Virtual Project Risk Research In Progress April Reed Linda Knight DePaul University May 23, 2006

2 Outline Research Question Purpose of Research Importance of Research

3 The Research Question Are there significant differences between virtual and traditional software development projects critical to successful project completion?

4 Virtual teams "Virtual teams are groups of geographically, organizationally and/or time dispersed workers brought together by information and telecommunication technologies to accomplish one or more organizational tasks“ (Powell et al., 2004)

5 Purpose of this Research Identification of differences useful to corporations: 1.In determining most effective type of team to use 2.In decreasing project failure rates Boehm suggested focusing on top critical risks of a project to improve project success.

6 Importance of this Research Many drivers creating greater dependence on virtual teams: Offshoring – working with global resources Outsourcing Increased cost of travel Fear of travel due to security concerns

7 Importance of this Research – Project Failure Statistics Project failures not decreasing Project failures extremely costly to organizations CHAOS report statistics on project failure: 2000 rpt: 23% failed, 49% challenged 3rd Qtr 2004 rpt: 18% failed, 53% challenged (Standish Group International, I. (2001). Extreme chaos. & (2004). Chaos demographics third quarter research report)

8 Hypothesis There are many similarities in the risk factors of virtual versus traditional projects Critical risk factors in these two types of projects are different

9 Research Methodology 1.Development of survey instrument 2.Pilot Group: face-to-face interviews using survey instrument to identify risk factors 3.Focus Group to verify identified risk factors 4.Revision of risk factor list 5.Mass distribution of survey using risk factor list 6.Analysis of results

10 Research Progress Face-to-face interviews - completed Focus Group session - completed Focus Group data analysis – In Progress

11 Preliminary Results Some identified risk factors from the face-to-face interviews: Communication Management of Remote Resources Trust

12 Other Results Use of Virtual versus traditional teams Virtual teaming is more common than expected More participants in focus group had worked on a virtual project There are many many risk factors

13 Communication Risk Different aspects of communication Vehicle – technical & non-technical tools to share project information, i.e. , web conference Methods & type of information - quick questions or messages vs. important project documents, i.e. requirements, coding specs, etc.

14 Communication Vehicle Virtual teams: technical communications tools may be only method to share vital project information & documents must be accessible by all team members tools must be compatible Traditional teams: have choice of technical & non-technical tools, i.e. face-to-face meetings Can mix technical with non-technical for best fit

15 Quote on Communication “It is more difficult to communicate over the phone than walking over to the persons’ desk to talk.” Kirkman and Mathieu believe the resources important to virtual team success are: software tools and accompanying hardware….

16 Management of Remote Resources Difference in management style Comfort level with remote resources Working with people you may never see

17 Quote on Resource Management “It takes longer (to do the project) when learning how to manage remote resources while doing it.”

18 Trust Difficult to tell what remote team members are really doing Can trust be built without face- to-face communication? If trust is damaged, can it be rebuilt without face-to-face communication?

19 Quote on Trust “I couldn’t see if the people were working.”

20 Conclusion Unexpected results Some managers had not worked on a traditional project in a number of years Companies evolved into using virtual teams without the accompanying change in processes or training

21 Conclusion Any type of project can have risk Do certain risk occur more often or with greater intensity on virtual projects?

22 Next Steps Revision of survey instrument Mass distribution of survey to project managers and analysts using a purchased mailing list Collection and analysis of data

23 Questions ??????

24 References Boehm, B. W. (1991). Software risk management: Principles and practices. IEEE Software(January 1991), Jones, R., Oyung, R., & Pace, L. (2005). Working virtually: Challenges of virtual teams: Idea Group Inc. Kirkman, B., & Mathieu, J. (2005). The dimensions and antecedents of team virtuality. Journal of Management, 31(5), Powell, A., Piccoli, G., & Ives, B. (2004). Virtual teams: A review of current literature and directions for future research. The DATA BASE for Advances in Information Systems, 35(1), Standish Group International, I. (2001). Extreme chaos. Walther, J. B., Bunz, U., & Bazarova, N. (2005, 2005). The rules of virtual groups. Paper presented at the Proceedings of the 38th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences 2005, Hawaii.