Virtual Success: How To Build High Performing Virtual Teams

By S.L. Mackey

When all is said and done, the benefits of virtual teams far outweigh the costs in terms of maximizing resources and ensuring the long-term viability of the global organization. There is a real and present need for virtual teams to think insightfully, and creatively, about complex issues. Organizations have changed in the past 20 years. One key component to that change is the advent of virtual teams and how complex success in global organizations has become. It is no longer enough for you to present a business case to your boss or lobby the Board of Directors for funding for a large project with no accountability to deliver – you must have a team that can drive significant business results. This requires the team to be insightful and innovative enough to look at possibilities from every angle, leveraging the expertise and excellence of every team member in order to explore and exploit every opportunity. Teams must learn how to tap the potential of many minds so that the sum of the whole is more intelligent than a single intellect. The collective intelligence of the team must be considered, above all else, "greater than" the intelligence of the individual. Virtual Success will provide you a proven methodology to make your virtual teams a success.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Nov 6, 2012
• ISBN: 9781301337132

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Mackey

Introduction

Organizations increasingly depend on virtual teams, where interaction and collaboration take place among geographically dispersed, and often culturally diverse, individuals. Often these teams are globally distributed and face challenges that traditional teams do not. Team members often find the experience frustrating, even when their work is supported from a corporate standpoint. Often, even when equipped with cutting edge technology (and often they are not), teams find it difficult to work across boundaries and borders when they are not prepared for the challenges raised by working across time zones and national borders. Virtual teams are frequently temporary in nature, have not worked together in the past and do not know one another. In addition, they are typically culturally diverse, and are reliant on various types of technological communication tools that provide the capability to not only span distance, but also time through asynchronous interactions.

Despite all the challenges, the potential payoff to organizations from virtual teams is significant. Organizations enhance their flexibility as teams with the proper expertise can be formed quickly without regard to any member’s physical location. Companies can respond more quickly to changes in their environment and reduce the associated costs. Benefits and opportunities expand exponentially when firms need to address issues in the global marketplace associated to diverse local cultures, such as the design and introduction of new products or services for specific national markets, since they are able to rapidly integrate the knowledge and perspectives of locally based team members.

When all is said and done, the benefits of virtual teams far outweigh the costs in terms of maximizing resources and ensuring the long-term viability of the global organization. There is a real and present need for virtual teams to think insightfully, and creatively, about complex issues. I was recently speaking with Robert Hargrove, one of the most prominent CEO Coaches in the world, and we were discussing how organizations had changed in the past 20 years. One key component to our conversation was virtual teams and how complex success in global organizations had become. It is no longer enough for you to present a business case to your boss or lobby the Board of Directors for funding for a large project with no accountability to deliver – you must have a team that can drive Extreme Results. This requires the team to be insightful and innovative enough to look at possibilities from every angle, leveraging the expertise and excellence of every team member in order to explore and exploit every opportunity. Teams must learn how to tap the potential of many minds so that the sum of the whole is more intelligent than a single intellect. The collective intelligence of the team must be considered, above all else, greater than the intelligence of the individual.

In Virtual Success, we will walk together through the building blocks of a high performing virtual team. In Chapter 1, we will explore the basics you need to know as you endeavor to manage in a virtual environment. In Chapter 2, you will be given the tools to conduct a real world analysis of what tools you will need (and what tools are available to you) in order to successfully equip a virtual team. As we move into Chapter 3, you will begin to incorporate the human element of virtual teams, exploring what people policies will need to look like and how you can best work with HR and IT to provide your team with everything they need to succeed. Chapter 4 will assist you in creating a virtual vision that everyone can buy into, while Chapter 5 will provide you with tactical guidance to ensure your virtual teams not only know where they are going, but also how they will get there.

As we move into Chapter 6 we will change gears and begin to explore the best ways to lead a global team. You