Leading Virtual vs Real-World Teams

Comparing Chapters 8, and 13, how do virtual teams differ from temporally separated teams and how are they similar?

I really enjoyed parts of the essay by Cohen and Alonso (2013) and how they discussed leading virtual teams. With the ubiquotousness of virtual meeting capabilities within our business world and the need for a greater understanding of how to fully utilize the tools and capabilities to work as well away from the office as we do in the office, I thought the messages were timely and provided some good guidance. 

I found myself relating to a lot of what they advise, if only because there are times when I find myself leading virtual teams as well as on-site teams, and both need to be as effective as possible in completing projects and being productive. I especially liked the table presented that provided tips for overcoming process challenge to virtual teamwork (Cohen and Alonso, 2013, p. 260). I do not have as much experience leading temporally separated teams. The closest I've come is a few hours time differences, usually, Texas compared to California. Still, there are aspects of that team leadership that I had to be cognizant of and take into consideration, much like Espinosa (2013) discusses in his chapter. However, I thought one oversight that was not discussed as much as was needed to be was the aspect of cultural difference in temporally separated teams.

Espinosa (2013) discusses not just temporatlly separated teams but also teams separated by distannce but within the same time zones. Espinosa (2013) writes "spatial distance does not necessarily change the pattern of team interaction," (p. 420) which is true but does not necessarily cover what I feel is a predominant issue of cultural differences. My wife, working as a software project manager has had to lead offsite teams in Honduras and in India. The Honduran team was in the same time zone as she and the team and India was a twelve-hour difference. In both cases, she has had more challenges with cultural differences, those regarding the speed of work product, expectations, and role of females in business and society, than mere time differences caused. Then I look at my time in the military, when we were spread out as a battalion over different continents, the fact that we were all from the same unit, that we understood the expectations, the mission, and had a similar language and standards, all benefitted us despite a time difference. 

At no point does Espinosa (2013) nor Cohen and Alonso focus enough time and effort on the problems that cultural differences cause but focus instead on just the aspects of physical difference. The physical difference is a challenge to be sure, but the cultural differences can serve to make virtual team-leading several degrees harder if they aren't understood and addressed from the very beginning. 

References

Cohen, D. J., and Alonso, A. (2013). Virtual teams; The how to's of making "being virtually there" successful. In E. Salas, G. Latham, D. J. Cohen, & S. I. Tannenbaum (Eds.), Developing and enhancing teamwork in organizations: Evidence-based best practices and Guidelines (pp. 239–267). essay, Jossey-Bass.

Espinosa, J.A. (2013). High performance in temporally separated team work. In E. Salas, G. Latham, D. J. Cohen, & S. I. Tannenbaum (Eds.), Developing and enhancing teamwork in organizations: Evidence-based best practices and Guidelines (pp. 406 - 438). essay, Jossey-Bass.