Contemporary Issues that Entrepreneurs Face in Managing Virtual Teams Expert Answer
The term entrepreneurship has become a global phenomenon over the last few years, although its involvement in the development of economies varies based on the societies. At the same time it wont be wrong to say that entrpreneurship is undergoing fundamental transformation that simply highlight and reflects on the major changes that are taking places in the global market (Smallbone. D, Welter. F and Ateljevic. J, 2014). In the rapid development of entrepreneurship, technology has played a significant role as with the help of ICT it has opened new markets not only for large companies but also for young entrepreneurs.
As stated by Chattopadhyay (2011) it is believed that entrepreneurship is an inborn quality and talent that many people are born with. As for this particular reason, it is said that entrepreneurs are born not made. There are hundreds and thousands of entrepreneurs around the world, some are really successful, and some face a lot of struggle before actually giving up. Not every entrepreneur has the same set of skills, talents or the courage to take the risks. Successful entrepreneurs are those who not only strive for themselves but also look after others, by providing them the opportunities and pathways to develop the society (Stimpson & Farquharson, 2015).
With new emerging business trends that are taking place on a daily basis, it is very important for businesses and people involved in it to not only be creative but at the same time needs to stay ahead and adapt new technologies. As technology has played a major role in not only how we communicate but also how companies do business. Similar trend is very noticeable for entrepreneurs, as for organizations to be successful and have the competitive advantage over others it is really very important for them to have entrepreneurs with the right behaviour. Though many organizations have stated that entrepreneurial spirit is part of their corporate culture, however it is very important that one should not mix corporate culture with entrepreneurship (Munzo. M, Sanchez. J, Isidro. P and Yolanda. S, 2016). Entrepreneurs have realised the importance of adapting new technologies in to their business activities and how important it is to have people on board with the right skill set. To do so, entrepreneurs are even ready to hire people across borders as long as their work is done according to their expectations (Munoz, R.M. et al., 2016).
Hiring people in different countries has many advantages, as one can minimise the staff cost by hiring people in developing countries, which would be way higher if the same skill level employee has to be hired in developed countries like US, UK and Canada. Similarly, a bigger pool of talented people can be created as well, and only the best suitable candidate can be given the opportunity to work under your supervision. However, along with all these benefits and advantages that entrepreneurs and small businesses can avail by hiring people around different countries, there are number of challenges and issues that entrepreneurs has to face (Rosen. B, Majchrzak. A and Malhotra. A, 2014). The contemporary issue that entrepreneurs may have to face in the process of managing team virtually are many, though some of them are very common and are likely to take place regardless of the nature of the industry you operate in and the size of your business.
Though technology has been one of the major players and considerably a key driver of economic and social development for last 40 years, and realising its importance almost every entrepreneur rely heavily on it (Munoz, R.M. et al., 2016). To be able to communicate with their team members, to share files, to see the progress of their projects and even manage and control virtual teams. As stated by Ermolovich. T, (2011), for many entrepreneurs one of the major and basic reason to adapt technology is to enhance their survival and growth. Its no secret that information technology can definitely add values to an organization in many ways, overall functionality and operations of various departments can be improved with the help of technology. Though solving various contemporary issues that exist in managing virtual teams are very hard to be solved or dealt with regardless of the use of technologies. In order to analyse the issues that entrepreneurs has to face in managing virtual teams it is important to know what virtual teams are and what their roles are.
Virtual teams (400)
As defined by Maznevski and Chudoba (2000: 473), virtual teams is a group of employees or team members who are located in different parts of the world but they conduct almost all of their meetings and dealings with the help of technology. As technology has become an important and integral part of our daily life, many large corporations that are globally dispersed rely heavily on it. In this competitive era, virtual teams are now considered as the key part of any organization and have become the central of the globalisation strategies (Matlay. H and Westhead. P, 2005).
One of the main reasons for forming virtual teams is because of the fact that entrepreneurs wants to overcome geographical separations while at the same time making sure that office space can be minimised and travel and time related costs associated with employees can be cut down too (Lilian. S, 2013). Another interesting fact that needs to be noted is that though research indicates that the behaviour of virtual teams may be similar to traditional teams but in reality, there are several differences due to strong reliance on technology.
Virtual teams can be of any size and can be based in any part of the world, it can be a large group of individuals being hired at the same location of number of individuals hired around the world to perform specific roles and duties. As stated by Martin et al. (2004), the members of these virtual teams are primarily dependent on technology for their day to day operations. Without technology, major part of their daily operations will be affected which will cause issues for entrepreneurs and business owners.
Such advancements due to technology has not only changed how team members communicate but also how they perform their daily routine-based work. It is because of the technological advancements that has made it possible for virtual team members to work 24/7 and collaborate regardless of the different time zones. It is very important to note that leading such dispersed team is never an easy task. Regardless of the technologies that are available and experience one may have, it all comes down to the person looking after and managing that team (Lilian. S, 2013). Therefore it is often said that leadership makes a major difference in the success of effectively managing a virtual team. With the adaption of new technologically mediated working arrangements it definitely require a totally different approach from the leadership perspective. Keeping this imperative challenge in mind, it is important for entrepreneurs to adapt the best leadership approach that is required from them and apply it in the best possible way (Nunamaker, Reinig, & Brigg, 2009).
Leading virtual teams
Leading teams that is globally dispersed has many challenges that any entrepreneur or leader has to face. For the success of running a virtual team it mainly depends on the entrepreneurship as its not only the experience that might come handy but also the mindset of the entrepreneur. To run a team of employees who are geographically dispersed, any entrepreneur will have to make effective use of available technologies and tools (Nunamaker, Reinig, & Brigg, 2009). For example, to be able to communicate, entrepreneurs have to make use of tools like Skype through which a group conference can be organised. Important files can be shared through emails and other technological advancements can also play a significant role.
Though to be able to do all this, entreprenurs need to adapt leadership styles that would work for them. As thriving in new working environment, where human interaction is usually mediated with the help of communication. Along with the leadership styles, entrepreneurs need to take consider the differences of cultures, languages and values of various team members. Entrepreneurs leading a team in a virtual environment, not only have to deal with their day to day operations but also have to manage them according to their time zones. Despite all the efforts and hard work put in by the entrepreneur it is very likely that global virtual teams may suffer mainly due to the lack of shared understanding, that might lead to miscommunication and misinterpretation (Lilian. S, 2013).
Contemporary Issues
With the growing trend of virtual teams or employees have the flexibility to work remotely, it represents a significant change in the relationship between managers and employees. Despite of various advantages of having virtual teams on staff members, managers and on the organization as a whole, there are many issues associated with its management part. Many of these contemporary issues that entrepreneurs faces in managing virtual teams are mainly associated with the behaviour and competency of remote employees, technical aspects and other legislative aspects (Dover. P, Hariharan. S and Cummings. M, 2014). For example, remote employees may feel isolated, demotivated, not having proper and clear instructions and low competency levels.
To deal with such issues and overcome such contemporary issues it is important for entrepreneurs to have daily interaction with team members. With the help of communication tools available, the feeling of isolation and demotivation of employees can be avoided (Dover. P, Hariharan. S and Cummings. M, 2014). Raising the competency level of team members is challenging as making sure that all employees and team members are equally talented and skilful when it comes to making proper use of available technology. Apart from this, not having a proper structure in place that would enable entrepreneurs to run a virtual team would present many issues. To deal with such issues, it is important that a proper planning, organizing and training of employees is conducted.
Having open communication is another issue that many entrepreneurs faces when it comes to communicating with a global team, that comprises of members from different cultures and nationalities (Wright. G, Cacerers. A and Morgan. L, 2014). Having a conversation in a physical environment is lot easier as compare to having same conversation in a virtual environment. In virtual communication, body gestures and body language is usually missing, that causes various doubts in a person mind.
Most important issue that entrepreneurs has to face in leading a virtual team is trust. Making sure that employees are actually working from their remote locations is challenging as keeping a track on the amount of effort being put in by employees in a remote environment is almost not possible (Wright. G, Cacerers. A and Morgan. L, 2014). The development of trust among members of virtual team members will vary on the basis of their cultures and norms. To deal with this, team members are encourage to share their knowledge, have open communication and most importantly share their experiences that would allow deeper interface and interdependence (Leading global virtual teams to success).
Conclusion
There’s no denying that the trend of working remotely or hiring employees across globe is constantly emerging. There are many jobs that are likely to be taken by people who are more skilful and talented, regardless of their location. In this competitive environment, if one thing that entrepreneurs have realised and accepted is that in order to thrive and penetrate in the market it is very important to have the right set of employees and at the same time have to adapt the new technologies that are available to them. To do so, hiring employees who can work remotely will definitely help the entrepreneurs to bring down various costs that might be associated with running their business. However, at the same time there are various issues that are associated when it comes to dealing, leading and managing a virtual team. Avoiding such contemporary issues to its fullest are not possible however such issues can be minimised by adapting various strategies and leading the team with the right attitude and behaviour. Various issues that are being highlighted in this paper can be minimised if proper and adequate approach is taken towards it.
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