The virtual project Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

The virtual project - Essay Example This essay analyzes some special problems virtual projects faces with. The process of teambuilding is common to any project. However the virtual project presents some serious problems in the areas of developing trust, developing group identity, sharing information, developing clear structures, formation of ‘cliques’ or informal subgroups and understanding information. If the problems of direct communication and new electronic technologies are not addressed, then they may become fatal. A virtual project is defined as being geographically dispersed so that the team members seldom if ever meet face to face. In this respect, the virtual project differs from the traditional project in that in a traditional team environment, the team members share a common work place so that they meet frequently. However the process of team building involves challenges that are common to all projects. The success of managing any project depends upon building an effective team. This is a commo n problem for any project manager. Effective team building depends upon building trust among the team members. If the team members do not trust each other, then their efforts cannot be directed towards a common goal. This is a problem faced by the project manager not only in the traditional bureaucratic setting, but also in the modern environment characterized by the virtual project. The basic definitions of team building that were implemented in the traditional project hold true for the virtual project as well. ... Creating good team work involves problems that are found in any project. Therefore the project manager, whether he is managing a traditional or a virtual project, must develop skills that can address the problems hindering good teamwork. Good teamwork requires clear structures and this is a problem common to both the virtual project and the bureaucratic setting. Unless the project manager can generate commitment to team objectives, project implementation will fail. These are problems that both the modern and the traditional project manager must consider. Virtual projects specifically face the problem of not being able to directly communicate. Because the team members are spread across several time zones, they cannot meet face-to-face. Therefore the difficulties of communicating and team building are much greater in a virtual project. Implementing virtual project teams requires the project manager to have skills in managing the latest communication technologies. The benefits that trad itional projects can gain from collocation are not attributable to the virtual project in which the team members are geographically dispersed. Therefore virtual projects face unique communication problems. For this reason, implementing virtual projects requires the use of the most advanced communication technologies. Distant team members also face the problem of information sharing. Because they are located in different locations, they have different perspectives on the same information. This problem creates inequities of information which is unique to the virtual project. The virtual project faces the unique problem of not having collocation. As a