Virtual Teams Challenge

How do you successfully bring together different work processes or functions across diverse teams?  What happens when these same teams are working virtually?  Sounds a lot like today’s workplace?  That’s the intent!

The Virtual Teams Challenge tests the best of teams to innovate, execute, meet aggressive performance measures and integrate diverse work processes or functions all while simulating a virtual team environment.  Each team must meet their individual team objectives while managing the overall challenge of ‘integrating’ their process to those of another team.

How does the Virtual Teams Challenge work?

Using only the materials supplied, each team must create a life size structure consisting of over 100 feet of wood and 200 feet of PVC pipe that is capable of carrying a ball bearing through a complexity of measures.  Working independently, each team will design and construct their part of the process or work function.  After the independent processes have been created and tested, the final challenge is to bring the multiple processes together into a fully integrated system while meeting the complexity of metrics that measure the success of the end result.

• Complexity:  Number of times the ball shifts direction
  
  
• Time to Market:  Length of time for the ball to drop from the structure
  
  
• Risk-Taking:  Number of times the ball leaves a piece of pipe and successfully falls into another segment of pipe
  
  
• Customer Appeal:  Overall design and packaging of the process and how well it appeals to the customer
  
  
• Market Upswings:  Number of times the ball moves from a downward descent to an upward ascent
  
  
• Process Integration: Ability for the ball to transition from one independent process to the next seamlessly and without intervention
  
  
• Momentum: Ability for the ball to reach the customer receiving area as measured from the drop point to the back end of the receiving area
   
• Quality:  Ability of the ball to reach the customer accurately – perfect execution

The process gets increasingly complex when multiple teams must successfully integrate their structures seamlessly under the pressure of time.  Add a few budget cuts that alter the availability of resources and you have an environment that requires adaptability to change.  Which team(s) will earn the most revenue points while managing the complexity of these measures and changing dynamics?  It’s not the fastest team that wins – rather the smartest team or the team that can think ‘virtually’.

From mid-level teams to executive teams, the Virtual Teams Challenge requires team members to think strategically while working across a virtual team environment.  Strong collaboration is a must to bring the multiple processes or functions together successfully.

Virtual Teams Challenge Learning Outcomes:

Each program is tailored to the goals and objectives of the client.  Examples of possible learning outcomes are:

• Working across time, distance, and technology – building an effective strategy and plan for execution
• Team collaboration – multiple teams coming together to ‘integrate’ a diversity of processes for final execution
• Team roles – evaluating each team member’s ability and effectively managing team resources that will drive the team to a successful solution
• Virtual communication – a collaborative project without ‘seeing’ the other teams progress
• Effective management of time – managing strategy, innovation, evaluation of alternatives, execution, measurements and process improvements within a designated period of time
• Focused communication – aligning diverse team priorities into an overall integrated system

Virtual Teams Challenge Sample Agenda

The program requires a minimum of 3 hours and can extend up to 5 hours depending on number of teams, level of integration, and complexity of the resulting work structures.  Each of the phases below will be timed according to the final program timeline.

• Phase One:  Team Foundation & Virtual Teams Briefing
  
  
• Phase Two:  Strategy, Design & Planning of the Virtual Teams Structure
  Team Leader Meeting at end of Phase Two
  
  
• Phase Three:  Building the Virtual Teams Process
  A Series of Three Team Leader Meetings
  
  
• Phase Four:  Independent Process Execution & Evaluation
  
  
• Phase Five:  Virtual Teams Process Integration
  
  
• Phase Six:  Virtual Teams Process Integration Execution & Evaluation

Request a Quotation for the Virtual Teams Challenge