Technological Innovations Transforming Workplace Interaction - Essay Sample

Introduction

It is true that the emergence of new technological innovations at the workplace has resulted in a paradigm shift in the interaction and work execution in various organizations. For instance, the introduction of communication devices such as smartphones, computers and the internet has surely revolutionized the daily operations of any organization (Forrester & Tashchian, 2006). Admittedly, such technologies make the interaction among the employers, employees and the clients more viable even when they are in different geographical locations. It is indeed accurate to note that a virtual team is a group of persons who are at different geographical locations and are brought together through the information and communication technology to realize similar organizational goals and objectives.

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Typically, communication in the virtual team is enhanced through fax, email and video conferencing which facilitate the collaboration between the team members. It is indeed important to appreciate the role of leadership in the coordination of the virtual team to ensure the organizational goals are achieved (Gaudes, Hamilton-Bogart & Marsh, 2007). Leadership, in this context, relates to the ability to influence human followers to achieve the same set of organizational goals. It is worth noting that a leader of a virtual team could employ various approaches such as the rotating and the facilitator to manage the virtual team and get the best out of them.

Doubtlessly, the virtual team member often faces several challenges in their efforts towards the achievement of the team goals. In this case, the virtual leaders are often important in drafting the solutions for whatever challenges that may arise in the team. It is praiseworthy that the writer has underscored the various approaches that could be adopted by the team leaders to solve eminent challenges within the virtual team organization. For instance, the writer has successfully noted the role of a linear approach which involves the collection of the views and ideas from all the team members in case there is a problem within the organization. This, in turn, helps in the formulation of viable solutions to such challenges within the virtual team organization.

Review

The writer of the case 2 review accurately captures the role of leadership in the virtual team. For instance, the nature of the work often determines the design within the virtual team as well as the leadership structure applied within such a team. The application of the right design within the virtual team will enable the members to understand each other thus resulting in the successful realization of the project objectives. It is worthy for the writer to note that the collaborations between the team member and their leaders enhance the productivity and advancements within the organization.

The writer has thoroughly superimposed the role of organizational design in meeting the various organizational objectives. For instance, the writer notes that for virtual teams, the modular design is highly recommended where the various colleagues have a role in addressing the various plans, critical issues and assignments with other team members. Such design is essential since it provides the focal point for information sharing among the virtual team.

The writer of this piece also appreciates the role of collaboration among the team members. For instance, collaboration is used for communicating and sharing files with your teammates (Osman 2018; Trident University International 2019). Bravo Team uses Outlook E-mail and the WhatsApp as the collaboration tools in order to communicate and work on our projects. Bravo Team tries to get the first draft of the paper finished within the first four or five days of a two-week module, so the rest of the module is used editing the paper and sending it back and forth through Outlook E-mail (McGannon, 2009).

Team Norms and Procedures

The writer here accurately notes that it is often hard to effectively communicate the norms and procedures of the organizational team. In this case, it is essential to have effective communication which adequately outlines the expectations that are to be accomplished by the organization. The presentation of Team Bravo by the writer clearly serves the purpose of illustrating the role of communication in meeting the objectives of the virtual team. The various communication norms exist for the organization which dictates the kind of information that should be made through Whatsapp and email. The writer clearly illustrates the essence of having a communication norm within a virtual team. For instance, the team appreciates the vitality of sending official communications through email.

The writer also appreciates the role of task-specific norms in communicating the most essential components of the organization. For instance, one of the task-specific norms that are presented by the Bravo team is that each member takes the lead on an assignment. This verifies that each member is putting in the same amount of effort, as each member has to create the initial draft of one of the assignments (Forrester & Tashchian, 2006). In addition, the writer effectively presents the role of the Bravo team in changing the revision order, which allows each teammate to add in anything they want to in each assignment. This ensures that the same people are not adding everything to the papers while one teammate waits until the end and does not have to contribute anything, as is the way with most group projects (LaBrosse, 2010). As a team, it is important for us to have everyone putting in the same amount of effort so that the entire project does not fall on the shoulders of one person.

References

Forrester, W. & Tashchian, A. (2006). Modeling the Relationship between Cohesion and Performance in Student Work Groups, International Journal of Management, Vol. 23, No. 3.

Gaudes, A., Hamilton-Bogart, B. & Marsh, S. (2007) A Framework for Constructing Effective Virtual Teams, The Journal of E-working, Vol. 1, pp. 83-97.

LaBrosse, M. (2010) "6 Rules for Better Communication in Virtual Teams." Computer World online. Retrieved from: http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9179543/6_rules_for_better_communication_in_virtual_teams?taxonomyId=14&pageNumber=2

McGannon, B. (2009). Stealth Team Building. Retrieved from http://www.projectsmart.co.uk/stealth-team-building.html