1. Copyright 2001 © IMD, Lausanne, Switzerland Not to be used or reproduced without permission Maznevski – Virtual Teams – 1 High Performance from Global Virtual Teams Martha Maznevski

2. Copyright 2001 © IMD, Lausanne, Switzerland Not to be used or reproduced without permission Maznevski – Virtual Teams – 2 My Background  Anthropology / Linguistics  Education (Development, Learning)  Organizational Behavior Business context Social psychology, sociology, anthropology, political science, etc. Dependent variable is effectiveness (organizational and personal)

3. Copyright 2001 © IMD, Lausanne, Switzerland Not to be used or reproduced without permission Maznevski – Virtual Teams – 3 Research Stream  Global team effectiveness Multicultural, multifunctional, often multiorganizational Highly complex tasks, tight deadlines Map-Bridge-Integrate model “But most of the time we work virtually…”  Global virtual team effectiveness Presented here  Global virtual network effectiveness Current work, introduced here

4. Copyright 2001 © IMD, Lausanne, Switzerland Not to be used or reproduced without permission Maznevski – Virtual Teams – 4 Introduction  Virtual team Group of people working together on a shared task Members are in different locations Members communicate using technology significantly more often than face-to-face  Great potential! Get the best people, no matter where they are Members bring perspectives from their own locations Test ideas in multiple contexts before making final decisions

5. Copyright 2001 © IMD, Lausanne, Switzerland Not to be used or reproduced without permission Maznevski – Virtual Teams – 5 Research Overview  Main empirical study Multi-method, in-depth study of 3 teams in one organization over almost 2 years; one success, one failure, one mixed.  Other studies Less formal in-depth research with several teams over several years Interviews and observation in many teams, many organizations to test and validate research ideas

6. Copyright 2001 © IMD, Lausanne, Switzerland Not to be used or reproduced without permission Maznevski – Virtual Teams – 6 Technology Is Not the Most Important Part! Teams that focus on the issues of being “virtual” sometimes do well, but often don’t. Teams that focus on being a team and getting their job done well generally figure out the technology anyway.

7. Copyright 2001 © IMD, Lausanne, Switzerland Not to be used or reproduced without permission Maznevski – Virtual Teams – 7 Three Simple Rules 1.Choose the right technology. 2.Manage by the task. 3.Sequence technologies in a rhythm.

8. Copyright 2001 © IMD, Lausanne, Switzerland Not to be used or reproduced without permission Maznevski – Virtual Teams – 8 Rule 1: Choose the right technology Face-to-face Videoconference Telephone – 1 person Teleconference Email – 1 person Email – List Fax Letter Choose technologies by their “richness”  Media are richer to the extent that they Allow for feedback; and Communicate using multiple modes (senses, channels) at the same time

9. Copyright 2001 © IMD, Lausanne, Switzerland Not to be used or reproduced without permission Maznevski – Virtual Teams – 9 Rule 1: Choose the right technology. Complexity = Richness The more complex the message, the richer the medium required. More complexity: Higher stage in the decision-process Number of messages in the same interaction Greater degree to which information depends on context to be understood (tacitness) Number of cultural, organizational, professional, geographic, or time boundaries crossed Degree to which the message must generate commitment from the receiver

10. Copyright 2001 © IMD, Lausanne, Switzerland Not to be used or reproduced without permission Maznevski – Virtual Teams – 10 Rule 2: Manage by the task. Most important task factor is Amount of Required Interdependence. A B C Task Pooled (low) A A B B C C Task Sequential (moderate) Reciprocal (high)

11. Copyright 2001 © IMD, Lausanne, Switzerland Not to be used or reproduced without permission Maznevski – Virtual Teams – 11 Rule 2: Manage by the task. Interdependence = Frequency + Richness The more interdependence the task requires… … the more frequent the communication should be; and … the more complex the messages usually are, requiring richer media (see Rule 1). The task may require different amounts of interdependence at different stages.

12. Copyright 2001 © IMD, Lausanne, Switzerland Not to be used or reproduced without permission Maznevski – Virtual Teams – 12 Rule 3: Sequence Technologies in a Rhythm  Create a heartbeat A rhythm set by face-to-face meetings Pumps oxygen and blood into the life of the team and its relationships Face-to-face meetings do not need to coincide with major decision points! Rhythm is more important. Time between heartbeats depends on task (interdependence and complexity) and team member cohesion

13. Copyright 2001 © IMD, Lausanne, Switzerland Not to be used or reproduced without permission Maznevski – Virtual Teams – 13 Heartbeat Evidence 1 Effective team: Meets face-to- face every four months.

14. Copyright 2001 © IMD, Lausanne, Switzerland Not to be used or reproduced without permission Maznevski – Virtual Teams – 14 Heartbeat Evidence 2 Effective Team: Meets face-to- face every six months. Meets by formal telephone conference every two months.

15. Copyright 2001 © IMD, Lausanne, Switzerland Not to be used or reproduced without permission Maznevski – Virtual Teams – 15 Heartbeat Evidence 3 Ineffective Team: No established rhythms of face- to-face meetings. No rhythms of contact using rich media.

16. Copyright 2001 © IMD, Lausanne, Switzerland Not to be used or reproduced without permission Maznevski – Virtual Teams – 16 Some Finer Points More effective teams and relationships… … also select technology based on receiver preference … often use 2 or more technologies simultaneously (e.g., phone and email or shared database) … explicitly talk about using different technologies … if the relationship is strong, address and resolve conflicts over the phone rather than face-to-face (exception to the Rule 1)

17. Copyright 2001 © IMD, Lausanne, Switzerland Not to be used or reproduced without permission Maznevski – Virtual Teams – 17 Supporting Global Virtual Teams  Support your employees who are on virtual teams  Make available as many communication technologies as possible; give people access to good training  Remember this is dynamic: what you set up today is probably not how people will work next year

18. Copyright 2001 © IMD, Lausanne, Switzerland Not to be used or reproduced without permission Maznevski – Virtual Teams – 18 Current Research  Notion of “team” is too constraining… Connotations of stable, bounded, unidimensional Real work flows are dynamic, open, multidimensional Capture this in networks  Working much more with nature of knowledge and knowledge flows, as well as collaboration and influence processes

19. Copyright 2001 © IMD, Lausanne, Switzerland Not to be used or reproduced without permission Maznevski – Virtual Teams – 19 Social Capital: Assets in Relationships Organization Team Resources Combine Team and External Resources Organizational Resources External Resources Organizational Performance Managing Knowledge with Social Capital Team Output External Environment Virtual Team

20. Copyright 2001 © IMD, Lausanne, Switzerland Not to be used or reproduced without permission Maznevski – Virtual Teams – 20 Empirical Study  35 global account management teams in a large professional services firm, 10-100 people per “team”  Team networks for task advice, “people” advice: Within the team Between the team and the rest of the organization Between the team and the client  Technology use  Two points in time  Multiple interviews, observations, etc.

21. Copyright 2001 © IMD, Lausanne, Switzerland Not to be used or reproduced without permission Maznevski – Virtual Teams – 21 Q3: How often have you gone to each of the people on your team to talk about task-specific issues 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 1112 13 14 Team (US based) Team (overseas) Team (not on partner’s list)

22. Copyright 2001 © IMD, Lausanne, Switzerland Not to be used or reproduced without permission Maznevski – Virtual Teams – 22 Q5: How often have you gone to each of the people on your team about account related people or HR issues 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1010 1 1414 Team (US based) Team (overseas) Team (not on partner’s list)

23. Copyright 2001 © IMD, Lausanne, Switzerland Not to be used or reproduced without permission Maznevski – Virtual Teams – 23 Q8:... have social relationship with people on your team 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1010 1 1515 1212 1414 1616 Team (US based) Team (overseas) Team (not on partner’s list)

24. Copyright 2001 © IMD, Lausanne, Switzerland Not to be used or reproduced without permission Maznevski – Virtual Teams – 24 Q9: How often have you gone to people within the firm not on your team to talk about task-specific issues 2525 2626 2727 2828 2929 3030 3131 3232 3 3434 3535 3636 3737 3838 3939 4040 4141 4242 4343 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1010 1 2121 2 2323 2424 Team (US based) Team (overseas) Firm source

25. Copyright 2001 © IMD, Lausanne, Switzerland Not to be used or reproduced without permission Maznevski – Virtual Teams – 25 Q13: How often have you gone to CLIENT managers for task-specific issues Team (US based) Team (overseas) Firm source Client source