Individual Assignment: Managing Diverse Virtual Teams
As organisations merge and grow in a global environment, it is more likely that you will encounter
a virtual team. The concept of virtual teams varies by organisations, and it can involve a variety
of scenarios. All team members may work remotely; there may be several office locations and
team members from each location; or it may be a mix of the two. Virtual teams allow
organisations to provide longer business hours, reduced employee travel costs and flexible
employee work schedules. Yet, performance issues may arise when working in virtual teams
(Schermerhorn et al, 2012). Therefore, a manager may need additional strategies to help virtual
teams address those issues.
During your consultancy for your scenario organisation, you are concerned with how the
upcoming transition may impact employees. During and after the transition, many of the current
and future employees may have to work remotely. Although a small percentage of the
organisation (generally on the executive level) has participated in virtual teams, most of the
employees are used to facetoface teams. You suggest sending a newsletter to employees
about virtual teams to help support a more successful transition. In this Individual Assignment,
you will recommend strategies for managing diverse virtual teams.
References
Schermerhorn, Jr., J. R., R. N. Osborn, M. UhlBien, & J. G. Hunt, (2012)Organisation
Behavior, 12th edition, New York: John Wiley
To prepare for this Individual Assignment:
Review the Unit Introduction and the Learning Resources.
Support your Individual Assignment with current academic literature beyond
your Learning Resources.
Think about your scenario organisation and consider the unique needs of
diverse virtual teams.
Review relevant theories, concepts and research and think about strategies to
manage diverse virtual teams effectively.
To complete this Individual Assignment:
Create a newsletter for current and future employees of your scenario
organisation.
o
The purpose of the newsletter would be to alert current and future
employees of the upcoming transition, explain the upcoming need to work
virtually for either a temporary or an extended period and provide
strategies for working effectively in virtual teams.
Provide two strategies to manage virtual teams effectively drawing from
relevant theories, concepts and research in the Learning Resources and current
literature. One of your strategies should include how managers in your scenario
organisation will develop virtual teams comprised of employees from varying
cultures.
Please use your creativity while developing your Assignment. You may use the
template provided for your Assignment, or you may create your own
communications approach that addresses individual and team needs.
Support your Individual Assignment with current academic literature beyond
your Learning Resources.
Note:
Be sure to include references to all sources, including your Learning Resources, in Harvard
format.
You should fully state and justify any assumptions that you choose to make in relation to your
scenario organisation. Please recall any previous assumptions that you made about your
organisation so that they will not conflict while preparing your Final Project. You will include
information from this Individual Assignment within Section 2 of your HRM Consultancy Report.
You will receive feedback on this work from your Faculty Member, and you will be expected to
incorporate any suggestions into your Final Project.
Submit your Individual Assignment to your Faculty Member for feedback. Be sure to submit by
the end of this unit in order to receive feedback. Contact your Faculty Member for permission to
submit an assignment early or to submit an assignment after the end of the unit.
To complete your Individual Assignment, do the following:
Please answer the Individual Assignment in a single Word document.
To upload your Individual Assignment, click on Individual Assignments
Submission on the Module Menu, and then click the ‘Unit 4 – Individual
Assignment Turnitin’ link.
Mark as complete
