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Monday 6 May 2013

Organizations & Cultures: Communication and virtual teams

Communication and virtual teams


Communication is the evoking of a shared or common meaning in another person.
The perceptual screen is a window through which we interact with people that influences the quality, accuracy and clarity of the communication.
Language is the words, their pronunciation and the methods of combining them, used and understood by a group of people.
Reflexive listening is the skill of listening carefully to another person and repeating back to the speaker the heard message to correct any inaccuracies or misunderstandings.
One way communication is when a person sends information to the other, and the other just listens, and do not make feedback. Two way communication is when the two parts interact.
Non verbal communication is when communication does not involve words, there are four basic types:
  • ·         Proxemics: Individual perception and use of space.
  • ·         Kinesics: Study of body movement.
  • ·         Facial and eye behavior: Movement that adds cues to the receiver.
  • ·         Paralanguage: Variations in speech such as tempo and tone.
There are different barriers to communication such as the physical separation, status differences, gender differences, cultural diversity and language.
Virtual teams are “Virtual teams are groups of geographically, organizationally and/or time dispersed workers brought together by information technologies to accomplish one or more organization tasks’’ (Powell et al., 2004).
The fully traditional teams and the fully virtual teams differ in the location of the members, the type of communication and the coordination of team tasks.
An advantage of virtual teams is the availability of a flexible and configurable base infrastructure. A disadvantage is that they are vulnerable to mistrust, communication breakdowns and conflicts.
The dimensions of an effective virtual team communication are: Communication, understanding, role clarity, leadership attitude and well planed monitoring mechanisms.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
• Ebrahim, N., Ahmed, S., & Taha, Z. (2009) Virtual Teams: a Literature Review.
Australian Journal of Basic & Applied Sciences, 3(3), 2653-2669. Retrieved from
http://web.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.eafit.edu.co/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?
vid=5&hid=110&sid=69f6751e-704f-4478-98c7-9fac6d0394c8%40sessionmgr113.
• Kuruppuarachchi, P. R. (2009). Virtual team concepts in projects: A case study
Blackwell Publishing Ltd. Retrieved from
http://search.proquest.com/docview/218750033?accountid=45662
• Nelson, D and Quick, J.C. (2009) Organizational culture. In Organisational
Behavour: Science, the real world and you.
• Powell, A ., G. Piccoli and B. Ives (2004) Virtual teams : a review of current literature
and directions for future research. The Data base for Advances in Information
Systems , 35: 6-36.
• Rosen, B., S. Furst and R. Blackburn (2007) Overcoming Barriers t o Knowledge
Sharing in Virtual Teams. Organizacional Dynamics , 36: 259-273.
• Shachaf, P. and N. Hara (2005) Team Effectiveness in Virtual Environments : An
Ecological Approach. INFERRIS, P.A.G., S., (Ed.) Teaching and Learning with Virtual
Teams. Idea Group Publishing.

1st Image retrieved from http://www.freelanceapple.com/5-communication-tips-that-make-you-money/
2nd Image retrieved from http://www.strategydriven.com/2009/04/07/management-and-leadership-managing-your-virtual-team/

Organizations & Cultures: Communication and virtual teams

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