RAHMA_ECOM201_PRSINTION

Answer:

Reflection

Virtual team

The name of my team is IconicTech. The team will specifically focus on advocating for the use of digital marketing solutions.

Team members

• The manager: Moses Ian
• Representative: Rachael Sam
• Technical support expert: Adam Smith
• General member: Lucy Real

Personal objectives

The responsibility of Moses (manager) is to ensure that the team members coordinate appropriately by facilitating communication and overseeing the effective completion of activities. Rachael (representative) is responsible for creating a connection with the Chinese brand. Hence, she has to understand the brand’s requirements and convey the team’s proposals and strategies appropriately. Adam (technical support expert) has the responsibility to deliver technical expertise and support in creating the digital marketing solutions needed by the Chinese Brand. The objective of Lucy (general member) is to help in different sectors of the project such as decision making to support the goals of the team.

Collective goal

The main objective of IconicTech is to connect with a Chinese brand that wants to open an office in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The goal of the team is to get approval from the client for installing a digital marketing plan which is excellent for the specifications of the brand’s project.

Experience of team building stages

According to Bruce Tuckman’s four stages of team building, my team had a different experience in each stage (Graffius, 2023). The experiences were as following;

Forming: During the first stage, members introduced themselves and stated their responsibilities in the team, which created a collaborative environment.

Storming: The team members were willing to negotiate in the occurrence of disagreements and came up with effective solutions. This helped support the active participation of the members.

Norming: Team members demonstrated trust and comprehension to one another through open communications and accountability.

Performing: The team was successful in accomplishing its mission since it was able to maintain a productive work setting.

Virtual tool

Tool and picture: ClickUp

The team decided to use ClickUp. Below is a picture of the tool.

Features of ClickUp

Team management: The tool supports collaboration in real time on a shared visual workspace to discuss the team’s ideas and plans. ClickUp also helps in the next step of making ideas a reality through teamwork and concretizing them into observable actions.

Checklists and labels: ClickUp enables users to break down large tasks into smaller, more manageable parts using the tool’s built-in checklist tool. Tasks may be organized and prioritized with the use of labels.

Accounting settings menu: Everyone has access, although certain users on some plans have more privileges than others. ClickUp can be customized by installing other apps, selecting a language and time zone, and picking a color palette. Below is a picture of the settings menu.

Notifications and Activity Log: Team members are kept in the loop about any developments due to the use of ClickUp. The activity log records all interactions with the board, providing a complete record of the development of the project.

Comment feature: With ClickUp’s assigned comments functionality, team members may designate a single team member as the comment’s owner. They will complete the assignment and then mark the comment as resolved so they do not have to (ClickUp, 2023). Below is an example of the comment section.

Visual Task Management: Through ClickUp’s visual interface, users can keep tabs on the progress of individual tasks as well as the entire project as a whole by making use of lists and cards. Quickly rearranging cards between different sets of lists can help team members keep track of where things stand with each assignment.

Reasons for choosing the tool

We picked ClickUp because it simplifies time-tabling and group-management tasks, allowing members to do more in less time. It has never been simpler to collaborate with team members in real time. The manager may allocate tasks, offer input, and check in on progress without leaving the platform. We also considered Asana and Trello but ultimately decided on ClickUp. ClickUp stood out because it is extremely user friendly and intuitive.

Budget use

We had a budget of SAK 10k and we primarily invested in premium features and integrations for ClickUp. This allowed us to fully take use of the tool and all of its configuration options. Any residual cash in the budget after paying off urgent expenses will be used to develop or purchase new tools

Frequency and duration of team meetings

The group gets together thrice weekly to discuss their progress and provide updates. Each meeting will last around an hour to allow for plenty of time for discussion, the presentation of updates on given tasks, and the resolution of any issues that may arise.

Benefits of minutes in helping the team stay focused

The minutes of a meeting are a detailed account of the discussion, debate, and subsequent actions taken by a team. All of the major issues addressed and choices taken are recorded in the meeting minutes. The team members consulted the meeting minutes to track their progress on their separate tasks. The minutes also helped identify any roadblocks that were preventing the project from moving forward. The minutes make it easy for people to accept responsibility by outlining any follow-up that needs to be done and listing who on the team is responsible for each item. It was the responsibility of those present to record the meeting’s actions and decisions for posterity.

ClickUp is our primary web tool, and it has improved our team’s productivity, communication, and project management immensely. In addition, we have tried to take thorough notes throughout meetings.

Virtual work dynamics

Developing a virtual work setting

Using a variety of online resources, we established a “virtual office” that was nearly indistinguishable from an actual workplace. Below are the actions that we followed:

File Sharing among members: We used cloud-based storage options like Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive, and share documents, spreadsheets, presentations, and other important items connected to the project. The sharing and synchronization of diverse file formats was one of the operation.

Communication platform: We settled on using a popular messaging app like Slack and Microsoft Teams as the ideal way to facilitate in-the-moment collaboration, lively team discussions, and timely updates.

Virtual Team Channels: We organized dedicated channels and groups inside the platform to make it easier to have specific discussions, disseminate certain news, and share specific files.

Projects Management Tool: We determined that the best tool for us to utilize in organizing our projects and keeping track of our tasks, deadlines, and general progress would be ClickUp, a web-based project management platform.

Video conferencing: We used video conferencing apps like Tello and Zoom to have regular meetings that fostered cooperation and made the most of the in-person interactions effective. Improving how we talk to one another was a primary focus.

Obstacles

It was difficult to keep everyone updated about the project, coordinate schedules, and monitor progress when the team leader was in a far location.

Without in-person meetings, the representative struggled to establish rapport with the Chinese brand, win the brand’s confidence, and successfully communicate business objectives.

The technical Support had problems that surfaced with providing technical help via the internet, diagnosing technical difficulties without physical access to the equipment, and keeping in touch with the team members in charge of providing technical support.

General Members: The members had to adapt to working away from the office, communicate effectively without direct supervision, and balance many priorities which was time consuming.

Ethic/ Culture in China

Chinese workers are under a lot of pressure to put in long hours and focus intensely on their employment. The “996” notion is an informal standard of working six days a week, Monday through Saturday, from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Vacation and holidays

We made it a point to maintain the lines of communication and planning open even though many of our team members were away for various holidays and vacations. We determined that a communal calendar was the best way to maintain tabs on everyone’s schedules and assignments. In order to get things done quickly and efficiently, we emphasized the need of planning ahead of time and delegating tasks to team members.

Members of the team were given responsibilities according with their skill sets, availability, and personal interests. When deciding who would be in charge of what, the team’s management took into account everyone’s skills and the whole scope of the task. The team was able to rely on one another and provide assistance when required because to the open lines of communication established.

Problems linked to communications

Team Manager: The manager of the team had a hard time keeping in touch with the involved members. Therefore, it was important to keep everyone informed of progress, to solicit their feedback, and to resolve any issues or misunderstandings as soon as they arose.

Despite the representative’s best efforts, the team was unable to work together as expected. In particular, those who were in charge of synchronizing efforts across time zones and meeting customers’ expectations.

Technical Support: When performing a remote diagnosis of computer issues, the technical support worker faced into complications. Complex concepts or instructions might be difficult to convey over the phone or the internet. Not understanding the client’s specific needs and constraints also contributed to issues.

General Members: Due to a lack of face-to-face interactions, the general membership has trouble contributing to conversations (Wu, 2022). They had difficulty getting their queries and worries through and much more trouble actually getting answers.

Hence, the team’s efforts to communicate effectively facilitated mutual understanding and cooperation among its members. Methods such as holding regular meetings, keeping presentations concise, listening carefully, and making use of visual aids fall into this category.

Reports and presentations

Example of proposed strategy

To ensure the success of the marketing campaign for the international corporation opening up a brand in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, IconicTech has developed a comprehensive plan. Our whole plan is summarized below:

Introduction: Strategies that cater to the local market and pique the interest of the audience we are trying to attract are essential in Saudi Arabia’s fierce digital marketing environment. Our strategy combines offline and online promotional strategies for maximum effect.

Brief strategy

1. Localization of brand and cultural sensitivity:
   • The global brand’s tone, language and visuals should be modified to be more in line with Saudi culture.
   • To have a genuine impact on the individuals we are attempting to reach, we must adopt their ways of thinking, speaking, and doing things.
2. Analytics of data and measures of performance:
   • Set up reliable monitoring and analytics tools to monitor the campaign’s progress and gain insight into the audience’s participation, exposure and conversion rates.
   • To fine-tune the campaign, we have to identify trends and agree on course adjustments, continuous data analysis must be conducted.
3. Research on marketing and division of the audience:
   • Researching the local market, the preferences of the target audience, and the strategies used by competitors is essential.
   • First, we need to divide our target market into subgroups defined by demographics, interests, and behavior.
4. Influencer marketing:
   • Work with prominent Saudis who share the brand’s beliefs and who have a sizable online following on many social media sites.
   • Make use of well-known people to raise awareness about the business and its products within target audience.
5. Digital marketing channels:
   • Use social media sites like Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn as well as search engine optimization (SEO) to spread information about the business.
   • Develop and manage targeted advertising strategies to ensure we are reaching our intended audience. Below is a social media advertising audience in Saudi Arabia.

Our strategy takes use of digital marketing’s success while also being sensitive to Saudi culture in order to help the global company better connect with customers in that country. Adopting a data-driven strategy to determining which messages to distribute across which channels is predicted to result in increased revenue, more consumer engagement and increased brand awareness.

Feedback from international company

The recommended plan is well-considered and tailored to the specific cultural needs of the Saudi Arabian market. It would be excellent if development could be tracked with more detailed measurements and key performance indicators, however.

Response from the Team:

We will give serious thought to your feedback. To provide a more thorough assessment of the campaign’s efficacy, we will include in-depth analytics and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) in the report. A trustworthy and open grading system that serves the interests of the corporation as a whole may be developed in this way.

Conclusion

Our decentralized team was able to create a foolproof strategy for the marketing campaign by combining the results of market research and cultural analysis with the most efficient digital marketing techniques. We are certain that we can develop a successful marketing campaign for the Chinese brand’s entry into the Saudi Arabian market since we have taken into account the representative of the international company’s input and are continually working to improve our strategy. We were able to accomplish a lot as a group due to our virtual cooperation and the effective use of various methods of communication.

References

Fisher, K., & Fisher, M. (2011). Manager’s guide to virtual teams. McGraw-Hill Education, ISBN: 9780071761543

ClickUp. (2023). Core ClickUp features. https://help.clickup.com/hc/en-us/articles/6311563…

Graffius, S. M. (2023). Five Phases of Team Development. International Journal of Engineering Education, 32, 55-63.

Wu, T. (2022). Digital project management: rapid changes define new working environments. Journal of Business Strategy, 43(5), 323-331.