Issue link: http://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/56805
Tips to Consider For professors who want to design and deliver their own virtual challenges to students, Tatiana Andreeva and Edward Romar offer several pieces of advice: n Tap your networks. Andreeva networks with professors at member schools in the Global Alliance for Management Education (CEMS) to find potential part- ners for team challenges. "In CEMS, we have faculty groups and professional communities of teachers who all teach the same subjects," she says. When she discovers someone with a syllabus or teaching approach that's similar to hers, she reaches out via e-mail to see if there is potential for collaboration. n Start small. It's natural to be uncertain about whether a faculty partnership will work well. Professors can test the waters by starting with smaller, less demanding projects lasting one or two weeks. If those go well, the assign- ments can be expanded into courselong projects. n Don't be limited by technology. Romar notes that some schools' sys- tems may not have the capacity for large-scale video conferencing. In that case, it's fine to use less intensive communication technologies—or, as Andreeva and her colleagues do, allow students to choose their own team-building tools. n Be creative. Although Andreeva uses virtual team challenges for organiza- tional behavior and cross-cultural courses, she emphasizes that a virtual col- laboration project could be adapted to almost any subject. But be careful not to assign a project that can be easily divided into parts, allowing students to work independently. Andreeva finds that projects involving creative output—not just analytical output—inspire students to collaborate the most. n Prepare for students' emotions. One of the hardest aspects for profes- sors during virtual team challenges is handling the gamut of student emotions that arise, including anger and even desperation. The key, says Andreeva, is to check in regularly with each team and to be sympathetic when students need to vent their frustrations. But it's also important to stay neutral. Students should feel listened to, but must eventually take responsibility for managing emotions, solving problems, and completing tasks. "Students tell me that these projects can be painful experiences, but I want them to experience these emotions for themselves," says Andreeva. "Only afterward, during the debriefing, do I present them with formal guidelines for collaboration. I think they learn more this way." whose objective is to enter either the U.S. or Hungarian market. To set up projects for the course, I approached the Small Business Development Center at the University of Massachusetts Boston and the Massachusetts Export Center, both funded by the Small Business Administra- tion. These organizations helped 34 March/April 2012 BizEd me identify two small companies based in Boston that wanted to expand into the Hungarian market and would be willing provide proj- ect case material. One company manufactures thermocouples; the other, tools for construction and telecommunications. We also got help from Yet2.com, a consulting firm specializing in open innovation that connects firms that have created new technologies with firms seeking new technologies. Yet2. com helped us find a German medi- cal device firm planning to enter the Hungarian market. The faculty at the University of Pannonia identi- fied a Hungarian youth camp that wanted to enter the U.S. market. Student teams developed market- ing plans to help managers at their client companies better understand such factors as market size and seg- mentation, product requirements, distribution strategies, and regula- tory issues. Three of the teams were able to send their local members to tour facilities and meet with execu- tives at their client companies. Only the fourth team, whose client was in West Germany, was unable to do so due to distance. Students submitted project reports each month and took mid-term and final exams. At the end of the semester, they presented their recommendations via an oral PowerPoint presentation and a for- mal written report. Building Community To facilitate a sense of community, we post media describing life at The University of Massachusetts Boston and the University of Pannonia online and invite students to explore that content at the beginning of the course. This material helps stu- dents at one campus gain a better understanding of their counterparts at the other. A sense of community and connection also is encour- aged through the use of "Student Lounge," a tool that allows stu- dents to post and receive voice mes- sages from colleagues. To promote free communication, this is a space where faculty is not allowed. Real-time collaboration is