Best Practices for Managing Dispersed Teams

Best Practices for Managing Dispersed Teams

Simon Cleveland, Jennifer Duve, Julia Maltz, Michelle McConnell, Bency Oonnoonny, Lisa L. Williams
Copyright: © 2022 |Pages: 16
DOI: 10.4018/IJSEUS.297068
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Abstract

Virtual teams have become increasingly common, particularly in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Various industries and organizations have transitioned to working remotely, and project management is no exception. Incorporating a dispersed team into the context of international projects further affects the project implementation, creating both benefits and challenges. This study examines the topic of international project management within dispersed teams and focuses on five core challenges, including: 1) language and communication issues, 2) time zone differences, 3) sociocultural differences, 4) motivation and negotiation issues, and 5) political issues. Using the five challenges as a foundation, study authors conducted semi-structured, open-ended interviews with project managers of diverse backgrounds to shed light on their experiences. Key findings from the interviews and scholarly research were utilized to generate best practices for project managers of dispersed teams spearheading global projects.
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Literature Review

International project management is defined as “the management of projects internationally or across borders and cultures” which “requires a specific set of skills to ensure success” (Halloran, 2014, para. 1). International projects are becoming an increasingly common strategy for maintaining a competitive edge in many industries and “attract attention from strong global competitors…” (Li, Sun, Shou & Sun, 2020, p. 193). High-performing teams are also critical to successful international projects. Furthermore, research demonstrates that success hinges widely on the project size and how well teams function as a single entity despite being dispersed (Juhre & Heinen, 2000). Extant literature proposes a number of factors that impact international project teams. These include: language and communication issues, time zone differences, sociocultural differences, motivation and negotiation, and political issues constitute challenges to international, dispersed project teams. Each factor is investigated in detail below.

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