Virtual Team Meetings: Reflections on a Class Exercise Exploring Technology Choice

Students find that choosing the appropriate technology for a virtual team meeting is not as simple as it first appears. The authors describe a class exercise used to demonstrate the benefits and drawbacks of using virtual team meetings by requiring students to replace a face-to-face meeting with a virtual meeting. The exercise challenged students' assumptions about the ease of meeting virtually, and groups learned how to choose technology with capabilities appropriate for their meeting objectives. After reviewing the literature concerning the effectiveness of virtual work teams and technology choice, the authors describe the objectives of the class exercise, the context and content of the exercise, and classroom reflections. Finally, they review the benefits and limitations of this experiential exercise and advise instructors who see an opportunity to incorporate virtual team meetings within different management courses.