Tips for Virtual Teams

This Page: What's A Virtual Team | To Begin | E-mail Ground Rules | References

What's A Virtual Team?

There are several configurations for a virtual team, but probably the most important characteristic is that the members cannot always meet face to face for one reason or another. Thus, these teams rely on information technology such as e-mail, chat systems, instant messaging or even the phone or fax to communicate.

Whenever your team has extensive discussions online, you are experiencing a "virtual team" whether or not it is called that.

Once communication stops being face-to-face, it becomes more difficult because the cues from facial expressions and gestures are lost. In addition, much of it may be asynchronous (e-mail/voice-mail), meaning there may be a time-delay between responses. Below are some tips for teams who cannot always meet face to face.

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To Begin

Make sure the first meeting is face to face or via audio so that students get a chance to meet and put a face with a name. One way to do this is to allot class time for the first team meeting.
Require teams to share daily schedules. One area where conflict can occur is if a student expects a quick e-mail answer from a team member, when that person is actually unavailable. For instance, some students may work at night and do e-mail in the morning while others study and do e-mail at night. Clarifying times when each member is "online" can help the team have reasonable expectations on when a reply may come in.
Require teams to create a contact directory. The minimum would probably be e-mail addresses (including non-PSU addresses), but could also include phone numbers and AOL Instant Messenger usernames.
Encourage teams to share brief bios - This adds another human dimension to the online environment. The bio could include images, hobbies, hometown, goals for the class or anything interesting or unusual.

TECH TIP: The ANGEL Course Management System User Profile (under My Settings >> Personal Information Editor) is one way to have members share some personal information.

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E-Mail Ground Rules

Virtual teams need to establish etiquette/procedural ground rules and a work plan just as other teams do, but additional ground rules are advised if teams have to do a significant amount of communication online. Some of these include:

TECH TIP: Additional examples of how to structure online communication can be found on Student Guidelines for Electronic Communication at Penn State.

Establish a maximum time limit for a reply to a message (e.g 24 hours).
Determine which medium (e-mail/chat/message board) will the primary one used by the group. A medium with a log can be beneficial for keeping track of what was communicated. Other avenues of communication could be designated as emergency only.
It will be critical that teams have a common file space. Some Penn State options include.
- ANGEL creates team file areas once students are placed in a team within ANGEL. In addition, students can create Groups in ANGEL with message boards and file space. More information about Teams and Groups in ANGEL is available on the "Help" page.
- COLA accounts for class Web projects, which can be accessed via the PASS file system. Students can also share files on their personal PASS accounts
- The CLC Labs U: drive service which allows students to store files on Penn State Computer Lab Classroom network.
- Finally students can add links to any material posted online via the CourseTalk threaded discussion area.
Establish naming conventions and locations for posting material to review
If revisions are needed, establish a revisions coding system for indicating revisions

TECH TIP: Some word processors such as Microsoft Word allow users to highlight text or change the font to different colors.
Encourage members who disagree to talk privately, not necessarily with the entire group. For serious disagreements, a phone call or face to face meeting may be preferable to e-mail.

Audioconferencing & Chat

There are now a variety of options available for students at different locations to communicate with each other online synchronously (at the same time). These include

ANGEL chat room - Instructor must set up meeting rooms for students. Meeting rooms can be setup for each team
Breeze virtual meeting rooms - These support and video as well as chat and can allow students to share screens. Full support is scheduled to begin Fall 2006. Instructor must set up meeting rooms for students. Students may need to purchace microphones and headsets.
AOL Instant Messenger - free service used by many students. Ideal for quick one-to-one chats.
Speaker Phone - Ideal for when most people can be in one room, but one person must be somewhere else

Audioconferencing and Chat Guidelines

Meeting times should be planned and announced in advance (either over e-mail or in person).
Plan for some small talk at the beginning of a meeting to allow for late arrivals.
When entering a chat room or audio conference, each team member should announce himself or herself (e.g. "Hi, it's John").
If a member arrives late, the rest of the team should announce themselves and summarize what has gone on before.
If someone misses a meeting or most of a meeting, send out meeting notes via e-mail.
If many people are one room together, and one person is remote, then put the phone or computer in a central location. This reminds the team that the other person is "present" at the meeting.
When a decision is reached or a topic will be changed, make sure each member has a turn to speak before going on.
You may need to repeat some jokes due to poor audio quality or slow connection speed.