Group items tagged

Virtual Teams For New Product Development – An Innovative Experience For R&D Engineers

as cited in Ebrahim, Ahmen, & Taha (2009), stated, “Virtual teams may allow people to collaborate more productively at a distance, but the trip to coffee corner or across the hallway to a trusted colleague is still the most reliable and effective way to review and revise a new idea” (p.2656). Although some may see it as a negative or ineffective progression to the way team members interact with one another, the popularity and growing acceptance of virtual teaming is undeniable. The increasing amount of research that is being conducted indicates virtual teaming’s wide approval rate. Further research should continue to focus on the elements that make a virtual team successful, as improving such components will encourage the use and popularity of virtual teams.

The flexibility of virtual teaming allows organizations to choose from any number of possible participants, which creates diversity and allows for many different viewpoints to be incorporated into the team (Ebrihim, Ahmen, & Taha, 2009).

Utilization of a virtual team to accomplish a specific goal or end product requires an equal distribution of participation and cooperation from every member of the team. Furthermore, a virtual team can only thrive and be effective if trust develops within the team, and the team has a specified facilitator (Panteli & Tucker, 2009, and Ebrahim, Ahmen & Taha, 2009).