Team cohesion was difficult to achieve in the compressed timeframe for the projects.
Several participants made hasty attributions about remote team members’ motivation
and contributions based on limited communication among the team. Without face-toface
interaction, communication was reduced to impersonal e-mail and wiki postings.
Participants were less able to empathize and see things from their remote team
member’s point of view. Some team members judged their remote counterparts harshly
because their work styles differed. Participants stated that they learned how to be more
accepting of others and how they prioritize and pace their work. They also recognized
the challenges of understanding people whose work style differs from their own. These
observations demonstrate a level of maturity in the participants as they realized that
one cannot assume that everyone you work with will share your work ethic or methods.
The virtual environment pushed them to work with assigned team members, much like
they will have to in their professional lives.
The projects were undertaken to teach students how to interact across time and
space with unseen team members. While the projects were complicated by new and
unfamiliar technology, many participants were able to see beyond the obstacles
and take away practical lessons that will be of benefit in their future professional
careers. Participants will have a working familiarity with wikis, forums, and other
virtual communication modes if called upon to use them in their future professional
lives. They will be less reluctant to try new modes of communication and to experiment
with unfamiliar web-based technologies. As the work world is likely to require them to
move beyond the comfort of familiar e-mail and social networking sites, the projects
taught them to adapt and learn new things in a safe environment.
While participants had previous experience working in collocated teams,
managing a project in a virtual setting required stricter discipline and better
planning. Because delays in communication could easily lead to missed deadlines or
duplication of work, successful teams established clear responsibilities and
deadlines. Using project milestones to ensure timely task completion was a key
element of effective teams. Setting deadlines that allowed for time to review the final
project well before the due date reduced stress on team members. High functioning
teams equitably distributed the work and honored deadlines, resulting in higher
quality outcomes and more harmonious group dynamics.
Several participants noted that their personal leadership skills were enhanced
through the project. They worked to help all team members understand their
role(s) and recognize the importance of pulling together to produce a satisfactory
final report. Bridging between team members at two different locations stretched
the leadership abilities of participants and helped them to find new ways to
involve everyone on the team. A number of participants noted that they
improved their research skills. The ability to navigate to web sites and mine them
for relevant information helped the teams deliver the assigned report. Some
participants found additional web sites (over and above what we provided)
and articles to supplement their reports.