Virtual Team Success: A Practical Guide for Working and Leading from a Distance

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.

Table of Contents:
List of Tables, Case Studies, Figures, and Exhibits xi Acknowledgments xv Foreword xvii Introduction xix Section One: Building High-Performing Virtual Teams 1 Chapter One: Why Virtual Teams Fail 3 Key Challenges 6 Four Pitfalls to Virtual Team Performance 8 Conclusion 12 Chapter Two: Profiles of Virtual Team Success—What Good Looks Like 15 Team Composition 15 Communication and Training 19 Leadership 24 Conclusion 25 Chapter Three: Virtual Team Launch Kit 27 Test Your Virtual Team Launch IQ 27 Setting Virtual Teams Up for Success 30 Is Your Organization Prepared to Support Virtual Team Work? 49 Conclusion 50 Chapter Four: What Differentiates Great Virtual Teams—How to RAMP Up Your Team’s Performance 51 What Differentiates Top Virtual Teams? 51 The Shingle Seal Standstill: How Would You Handle It? 57 RAMP Up Virtual Team Performance 60 Conclusion 78 Section Two: Leading Virtual Teams 81 Chapter Five: How to Lead Virtual Teams—Tips, Techniques, and Best Practices for High Performance 83 Challenges Virtual Team Leaders Face 83 Raygen Company Slump: How Would You Handle It? 88 Virtual Team Leadership Self-Assessment 91 What Makes an Effective Virtual Team Leader? 92 Obstacles at a Glance: A Quick Reference Guide 107 Conclusion 110 Chapter Six: What Factors Really Accelerate Virtual Team Performance—The Four Top Performance Boosters 113 Taking Virtual Team Performance to the Next Level 113 Conclusion 129 Chapter Seven: How to Facilitate High-Impact Virtual Meetings—Techniques That Really Work 131 The Facilitator’s Role 132 V-Meeting Checklist 134 Building a V-Meeting Agenda 134 Keeping Virtual Meetings on Track 136 Dealing with Other Common Challenges 140 Conclusion 142 Conclusion: Six Lessons for Successful Virtual Teams 147 Lesson 1: Focus on People Issues 147 Lesson 2: No Trust, No Team 148 Lesson 3: ‘‘Soft” Skills Are Essential 149 Lesson 4:Watch Out For Performance Peaks 150 Lesson 5: Create a ‘‘High-Touch” Environment 151 Lesson 6: Virtual Team Leadership Matters 152 Closing Thoughts 153 Appendix: On Point’s Global Virtual Team Study 157 Notes 173 About the Authors 177 Index 181

About the Author :
DARLEEN DEROSA, PH.D., is a managing partner at OnPoint Consulting. She brings ten years of management consulting experience, with expertise in the areas of talent/succession management, executive assessment, virtual teams, and organizational assessment. Darleen has authored numerous articles on virtual teams. RICHARD LEPSINGER is president of OnPoint Consulting and has a twenty-year track record of success as a human resource consultant and executive. He is the coauthor of four books on leadership including Closing the Execution Gap: How Great Leaders and Their Companies Get Results, Flexible Leadership: Creating Value by Balancing Multiple Challenges and Choices, The Art and Science of 360 Feedback, and The Art and Science of Competency Models, all from Jossey-Bass/Pfeiffer.