Getting it done: Critical success factors for project managers in

dispersed work settings

In this research paper Information and communication technologies impotence role in to range
their activities from traditional co-located settings to dispersed or virtual settings. Especially
differences in time location culture or a combination of these factors provide some considerable
challenges for globally single teams the content of work is also changing and becoming more
intellectual rather than physical. The role of technologies as an enabler is essential for dispersed
organizations and global project teams the aim of this study is to gain insight how project managers
may improve effective collaboration between dispersed team members. We focus on the
perspective of a project manager who is responsible for task accomplishment

The purpose of vitality is defined and measured as the amount the frequency and the quality of
electronically mediated communication. This measure is often complemented with the amount and
frequency of face-to-face contacts as the other basis of the categorization Breaks are described as
gaps or a lack of consistency in aspects of work, such as work setting task and relations with other
workers or managers Gaps can arise in factors such as the location of the workers how work is
skillful and the basis for relationships between workers and organizations project managers it is
important to perform in globally dispersed teams by using such tools effectively

Global project teams may experience higher or lower levels of diversity have different degrees of
geographic dispersion and may differ in their dependence on electronic tools. Such teams are often
deployed for limited durations of time and are characterized by strict budgets and high turnover
rates among members of the team there are also a number of generic problems with dispersed work
reported in the literature. These problems include difficulties in communication of complex tasks
quality of technological tools trust building and leadership issues

Research on the impact of ICT arbitrated communication on dispersed team effectiveness shows
conflicting results Many researchers, therefore, have claimed that face-to-face meetings are vital
for dispersed teams, especially in the startup phase of the team The project manager is usually the
stable part of a team under these conditions and acts as the coordinator and primary decision maker
within such teams Another well-documented condition for successful team work is trust among
team members. Especially for spread team participants, trust is often perceived as a necessary
condition for collaboration
In which methodology data collected we applied the Means-End Chain method for collecting and
analyzing qualitative data from 30 project managers 25 male and 5 female of virtual project teams
in nine global companies. The global companies operate in various areas such as software
development electronics engineering and oil and gas. On average the project managers in our
sample reported to have 7.9 years of experience in project teams and had led about six different
dispersed team projects The MEC-process implies a number of steps. We performed personal, in-
depth and structured interviews for at least one hour with 30 senior project managers of global
companies.

The interviews were held in English in three countries the goal of this research was to gain a better
understanding of the conditions project managers in dispersed settings perceive as relevant to get
their work done. On the basis of our analysis we derive a number of conditions that need to be
fulfilled for successful project execution within dispersed project settings. These can be
categorized into two main categories: Communication/collaboration within the team: i.e., clear
communication rules, openness, and trust. Organizational support multi-media and technical
support and corporate support in terms of tools infrastructure policies rewards and incentive
systems for dispersed work.