Team Performance Challenges Faced by Fast-Moving Silicon Valley Companies (Part One)

When high-tech Silicon Valley giants set about the business of creating project teams, they face a formidable challenge no longer considered unique or uncommon.  For example, San Jose-based Cisco Systems, with more than 60,000 employees worldwide, frequently gathers its individuals for project teams from internal sources.  One major hurdle to this process is the fact that “internal” for Cisco Systems can still encompass a geographic swath that stretches across five of the seven continents. 

When Cisco assembles project teams, the appointed lead engineers and managers are expected to quickly pull groups together that function as high performance teams.  With up to 10,000 miles and multiple time zones separating individual members, this can be a formidable challenge. 

Welcome to the world of the “Virtual Team.”  In just a few years’ time, virtual teams have emerged from a theoretical and esoteric concept to a ubiquitous reality in Silicon Valley and beyond.  Although virtual teams can deliver many benefits, they face predictable obstacles that, if not addressed, can negatively impact the overall health and performance of the team. 

At The Team Performance Center, we’ve identified a recurring pattern of potential roadblocks faced by companies that utilize virtual teams. By their very nature, virtual teams employ members scattered over vast geographic areas that the burden of managing tasks and leading people is seemingly impossible at times. This team dispersal often fosters a breakdown in common purpose and shared vision that, once compromised, can engender disconnect amongst individual team members; which, in turn, can result in a deteriorating sense of loyalty and loss of collective mission.  Let’s look at these four challenges, and consider possible solutions to counteract their effects on teams.

Challenge #1: The Team Dispersal

Thanks to today’s communication technology it is no longer essential for employees collaborating on projects to be housed under the same roof to achieve maximum productivity.  Organizations increasingly select the best and most appropriate talent from a pool of candidates scattered across the globe, without requiring that they uproot and relocate to a common site for the duration of the project. 

Unfortunately, the rise in dispersed company teams is resulting in a new form of social fragmentation due to the increasing dependence on virtual technology. This stifles social skill development, which leads to increased workplace misunderstandings, confusion, and employee frustration …all of which significantly impact work progress, budgets, and overall success rates of projects.  Ironically, when buffered from one another, something as obvious as an eight-hour time zone difference can be overlooked by team members caught up in their oft-times frenzied and numbing virtual work environments.    

Although virtual teams offer distinct benefits, including convenience and increased resource maximization, there is the risk that team members will rely too heavily on communication through email, webinars, conference calls and text messages.

Direct human interaction helps teams develop a keen awareness of fellow team members   including exposure to diverse work styles, enhanced interpersonal relationships, improved conflict resolution skills, and a greater appreciation of other individuals within the team.  Respect for fundamental cultural differences between team members is also stronger in the presence of direct human contact.

Challenge #2: A breakdown in Common Vision and Unity of Purpose

Embracing a common mission is crucial for successful teams.  Without an understanding of and commitment to overall team goals, or how those goals align with the organization as a whole, individual members may begin to “contrive” their own objectives and fill in the gaps based on their limited interpretations of the big picture.

Although no team is immune to the above pitfall, virtual team members possess a heightened risk of losing perspective. Virtual teams often lack the traditional organizational compass reminding them of the company’s mission and vision. Because they are scattered across the globe and isolated from direct contact with each other, virtual teams often develop a solid perspective, in which team members are left to their own devices and perceptions.  Reminiscent of the assembly line process, they diligently complete their piece of the project and pass it on to the next in line. But without a commonly held purpose, each completed stage in the process becomes slightly more distant from the original vision.