Survey Shows Companies Utilizing Virtual Teams to Reduce Costs, Manage Productivity in Economic Downturn

HOUSTON, Sept. 8, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- A research survey conducted by consulting firm Chronos Consulting has found that more companies in the U.S. and worldwide are utilizing virtual teams to reduce costs, enhance productivity and attract wider talent pools in today's volatile economic and political environment.

Companies headquartered in the United States and Canada, and from industries such as financial services, oil & gas, telecom, cable, call center operations, consulting and transportation, responded to the survey. This cross-industry research survey identifies the top 8 benefits to organizations by using virtual teams as well as the challenges in utilizing them and provides compelling insight and practical recommendations to senior managers tasked with managing human resources and organizational change. It focused primarily on the HR function, but also included the operations and information technology functions at their points of intersection with HR, particularly when utilizing virtual teams.

"Our survey was designed to identify the challenges, trends and opportunities provided by virtual teams for cross-industry organizations in North America, especially when dealing with organizational and human resource restructuring," said Imaad Mahfooz, Managing Principal of Chronos Consulting. "Our goal is to use these results to answer questions like how the virtual team model should be applied to business and what are the top benefits of deploying these teams."

Virtual teams consist of employees from different functions of an organization and can be distributed across disparate locations and between companies. They may include remote workers, mobile employees, independent workers or outsourced services -- or anyone who does not work solely in one place. Virtual teams can be complex for HR departments because they must deal with the challenges of operating across the globe and with cross-cultural team members.

The survey showed that there are a number of reasons these companies have decided to utilize virtual teams, including to improve productivity, lower labor costs, reduce expenses, attract a wider talent pool, improve employee morale and reduce employee turnover. It also allows organizations to hire more flexible employees, including those with special circumstances or disabilities.

"Based on the survey results, we recommend implementing virtual teams in a scalable way, as every organization is different and has unique needs when it comes to HR restructuring," Mahfooz said. "It is best for organizations to utilize virtual teams after a customized assessment has been done to identify business benefits from that model and as part of an overall strategy for talent optimization."

To view a report of the survey and the top 8 benefits of virtual teams, visit http://www.chronosconsulting.org/dl/Virtual-Teams-Utilization-Research-Survey-Sep-1-2011.pdf

About Chronos Consulting:

Chronos Consulting (http://www.chronosconsulting.org) is a niche consulting firm focusing on utilizing "human capital" to achieve desired business objectives in the areas of organizational and HR restructuring and downsizing, cross-functional, global and virtual team-building, talent optimization and leadership development, and shared services solutions. Its goal is to assist clients in areas of strong expertise and achieve breakthrough business results in compressed timeframes.

Please direct inquiries to:
Imaad Mahfooz, 713-817-1748
[email protected]

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SOURCE Chronos Consulting