Virtual teams encourage business innovation

Adam Kingl, Executive Director of Learning Solutions, Executive Education, London Business School, comments:

“Business teams working virtually sometimes do a better job than a group sitting in one location.

“Virtual working is a great way to break down barriers of hierarchy, culture and gender and encourage creative brainstorming and innovation. A virtual platform breaks down some of the biases that occur when teams meet face-to-face.

“In a face-to-face work environment, one or two dominant personalities can sometimes assert their view points, forcing everyone else to go along with their ideas to avoid confrontation. A virtual platform facilitates a meritocracy of ideas. This is a clarion call for the introvert, the outcast who might suggest new, break-through ideas, to embrace a virtual team dynamic in order to thrive. In an asynchronous, virtual environment, when people have the chance to assess ideas on their own merit in a social media ‘discussion board' type of dialogue, there can be a more effective discussion, particularly around idea generation and evaluation.

“Even co-located teams working in one office can benefit from discussing some issues in a virtual environment. A simple discussion board on social media, with time-bound parameters, can be particularly effective. One can avoid problems such as the first idea being the anchor that team members latch onto. People joining the forum will look at a few ideas at a time and will therefore be more likely to suggest multiple perspectives, fresh thoughts and approaches rather than variations of only the first idea proposed.”