Use of Virtual Teams
Concept to Develop
Virtual Student Chapters
Gregorio M. Vélez-Garcia
SPE Fall Meeting, Dearborn, MI
September 15, 2012
Next Generation Advisory Board
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Chair:
Vice Chair:
EC Liaison:
Staff Liaison:
Members:
Gregorio M. Vélez-García
Jim Mason
Dick Cameron
Sue Wojnicki
Paul Andersen, Jaime Gómez, Karen Hately,
Adam Kramchuster, Dejin (Derek) Li,
Kathy Perevosnik, and Sergio Sánchez.
Goals for 2012-13
• Study and propose the use of Virtual student chapters.
• Identify the needs of young professional members (YPM) at
the early stages of their careers.
– Propose a mentoring training program
– Propose activities focused on YPM at ANTEC 2013
Agenda
• What is a virtual team/virtual student chapter (VSC)?
• How do we use VSC to increase membership?
• Can we illustrate how they work, how successful and
how popular they are?
• What are the advantages/limitations of VSC?
• What technical capabilities and resources are required?
• Who will be the advisor?
• Can we recommend rules or a manual for student
chapters?
• Include a time-line for the implementation?
Virtual Student Chapter (VSC)
• Definition of virtual team:
– An interdependent group of individuals who predominantly use
technology to communicate, collaborate, share information and
coordinate their efforts in order to accomplish a common workrelated objective.
Jones, F. S., Managing Virtual Work Teams
Society for Human Resource Management. 2006
• Fact on virtual teams
– In a virtual team, members are dispersed, either geographically or
organizationally with their primary communications through electronic
means (versus face-to-face). Team membership is also more likely to
change over time than with traditional single-location teams .
(ref: http://www.kulzick.com/virtteam.htm)
• The concept of virtual team can be adapted to form virtual student
chapters or virtual groups in the SPE.
Virtual Team to increase membership
• Development of a Virtual Student Chapter (VSC) as a pilot
program in the SPE.
– Reinforce the student participation and motivation
– Provides opportunities to attract a number of students interested in
plastics worldwide.
• Virtual teams can attract young professional members who
otherwise can’t participate.
• A tool suitable for Divisions and some Sections.
– Where frequent face to face meetings are not practical.
Use of VSC in other professional societies
• Pilot program
– http://www.bpa.org/membership/virtualchapter
• Example of virtual chapter
– ASIS
• http://www.asis.org/Chapters/chapters-student.html
– National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO)
• http://napovirtualchapter.wordpress.com/about-us/meet-theboard/
– Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM)
• http://www.shrm.org/Communities/SHRMChapters/StudentChapt
ers/Pages/SHRMVirtualStudentChapters.aspx
Advantages of virtual team/ VSC
• Provides additional access to experts
• Easier to attract and retain team members
• Better accommodation to young members personal
& professional lives
• Dynamic team membership and content.
• Allows assignment to multiple teams simultaneously
• Provides faster response to market demands
Ref: http://www.kulzick.com/virtteam.htm
Limitations of virtual team/ VSC
• Lack of physical interaction
• Loss of face-to-face synergies
• Possible lack of trust
• Greater concern with predictability and reliability
• Lack of social interaction
Ref: http://www.kulzick.com/virtteam.htm
Technical capabilities and resources required
• Resources required:
– document storage, group calendars and scheduling, collaboration
and editing, teleconferencing, web conferencing, project site
management, email and instant messaging.
– See document: Tools for Global Virtual Teams
• “The same that are used to provide online courses which is most colleges
and universities in the world.”
– SHRM
• “A website, a meeting platform and good programming. We have
variations of using a conference call line to doing webinars. Depends on
the need of the speaker.”
– NAPO
VSC Advisor (virtual manager)
• “There is no need for additional Student Advisors. The Advisor that
handles traditional clubs and associations can enlist the officers to
run the webpage and Facebook page along with the traditional
activities the club or association does.”
Steve Cates , SHRM
• 3 tips on how to be a ‘Virtually Present’ leader
– Choose the right technology
– Have frequent ‘check-ins’ with your virtual team members
– Create opportunities for social interaction
Ref:
http://virtualteamsblog.com
VSC Rules
• 5 tips to establishing a successful virtual team
– Choose an experienced leader
– Select members who are suited to working in virtual teams
– Choose appropriate technology
– Start with a face-to-face teambuilding
– Understand the phases of a virtual team
Ref: http://virtualteamsblog.com/2012/5-tips-to-establishing-a-successful-virtual-team/
• “There should be a section in your existing Student Handbook that
addresses the unique areas for virtual clubs and associations. i
would encourage you to keep these to a minimum. Your goal is to
assimilate students...the fewer differences you can make between
traditional and virtual the better....students are students....”
Steven Cates, SHRM
Phases to create a virtual team
Phase
What virtual managers should do…
Forming
Set clear expectations and ground rules, especially
about the appropriate use of technology.
Storming
Establish guidelines and model appropriate behavior
for resolving interpersonal conflicts.
Norming
Monitor virtual team processes and standards and
adapt them as needed.
Performing
Make sure the team has the tools they need to
perform their best.
Adjourning
Archive lessons learned and recognize team
accomplishments.
Ref: Chinowsky, P.S., Rojas, E.M. Virtual Teams: Guide to Successful Implementation. J.
Management in Engineering (2003)
Timeline for implementation
• September 2012
– Present the idea of virtual student chapters during the fall meeting
• October-December 2012
- Work with the OPC committee to establish a time line for memberfocus
in Avectra as a platform for VSC
– Forming and storming phase
• Focus on identify the resources and logistic
• Identify the faculty advisor
• Identify targets in universities in US and overseas
• January March 2013: Storming and norming phases
– Write the pilot plan
– Test capabilities with volunteer student groups
• Fall 2013: Performing phase
– Implement the first virtual student chapter
Resources
• Officers using virtual chapters
– Steven Cates, Society for Human Resources Management
– Amy Tokos, National Association of Professional Organizers Virtual
Chapter
• Useful websites
– virtualteamsblog.com
– www.kulzick.com/virtteam.htm
– aroundthechaos.com/virtual-teams
Resources
• Publications
– Tools for Global Virtual Teams
– Ebrahim,NA, Ahmed, S, Taha, Z. Virtual Teams: a Literature Review. Aus
tralian Journal of Bas ic and Applied Sciences (2009)
– Katelyn Y. A. McKenna and Amie S. Green. Virtual Group Dynamics,
Group Dynamics: Theory, Research, and Practice (2002).
– Chinowsky, P.S., Rojas, E.M. Virtual Teams: Guide to Successful
Implementation. J. Management in Engineering (2003)
– Wilczynsky, V. and JENNINGS, JJ. Creating Virtual Teams for Engineering
Design. Int. J. Engng Ed. Vol. 19, No. 2, pp. 316-327, 2003
– Warkentin, ME, Sayeed, L, Hightower, R. Virtual Teams versus Face-to-Face
Teams: An Exploratory Study of a Web-based Conference System. Decision
Sciences V28 Number 4, I997.
Back up slides