This assignment has been adapted from the Society for HumanResource Management (SHRM), Managing Virtual Work Teams – A SHRMcase study by Frankie S. Jones, PhD.

After your team discusses all three parts associated with thiscase, the team will prepare a 7-10 page paper that includes yourteam’s responses and addresses the questions in each of the threeparts properly. This paper will serve as your team voice to coachLauren on how to lead her cross-functional team to success andovercome the issues presented in the case study. In other words,the team members will collaborate to write the paper, and each teammember will submit this paper to the assignment section tofacilitate grading. Your team paper should include a minimum of 10references from sources published within the last ten years.

Part I: An Introduction to Virtual Teams

Lauren is assigned team leader of a cross-functional team for avery important project to the company. Lauren reviews the profilesof the six team members her boss gave her. She is both intriguedand anxious when she sees that team members are geographicallydispersed.

Lauren works in the Atlanta office. One team member is in India;another is in Germany; and the rest live in the United States, butin different time zones. Two staff members are in the eastern timezone (Virginia and North Carolina) and two staff members are in thecentral time zone (Texas and Louisiana).

Lauren has never managed a virtual team and is unsure whatspecial skills it will take to be successful. She begins to wonderwhat competencies are necessary for virtual team leaders andmembers. She studies the team member profiles and creates a matrixto evaluate each member’s strengths and weaknesses from theperspective of working virtually. She includes herself because sherealizes she needs to evaluate her own strengths and weaknesses.Lauren thinks about the challenges and opportunities she will facemanaging this virtual team.

In your assigned groups, you are to:

Review the supplied team member matrix.

Brainstorm the challenges and/or opportunities Lauren’s teammight face.

Record your ideas in the group discussion forum.

Team Member Matrix

Team Member	Location (TimeZone)	CommunicationPreferences	Virtualexperience	Strengths	Weaknesses
Lauren (Team Manager)	Atlanta, GA (Eastern)	E-mail	No	Building and maintaining trust. Performance management and coaching. Networking.	Appropriate use of information technology. Developing and adapting standard team processes. Managing across cultures.
Santosh	Pune, India (GMT+05:30)	Instant messaging	Yes	Interpersonal awareness. Use of technology.	Self-management. Project management.
John	Wilmington, NC (Eastern)	Telephone	No	Networking face-to-face.	Use of technology. Spanning boundaries.
Joyce	Norfolk, VA (Eastern)	E-mail	Yes	Self-management. Project management.	Networking.
Helga	Berlin, Germany (CentralEuropean)	SharePoint; Webconferencing (withvideo)	Yes	Use of technology.	Interpersonal awareness. Project management.
Adam	Dallas, TX (Central)	Instant messaging, discussionboards	No	Networking via technology. Spanning boundaries.	Use of technology.
Brenda	New Orleans, LA (Central)	Instant messaging; blogs;SharePoint; e-mail	Yes	Use of technology. Interpersonal awareness. Networking. Spanning boundaries.	Self-management.