I. Before you read, answer the question:

• What do you understand by the expression virtual meetings?

II. Reading

Read this article and fulfill the tasks below.

PEOPLE SKILLS STILL RULE IN THE VIRTUAL COMPANY

1 Three weeks ago, the senior management team of a large computer services company met in Manhattan at 7 a.m. on a Sunday. The ten colleagues had not met for several months, which is hardly surprising given their locations. Three are based in California, two in New Jersey, one in Pennsylvania, one in Connecticut, one in London and two in India. They are scattered across the world far a simple reason: their operations and customers are global. Even though the managers do not meet face to fate regularly, they communicate daily, making extensive use of e-mail, mobile phones and video conferencing. This company represents an extreme case of how organisations are changing, but it is not unique. It represents what more and more will come to look like.

Virtual management

2 Increasingly, managers and those who work for them are no longer in the same location. Gone are the days when managers could supervise the hour-to-hour work of individuals. Managers now need to lead by focusing on the processes shaping performance, along with the results that staff must achieve. This can be done only if managers structure virtual projects, set appropriate goals and milestones, shape behaviour, and develop, measures to analyse what progress is being made.

3 Critically, managers must have a deeper understanding of when to use the wide range of communications that are now available. When is a phone call best? A teleconference? A video conference? An e-mail? A face-to-face meeting? Research suggests that face-to-face communication is often the best way to start a virtual project in order to reach an initial agreement on goals, milestones, norms and individual commitments. It helps build a trusting relationship that cannot be built remotely.

4 Once a managerial or team relationship has been established, much can be accomplished with e-mail. That said, it is still important to hold regular meeting, either face to face or by video conference. As general rule, face-to-face sessions are for intensive, real-time problem-solving, while virtual meetings ere for efficient information-sharing and assessing progress.

5 It is also useful to create smaller groups within a virtual team. These smaller groups are held mutually responsible for the successful delivery and integration of their specific task. For the most critical phase of the subgroup’s work, they are brought together, often for several weeks. Physical proximity is critical to performance. It allows individuals to respond to ideas immediately, to explore options more deeply, and to be more productive in problem-solving.

Managing without authority

6 Traditional organisations worry about control and reporting relationships. The assumption is that organisations are most effective when there are clear reporting relationships. It is a valid principle when what needs to be done is simple and can he carefully supervised. It is not necessarily a good idea, however, when the product or service is complex and its creation is not easily observed and monitored. Often complex management relationships need to be developed because organisations are trying to produce complex products and services across geographic boundaries.

7 In these circumstances, individual managers need to work with and influence people who are not their subordinates. Among the most important skills to learn are: constructive persuasion, inspirational appeals, exchange of favours and mutual help, coalition-building and consultation. One company that has been highly successful at this is Gore, maker of Gore-Tex fabric. Since 1958, Gore has avoided a traditional hierarchical model, opting instead for a team-based environment that fosters personal initiative, encourages innovation and promotes person-to-person communication.

Shared leadership

8 Because more and more work is being done hi cross-functional global teams, leadership increasingly must be shared. One company rotates leadership roles across its project team members at critical phases. Partly this approach to leadership is a result of the fact that team members are now often peers. Partly it is a result of the fact that work is now done in subgroups in different locations. To succeed at shared leadership, managers must start by creating expectations. First, they must explain that sharing leadership is a performance expectation and will be rewarded. Second, team members must accept responsibility for providing as well as responding to peer-based leadership.

9 Managers must select team members who can perform well without strong guidance from a superior. They must encourage team problem-solving and decision-making. This means often deferring critical decisions and managers assuming more of a facilitative rather than directive style. They must be able to demonstrate shared leadership in meetings turning leadership over to a capable subordinate or peer at the appropriate moment. They must coach and develop their team’s individual and collective leadership skills. This may be the most difficult of the new skills to learn, since it requires letting go of direct control. That said, it is becoming a necessity in a world where working relationships are scattered over great distances.