Organisational Behaviour in an International Context

Reflective Report on Virtual Teams

Student:
Course of Studies: MSc International Business Management with Finance
Student ID: 3815459
E-mail: [email protected]
Lecturer: Dr. May Tungtakanpoung

Deadline: 06.12.2019
Words: 2.203

I
Contents
 Reflective Report

Contents

Contents...............................................................................................................................

List of Figures....................................................................................................................II

List of Tables......................................................................................................................II

List of Appendices.............................................................................................................II

1 The crucial role of Virtual Teams.................................................................................

2 Reflection on Virtual Teams..........................................................................................

2.1 Diversity and cultural differences...............................................................................

2.2 Manage a Virtual Team..............................................................................................

3 Conclusion.......................................................................................................................

References ......................................................................................................................

III

Appendix ..........................................................................................................................

V II
List of Figures

List of Figures

Figure 1: Hofstede’s Six Dimensions ............................................................................... 2

Figure 2: Team Classification based on the Hofstede Dimensions .................................. 3
Figure 3: Five Stage Model of Group Development ........................................................ 4

List of Tables

Table 1: The nine Team Roles .......................................................................................... 6

 Reflective Report

List of Appendices

Appendix 1: Gibbs’ Reflective Cycle .............................................................................. V

Appendix 2: Team Development Model ........................................................................ VI
Appendix 3: Personal Results on Role Dominance ....................................................... VII
Appendix 4: Qualities of a successful manager ............................................................ VIII
 Reflective Report 1

The crucial role of virtual teams

1 The crucial role of virtual teams

With companies increasingly engaged in the global marketplace, virtual teams became a
vital tool for the overall success of business operations. If organisations manage to
employ effective global teams, they can leverage the potential of each member to
increase international competitiveness (Brewer, 2015).

Virtual teams can be defined as a group of individuals working across geographical

distances, relying primarily on electronic forms of communication. Advances in
technology enable group members to collaborate on a project in a virtual environment
instead of working in a face-to-face context (Brewer, 2015). While virtual teams offer
the advantage of cross-border collaboration overcoming different time zones, they also
bear unique challenges (DuFrene and Lehman, 2016; Harvard Business Review, 2010).
Since the teams are often composed of people from various cultures, ages, and genders,
conflicts may arise in the scope of the cooperation. To accomplish the goal, the virtual
team needs to overcome these obstacles, which may occur in any stage of group
development (DuFrene and Lehman, 2016).

Given the importance of virtual teamwork in the international business context, it is

worthwhile to acquire practical experience on working in a virtual environment. In the
scope of the module on organisational behaviour, the students were part of a virtual
group consisting of five team members. The objective of this assignment was to jointly
prepare a presentation on a chosen subject relying exclusively on virtual
communication. This report further deals with the process and progress of the virtual
teamwork.

2 Reflection on virtual teams

In the following part, I want to reflect on the experiences that I gathered while working
in this particular team. These experiences will be critically evaluated using Gibbs’
reflective cycle (see Appendix 1). Based on this model, I will elaborate on the
challenges that arose from working virtually and how we managed to overcome them.
Thus, I want to highlight the most critical factors that shaped our collaboration, such as
 Reflective Report 2
Reflection on virtual teams

cultural backgrounds and the division of roles. Furthermore, I want to illustrate what I
have learned from the assignment and how this can feed into future personal
development.
2.1 Diversity and cultural differences
Diversity is a core advantage of virtual teamwork. The virtual environment brings
diverse backgrounds, expertise, and ideas together. These different individual traits of
the team members contribute to the success of the cooperation (Pauleen, 2004). A team
consisting of diverse individuals is generally better at making decisions and solving
problems than a homogenous group (Levi, 2017). On the other hand, diverse teams have
a higher potential for conflicts due to misperception of others and differences in
personalities. The members of the diverse team differ in their communication style,
language abilities and work approach disrupting efficient collaboration (Levi, 2017;
DuFrene and Lehman, 2016). To benefit from the diversity of the team, the members
have to overcome the various obstacles. This may be achieved by increasing
multicultural awareness (Levi, 2017). An essential framework for understanding cultural
differences was defined by Hofstede (Cook and Hunsaker, 2001). This framework
identifies six dimensions that define national cultures. Each dimension gives an
indication of a country’s set of preferences that allows differentiating cultures from one
another (Hofstede Insights, 2019a). The dimensions, including the diverging
preferences, are shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1: Hofstede’s Six Dimensions

Source: Own representation based on Corporate Finance Institute (2019).
 Reflective Report 3
Reflection on virtual teams

Specific patterns in the behaviour of the team members can be traced back to their
cultural preferences as defined by the model. Applying Hofstede’s six dimensions can
therefore help to raise cross-cultural awareness and improve collaboration within the
team. (Reid, 2015).
Before our team started working on the project, I used the framework to better
understand cultural traits that may have an impact on our performance. Hence, I have
classified each team member according to the Hofstede model. The ranking is
summarised in Figure 2.

Figure 2: Team Classification based on the Hofstede Dimensions Source:

Own representation based on Hofstede Insights (2019b).

Based on the above figure, I compared my personal cultural preferences (Germany) to

those of my team members to identify the main differences in our cultural backgrounds.
It becomes evident that my culture tends to low power distance and individualism,
whereas my group members prefer high power distance and collectivism. It can be
implied that my team members may require strong leadership to achieve a common goal
with defined rules and deadlines. Further, they may expect that the leader makes the
decisions and allocates the tasks accordingly instead of actively participating in the
decision-making process themselves (McDonald and Burton, 2002).

The cultural differences became most apparent in the initial stage of the group
development. This phase is defined by Tuckman as the forming stage. Tuckman’s ‘team
development model’ (see Appendix 2) claims that each team, either face-to-face or
virtual, will progress through five stages (Nelson and Quick, 2011). These stages, with
 Reflective Report 4
Reflection on virtual teams

their corresponding emphasis on relationships and task performance, are shown in

Figure 3.

Figure 3: Five Stage Model of Group Development

Source: O

wn representation based on Nelson and Quick (2011), DuFrene and Lehman (2016).

With respect to our virtual group, it can be noted that the initial phase of our group work
was especially relevant to our future collaboration. As a starting point, I created a group
chat that has further been used as our primary communication channel. During our first
meeting, I realised that most of the members didn’t even know what our task was. To
me, this was rather frustrating as the assignment was clearly set out in the module guide.
Further, I had hoped that we could already define a plan of action on how to proceed
with the group work. Due to the lack of preparation, I highlighted where to find the
questions and advised the members to read them carefully. From this moment on, I took
the leading position within the team. I like being in charge, and no one else seemed to
volunteer. At this point, it was challenging to have an open dialogue as most of the team
members seemed to be either shy, quiet or indifferent. Although I have allowed
everyone to share their views, hardly anyone has done so. This behaviour might be
traced back to their cultural backgrounds. My team members have a preference to build
personal relationships and maintain hierarchical structures within the team. I guess they
wanted to focus on getting to know each other on a personal level before starting to talk
about the project. Also, they might have been overwhelmed by the fact that they would
need to participate in the decision-making process. Looking back at it, I realised that I
might have been too authoritarian and that postponing the decision could have been an
option. On the other hand, I think it was good to set some guidelines and allocate tasks
to the members, as this allows them to have sufficient time to gain a clear understanding
of their individual responsibility.
 Reflective Report 5
Reflection on virtual teams

When progressing our work (storming stage), I noted that my team members had
diverging working styles. Some of them preferred to start directly, seeking constant
feedback while others suspended their work until the deadline. I am glad that most of
the team members began working on their assignment early. This gave me enough time
for revision, once they circulated their work with the group. After my review was
completed, I gave feedback to the individuals since some adjustments had to be made.
This gave them the option to re-think their work and therefore contributed to the overall
learning process. On the other side, I struggled with the members that were postponing
their tasks until the very last moment. I feared that they would not finish in time or with
poor quality. I know that some people need the pressure of an emerging deadline to be
productive. To guarantee that they meet the final deadline, I set various interim
deadlines while simultaneously sending reminders of the approaching submission dates.
This has been quite helpful as all of my group members managed to send their parts in
time. I would keep this approach in any further teamwork since I think it is a very
efficient way of working.

Anyhow, I noticed that any disruption in our predefined plan could cause significant
challenges to the performance of the group. At some point, it became clear that our
presentation lacked in-depth analysis on a specific matter. When I raised this issue with
the group, they agreed that we would have to change the existing presentation. Anyhow,
nobody could think of a way on how to achieve the desired outcome. I had to come up
with a plan how to deal with the situation. My solution has directly been accepted, and
no further comments were raised. In this moment, I felt like the rest of the group is
leaving the decision to me, giving me the responsibility of defining an appropriate plan
of action. I would have appreciated a greater involvement of the team members at this
stage. However, I think that some of the group members were frustrated that they had to
make extra efforts. This frustration became obvious when most of the team members
failed to deliver on the new task. I was very disappointed over this fact since I have put
a lot of effort into devising that specific action plan. I then communicated constructively
that the work is not qualitative enough and needs revision. This feedback was not
received very well and caused some members to lose motivation. In the end, I had to
finish this part of the presentation myself as time was running out. I think at this point, it
would have been beneficial to give the respective team members concrete sources that
could be used to finish the task. Also, it might have been helpful if another person
 Reflective Report 6
Reflection on virtual teams

participated in reviewing the quality of the content. In the future, I would appoint one
member of the group as a second reviewer and highlight the importance of this task to
keep the motivation high. Also, I would schedule the work in a way as to ensure there is
sufficient time for unexpected changes, so nobody suffers under pressure.
2.2 Manage a virtual team
The effectiveness of leadership plays a crucial role in the performance of the virtual
group. Given the reduced physical interaction, it is more challenging to build
interpersonal relationships among the team members (Liao, 2017). Bonds may be highly
valued by single group members and inevitable for success. This is especially applicable
for members with a collectivistic trait (Browaeys and Price, 2015). Since most of our
group shared the preference for collectivism, building relationships in our work
environment has been of significant importance. To foster interpersonal bonding, we
therefore maintained constant dialogue, not only on a task-related basis but also on a
personal level.

However, coming back to the assumptions in chapter 2.1, I recognised that my virtual
group would profit from strong leadership and clearly defined responsibilities to work in
an efficient and timely manner. Consequently, a task-oriented leadership style made the
best fit (Bird, 2019). Since I enjoy organising and coordinating a team, I stepped
forward to take on the responsibilities of the leader. Henceforth, I coordinated the task
allocation, set the deadlines, informed the members on updates, reviewed the content
and format of the delivered work and finally provided constant feedback and assistance.
Tracing my role back to Belbin’s (2010) concept of team roles, I can be classified as the
‘Shaper’ (see Appendix 3) since I took charge of the task accomplishment. According to
this framework, each team member must understand his role in the team to contribute to
the performance. There are nine different clusters an individual could be allocated to
(Belbin, 2010). The clusters are illustrated in Table 1.

Table 1: The nine Team Roles

Source: Own representation based on Belbin (2010).
Team Role Description
Plant Creative, imaginative, problem solving
Resource Investigator Overoptimistic, idea generation
Co-ordinator Mature, confident, chairperson, delegation
Shaper Challenging, dynamic, thrives on pressure
Monitor Evaluator Sober, strategic, discerning
Teamworker Co-operative, perceptive, listens
 Reflective Report 7
Reflection on virtual teams

Implementer Disciplined, reliable, efficient

Completer Finisher Conscientious, anxious, control, error detection
Specialist Single-minded, self-starting, dedicated

When I reflect on our team roles based on this framework, I realise that we could not
define distinctive roles for each individual as sometimes our roles tended to blend.
Though I am classified as the Shaper, my behaviour also reflected traits from the Co-
 Reflective Report 8

Conclusion

ordinator as I was also the group leader. Anyhow, I guess this is the case as our group
only consists of five people, and therefore the nine clusters cannot be fully
implemented.

Being the leader required considerable effort. I had to work on my own part of the
presentation while simultaneously reviewing the work of the others. Feedback has been
essential, so the members can improve in the future. Despite the workload, it motivated
me that the team members responded positively to my comments and suggestions and
that some of them actively sought my help. This gave me the feeling that my efforts are
valued and appreciated. It also allowed me to actively shape the progress of our work,
which I really enjoyed. On the other side, I tend to be very bossy when it comes down to
decision making. Although the culture of my team members may allow this, I realised
that being less decisive may give them a chance to share their opinions with me.
Throughout the progress of our collaboration, I have therefore tried to encourage group
discussion and collective decision making, i.e. when selecting the PowerPoint layout or
the narrator.

3 Conclusion

Working in a diverse virtual team poses distinctive challenges to a team. Only if the
group succeeds in overcoming these obstacles, high group performance can be achieved.
All in all, I think that our team managed to cope with the differences between each other
and thus reached the performing stage (see Appendix 2).

This teamwork has helped me to learn much about my management skills (see Appendix
4). In my opinion, I had the competency to lead the group efficiently. I think this is
because of my excellent decision-making and problem-solving abilities. Further, I
believe that my proper social skills and steady helpfulness enabled me to connect with
the individual members. Anyhow, in the future I think that I will have to train my
emotional resilience since conflicts tend to have a substantial impact on my sentiment,
which could then negatively influence any further actions on my side.

References
 Reflective Report 9

References

Belbin, M. (2010) Team Roles at Work. 2nd Edition. New York: Taylor & Francis.

Bird, V. (2019) Task or relationship? Discovering your leadership style with Belbin.
Available from: https://www.belbin.com/resources/blogs/task-or-relationship-
discovering-your-leadership-style-with-belbin/ [last accessed: 6 November 2019].

Browaeys, M. and Price, R. (2015) Understanding Cross-cultural Management. 3rd

Edition. Harlow: Pearson Education Limited.

Brewer, P. E. (2015) The Critical Role of Global Virtual Teams. International Virtual
Teams: Engineering Global Success, pp.1-14. DOI: 10.1002/9781118886465.ch1.

Cook, C. W. and Hunsaker, P. L. (2001) Management and Organizational Behavior. 3rd

Edition. New York: McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc..

Corporate Finance Insitute (2019) Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions Theory. Available

from: https://corporatefinanceinstitute.com/resources/knowledge/other/hofstedes-
cultural-dimensions-theory/ [last accessed: 3 November 2019].

DuFrene, D. D. and Lehman, C. M (2016) Managing Virtual Teams. 2nd Edition. New
York: Business Expert Press LLC.

Harvard Business Review (2010) Leading Virtual Teams: Expert Solutions to Everyday
Challenges. Boston: Harvard Business School Publishing.

Hofstede Insights (2019a) National Culture. Available from: https://www.hofstede-

insights.com/models/national-culture/ [last accessed: 3 November 2019].

Hofstede Insights (2019b) Country Comparison. Available from:

https://www.hofstedeinsights.com/country-comparison/ukraine/ [last accessed: 5
November 2019].

Liao, C. (2017) Leadership in virtual teams: A multilevel perspective. Human Resource

Management Review, 27(1), pp. 648–659. DOI: 10.1016/j.hrmr.2016.12.010.

McDonald, F. and Burton, F. (2002) International Business. London: Thompson.

Nelson, D. L. and Quick, J. C. (2011) Organizational Behavior: Science, The Real

World, and You. 7th Edition. Mason: South-Western Cengage Learning.

Pauleen, D. J. (2004) Virtual Teams: Projects, Protocols and Processes. Hershey: Idea
Group Publishing.
 Reflective Report 10

Pedler, M., Burgoyne, J. and Boydell, T. (2013) A Manager’s guide to self-development.

6th Edition. Berkshire: McGraw-Hill Professional.

References

Reid, L (2015) The Importance of Hofstede’s Dimensions of Culture. Available from:

https://sites.psu.edu/global/2015/04/25/the-importance-of-hofstedes-dimensions-of-
culture/ [last accessed: 5 November 2019].

Williams, C. (2013) Management. Mason: South-Western Cengage Learning.

University of Edinburgh (2019) Gibbs’ reflective cycle. Available from:

https://www.ed.ac.uk/reflection/reflectors-toolkit/reflecting-on-experience/gibbs-
reflective-cycle [last accessed: 30 November 2019].
 Reflective Report V
Appendix

Appendix
Appendix 1: Gibbs’ Reflective Cycle

This figure is based on University of Edinburgh (2019).

1. Description of the experience

2. Feelings and thoughts on the experience
3. Evaluation of the experience, considering what worked and what didn’t work
4. Analysis of the situation: Why did things went well or badly?
5. Conclusion about what has been learned and what could have been done
differently
6. Action plan for how similar situations in the future could be handled, or general
changes that might be appropriate to achieve improvement.

This model gives a framework to evaluate an experience. For each stage the model
provides a number of questions that can be answered to assess a specific situation. It is
therefore a helpful method to structure the learning experience within a group
assignment (University of Edinburgh, 2019).
 Reflective Report VI
Appendix

:
Appendix 2 Team Development Model
Development Stage Description
Forming Stage This stage is the initial stage in which the team members
first get to know each other (Williams, 2013). In this
early stage, group members are usually unclear about
their roles. As a result, the leader of the team is of
particular importance to guide the team and to define the
objectives of the project (Nelson and Quick, 2011).
Also, in this stage, the cultural differences are most
likely to be revealed.

Storming Stage In this stage, conflicts due to cultural differences should

be expected (DuFrene and Lehman, 2016). In this stage,
different personalities and working styles may collide.
Also, the team members evaluate their roles in the team
while assessing the current leadership style (Williams,
2013).

Norming Stage This stage is characterised by general agreement and

consensus among the group members. Usually, in this
stage, the individual responsibilities are clear and have
widely been accepted by the members. Decisions are
taken by the entire group (Nelson and Quick, 2011).

Performing Stage The team has overcome the interpersonal and task-
related issues that arose in the earlier stages (Nelson and
Quick, 2011). Overall performance of the team
significantly improved since the individual members are
now fully committed to their team (Williams, 2013). In
this phase, working towards deadlines and complying
with the schedule is very important (DuFrene and
Lehman, 2016).
 Reflective Report VII
Appendix

:
Adjourning Stage Once the task is accomplished, each team member can
focus on new assignments. Typically, the different group
members feel satisfied that their duty could be fulfilled.
The team leader then acknowledges the accomplishment
of the team members (Nelson and Quick, 2011).

Appendix 3 Personal Results on Role Dominance

This figure is representing my classification on the different team roles defined by

Belbin (2010).
 Reflective Report VIII
Appendix

Appendix 4 Qualities of a successful manager

Qualities Self-assessment
Command of basic Managers need to have an overview on their organisation’s
facts operation. I think that I managed to keep track of long- and short-
term factors affecting our group work. Anyhow, if I transfer this
skill to a real organisation, I think that I have massive potential for
improvement on this quality as an entire organisation is different
from a single groupwork.

Relevant professional This includes all specialist knowledge. Since I am still a student, I
knowledge think this is one of the main areas for improvement for me.

Continuing sensitivity In my opinion, I have a good ability of assessing particular

to events situations. I am very open to information, and I am good at
handling facts and figures. Also, my empathy towards other
people has significantly improved over the last years.

Analytical, One of my strengths lies in defining courses of actions (with

problemsolving and regards to this teamwork as well). From my previous job in
decisionmaking skills accounting, I have learned a lot about problem-solving and taking
decisions individually. I am trying to transfer this skill to any
future teamwork/individual work.

Social skills Another of my strengths is effective communication and coaching.

Also, in my prior job I had to coach subordinates. This requires
patience and an open mind/understanding. I am always trying to
help anyone who seeks assistance. I think here it is essential to
meet people with a steady positive attitude.
 Reflective Report IX
Appendix

:
Emotional resilience This is another quality that I am striving to improve in the future.
Conflicts have a very stressing effect on me that sometimes
impacts my personal feelings as well as my overall performance. I
am working on dealing with stressful situations to maintain a high
level of work quality.

Proactivity – respond I consider this element as one of my qualities as well. I am very

to events committed and dedicated also keeping in mind deadlines and the
 Reflective Report X
Appendix

overall goal. I am trying to find the right balance between

immediate demands and demands that I have to consider in the
long run. I am always proactively working towards the goal.

Creativity Also, my creativity has improved over the years. During my job, I
also had to think about new ways of doing things. I am trying to
use this knowledge I gained nowadays in any assignment.

Mental agility I have trouble switching from one problem to another in a short
time since I like to find a solution for the first problem before
focussing on a different matter. Anyhow, when I was working, I
had to realise that sometimes there is no other option as to direct
the attention to a different problem. I then noticed that my
subconscious will still think about the first problem, and this can
lead to solutions as well.

Balanced learning I consider myself as a very independent learner. This has helped
habits me already in my undergraduate degree. I am ready to invest a lot
of time into self-study if I can improve my performance. I think
this is also one of my strengths.

Self-knowledge I think I am very well aware of my self-attributes (goals,

strengths, weaknesses). For any given task (teamwork/job) I am
100% committed, always trying to outgrow myself in any way
possible. I do not only want to satisfy my boss but also to be
proud of myself. Whenever I had something in mind, I have been
working towards it as hard as I can. In the past, this has been
rewarded in many occasions.

This table is based on Pedler et al. (2013).