All that glitters does not make gold. With all the glitz and hype of
virtual teams, many organisations plunged headlong into the virtual
world without charts to navigate the waters. They looked for the advantages
without planning for the rocky reefs hidden just below the surface.
Here are some of the setbacks for both company and virtual worker.
For companies, losing control of workers is tough. Because they don't
see workers, they lost the control over what was getting done and what
wasn't. Here the mistake was not in setting up a virtual team, but in
not making it clear what each team member's role was and how and when
projects were to get done.
Some organisations also went "partial virtual" and those left in-house
became jealous of the freedom of their virtual counterparts while the
virtual members felt lost and abandoned by their organisation; often
overlooked for future postings, increments and promotions. The old adage,
"Out of sight, out of mind" applies here. Still other companies shot
themselves in the foot before starting by not making a significant enough
commitment to their virtual teams by helping them get the required equipment,
setting up the right internal systems and having sufficient safeguards
in place. Safeguards that guarantee each member of the VT stay on target
and is self-monitoring.
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