The internet age now allows you to connect to work from virtually anywhere in the world. However, managing a team of remote employees presents unique challenges. Monitoring, communicating, organizing, and motivating remote employees and coworkers can be difficult, even with available technology that helps remote employees meet and collaborate in virtual spaces. As you review the Learning Resources this week to prepare for your Shared Practice posting, imagine the following scenario: At your current employer, or at a company where you would like to work, you have been assigned to manage a virtual team. Your virtual team is composed of some individuals in the office, some that work from home in various time zones, and some others that work out of another office several time zones away. Consider the challenges of managing virtual employees and how these challenges compare to managing a traditional non-virtual team. With these thoughts in mind: By Day 5 Post a response that addresses the following: Explain benefits and challenges that a manager has when developing, leading, and motivating virtual teams and how those challenges are unique to virtual teams. Explain which of the challenges you identified that need to be addressed directly by a manager, and which challenges should managers empower or allow the team to address. Describe how you would meet the challenges and contribute to the virtual team if you are assigned to manage the team. Be sure to identify obstacles you think you would have and how would you address them. Hint: An exemplary response will draw on the themes from previous weeks, such as ensuring a positive and productive environment, handling difficult conversations, motivating employees, providing feedback, maintaining levels of trust, etc.
