Virtual Teams

1. Virtual Teams Tempting Templates Special Topics Report

2. Virtual Teams Virtual Teams enable organizations to exploit time differences, the availability of skills, not to mention cost differences to get projects done faster, better and cheaper. Tempting Templates - Virtual Team Presentation

3. Challenges of Virtual Teams • Differences in culture, time zones and language • Building trust and social bonding • Distributing information • Feelings of isolation in team members • Communicating clearly Tempting Templates - Virtual Team Presentation

4. Effective Virtual Teams • Start with good planning - minimize dependencies • Keep in touch regularly - avoid isolation • Respond quickly to problems • Use technology to bridge the communication gap • Create peer review groups to share information • Hold effective meetings • Have escalation procedures for issues • Have fun together - try to get together once in a while • Build trust within the team Tempting Templates - Virtual Team Presentation

5. Trust The Bad News: People are more likely to deceive, be less persuaded by and initially cooperate less with someone they believe is in a distant city as opposed to in the same city as them. The Good News: People’s willingness to cooperate increases quickly with interaction. Tempting Templates - Virtual Team Presentation

6. Building Trust • Show respect for opinions • Focus on the problem, rather than blame • Be a role model by demonstrating constructive behavior • Take time for team members to get to know each other • Budget an initial face-to-face team meeting • Do what you say you will do • Do not make negative remarks about the team or team member’s performance in public • Give each team member the opportunity to contribute Tempting Templates - Virtual Team Presentation

7. 5 Key Skills for Virtual PMs • 1. Motivation - Overcome the sense of isolation. • Need for Achievement - technical people • Need for Affiliation - communicators • Need for Power - leaders • 2. Collaborative Leadership - leadership based on skills, not status or position • 3. Communication - must be accurate, clear and direct • 4. Commitment - create a charter and clearly define roles and responsibilities • 5. Conflict Resolution - communication is more easily misinterpreted Tempting Templates - Virtual Team Presentation

8. Building Remote Team Spirit • Create a chat area where workers can discuss professional or personal issues. • Post photos or stories of team members professional or personal success on a team web site. • Create a team newsletter with team activities, as well as non-work related information about team members. • Plan group events when team members are in the same physical location. • Create a team collage or a map showing where everyone is located. Tempting Templates - Virtual Team Presentation

9. Our Team’s Experience • Communications Plan, Team Contract and Charter • Weekly progress meetings via phone • Updates via email - notify all team members on all correspondence • Clearly defined project plan • Documented meeting minutes • Collaborative Leadership – Everyone led at least one key piece of the project Tempting Templates - Virtual Team Presentation

10. References • Eight Ways to Build (remote) Team Spirit http://www.nwfusion.com/net.worker/columnists/2001/0709zbar.html • Highest Levels of Trust, http://www.mapnp.org/library/grp_skll/virtual/teambild.pdf • Key People Skills for Virtual Project Managers, http://www.allpm.com/article.php?sid=440 • Teamwork is the Key to Remote Development http://archive.infoworld.com/articles/tc/xml/01/03/05/010305tcdistdev.xml • Virtual Teamwork: Tools and Techniques for Working together Online, http://www.intranetjournal.com/articles/200105/pwc_05_09_01a.html • Why Distance Matters: Effects on Cooperation, Persuasion and Deception, Erin Bradner and Gloria Mark, Proceedings of the ACM Conference on CSCW, New Orleans, Nov 16-20,2002, New York:ACM Press Tempting Templates - Virtual Team Presentation