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Virtual intercultural teams 
Session 6:
Key challenges of virtual intercultural teams
Learning journal

Except where otherwise noted, the content contained in this document is licensed under a 
Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License v 4.0. 
The work is attributable to: 
Project Team „Edubox Virtual intercultural teams“ / HOOU

Content / Tasks

6.1	Prelude
6.2	Introduction
	Challenges in virtual teamwork	
6.3	Team performance and team satisfaction
6.4	Key challenges of virtual intercultural teams
	Identifying challenges	
	What makes me trust my team?	
	Drafting an email	
	Changing perspective	
	A team identity	
	A liberated work place	
6.5	Summary
6.6	Learning review
	Case “Designing a new office chair” (Reprise)	
	Case “The relocation”	
6.7	Sources, further reading and web links

► 6.2 Introduction
	Challenges in virtual teamwork	
After watching the short clip, please note down the challenges of virtual teamwork that are mentioned by the interviewees. Are there any other challenges you would add from your own knowledge an personal experience?

► 6.4 Key challenges of virtual intercultural teams
	Identifying challenges	
Read through the short case study and think about the respective importance of the following aspects:
•	task complexity
•	resources needed
•	interdependence versus task division
•	team composition
•	level of diversity
Please rate each of these aspects on a scale from 1 (= very low) to 10 (= very high) and note down in the field below the scale what would be your reasoning for this.
Aspect	Rating
Low	High	

Task complexity		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	
	☐	☐	☐	☐	☐	☐	☐	☐	☐	☐	

Resources needed		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	
	☐	☐	☐	☐	☐	☐	☐	☐	☐	☐	

Interdependence versus task division		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	
	☐	☐	☐	☐	☐	☐	☐	☐	☐	☐	

Team composition		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	
	☐	☐	☐	☐	☐	☐	☐	☐	☐	☐	

Level of diversity		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	
	☐	☐	☐	☐	☐	☐	☐	☐	☐	☐	

In which processes and tasks would it make more sense for the company to stick to the ones from the headquarters, and which ones should be better localized?

	What makes me trust my team?	
There are different criteria people apply in order to assess trust in virtual intercultural teams.
Please rank the criteria listed below according to their relevance, from 1 (= highest relevance) to 
10 (= lowest relevance):
Competence	Trust based on the perception and understanding that team members bring along the necessary skills and competencies	
Compatibility	Trust related to commonalities such as values, approaches to teamwork, work and communication styles, interests and goals	
Integrity	Trust based on the understanding that other team members keep their promises, are committed to cooperate and join forces with each and every one	
Good will of all	Trust based on the belief that all are concerned about each other’s well-being and make hones and constructive comments	
Inclusion and integration	Trust based on the feeling and observation that everybody is making an effort to make team members part of the team 	
Well being	Trust arising from the feeling that other team members mean well and there is nothing to fear from the team	
Predictability	Trust based on the understanding that team member’s behaviour is steady regardless of the project phase, the context and stress level and that they will do what they  have been assigned	
Sharing of knowledge	Trust based on the notion that team members don’t hold back information and are committed to knowledge sharing	

Ranking	Trust criteria	
1		
2		
3		
4		
5		
6		
7		
8		

	Drafting an email	
You are sitting in front of your laptop and start to draft an email. Before you do this, take note of all factors mentioned in the scenario which may influence the way you do this and write them down here.

	Changing perspective	
Now put yourself into the shoes of the team member required to send the missing information. Read through the emails below and note down the answers to the following questions in your learning journal:
Which of the two emails below would have motivated you to respond? (both, only one of them or none)
	
What influences your decision to respond to a specific email?
	
If you had been the recipient of the Emails below, would any of them have offended you? If so, why? Pinpoint the elements/terms/expressions or phrases that run counter to means and ways of how you would expect communication to take place?
	
Being aware of the reminders the receiver of the mail received previously, which of the emails would you consider to be unprofessional? Why?
	
Is there an email you are not sure whether you interpreted it correctly? What could have been reasons for this?
	
What would you consider to be cultural about the emails? Highlight two aspects and explain why. 
	
What do you think are possible implications of differences in written communication styles on virtual intercultural teamwork?

	A team identity	
Having read the quote, identify five major aspects which you think characterise the team’s identity. and write them down here.

	A liberated work place	
Look at the photograph and think about how the environment could possibly influence the telephone conversation. Which type of work space would you prefer when having to discuss serious and important aspects of your team work? Note down the answers in your learning journal.
	
► 6.6 Learning review
	Case „Designing a new office chair“ (Reprise)	
Read through once more the case study “Designing a new office chair” (from session 1) and identify issues and challenges which were not being considered but could have helped the team if addressed. Note them down here.

	Case "The relocation"	
Read through the case study and highlight issues which were being addressed and most likely helped the team's development and performance.