Start typing & press "Enter" or "ESC" to close
  • Learning Solutions
    • Learning Solutions

      Experience the power of experiential learning. The learning solutions can be tailored to your specific learning objectives for your next course or in-company training.

      • Understand the End-to-End Supply Chain
      • Supply Chain Fundamentals
      • End-to-End Supply Chain Management
      • Supply Chain Segmentation
      • Supply Chain and Market Expansion
      • Working Capital Management
      • Supply Chain Finance
      • Experience S&OP and IBP
      • Sales and Operations Planning
      • S&OP and Multichannel SCM
      • Integrated Business Planning
      • Manage Supply Chain Disruptions
      • Supply Chain Resilience
      • Supply Chain Risk Management
      • Supply Chain Finance
      • Create a Sustainable Business
      • Carbon Footprint Optimization
      • Sustainable Business
      • Circular Business Transition
      • Develop Data Literacy
      • Data Analytics in Supply Chains
  • Business games
    • Business games

      Discover the power of experiential learning. Our business games offer a life-like experience based on corporate best practices. This as close to reality as you can get!

      • Business Games
      • Discover The Cool Connection
      • Discover The Fresh Connection
      • Discover The Blue Connection
      • Discover The Triple Connection
      • Getting started
      • Education
      • Incompany training
      • Literature
      • Mastering the Supply Chain
      • Supply Chain Meesterschap (Dutch)
      • Mastering the Circular Economy
      • Inchainge Leadership Program
      • Virtual Exchange Program
  • Knowledge base
    • Knowledge base

      In today’s connected world, people expect and demand easy access to accurate information. Our knowledge base is a self-serve online library with information about topics related to our business games. Learn more about the key terminology, concepts and methods from our knowledge base!

      • Alignment
      • Sales & Operations Plannning
      • Integrated Business Planning
      • ⟶ view more topics
      • Blended learning
      • Delivery formats and scalability
      • Experiential learning
      • Learning cycle
      • Flipped class room
      • ⟶ view more topics
      • Learning
      • Soft skills
      • Building (virtual) teams
      • Leadership skills
      • ⟶ view more topics
      • Supply Chain
      • Data analytics
      • Logistics footprint
      • ⟶ view more topics
      • Sustainability
      • Carbon footprint
      • Circular Economy
      • ⟶ view more topics
      • Value Chain
  • Resource Center
    • Resources

      Inchainge offers a holistic approach to learning. Discover our resources and gain free access to our Harvard-style teaching cases and whitepaper. New materials coming soon!

      • Teaching cases
      • Blogs
      • Webinars
      • Whitepapers
  • About
    • About Inchainge

      Celebrating 10 years of Developing Value Chain Leaders. Our game-based learning simulations are in use all around the globe and present an innovative approach to learning that puts participants at the heart of a lifelike simulation. Learn more about who we are and who we work with!

      • About
      • Learn more about us
      • Meet our team
      • Testimonials
      • Partnership
      • Become a partner
      • Partner network
      • Education associates
      • Customer support
  • News & Events
    • Events

      Stay on top of our upcoming events, trainings and workshops. Discover how to participate in our flagship events for students, professionals and educators!

      • Events
      • Upcoming events
      • News
      • News
      • Flagship events
      • Global Student Challenge
      • Inchainge Connect Educator Conference
      • Global PRO Challenge
        • History of the Challenge
        • Global PRO Partner
      • Global Educator Challenge
  • Contact
What's new? Introducing 15 game-based learning solutions (Open session)
  • my.Inchainge
What's new? Check out our brand new business game on sustainability, The Triple Connection!
  • my.Inchainge
  • Get a PDF file with this topic
  • Building (virtual) teams
  • What makes a successful team?
  • Why do virtual teams fail?
  • What makes a virtual team successful?
  • How do we create trust?
  1. Inchainge Home
  2. Knowledge base
  3. Soft skills
  4. Building (virtual) teams

Building (virtual) teams

Written by: Inchainge | 3 minute read | Last updated on: October 7th, 2021
Share on:

Building teams and fostering teamwork is a crucial element in leading a successful business – within and across different departments. But challenges are waiting at every corner, particularly if cooperation has to happen virtually. With Inchainge’s simulations being playable online, we have become experts in making teamwork happen at a distance!

Topics in this article
1. What makes a successful team?
2. Why do virtual teams fail?
3. What makes a virtual team successful?
4. How do we create trust?

What makes a successful team?

Teamwork is a cornerstone of everyday life – for businesses, in education, but also in your personal relationships. What makes a team successful has been studied and is well documented.

While ideally everyone contributes equally to teamwork, every team needs a good leader – a leader, that is aware of how to motivate the other team members, that knows how to assign tasks according to skill sets, and that has an eye on whether goals are reached on time.

Important for successful teamwork is also the existence of clear rules. If a team is aware of not only rules, but also of shared values and goals, working towards that goal together happens almost by itself.

However, communication is the single most important factor in successful teamwork. This means that team members are encouraged to share information, and that their input is valued, allowing everyone to be aware of their own and the others’ contributions towards the common goal.

But how do we translate this advice into the virtual environment?

Why do virtual teams fail?

While technological innovation has spread, new management tools have been designed, and better video conferencing software has been popularized, virtual team building and teamwork has not worked as well as many had hoped. From technological issues, to low productivity, to cultural differences, to different time zones – virtual teams face an abundance of potential obstacles.

This claim is backed up by research. A study discussed in the MIT Sloan Management Review found that only 18 percent of the seventy virtual teams assessed were found to be highly successful – more than 80% were unable to achieve their goals.

But what causes these disruptions? And how can they be overcome?

What makes a virtual team successful?

Despite these difficulties, more and more educational institutions and businesses are opting for virtual teamwork– sometimes out of necessity, for example, if team members are spread around the globe.

A study from MIT on the success of virtual teams conducted by, among others, Yossi Sheffi, has analyzed which factors allow virtual teams to succeed.

Using our business simulation, The Fresh Connection, 20 teams of students participated in the research. Teams consisted of four to five students, that have never met before, and are from different MIT SCALE campuses around the world.

While individual abilities (such as analytical reasoning) undoubtedly contribute to the overall success of a virtual team, one factor in particular stood out: Team Trust.

In analyzing all data, “Intra-Team Trust” surfaced as the only statistically significant predictor of team performance. An up to 9% increase in performance was observed when trust among team members was high.

How do we create trust?

Luckily, there are several strategies that can help to increase trust, making the most of virtual teamwork. A first step is always to outline goals and objectives, ensuring that all team members are on the same page.

Setting clear goals goes hand in hand with assigning clear roles, making sure that every team member is aware what their tasks are, when they need to be done, and with whom they need to cooperate in order to get the task done.

Lastly, trust is about communication. Clear communication does not only mean that information is shared, and questions can be asked, but it also means that channels of communication and times for exchange need to be made very clear.

You might want to learn more about

Business games

A high-performing value chain needs the collaboration of team members from across the organization. Tearing down silos and creating the right cross-functional mindset, however, can be a serious challenge. So, what do you need in order to achieve success? Ideally, you’d like your team to experiment with different scenarios wherein they learn to overcome various obstacles.

Leadership skills

Leadership qualities and leadership traits have become buzzwords for organizational management and personal development. But what does leadership really entail? And what challenges are value chain leaders confronted with? Here at Inchainge, we have always concerned ourselves with the question of what makes a leader a good leader. Read more about leadership in our article.

Dive into our
knowledge base

Alignment
  • Alignment
  • BMC Model
  • External Alignment and Collaboration
  • Integrated Business Planning
  • Key Performance Indicators
  • Sales & Operations Planning
  • Strategic Alignment
  • Total Cost of Ownership
Blended learning
  • Blended learning
  • Delivery formats and scalability
Experiential learning
  • Experiential learning
  • 70 20 10
  • Flipped classroom
  • Learning cycle
Learning
  • Learning
Soft skills
  • Soft skills
  • Building (virtual) teams
  • Leadership skills
Supply chain
  • Data analytics
  • End-to-end Supply Chain Management
  • LARG Supply Chain
  • Logistics footprint
  • Omnichannel
  • Supply Chain
  • Supply Chain Finance
  • Supply Chain Management
  • Supply Chain Risk management
  • Supply Chain Volatility
  • The Bullwhip Effect
Sustainability
  • Sustainability
  • Carbon footprint
  • Circular Economy
  • Does Green Governance drive the ride to a sustainable future?
  • Everything You Need To Know About Eco-Efficiency
  • Greenwashing: Everything you need to know
  • Is it possible to measure the Triple Bottom Line?
  • Sustainability v/s Circularity
  • The 3Ps Series: People
  • The 3Ps Series: Planet
  • The 3Ps Series: Prosperity
  • The Butterfly Diagram
  • The Value Hill
  • What are the 3Ps of Sustainability?
  • What do we know about the Triple Bottom Line?
Value Chain
  • Value Chain

Tags

Supply Chain Circularity TFC Branding HTML Clean CSS3 jQuery

Inchainge

Newsletter
Get the latest Inchainge news delivered to your inbox.
The Fresh Connection The Cool Connection The Blue Connection The Triple Connection Education Incompany training
We truly believe that going through an experience,
will result in a better understanding.
Inchainge B.V.
Emmalaan 5
3732 GM De Bilt
The Netherlands
    Follow us on:
Knowledge base
  • Alignment
  • Learning
  • Blended learning
  • Soft skills
  • Experiential learning
  • Supply Chain
  • Sustainability
  • Value Chain
Resources
  • Teaching cases
  • Webinars
  • Blogs
  • Whitepapers
About
  • About Inchainge
  • Meet our team
  • Become a partner
  • Partner network
  • Education associates
  • Testimonials
© Inchainge. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy Terms & Conditions Cookie policy
We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept All”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. However, you may visit "Cookie Settings" to provide a controlled consent.
Cookie SettingsAccept All
Manage consent

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT