, IBM among others. Irrespective of how big or small an organization is, the three conditions are important towards the success of the virtual collaboration. Small organizations can adopt a less complex standard for their electronic communication and collaboration technology. It is important that the standards match the need of the virtual team in question.
As previously noted the organization that wishes to succeed in virtual collaboration must have enough resources and funds to support the electronic communication and collaboration technology. This is something that most software development companies such as Microsoft and Google have. Most of these companies have been in the market for years and with great market shares. Microsoft is endowed with enough funds to support state-of-the-art electronic communication and collaboration technology. Also due to the fact that Microsoft Inc. operates in various nations, it is important that they make equal access to electronic communication and collaboration technology.
Organizational culture is the other virtual collaboration success factor (Duarte & Snyder, 2006; Mayadas, & Hultin, 2010) ). According to various researchers, organizational culture included the norms of any institution – how the information flows, leadership structures, collaboration, a system of rewards and recognition, among many others. This also applies in the case of virtual collaboration. Organization culture help to shape norms that help focus on collaboration in a way that respect is made paramount despite the cultures and geographical location differences. It shapes collaboration that ensures that criticism remains constructive. In essence, the organizational culture is what shapes the working standards and environment for the virtual team workers.
One important aspect of organizational culture is trust. Without trust then virtual collaboration is only going to fail (Duarte & Snyder, 2006: Greenberg, 2007) ). A company that ensures trust among its team members who works virtually across-boundary is Apple Inc. the company has an adaptive, nonhierarchical organization that fosters trust among the virtual team members. For instance, the organizational culture of Apple Inc. calls for equal treatment, sharing of information appropriately, and fostering friendship among team members from different cultures this ensures that their total trust and success of the virtual collaboration.
Leadership is also an essential factor in virtual collaboration. According to Duarte and Snyder (2006) for any virtual team to succeed then leadership must shape a culture that promotes teamwork, continuous learning, and respect for diversity. All this must be understood and driven by organizational leaders and virtual team leaders. The virtual team leaders must be able to support the team members for the virtual collaboration to succeed. Greenberg, (2007) sites financial manager at American express who indicates that the team leaders of virtual collaboration must be available and support the initiative from the start. The leadership have to help their team members to develop particular norms a well as behaviors which help to steer virtual collaboration to succeed.
Leadership within the Apple Inc. is very paramount especially due to the fact that the company has veracious departments which must continually communicate and share information. The company has a system that ensures that leaders train their team members on the technology use and new advancements. They encourage communication, establish expectations which they inform team members or instance what they are expected to achieve, and modeling the behaviors expected by the management of Apple Inc.: respect, transparency, and integrity by so doing the respect of various cultures across-boundary.
Finally, team leaders and members’ competencies are important towards the success of the virtual collaboration. According to Duarte and Snyder (2006), team leaders are the backbone of every team in the virtual collaboration. They are responsible for the holding their teams together and steer them towards success. They have to be competent enough to perform these responsibilities in a virtual world. Some of the competencies that they must have include being able to coach and manage performance without necessarily receiving feedback through traditional methods, select the right technology electronics for collaboration, be able to lead in a cross-cultural environment, help the team members at time of need and fostering their development, building trust and ensuring its maintenance, be able to network across hierarchy and cross-cultures, and finally developing processes that complements organizational demands from the team. These are features that leaders at Google show positively. At Google, all team leaders have gone through training to prepare them with the skills, knowledge, and competencies of leading the team members. Most of the leaders share chosen based on experience in the company too. The leaders are from diverse backgrounds and are able to work across both organizational and cultural boundaries.
It is important to indicate that virtual collaboration is not for every member of an organization. There are specific competencies that team members must have to succeed in working in the virtual environment. Duarte and Snyder (2006) it is important that the right competencies are mastered by the team members through training by the team leaders. The team leaders must assist in developing competency through developing a learning system and assignments ( Mayadas, & Hultin, 2010) . Some of the competencies that Google value highly among virtual team members include project-management skills, networking across functional, and organizational boundaries, using the collaboration technologies effectively, management of time, understating other people through intrapersonal awareness, and being able to work across cultural boundaries.
References
Duarte, D. L., & Snyder, N. T. (2006). Mastering virtual teams: Strategies, tools, and techniques that succeed : John Wiley & Sons.
Greenberg, P. S. (2007). Mastering virtual teams International Journal of e-Collaboration , 3 (3), 71-75
Mayadas, F., & Hultin, J. (2010). Virtual Teamwork: Mastering the art and practice of online learning and corporate collaboration : John Wiley & Sons.
