Abstract
the nature of managing team work has changed significantly because of changes in organizations and the nature of the work they do. Organizations have become more distributed across geography and across industries. Relationships between people inside an organization and those previously considered outside (customers, suppliers, managers of collaborating organizations, other stakeholders) are becoming more important. Organizations have discovered the value of collaborative work. When implementing IT projects in a global environment, a popular strategy is the establishment of virtual teams. The objective of this paper is to examine what competence an IT project manager has to have to lead a virtual IT team successfully. The question is approached from the perspective of competences presented in the IPMA (International Project Management Association) competence baseline, or The Eye of Competences. Results from research, as well as a survey conducted, highlighted that both soft and hard skills are needed for the optimal IT project manager to lead a virtual team. To be successful in this area it is not sufficient to be outstanding in technical competences. Soft skills like communication, teamwork and leadership are no less essential. The competences scoring highest in the survey were: clarity of objectives, leadership & project management, communication, reliability & efficiency, teamwork and quality management.
Highlights
In recent years, companies have increasingly turned to virtual teams as a means of connecting and engaging geographically dispersed workers, lowering the costs associated with global collaboration, and enabling greater speed and adaptability
Technical competence is not sufficient to be successful in this field
The main outcome from the survey is that a combination of soft and hard is needed to lead virtual teams in IT projects
Summary
Companies have increasingly turned to virtual teams as a means of connecting and engaging geographically dispersed workers, lowering the costs associated with global collaboration, and enabling greater speed and adaptability. It has been impacted by globalization and this trend continues today. These changes have been coupled with the availability, in large numbers, of qualified software engineers located in low cost economies, who are capable and willing to undertake outsourced and offshore software development. While offering many benefits, pose a number of challenges. One of these challenges is to develop effective global leaders
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