Creating and Leading A Wildly Successful Virtual Team
PDF case study by Jennifer Hofmann at InSync Training about the benefits and challenges of leading virtual teams
Insights New Perspectives Blog Reconnecting the Virtual Team
Guiding principles for improving effectiveness for virtual team, following a model with four pillars: Climate, Process, Focus, and Flow.
When it comes to creating an effective team, cohesion is far more important than co-location.
Virtual meeting and collaboration tools can be a great servant, but not a great master. Rather than letting technology dictate processes, a virtual team should aim to take effective face-to-face working practices and adapt them to work virtually.
A shared vision, which is understood by all team members, acts as an anchor for decision making. Each team member’s responsibilities should be in service of the collective purpose.
A virtual environment should support relationship development, not simply communication.
A List Apart: Articles: The Rules of Digital Engagement
Communication for virtual teams, including ideas for dealing with conflict and keeping morale up. I agree with the idea of debriefing on long projects regularly rather than just at the end of a project; you can adapt and correct course more easily, plus everyone stays more connected.
KMWorld.com: The Future of the Future: Boundary-less living, working and learning
Blurring the lines between work, life, and learning. I don't think most of us are completely at this boundary-less balance yet, but working from home certainly does change where my boundaries are.
<p>The bottom line: Organizations can no longer focus strictly on working, while ignoring living and learning. Neither can you, as a knowledge professional. The enterprise of the future must bring all three of those areas into balance.</p><p>Living means loving what you do and finding fulfillment in it. Working means doing what you love, in a way that is both challenging and rewarding. Learning means continually making new discoveries and putting those discoveries to work, both personally and professionally.</p><p>In essence, you and your organization, and your extended network, are now co-dependent. Your ability to grow is limited if your organization and network aren’t growing. Likewise, if you aren’t growing, you are inhibiting the growth of the organizations to which you belong. Think brain trust, as opposed to assembly line.</p>