Managing the Global Virtual Team Along With Required Skills

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS

Challenges faced in managing the global virtual team along with required skills and practices
Global virtual teams and managers
The dispersed or remote teams who work together from different geographical location and uses high technology for communication through email, video calls or conferences and so on are known as the global virtual team (Sarker et al. 2011).The stakeholders of different countries work together for common goal. These are very precious manpower for the company. They communicate globally and enhance the productivity of the company. It is the main responsibility ofinformation technology manager to encourage the virtual team and provide them proper training to develop the relevant skills and knowledge. These teams bring global success to the company. The global teams have to manage with the cultural factors which affect their work. The culture is diverse in different countries. The team has the ability to deal with the diverse mindset, tradition, language, work environment, habits, and so on.

Skills required for managers

The managers are accountable for the appropriate working of the global virtual team. The information technology manager is responsible to enhance the skills of the team. The main skills and practices required for the manager to manage the global virtual team are communication skills, initiation, flexibility in adapting different culture and other interpersonal skills like conflict manager, motivator and so on(Aitken 2013). The proper and clear communication is must to work across the boundaries proper use of technology will enable this practice. In order to understand the diverse culture, the knowledge of language, tradition and people psychology must be analyze and understand. Proper communication will further leads to the smooth working of the company. The clear and transparent communication will avoid the problem the miscommunication. Proper communication is the soul of the work for the international companies as effective communication will promote the effective work which ultimately contributes to the organizational goal. The manager needs to take initiative to grab the opportunity.

The manager must be proactive as well as self-motivated. Once the manager grabs the opportunity then the team will follow them and learn the same characteristics from the manager. The manager only motivates the employee when they are motivated (Keil et al. 2013).The team follows the manager. They observe the characteristics of manager like decision making, body language, punctuality, communication, level of motivation and so on. The manager should take care of these aspects. Culture plays an important role in international business. Culture comprises working hours, habits, routine, mindsets, and organization policies. These influence the business of multinational company as it varies in different countries. The manager should be all-rounder in managing all types of activities of global team which contribute to the success of the company.

Challenges faced by the managers

The failure of the manager in handling the team will directly affect the success of the company. It is not an easy task to manage the global virtual team. There are various challenges faced by the manager. The electronic communication does not give personal feels which a physical team can do. Sometimes, the communication becomes less effective either due to technical error or some other reason (Shaffer et al. 2012). The managers must avoid miscommunication among the team members. For example, the joke of one employee might come across as an insult for other. The members do not able to observe the body language, expressions and mood of the other employee working miles away.

The high dependency on the technology affects the productivity. The troubles like internet connection lost, software crashed, computers or laptop stop working and any other technical difficulties can harm the productivity. Though virtual teams are cost effective but it is also difficult to manage. The managers often find themselves isolated, demotivated and frustrated. The managers also need to be motivated and concentrated to guide the team the same skills. However, some special skills can make the virtual teams successful and beneficial for the organization.

The key organizational cultural characteristics

The multinational companies have a challenge to manage the diverse culture. The organization must have key cultural characteristics to manage the diversity. The key characteristics are punctuality, proper dress code reflecting designations, smooth communication, gender equality, a positive working environment by effective management of conflicts. The company proposes the policies which promote these characteristics. The employees are supposed to strictly follow the policies of the company otherwise the result will be punishable. International companies have to be very particular in respect of their policies, rule and regulations to serve across the country (Naranjo et al.2011).

The managers need to be more skilled and experienced to manage the global virtual team. The teams are communicated through technologies. The manager has to train the employees so that they can make the best use of the technology. The culture of one country might differ from the culture of other country. For example New York is very developed and high technology city. There is twenty four hours transport facility is available. The employees who are working in night shift or working late will not face any travelling issue. The international company of New York operating in London will face many challenges like the transport facility is not available late night in London. The employees have stay nearby to the company which might cost them very high.

Significance of providing training to the managers

The director of the company is ultimately responsible for the success as well as failure of the organization. The directors needs to train the managers who will further providing training to the virtual team. The training which is provided to the managers is team building, team work, conflict management, decision making, and so on. The managers are accountable for the delegation of the work among the team. The employees must be delegated as per their individual skills and capability (McDonnell et al. 2010). So that, they will not burdened and over allocated with the work. This is further reducing their efficiency. The training will provide motivation to the manager which is very crucial for them. The motivated manager can encourage the team members to work hard. Managers are the leader for the team.

The team follows the leader to learn those skills which the leader possesses. The manager provides leadership to the team members. In case of international companies, an appropriate leadership style must be adopted by the leaders. Different companies have diverse culture and tradition. So, the company must analyze them before taking any decision.

Globalized economy

The interconnection of the economy across the globe are refers to as economic globalization. Globalization has changed the whole scenario of the market. This has affected the economy of the United Kingdom and many other countries. The economist has said that the globalization has increased deindustrialization in the developed country like UK. Moreover, the competition has also increased (Baylis et al. 2017). The international companies enter into the global market and increase the competition of that local market. The increased competition leads to decline in price. The customers get more choices in the market which force the competitors to reduce the price. Many countries are benefited with the globalization. Ghana and Ethiopia had the fastest growing African economies in the globe.

The factors affecting the global economy

There are various factors which influence the globalization. Rapid growth in technology makes possible to communicate and export the goods across the boundaries. In todays era, companies are having all the necessary machineries and software which helps them to increase their productivity. The modified products and services are manufactured as per the demand of the customers. The customers are having multiple options to choose the best one. This has affected the local and existing competitors. Transportation has also enhanced which provides facility to bring the products outside the boundaries. The manufacturing companies can build a market across the globe (Maddison 2014). The international companies are overtaking or merge with the domestic companies to capture the domestic market. This practice is very productive. The companies need not to start from the beginning. The running and existing company is having a customer base which is shared by the international company. Moreover, the customers get a modified and latest product after the merger. In modern times, the trade becomes very easy and smooth. All the export policies are clearly mentioned to the multinational companies.

They are free to trade across the world. The companies can also track the record of exports and sales took place in other country. The psychology of the customers is changed. They are also preferred to use foreign products. This encourages the international companies to trade globally. Education has supported the globalization in a very effective way. The people are educated and knowledgeable enough to trade internationally.

Ethically sound and accountable international policies

The international companies have a major responsibility of making the policies. The international policies include the policies which is suitable of the environment of the particular country. The multinational companies make policies different in various countries. The government support, legal and financial support affects the policies. The policy should be ethically sound. The employees as well as customers would not tolerate any kind of unethical activities. The international company must be ethical as well as accountable for each and every activity took place in their organization. There should no discrimination in gender, caste, and religion in the company. The company should not involve in any kind of harassment activities. The people of different country have certain behaviors and working environment (Nica 2013). The international companies have to make the policies according to the working culture of the particular region. For example, Australia is safer than Germany for women. The company made the ethical policy like women are not allowed to work late and for night shifts. In some companies, the women are provided travel facility while working late. The policies like this encourage the women to work for them. Moreover, it enhances the goodwill of the company as well. The employees feel safe working for the company would also promote the company. The ethical policies impact the manpower of the company.

The manager is accountable for any miss happening in the company. The company which is ethically sound and accountable will lead the market. Google is having an anti-bribery law which is strictly followed by all the employees. In this law, the employees are not allowed give bribe to any of its clients, customers or subordinates. The employees will be fired from the company if found breaking any policies. The chances of having unethical activities in the international companies are more than the local companies as the business is spread all over the world. The directors are accountable for any unethical practices.

At the end, it can be said that the information technology directors in international companies plays an immense role in making policies and providing training to the mangers. The director should have all the necessary skills for managing the manager. There are many challenges come across the directors way but they must have that ability to overcome the problem and move forward. The directors motivate and provide training to the manager who further trains the employees and teams (Zadek et al.2013). Globalization has impact the multinational businesses. The entrance of foreign companies disturbed the policies of domestic companies. The competition has increased and the companies need to change the policies according to the completion. The international companies need to follow the ethical rules and regulation. It is the primary duty of the company to avoid any ethical practices. A strict rules and policies are made to encourage the positive and safe working environment. Moreover, the managers are accountable for successful managing the staff across the different time zone, and culture.

Clear communication is must while dealing with the international global virtual team members. This will avoid miscommunication and conflicts among them. The mangers should provide training and development to the team to motivate them. The motivational sessions and seminar can be conducted by the managers to motivate the employees. The use of technology has made it to communicate the diverse virtual team over smart devices. Video calling and conferencing can help to communicate with the global teams. The international company can achieve its goal by managing the manger in the best manner.

References

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Maddison, A., 2014.Economic growth in the West comparative experience in Europe and North America. London Routledge.
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