Virtual Teams Pocketbook

To be competitive businesses are increasingly going further a field for their talent and skills - drawing together teams of people with the best mix of experience and abilities, regardless of their location. This has given rise to the concept of the virtual team, a network of individuals who have a common goal yet rarely if ever meet. Virtual Teamworking - possibly across different time zones and against different cultural backgrounds, and often project-specific and, thus, temporary - poses specific challenges for the team leader. The Virtual Teams Pocketbook looks at the skills needed to lead a virtual team, at the required style of leadership, at the team selection process, at the cultural issues that may arise and at the process of developing trust and building a productive and cohesive unit. Without the recent strides forward in communications technology virtual teamworking would not be effective or, even, possible. This pocketbook looks at the options available and gives advice on selecting the most appropriate method and how to use it to its full potential.

To be competitive businesses are increasingly goingfurther a field for their talent and skills - drawingtogether teams of people with the best mix of experienceand abilities, regardless of their location. This hasgiven rise to the concept of the virtual team, a networkof individuals who have a common goal yet rarely if evermeet. ......

The Handbook of High-Performance Virtual Teams is an essential resource for leaders, virtual team members, and work group leaders. The editors provide a proved framework based on five principles for working collaboratively across boundaries of time, space, and culture. Written by experts in the field, the contributors offer practical suggestions and tools for virtual team who need to assess their current level of effectiveness and develop strategies for improvement. This important resource also contains an array of illustrative cases as well as practical tools for designing, implementing, and maintaining effective virtual work.

In today’s complex organizations it is not uncommon to have as many as 50 percent of employees working on virtual teams. As the “virtual revolution” continues to spread, how can companies ensure that virtual team collaboration is producing the desired results? Highly practical and easy to navigate, Virtual Team Success leverages the authors’ robust global research study and hands-on experience to provide an immediately usable resource for virtual team members and team leaders. This groundbreaking book is a hands-on, practical toolkit filled with down-to-earth examples and insights that can enhance the virtual team experience for everyone involved. The authors’ research study is one of the most comprehensive applied studies ever conducted on virtual teams, and all of the recommendations outlined are based on these findings as well as the authors’ years of experience helping virtual teams and virtual team leaders effectively lead and collaborate from a distance. To help organizations and leaders enhance virtual team performance, the book includes: Why Virtual Teams Fail—outlines the four pitfalls that frequently derail virtual teams Profile of High Performing Teams—addresses the characteristics of the most effective virtual teams and what makes them successful Virtual Team Launch Kit—provides practical guidelines and tools for successfully launching virtual teams How to RAMP Up Your Team’s Effectiveness—introduces a practical research-based model of virtual team effectiveness to improve team performance Profile of Top Performing Virtual Team Leaders—identifies the practices of the most successful virtual team leaders Facilitating High-Impact Virtual Meetings—includes tips and techniques to effectively lead “v-meetings” Virtual Team Success also includes practical resources for virtual team leaders, quick reference guides for diagnosing virtual team problems, and six lessons for virtual team success.

The Teamworking Pocketbook has long been at the heart of the successful Management Pocketbooks Series. Now in its third edition, this popular title looks at the differences between groups and teams and between teambuilding and teamworking, the types of problems preventing teams from being effective, and offers plenty of practical advice for countering such difficulties. Leadership, conflict management and understanding group behaviour are among the many subjects covered in this illustrated 'hands-on' guide.Also available in the series: Teambuilding Activities Pocketbook, Team Coaching Pocketbook

Yael Zofi’s proprietary Trust Wheel model is a proven solution to the unique challenges managers must overcome as more people migrate to partially or fully-remote working situations. Based on the author’s twenty-plus years of consulting experience, this powerful tool encourages cohesiveness and engagement among team members--even if they’ve never met. A Manager’s Guide to Virtual Teams does this by providing a practical road map for bridging the physical distance among coworkers, incorporating self-study exercises and simple, fun activities that develop trust and ensure your team’s success. The book explores the most critical elements to success for a team founded in trust, including: accountability, communication, conflict management, and deliverables. Complete with examples, case scenarios, and strategies to help you navigate even your biggest hurdles, A Manager’s Guide to Virtual Teams will help your disparate collection of people get their work “out the door” faster and better.

Virtual Teams That Work offers a much-needed, comprehensive guidebook for business leaders and managers who want to create the organizational conditions that will help virtual teams thrive. Each chapter in this important book focuses on best practices and includes case studies and illustrative examples from a wide variety of companies, including British Petroleum, Lucent Technologies, Ramtech, SoftCo, and Whirlpool Corporation. These real-life examples demonstrate how the principles identified in the book play out within virtual teams. Virtual Teams That Work shows how organizations can put in place the structure to help team members who speak different languages and have different cultural values develop effective ways of communicating when there is little opportunity for the members to meet face-to-face. The authors also reveal how organizations can implement performance management and reward systems that will motivate team members to cooperate across multiple boundaries. And they offer the information to determine which technologies best fit a variety of virtual-team tasks and the level of information technology support needed.

The book Managing Virtual Teams, explores the critical elements that must be considered in managing virtual teams in organizations – from structural, managerial, and process points-of-view. Based in solid research, the book provides a deep look at the nature of virtual teams and the factors that enable their success. It lays out in clear detail the key characteristics of virtual teams and traces their emergence within organizations and the research literature. It makes a valuable contribution with clear guidelines for managerial practice - both to researchers interested in learning about virtual teams and to managers and organizations dealing with the challenges of managing virtual teams.