Virtual Project Management
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The document discusses the dynamics and challenges of managing virtual project teams compared to traditional co-located teams, emphasizing the importance of communication and collaboration facilitated by technology. It identifies various challenges such as language barriers, lack of face-to-face interactions, and cultural differences, providing mitigation strategies like utilizing video conferencing and online collaboration tools. The conclusion highlights the necessity for clear processes, defined roles, and effective communication tools to ensure virtual teams achieve project success.
Virtual Project Management
- 1. ANAG THE DIGITAL FIRM April 18, 2014 By: Monzer AL-Shaikh Warak Under supervision of Prof. Mamata Bhandar FINAL INTEGRATION PROJECT IS Project Management
- 2. 1 VirtualProjectManagement|4/18/2014 Contents Introduction ………………………………..………………….…………………………. 2 Virtual Vs collected Project teams ………………………….……………….………….. 3 Enhance communication and coordination among virtual project team members …. 4 Problems & Suggestions in virtual project management……..……………………….. 4 Selecting Appropriate Technologies for Team Interactions ……………….………….. 9 Analysis of Other related technique that may use in Virtual Project Management .. 10 Other Ideas may be useful to managing a Virtual Projects ………………..………... 10 Conclusion …………………………………………………..………….………….……. 11 References.…………………………………..………………………………….……….. 12
- 3. 2 VirtualProjectManagement|4/18/2014 Virtual Project Management Introduction It is of no secret that the technological constant developments have affected many aspects of human lives within the last decades. Managing people in a co-located team differ than a distributed team; the traditional co-located teams require depth understanding for the dynamics of human and social grouping, while dealing with virtual teams has created additional difficulties for management. In the distributed teams, the spirit of collaboration is harder to be achieved, and the interaction between team members becomes less visible, which definitely would affect achieving the organization objective and the managerial process effectiveness. Virtual collaboration enables distributed expertise to focus on shared problems with a necessary interfacing through technology. Quality of interaction is critical for establishing the framework for successful collaboration on any team, virtual or not; however, the usual hurdles of any group of people coming together to tackle difficult problems is exacerbated in virtual groups by having to rely on technology. For this reason, virtual collaboration should be planned for and supported by the development of specific interaction skills and the technological proficiency that will help ensure project success. There continues to be a need to understand how technology changes the nature of work and collaboration. Because of Geographical distance, the biggest challenge that faced the project / program manager is managing a virtual team. In the following papers, I will shine the light on some tools, techniques, and useful Idea to managing virtual projects.
- 4. 3 VirtualProjectManagement|4/18/2014 Virtual Vs collected Project teams Both virtual and collected teams should follow the known managerial process of implementing projects, such as planning and monitoring & controlling. In addition, both projects have clear objectives that should be achieved in accordance to the organization strategy and vision. The main difference between managing the traditional projects and the virtual ones is about the human resource allocation. The two types of teams have the same intent to achieve the project goals and deliverables, but each one use a unique tools and collaborative approach. In the virtual environments, the focus needs to be more on how to make actions and take decisions, as the communication process cannot be smooth as in the traditional projects especially when working in different geographical regions and/or across different time zones. In contrast to the face-to-face communication, the virtual communication adds more and more constrains on the project manager role and his/her team leaders. One of the most important challenges may face the virtual team management is to ensure that every one participate to the best they can offer, with virtual projects success will not come from the tight managerial. With the virtual based projects the projects interfaces should be self-directed rather than relay on external control or supervision, each project manager should be a facilitator more than being a director. In the co-located projects, decisions often being taken by holding brainstorming sessions or discussion groups, while the virtual team members lack such kind of connection feeling and most spend additional time and efforts to bring attention to the new news and enhance sustainability.
- 5. 4 VirtualProjectManagement|4/18/2014 Enhance communication and coordination among virtual project team members One of the most important challenges may face virtual team members is the differ in cultures, different people from different backgrounds, they may speak different languages and share various values It's essential for project manager in virtual environments to avoid communication gaps and overarch barrier , such activity should be during the offline periods meaning out of the working sessions , for that purpose phone calls or Skype contact could enhance the human interaction between the PM and the team members and the team members themselves. During the grouping, process of people there should be a consideration to the different time zones and geographical locations. Problems & Suggestions in virtual project management A recent study has identified the following obstacles virtual teams may face some of them summarized in the below figure:
- 6. 5 VirtualProjectManagement|4/18/2014 The human behavior can be influenced by a number of different factors, including corporate culture, organizational processes and technological Infrastructure. Therefore, it is important to analyze each of the challenges described, and decide the proper tools that handle this challenge. 1. Language barriers A language barrier exists where team members with different native languages cooperate within a project. Although proficiency in a common working language (e.g. English) helps to reduce the problem, there will always be an increased potential for miscommunication and conflicts. The suggested mitigation strategy is to define a main, common working language in which all processes, practices and intellectual capital contributions need to be available, and at the same time to use a technical solution collaboration that offer the project information in multi-Language. 2. Lack of face-to-face communications face-to-face meetings help expedite the project flow and reduce risk, especially in the early project phases, and help build trust, which, provides benefits at all project stages. The suggested mitigation strategy is to use Video conferencing; It is a commonly used method of communication utilized by project teams. Video conferencing is a two-way communication that allows two or more parties to collaborate in real-time using audio and video. It uses telecommunication technologies such as phone lines, cable lines, or satellite transmission and hardware based technology such as TV, or high definition cameras, Example of video conferencing solution Microsoft Lync Skype, WebEx, ooVoo).
- 7. 6 VirtualProjectManagement|4/18/2014 3. Information redundancy Information redundancy results from the usage of multiple channels of communication, excess documentation and lack of effective (face-to-face) communication in virtual teams. The suggested mitigation strategy is to implementing an online knowledge management solution that collect an organize the data such as Wiki. Wiki is a collaborative website with content that can be edited by anyone who has access to it. Wikis are comprised of a series of links that contain content on various subject matter that may be added, edited, or deleted by users. The greatest advantage of a wiki is the concept of its users being easily able to contribute their knowledge and share it with others, which is invaluable during any collaboration project. 4. Time Time becomes a challenge when people are in different geographical locations, in the worst case with very distant time zones, and need to have some of their activities synchronized. For that, the suggested mitigation strategy is to have an online collaboration Project Management Solution to handle this issue such as Microsoft Project Online (http://goo.gl/rvPe9 ) Or Project Manager (www.projectmanager.com). 5. Proper security Communication with team members located in different locations or outside contractors always bears the risk of confidential data being disclosed or compromised, especially if this communication is conducted over insecure channels, such as the Internet. The suggested mitigation strategy is to define a secure standard for remote collaboration with resources from outside the organization, and mandate the use of an agreed security policy on all communications and assets regarding the common project. One component of Microsoft Project Online offer a secure communication between all parties.
- 8. 7 VirtualProjectManagement|4/18/2014 6. Cultural differences In virtual team the intangible information in communication is lost during electronic meetings and phone calls or conferences. In additional, many people feel uncomfortable when leading or working with teams where members have different cultural backgrounds! The suggested mitigation strategy is to educate the leaders, and all employees involved in projects with virtual teams on the challenges and pitfalls of cultural diversity, one technical solution could be used is Yammer. Yammer is a private social network that helps employees collaborate across departments, locations and business apps. The uses of second life technology would also remove the boundaries of Cultural differences.
- 9. 8 VirtualProjectManagement|4/18/2014 7. Conflict resolution In a purely virtual team which has never met and had no chance to build up trust, conflicts can gain in amplitude and endanger the whole project. The suggested mitigation strategy is Include face-to-face meetings in baselines, proper virtual resources interlock, and cultural diversity awareness. One uses of MindMap software is to put all the project members in the same page and its offering the knowledge sharing in Mind mapping style. 8. Trust The lack of face to face interaction and the inconsistence communications among virtual team members would be the reason behind the low level of trust between virtual teams members, in order to build the team trust the PM should uses effectively the communication electronic alternatives. Microsoft Lync is offering such service securely.
- 10. 9 VirtualProjectManagement|4/18/2014 9. Project team knowledge and cross-team collaboration The difficulty of sharing information in the virtual environments belongs to the distributed nature of the team members, with the new technologies, such thing should not make a challenge for project manager, it is easy to develop a suitable tool for sharing the information, such as smart phones applications (like: www.wunderlist.com) , emails, social private communities like Yammer, etc… Selecting Appropriate Technologies for Team Interactions Technology is to the virtual team as air is to the co-located team. For co-located teams, air is the communication medium; for virtual teams, technology is the communication medium. The tools used for communications are essential and must be pure and clean and not cause coughing and sickness. From my experience in Microsoft Project Online & Mindjet, they can fit and solve all problems I have mentioned. In addition; both solutions are integrated to each other and can perform an excellent collaboration environment. Microsoft Project Online integrated with Microsoft Office 365 that is contains an extremely important and necessary software in project management such as (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, outlook, SharePoint and Lync), which make this solution is a completed toolkit for project virtual project and portfolio management.
- 11. 10 VirtualProjectManagement|4/18/2014 Analysis of Other related technique that may use in Virtual Project Management Type of Tools Strengths Weakness Software example Wikis Great number of participants share their knowledge Less control of quality of content Wikipedia Twiki Publicly accessible Intranets Information is secure Time extensive to maintain Drupal DynaPortal SharePoint Control of content of information Can be expensive to maintain Extranets Information shared with individuals outside an organized Can be expensive to maintain Time extensive to maintain ShareFile Google Docs SharePoint VOIP Cost effective Lower quality of class Skype Lync AT&T VoIP Security Concerns Conference Call Cost effective Loss of non-verbal cues Cisco WebEx AccuConferenceExternal distractions Video Conferencing Reduce traveling costs Technically difficult to set up Cisco Telepresence ooVoo Can see non-verbal cues Can be expensive Online Chat Tools Cost effective Loss of non-verbal cues MSN Messenger Google Chat WhatsUp Project Management Software Packages Increased project organization Can be expensive Microsoft Project Online Base Camp Collaborative Project Pier Other Ideas may be useful to managing a Virtual Projects Here are five examples of how some virtual project managers have created informal gathering spots: Daily five-minute phone calls or video calls with each team member. Thirty minutes a day is all it takes to have a five-minute phone call with six team members. For larger teams, either every other day or connecting to key contacts is suggested. Creating a virtual water cooler. By keeping an online open communication, such as chat room, open all the
- 12. 11 VirtualProjectManagement|4/18/2014 time for team members to just hang out. With declaring, "break times," "lunch," "game time," "check-in times," etc. Holding a virtual office hours. Be online, have open phone lines, and be available at regular times, daily or weekly. Creating project challenges and competitions. The more relevant to the project the better, by making them educational, interesting and fun. Creating a proactive professional relationship with each team member. This isn't saying to become best friends or even liking all the team members. It's about understanding who they are, what their career is about, and how they will be able to help with whatever project challenges may arise, now and in the future. Conclusion Project managers utilize Virtual Project Management tools to compensate for not having the ability to meet in a centralized location. These tools offer a medium for virtual teams to communicate efficiently while being cost effective. In order for virtual teams to communicate effectively, the teams must have a common set of tools to work with throughout the project. To aid in the success of virtual teams, all processes and procedures should be clearly defined and communicated to each member as well as having all documents remain accessible to the team members at all times. All tasks and deliverables must be explicitly documented, clearly defined and thereafter, communicated to each team member. These actions should occur during any team project, but are uniquely necessary for virtual project teams. References “The Handbook of High-Performance Virtual Teams A toolkit for collaborating across boundaries", chapter four, By: John Wiley & Sons, Jossey-Bass, 2008 "Challenges of virtual project management in developing countries", By: S. Nauman, S. Iqbal, IEEE Engineering Management Society, 2005. “Implementing virtual teams: a guide to organizational and human factors”, By: Edwards, A. & Wilson, J.R. (2004) Gower publishing limited. “6 Best Practices for Managing Virtual Teams”, By: Star Dargin, Corporate Education Group, URL: http://www.corpedgroup.com/resources/pm/6BestPracticesMVT.asp, Accessed at: 18/04/2014 “Virtual Project Management Tools and Techniques”, PM440, the Wiki URL: http://pm440.pbworks.com/w/page/25397227/Virtual%20Project%20Management%20Tools%20and%20Tec hniques Accessed at: 18/04/2014