Projects Without Boundaries: Successfully Leading Teams and Managing Projects in a Virtual World

Clear, proven solutions for virtual project management challenges Projects Without Boundaries offers project managers a clear framework for bringing both project management practices and project team leadership principles to the virtual space. Written by a team of authors with years of experience managing nationally and internationally distributed teams, this book provides a suite of best practices, checklists, and actionable strategies for managing a project and building a high-performing team in a virtual and multicultural environment. Real-world examples illustrate the application of the concepts discussed, and the Virtual Project Readiness Assessment facilitates both team evaluation and transformation planning for virtual project management improvement. Each chapter focuses on the critical challenges encountered while managing virtual projects and details proven solutions that improve a virtual organization, boost project performance, and facilitate positive outcomes. Globalization and technological advances have merged to create dynamic, productive teams that work together from around the globe; this opportunity can bring great difficulty for project managers, who must negotiate hurdles that do not exist on traditional projects. This book provides ready-made solutions specific to distributed and multicultural teams, to help you achieve the full potential of the global talent pool. Overcome common challenges of virtual projects with distributed teams Navigate complex team dynamics to ensure effective collaboration Work seamlessly across borders, time zones, and cultures Determine optimal virtual communication and collaboration tools Apply traditional project management practices in a virtual setting A team fails or thrives on the strength of its management. Fitting the group's needs, expectations, personalities, and skills into a cohesive whole is seldom simple — and distance adds an additional layer of complexity. Projects Without Boundaries provides expert guidance on keeping it together, with proven practices, tools, and virtual team leadership strategies.

Table of Contents:
Preface vii Acknowledgments ix I Introduction 1 1 Working in a Virtual World 3 Forces Driving Virtual Transformation 5 Rise of Virtual Organizations and Projects 9 Virtual Projects Are Different 10 Transitioning to the Virtual World 18 Assessing the Virtual Project Manager 19 Notes 22 II Planning the Virtual Project, Building the Virtual Team 23 2 Planning the Virtual Project 25 Planning a Virtual Project 26 Establishing Project Alignment 31 Architecting the Virtual Project 36 Understanding the Complexity of Virtual Projects 37 With Complexity Comes Risk 41 Planning Virtual Communication 43 Assessing Virtual Project Planning 45 Notes 48 3 Building a High-performance Virtual Team 49 Virtual Project Team Types 50 Differentiating High-Performance 55 Building a High-Performance Virtual Project Team 56 Assessing Virtual Project Team Members 68 Notes 69 III Managing Project Execution, Leading the Virtual Team 71 4 Executing the Virtual Project 73 Managing Assumptions 75 Hyper-vigilant Governance 76 Managing Outsourced Project Work 84 Managing Change 85 Integrating Distributed Work 87 People Side of Project Execution 89 Influencing Virtual Stakeholders 92 Assessing Virtual Project Execution 99 Notes 101 5 Leading the Virtual Project Team 103 Be the Project Compass 104 Be the Team Conductor 105 Be the Champion 106 Recognizing the Virtual Team 115 Leverage Your Leadership Style 117 Adding “E” to Leadership 119 Becoming an Effective Virtual Team Leader 120 Assessing Virtual Team Performance 120 Notes 122 6 Empowering the Project Network 125 Centralize First 125 Empowering by Decentralizing 133 Centralized/Decentralized Project Construct 148 Assessing Virtual Team Collaboration 149 Notes 151 IV Organizational Considerations 153 7 Leading a Multicultural Virtual Team 155 Putting Culture in Context 156 Cultural Intelligence 157 Challenges of Multicultural Virtual Project Teams 157 Cultural Factors 158 Creating a Cultural Strategy 165 Converging Company and Country Culture 169 Assessing Cross-Cultural Awareness 171 Notes 173 8 Using Technology to Communicate and Collaborate 175 Role of Technology 176 Using Technology to Communicate 176 Using Technology to Collaborate 179 Technology Options for the Virtual Project 180 No Shortage of Options 194 Technology Selection 194 Increasing Technology Usage 197 Notes 197 9 Sustaining Virtual Project Success 199 Changing Organizational and Team Structures 200 Modifying the Project Execution Model 203 Changing Behavior by Changing Rewards 205 Promoting Cultural Awareness 206 Developing Virtual Project Managers 208 Virtual Project Management Journey 219 Notes 219 Appendix Virtual Project Readiness Assessment 221 Index 227