Online learning isn’t really new anymore, however when I enrolled 3.5 years ago I didn’t realize what opportunities were truly available. I joined the World Campus Psychology Club (WCPC) right away, because this was my intended major and I was interested to see how it worked. I wasn’t truly fully involved until I decided over the summer to go for an officer’s position. I was hesitant in what was all involved and knowing my schedule didn’t want to have a role that would be too demanding (also not highly confident in my abilities) so I ran for the Secretary. I was elected into the position start of the Fall 2014 semester. Since then I have been moved into the role of Vice-President for my final semester of this journey. I want to share about this virtual team and club as I feel that virtual teams are becoming more popular within schools and the workforce.
The WCPC has a large member base and they are located throughout the United States and across the globe. As for the WCPC leadership team we have a President, Vice-President, Secretary, Web Coordinator, and two advisors. We live all across the United States and even globe at one point. The President lived in Florida; Vice-President lived in Germany (now is the President and in South Carolina), Secretary lives in Central PA (myself, now Vice-President); Web Coordinator lives in California; and our two advisors lived by Penn State’s main campus. Our new Secretary for the Spring 2015 semester is located in Illinois. As you can see we are not in close approximation and meeting in person is not a possibility. Therefore, our leadership team must work hard to make sure our members are able to see a unified team that is able to hold a globally diverse group together.
We utilize several different avenues for communication, which is a major factor in our success, we use email, Google Hangout, Facebook Officers Page, Facebook WCPC page, Alumni & Friends Page, and on rare occasion texts and phone calls. Written communication is what the team relies on the most and since that is the primary means we have to be very aware of our written format. I say this because tone and wording can be written one way and perceived another way, thus adding to the complexity of the team leadership dynamics.
Team Leadership applies to this group on almost every topic we learned about, however there are some points that I think really make our leadership team unique they are:
Our team model, we do often do separate projects but the team truly shares in the leadership of the group. The shared leadership model is used within this team since I have taken office in August 2014. Yes, we have official titles. No, they do not restrict us in our leadership. This team has chosen to not have the title affect our operations within the group in any way. We all rely on each other to add our own strengths and expertise into our activities. We also can use the Ginnett’s Team Effectiveness Leadership Model (TELM) within both our leadership team and our main group. We have to have clear purpose and expectations (provided by our constitution), know that we at times will need to redesign our input variables, and constant improve our performance throughout the group. Below is a great reference as to how virtual teams can be successful with the TELM in mind:
In this weeks’ lesson we also learned about five areas that need to happen for virtual teams are to work:
- Management leadership needs to change: This I think applies in the sense that we don’t get to have meetings were we see everyone, we do projects together in person, and we can’t have the same expectation as those clubs that do. So we have to be creative in how we lead our members, design our projects, and allow for everyone to participate in.
- Innovative use of communication technology: We have utilized multiple avenues of communication between officers and members. We utilize email, Facebook pages, chats, video chats, phone calls, and text messages. Throughout the year commitment we search for other innovative ways to keep our members engaged and to reach new/more members.
- Designed to enhance the operation: In August 2014 this leadership truly enhanced how we operated as a group and team. There was a group created within Facebook Penn State Groups for the WCPC, this improved communication avenues between us and our members. Also we designed a routine that we would promote activities to encourage members input on a particular article, research, or question. It also allows members to ask questions to each other about classes and get help if in need by someone who has “been there done that”.
- Develop trust among team members: This is a difficult task to accomplish when you only have written communications and maybe once a month video chats. However, we have to know that we are all in this together with the goal of doing great things for our members. We don’t always agree, but we always have to have respect for difference of opinions. Recognizing this is important and we need to be able to work through differences so our members are not affected.
- Ability to capture strengths: I feel that we have been able to do this among ourselves and our members. We as leaders have been able to take on projects that we have a passion for and see them through to the end, successful or not. Our members have shown multiple different strengths and we have allowed them to show these strengths to positively contribute to the WCPC.
As you can see virtual teams can work. They do require a unique set of individuals, open-minded approaches, effective communication, and most importantly working together.
Northouse, P.G. (2013). Leadership: Theory and Practice. Los Angeles: Sage Publications.
Pennsylvania State University World Campus (2015). PSYCH 485, Module 9: Team Leadership. Retrieved from: https://courses.worldcampus.psu.edu/sp15/psych485/001/content/09_lesson/printlesson.html
World Campus Psychology Club (2009) Constitution. Retrieved from: http://sites.psu.edu/wcpc/constitution/
I was very interested to read this piece for two reasons. First, I work with (and on) quite a few virtual teams at work, and second, as Historian for the World Campus Chapter of Psi Chi, everything we do is in a virtual setting. There are similarities and differences between virtual teams in work and social settings, and I’m interested in what I can learn from other peoples experiences and perspectives.
Working together as a unified team is hard enough when you’re co-located, but having a globally diverse team work as a cohesive unit can absolutely be a challenge. I felt that you made some especially important points, and I learned a few things. Using different and innovative avenues for communication, such as Google, Adobe, Facebook, AT&T Connect, WebEx, Intercall, etc., is something that I previously saw as a hindrance (everybody has a favorite), but now realize can be a benefit. Each piece of technology has its pros and cons, and each can serve a different purpose or satisfy a different audience; these should be agreed upon by the group for both business and social objectives (Schindler, 2008). Our Psi Chi chapter is currently investigating options to host virtual social events (in addition to our regular meetings), and want to maximize the members’ feelings of being an active participant and feel that it was an enjoyable experience.
I like that your team works together regardless of title, and lean on each other’s strengths. We have done the same, and I notice that it encourages participation and creativity. I do however think that we assume everyone has certain minimum skills using the various forms of technology before proceeding, and that may cause delays and confusion. Perhaps teams could schedule occasional training or review meetings to help members who are not as comfortable with technology, and help them learn in a comfortable, non-judgmental environment.
Developing trust can be especially challenging because there are no visual cues such as body language or facial expressions (Working in a Virtual Team, n.d.). This is compounded when you have a globally diverse team such as we both have, and it must be acknowledged. In addition to being respectful of time zones, we must understand and be tolerant of holidays, limiting the use of humor, slang or ambiguous terms, and insist on patience and goodwill (Cross-Cultural Communication, n.d.).
One unfortunate effect I have noticed in virtual business meetings, but (thankfully) not in our club meetings, is that people tend to forget about basic meeting etiquette when they’re not face-to-face. Basic rules regarding not multi-tasking, avoiding background noise or other distractions, and expected participation should be communicated in advance and followed by the host as well the participants (Schindler, 2008).
References:
Mind Tools (n.d.). Working in a Virtual Team. Retrieved from http://www.mindtools.com.
Mind Tools (n.d.). Cross-Cultural Communication. Retrieved from http://www.mindtools.com.
Schindler, E. (2008). Running an Effective Teleconference or Virtual Meeting. Retrieved from http://www.cio.com.