Working as team is a new setting of collaboration between and within the organization. Because of the rapid globalization, the team members can virtually work together in order to achieve a certain goal. Virtual teams can be defined as a set of members who are geographically dispersed and they communicate through technological tools in order to achieve a mutual tool.
Global virtual teams are cross continentally dispersed and it is rare for the members to meet face to face. Global virtual teams engage different members of the team in discussions (Wei, K. et al 2006). There are several challenges that occur because of the increase of the heterogeneity in the teams and this normally depends on the difference of the ethnicities, the language background, gender, expertise and educational background.
The diversity of the team members adds complexity to the team process. increase of conflict normally arise in virtual teams which is stressed by delays in communication, the difference in the time zone, lack of direct contact because of geographical dispersion (Hofstede, G.J. 1991). Conflict is usually regarded as an important process which can harm or it can also enhance performance of the team. Organizations usually have dilemma between the extensive reach on expertise and the economic benefits of the global virtual teams. The ways in which conflicts are managed depend on the leadership and employees usually determine leadership as a very critical factor for the success of the team. Team conflicts can be defined as disagreement among the team members in a team.
Team conflict can be divided into two, interpersonal conflict and task conflict whereby interpersonal conflict refers to that conflict arising from perceived interpersonal incompatibilities. This type of conflict is characterized by feelings of frustration, anger and distrust thus decreasing the interest and satisfaction of the performance within the task. Task conflict is referred to conflict that is concerned with the approach of the work and team members have differing perspectives. This conflict diminishes the effectiveness of the team. Cultural diversity is an underlying type of diversity and it is a visible category of diversity (Hofstede, G.J. 1991). By understanding the cultural diversity, it helps in explaining the behaviors of the members of the team.
People who are from individualistic cultures are mire likely to value their time and their own approach to work. Diverse groups have less communication, they are less integrated and they have more conflict. Cultural diversity tends to influence the behavior and attitudes of people thus it results to team conflict. When the members of the team have different native language and they are then forced to communicate among themselves in a non native language, a misunderstanding is likely to occur thus causing team conflict because of slower speech, translations and less accuracy when communicating (Wei, K. et al 2006). Technology is the means used for communication among the team members globally.
There are five problems which can cause misunderstanding in global teams which are lack of communicating information, the difference in the speed of accessing the information, the amount of the exchange information and lack of communicating contextual information (Wei, K. et al 2006). The members of the group are usually less aware of the social context that they are involved hence it is not likely for them to exchange information. Leadership influences the effectiveness of the team and it has an impact on the directives and routines of the organization.
Reference
Hofstede, G.J. (1991). Cultures and Organizations McGraw-Hill
Kankanhalli, A, Tan, B & Wei, K. (2006). Conflict and Performance in Global Virtual Teams. Journal of Management
Information Systems 23(3)
