Home > team development> tranistory and virtual teams

 

Transitory and virtual teams

Teams in many organisations today are far more transient than they have ever been in the past. Membership changes almost monthly in some cases! In addition there are some teams that rarely or never physically meet. This can mean that ‘traditional’ team building programmes are less relevant, and that we need to develop a new set of skills. In a recent article in the Financial Times, Lynda Gratton (Professor of Management Practice at London Business School) also predicted that the current economic downturn is likely to lead to reduced travel budgets, and an increase in "virtual" team working and meetings (a good thing in her view). Increasingly then, developing the skills to work in virtual teams is likely to become more important than ever.

Working in virtual teams raises many thorny issues however, notably trust, relationship, identity and loyalty:

• How can trust be built in transitory or virtual teams such that the members can be open and honest?
• What does it mean for ‘relating’ to others in the ‘team’ and others outside the ‘team’?
• How can team members manage their ‘loyalty’ to multiple teams, especially if there are conflicting priorities?
• What impact does this have on the identity of team members? Who do they identify with, align with, and seek sponsorship from?

We facilitate workshops where participants develop the skills of being an effective team member. These portable capabilities equip them to be effective in a wide range of teams. They learn how to manage and contribute to ‘remote’ team meetings and how to build trust in teams with forever changing membership. They develop the ability to become curious about others along with the skill of enquiring into the needs and motivations of team members; and also to express themselves, their expectations and frustrations to colleagues in a clear and respectful way.