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Conflict Virtual Team
Identifying the key steps for managing conflict in a virtual team
September 23, 2006
By: Lynn Marotta
Virtual teams have become a great way to access the best
talent without the high cost and personal disruption that
results from having to travel. While virtual teams offer
many benefits, disputes and conflict in a virtual team is
often a stark reality.
If care is taken at the outset of the team project and a
focused effort placed on virtual team management, this type
of working relationship can offer big benefits. Let's take a
look at some of the ways to manage virtual team conflict.
- Identify and establish team leadership at the
outset -- A virtual team leader is responsible for
accessing the level of knowledge and skills each
individual member brings to the team. The team leader is
also responsible for determining which expectations are
appropriate and reasonable to set for each individual
member. It is the leader's responsibility to define the
expectations of each member's contribution of time,
knowledge, and resources. This way there is a general
understanding among the team as to what is expected from
each member individually.
- Clearly define project goals -- Starting out
with a clear project goal, and clearly defined individual
goals can go a long way towards avoiding future conflict
within the team. Since workgroups are dispersed across
geographical boundaries, it is very easy to lose site of
the ultimate objective of the project unless care is taken
to clearly define expectations at the very beginning as
well as at various points throughout the project.
- Focus on individual members -- This may be the
most important factor in determining virtual team success.
Conflict is sure to arise if care is not taken when
considering individual makeup of the virtual team itself.
Technical skills, work styles, communication skills, and
even personality all affect a persons ability to
contribute to a virtual teams overall success. Technical
competency is not enough. If an individual does not
possess the interpersonal skills necessary to effectively
communicate and manage conflict virtually, the project
could be put at risk.
- Establish structure -- Once the project goals
are set and the individual team members selected,
structure needs to be established. This step involves
clearly defining individual roles and accountabilities,
establishing communication standards and rules, and
establishing project milestones. These standards need to
be carefully monitored with regular feedback and review
sessions. Individual team members must have a clear
understanding of what their roles and responsibilities are
so that personal accountability is built in. In addition,
because of the dispersed nature of virtual teams,
establishing clear rules of how communication is handled
will go a long way to limiting conflict.
- Manage conflict as a team -- While it is the
leader's job to stay alert to any potential areas of
conflict, it is important to solicit feedback and work out
potential conflicts together as a group. Working together
to work through conflict can help build trust, and improve
team cohesiveness.
If you are successful at clearly defining project goals,
establishing effective leadership, and building trust within
the group, then it is more likely you will have a team that
successfully and efficiently works together towards one
common goal, and avoids all major conflict.
About the Author
Lynn Marotta is a successful freelance writer and
contributor to Web-Conferencing-Zone.com. Your
definitive guide to
web conferencing services,
online collaboration software and
web meetings for business.
Also See: [
Collaborative technology for software engineering &
development ]
[ Etiquette of
teleconferences when conferencing via phone, web, or video ]
[ Intranet
teleconferencing software, benefits of the Intranet for
business ]
Home Page:
[ Web-Conferencing-Zone.com ]
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