As a manager/leader you’ve likely been tasked with managing teams. Given today’s business world, you’re bound to experience managing a virtual team at some point in your career. Duarte and Snyder (2006, p.4) suggest that it’s the task itself that affects how a virtual team is managed. One of the responsibilities faced by team leaders is to bring together the right type of team to address a specific task. Carefully reviewing and matching strengths and needs can yield favorable results.
Nemiro’s Modular Approach (2004, p. 15-16) entails initially dividing tasks among team members then bringing the pieces back together. Members can work alone or with one or two other team members. Once the tasks are completed, they’re brought together before the team. Review and feedback precede finalization and implementation.
Work, functional, or production teams perform “regular and ongoing work” (Duarte & Snyder, 2006, p.6). They tend to have clearly defined membership and are easily identified within the organization. They have the ability to cross time and distance boundaries, and team members are able to telecommute from home.
Work, functional, or production teams and the Modular Approach seem like a natural combination. Giving team members specific tasks and allowing them to work on their own facilitates crossing the boundaries of time and distance. Pairing members’ talents and strengths with specific tasks further maximizes successful task completion. For example, if my task as a team member is to allocate additional resources (and that’s something I’m good at doing), but I’m at a different location and/or have a different schedule than the rest of the team, the Modular Approach would be a great way to maximize my ability to contribute to the team and its project. I could largely work on my own and then come together with the rest of the team after completing my assignment.
Duarte, D. L., & Snyder, N. T. (2006). Mastering virtual teams: Strategies, tools, and techniques that succeed. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass
Nemiro, J. E. (2004). Creativity in virtual teams: Key components for success. San Francisco: Pfeiffer.
