Managing
Virtual Teams
You are managing a small
cross-functional project team of 15 individuals (including yourself) in a
pharmaceutical company. The team composition is:
Three pharmaceutical chemists
Four pharmaceutical lab technicians
Three medical doctors
Two lawyers
Two medical editors
The project goal is to develop
safety standards to be observed in the genetic engineering laboratories of the
company within a 6-week period. The cross-functional individuals involved in
this project have different qualifications, experiences, and professional
orientations. They have different and sometimes conflicting goals. For example,
the lawyers may try to frame standards in such a way that the pharmaceutical
company is immune to lawsuits. The doctors may be concerned primarily with the
health and safety of the workers. The pharmaceutical chemists and lab
technicians may want to get their work done most efficiently, while the medical
editors may want to devise standards in such a manner that they are easily
understandable.
Answer the following questions:
How will you align the interests of
various individuals in the cross-functional team so that despite their
professional backgrounds and possibly competing agendas, they work to develop
the safety standards on time?
What problems do you foresee in the
achievement of the project goal due to the fact that the team is
cross-functional?
From the behavioral standpoint, name
and describe three benefits do you see for the cross-functional team?
What are the structural and behavioral
challenges in managing the cross-functional team?Managing
Virtual TeamsYou are managing a small
cross-functional project team of 15 individuals (including yourself) in a
pharmaceutical company. The team composition is:
Three pharmaceutical chemists
Four pharmaceutical lab technicians
Three medical doctors
Two lawyers
Two medical editorsThe project goal is to develop
safety standards to be observed in the genetic engineering laboratories of the
company within a 6-week period. The cross-functional individuals involved in
this project have different qualifications, experiences, and professional
orientations. They have different and sometimes conflicting goals. For example,
the lawyers may try to frame standards in such a way that the pharmaceutical
company is immune to lawsuits. The doctors may be concerned primarily with the
health and safety of the workers. The pharmaceutical chemists and lab
technicians may want to get their work done most efficiently, while the medical
editors may want to devise standards in such a manner that they are easily
understandable.Answer the following questions:
How will you align the interests of
various individuals in the cross-functional team so that despite their
professional backgrounds and possibly competing agendas, they work to develop
the safety standards on time?
What problems do you foresee in the
achievement of the project goal due to the fact that the team is
cross-functional?
From the behavioral standpoint, name
and describe three benefits do you see for the cross-functional team?
What are the structural and behavioral
challenges in managing the cross-functional team?
