“Our colleague in Argentina recently uploaded a document to our workspace and our conceptionist from China noted some improvements in yesterday’s video conference.” A statement about the further procedure in modern project management can be something like this. Projects are no longer just developed at the big round table in the eight-story high-rise in the entrepreneurial district. The creator's center of gravity has shifted. Today, large tasks are solved in online groups - so-called virtual working is revolutionizing the world of work and opening doors that hide efficiency and creativity.
The release from the local focus: low presence, better results
As already briefly mentioned at the beginning, it is natural for humans to handle large and extensive tasks in a group. This tendency is firmly anchored in us. Our ancestors already came together in groups to chase away the large wild cat that stalked around the camp and hissed menacingly. Spears were sharpened, plans were made and the animal was finally driven away. At that time, as for a long time in the 21st century, the group idea was limited to a local meeting of the actors. People met in large caves or at the conference table in a glass skyscraper. Paintings were made that outlined the plan or presented flipcharts and power points that described the next steps.
However, working virtually frees the creative process of a project from a fixed location and sometimes distributes tasks all over the world. The virtual teams that are networked via online platforms and work together on specific projects usually come from different countries and, more importantly, from different companies or institutions. The actors involved act as individual workers in the team. Rather, the focus is on the subject-specific knowledge that they bring to the project for a limited time. Working in virtual teams can therefore be described with the principle of “hiring on demand” , which translates to “hiring as needed”. The focus is therefore on the commitment of the workforce and its quality for the team and the project. The aspect of the employment relationship takes a back seat.
The challenges and obstacles of virtual communication
It is obvious that this partly anonymous form of work organization brings with it many challenges and obstacles. For people who would like to get to know their work colleagues privately in order to promote collaboration, working in a virtual team is the wrong environment. Personal contact is usually limited to purely professional aspects.
The actual execution of the assigned work processes is accompanied by another difficulty that can only be avoided with a particularly high level of order and organization. Due to the individually distributed deadlines for individual team members and their tasks, it can often happen that not all actors are available for video or telephone conferences at the same time.
And the often very different origins of the group members, together with the communicative interpretation on an online platform, can also cause difficulties. On the one hand, there must be a fundamental form of communication, i.e. linguistic standardization or consensus building. On the other hand, all group members are required to be familiar with media-mediated communication and to have above-average soft skills in terms of interpersonal communication.
The right organizational program as the key to “virtual success”
The most important step in making “cloud working” transparent and effective is choosing a digital collaboration program that is adequate for the group’s needs. The aforementioned fact that the locations of the participants are usually spread all over the world makes reliable software that is adapted to the tasks at hand essential.
There are now a variety of offers on the software market that enable good to very good online communication. Examples include MS Project, Wrike, Meistertask, Slack, Taskworld, Podio, Trello, Basecamp or Redbooth. None of these programs is identical to the other in terms of functionality, operation or previous software knowledge.
The Institute for Work Design and Future Technologies eV compared various collaboration tools in different relevant aspects for the first time in October 2014. In March 2017, the institute updated its research and compared ten instead of five tools in different categories.
The programs Podio and Taskworld were particularly praised in the evaluation of the comparison. According to the testers, Podio shined above all because of its individual adaptability: personal dashboard, projects and unlimited file sharing are among the strengths of the project management tool developed by Citrix. The American collaboration tool Taskworld, which was invented by Fred Mouawad, shone above all with its simple templates, individual comment function, extensive tag functions on many levels and easier integration of emails.
MS Project and Slack were also particularly highlighted in the comparison. However, the two programs could hardly be more different. While MS Project offers interesting approaches with the integration of OneNote, SharePoint or MS Office and is particularly suitable for experienced tool users, Slack takes up the newfangled enthusiasm for hashtags, emojis, or short messages and presents itself as a refreshing but also rock-solid alternative to long-established collaboration tools.
Advantages of cloud working: Increasing quality, greater self-determination
If the numerous challenges and obstacles are overcome with the help of a suitable program and a good basis of trust, the benefits of cloud working are multifaceted.
By decoupling the work process from a specific location and a highly determined entrepreneurial environment, heterogeneous groups are created. These ensure that project results are of higher quality and more differentiated. There is also the aspect of networking between companies and institutions. The formation of virtual teams often lays the foundation for further concepts and can establish new inter-entrepreneurial projects and open up market areas.
In addition to the positive effects on shared work processes and results, i.e. processes and goals that fall within the group's sphere of activity, working in the cloud also has major advantages for the individual members. What is being revolutionized is primarily the aspect of work. For the members of the virtual team, “working in the cloud” has the great advantage of being able to do work flexibly. What this means is that the completion of tasks is usually subject to a deadline, but the work flow up to this deadline can be freely divided. The group members are therefore deprived of when, where and to what extent they complete tasks on a daily basis. This newfound freedom to organize and complete work creates individuality and promotes creativity and self-management.
Last but not least, and of increasing importance in today's society, is the intercultural aspect that virtual working brings with it. People from different countries, continents and cultures usually work together. This circumstance not only supports the recognition of other people's achievements, but also contributes significantly to intercultural understanding and promotes tolerance and acceptance.
Megatrends: Virtualization as the biggest trend of the 21st century
However, the trend towards virtualization and digitalization does not only occur in the area of project management. The virtual trend is on the rise in many areas of life: news services are increasingly relying on electronic media, purchases are made via cell phone or PC and voice recognition systems such as Alexa or Siri plan the entire week for us.
Systems and programs are no longer just as smart as the people who operate them. Computers and machines have long had a mind of their own: Artificial Intelligence, in German, the artificial intelligence of software, makes machines people's work colleagues. “Industry 4.0” is often mentioned in this context. From the mechanization of work, to scientific management, which was coined by Frederick Winslow Taylor in the late 19th century, and the specialization of skilled workers in certain work processes, the so-called skilled work, productivity reaches a new level with the use of intelligent machines. The possibility of interacting with the physical world, having an understanding and ability to speak, the ability to find solutions to problem situations - all of these attributes make machines and software such an attractive aid to people in the 21st century in everyday life and the world of work .
This change is accompanied by other so-called “megatrends” that also favor virtual working in very different ways or pose challenges. The trends permeate almost all areas of life: politics, society, the environment or economics. For virtual working, all trends that are related to society and the economy and correspond to digitalization and virtualization are particularly important: social business, Me-Cloud, social networks or e-commerce are just an excerpt from a large number Trends.
But social aspects outside the virtual world also have an immense influence on cloud working. These include, above all, the sub-trend of diversity, i.e. the recognition and appreciation of national and cultural diversity, or the phenomenon of small world networks, i.e. smaller networks with central nodes that are spread around the world. This is accompanied by a constantly growing we-culture, which, however, is countered by a parallel increasing demand for autonomy from individuals, which can make working in virtual groups more difficult, but is unlikely to bring the triumph of virtual work to a standstill.
About the author:
After studying in Berlin, Oslo and Rotterdam, Alexander Eser co-founded the decentralized digital consumer magazine Kaufbferater.io . In addition to digital business models and statistics, he is particularly interested in fitness, snowboarding and traveling.
The so-called virtual working is revolutionizing the world of work and opening doors behind which efficiency and creativity are hidden.