Angelo Sasso, Author at Leading Virtually

The Leading Virtually Digest, November 7, 2008

Angelo Sasso — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 03:02:21 +0000

What: Wireless encryption code (WPA) has been recently been cracked by researchers
Posts to Which it is Related: Pretty much any article on our site
Bottom Line: WPA, a popular wireless encryption protocol widely used today by both home wireless internet users and business wireless internet users, has been compromised. A group of researchers found a way to gain access to the information a wireless router is sending to a computer or device by using a mathematical technique that only takes 15 minutes to crack. WPA was always considered a very secure wireless protocol, much more secure than its predecessor WEP (think back to the TJ Maxx security breach where thousands of customers’ credit card numbers were stolen to gauge how unsecure WEP was and the implications of WPA being cracked). How is this relevent to virtual teams? The article states that the breach of WPA would effect enterprise customers the most. Since many virtual devices and other mobile business devices connect to “secure” networks using WPA, the security breach would effectively make these devices insecure and useless to these business users. Businesses will be less apt to adopt mobile work and virtual devices in the future because of this.

What: An article discussing the effects of Web 2.0 on the recent presidential campaign
Posts to Which it is Related: The Reason Why Email Should Not Be Used For Collaboration, Articles on Virtual Worlds
Bottom Line: As the article states, not since the election of John F. Kennedy, where the television medium changed the way in which elections were won and fought, has technology come along to have such a startling impact on a presidential campaign. Before this election, mediums such as Youtube, Facebook, iReport, etc. did not excist or were not popular enough to make much of an impact in a presidential election. These sites have effectively changed the way voters get their political news – immediately, unfiltered, and at any time. It is easily shared and easily accessible to everyone. The networks are quickly learning – NBC aired the news of Colin Powell’s Obama endorsement on MSN.com before it aired it on the West Coast; in addition, almost every news outlet has major interactive election features online that are promoted during news broadcasts. Obama used the internet to raise millions of dollars that surely contributed to his campaign victory. It was also Obama’s campaign that constantly experimented with web videos, documentaries, and Facebook groups. Obama’s virtual campaigning extended beyond the web – virtual ads were featured in Xbox 360 sports games from EA. On a personal note, this was the first election that I voted in and I found myself getting 95% of my news on the internet, watching various videos, and researching the candidates through their websites. I had fun using the interactive election features on the CNN website and was highly engaged in this election. In conclusion, the popularity of the virtual medium has changed the way that elections will be run for a very long time.

What: NY Times article expressing a current trend in consumers demanding laptops that boot in less than 30 seconds
Posts to Which it Is Related: Posts on collaboration technology
Bottom Line: One of the biggest gripes computer users have with their machines is that they take too long to boot up. Most machines take between 45 seconds and a minute to boot up. Manufacturers are now touting machines that boot up in less than 30 seconds; however, the author of the article (and I agree) states that this is still too long. His argument: many users are using their computers or laptops for quick web browsing and to check email, a process that takes a few minutes at best. Waiting over a minute for a computer to start and then another minute for a network connection to be made, for the web browser to load, etc, makes no sense when a user is using the computer for a minute. It is highly frustrating. The author goes on the say that computers should start as quickly as smart phones and grant the same type of instant access. I could not agree more- I find myself using my iPhone on my home network when I want to quickly check my favorite websites or shoot someone an email. It makes more sense timewise. Manufacturers are struggling to create computers that boot quickly but need to use gimmicks to get computers to boot in under 10 seconds. For instance, certain computers will load a mini version of Windows Vista while the full version loads in the background. The mini version does not allow all processes to run – just web browing and email.

The post The Leading Virtually Digest, November 7, 2008 appeared first on Leading Virtually.

Are “Casual” Virtual Team Participants Endangering Virtual Teams?

Angelo Sasso — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 03:42:02 +0000

A topic of conversation that has recently become popular is the rapid adoption of video games by casual players. People who never played video games before and are relatively inexperienced gamers are now gaming regularly. We need to look no further than the success of the Nintendo Wii to see how the influx of casual gamers is changing the landscape of video games. Many “hard core,” or long time, gamers feel that the surge of casual players into the gaming arena has lowered the quality of games that are made and has changed both the hardware and the way in which games are played. How does this relate to virtual teams? Just like gaming has seen a surge in casual use, I feel that virtual teams are starting to be adopted more frequently by casual, or inexperienced, users. Like video gaming, this is changing the way in which virtual meetings are conducted and virtual teams are managed. In this post, I would like to discuss:

What I think the changes are in virtual teams brought about by casual users and
What the implications of this are for virtual teams.

As we often discuss on Leading Virtually, virtual teams are being adopted at a rapid rate due to advances in inexpensive and easy to use technology, globalization of businesses, and an increase in the popularity of telecommuting. Because of this adoption, those who are not skilled or well versed in the nuances of running a virtual team or being a member of a virtual team are becoming regular users of virtual technology. We write many articles discussing the “best practices” that virtual team leaders and participants should follow to make the most effective use of their virtual team time. These best practices are based on academic research. In my opinion, casual virtual team members do not have the time to read research and care little about the best practices of virtual teams as they see no use in applying these practices. They do not realize that virtual team meetings are very different from face to face meetings and that different methods must be adopted to make a virtual team meeting more effective. For instance, a colleague of mine at work conducts a virtual meeting once a week. It is her first encounter with virtual teams; however, she does not think that the meeting is much different than a face to face meeting. This leads to meetings that she describes as being highly ineffective and lasting longer than two hours with little getting accomplished. She absolutely despises her virtual team meetings, which are conducted by a geographically dispersed team. Little does she know that virtual collaboration has many advantages and that with a little bit of research she could turn her ineffective virtual team into an effective one.

Because casual virtual team users are becoming more prevalent and outnumber seasoned virtual team users, I hypothesize that virtual teams will become more ineffective as time progresses. As technology becomes easier to use, more casual users will jump on the virtual team bandwagon due to its convenience. In my opinion, this will lead to mismanaged virtual teams and will make businesses look at virtual teams as inefficient tools that fail to get the job done. There are instances when virtual teams are absolutely necessary because of geographical displacement; however, they will not be run effectively unless casual users embrace current research and best practices about virtual teams. We noted that there are many advantages to virtual teams and virtual collaboration; these would all be lost once businesses develop a negative opinion of virtual teams.

What can we do to change this? Those reading this post clearly understand and the embrace the connection between virtual teams, academia, and business best practices. The challenge is in taking the knowledge generated over the years and making it interesting to the masses so that it creates an awareness about the benefits and best practices in relation to virtual teams. By embracing the new “casual” user of virtual teams, we can ensure that all virtual team members will be engaged during virtual team meetings and that virtual teams will always be seen as an effective tool for collaboration. This requires us to make interesting and poignant connections with everyday business life that these casual users can relate to when reading about virtual teams. Since many of the things discussed on our site and other sites are very intricate, this is hard to do. However, I think that it is absolutely necessary to embrace this casual user as this is the direction that virtual teams are moving in. What do you think? Do you think that casual, or inexperienced, virtual team users are endangering virtual teams? If so, what can we do to change this and engage this user?

The post Are “Casual” Virtual Team Participants Endangering Virtual Teams? appeared first on Leading Virtually.

The Leading Virtually Digest, October 4, 2008

Angelo Sasso — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 14:09:03 +0000

What: Study that showed that people are prone to lying more in email than through written communication
Posts to Which It Is Related: The Reason Why Email Should Not Be Used For Collaboration, Freeing Yourself From Email

Bottom Line: A study conducted by Rutgers and DePaul Universities studied how email affected communications among 48 graduate students. Students were given a specific amount of money and told they had to split it with a second student in the group. They could split this money with the other student any way they liked. Students were directed to use email or pen and paper to divide the money. Students who used email lied 92% of the time about the amount of money they had while students who used pen and paper lied 64% of the time. Those who used pen and paper were also more generous. The study concluded that people are more apt to lie when using electronic communication then they are through other forms of communication. Since email is widely used in both interoffice teams and virtual teams, the results of this study are troubling. I think it is easier for one to lie through due to the disconnect one feels from another when typing a message as opposed to physically writing the message. Physically writing a letter has elements of yourself in it – your handwriting, etc. You are presenting this unique part of yourself to another, much like you are when you are communicating face to face. Email eliminates the “physical” nature of the communication and makes it easier to lie. Those who commented on the article feel that email communication is overused in the workplace. Communication that would take place in person (and would be more efficient if the message were communicated face to face) is often done through email where the message can be misinterpreted or distorted (or lying can take place). Virtual teams should use other forms of communication to eliminate instances of miscommunication or lying that can occur through email.

What: Nielsen research finding that reported that American cellphone subscribers now text more than they phone
Posts to Which It Is Related:
Bottom Line: In the fourth quarter of 2007, cellphone users texted more than they phoned for the first time. The proliferation of text messaging is something that has always fascinated me. I find myself text messaging things that would be easier said through conversation. Sometimes I would rather not get caught in a conversation with the person so I will text but other times I do it just because I find it easier to communicate that way (although it really is not). This is similiar to emailing in the office when it would be easier to communicate face to face (see above article). Average cellphone users texted 357 messages in a month in comparison to an average of 204 calls in a month. I wonder if the email study I discussed above also holds true for text messages. It seems that as nonverbal forms of communication grow more popular, people (and virtual team members) need to find new ways to make these communications more efficient and less prone to misinterpretation.

What: New York Times article detailing the findings of a human rights group that discovered online surveillance of online chats by the Chinese government
Posts to Which It Is Related: Posts on Collaboration Technology
Bottom Line: A Canadian human rights group discovered a surveillance system that monitors the text chatting of Chinese Skype users. When certain politically charged keywords are sent from one user to another through the Chinese version of Skype, the message gets flagged and sent to a central server. The server collects the whole conversation and also the information about the person who sent the message. The servers also act as a means of filtering conversation and filtering messages that have certain words in them. The human rights group was able to hack into the system since it was not configured correctly. Why is this relevant for virtual teams? For one, it shows that while virtual communication can have many benefits it can also be used for negative purposes. Virtual communication is not hard to monitor and many times leaves a record for tech saavy hackers to read or trace. It also highlights the fact that unlike face to face communication, virtual communication needs to take advantage of technology to occur. Virtual communication is subject to the software that is being used. If the software creators place restrictions on what can be said or write code in the software that automatically sends messages to another server, casual users will have no way of knowing this. Being at the mercy of software for communication is yet another challenge inherent in virtual teams. Finally, the article highlights the importance of keeping data encrypted and how easy it can be for someone to find information when virtual communication takes place. Businesses should make sure that their IT security is top notch; if not, competitors can easily get their hands on sensitive information. Virtual teams are more vulnerable to this type of hacking and need to be extra cautious.

The post The Leading Virtually Digest, October 4, 2008 appeared first on Leading Virtually.

The Leading Virtually Digest, September 12, 2008

Angelo Sasso — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 20:45:50 +0000

What: Researchers have found that racial bias exists in virtual worlds according to an article in ITNews
Posts To Which It Is Related: The Mind Has A Body Of Its Own
Bottom Line: A study done in the virtual world There.com suggests that the psychological implications of race in the real world also impact the virtual space. When a study was done in There.com to test the willingness of users to assist a researcher’s avatar, the researchers noted that the rate of compliance was lower when the researcher asking for the request had a dark skinned avatar as opposed to being represented by a lighter skinned avatar. This mimics studies done in the real world which show that physical characteristics such as race, gender, and physical attractiveness affect the judgment of others. Moreover, these studies have shown that people are more uncomfortable with minorities and are less willing to help them. Two types of requests were studied – Foot In The Door Requests and Door In The Foot Requests. Foot In The Door Requests start with someone asking someone else for a small favor followed by a moderate favor; Door In The Foot Requests take place when someone asks for a very large favor followed by a moderate favor. As expected, participants were more likely to comply with the moderate request when it was preceded by the large request. However, while the avatar’s skin color had no effect on the Foot In The Door Request, it played a large part in the success rate of the Door In The Foot Request. This is because Door In The Foot Requests are usually judged by the participants’ opinion as to if the requester is deemed as worth impressing. This study further proves that real world psychology impacts and plays a large part in virtual world interactions. The implications for virtual teams are immense – unlike other forms of virtual communication that do not use avatars or visual cues, virtual world communication should be structured by keeping real life social and psychological morays in mind as members will view these interactions similarly to a real world interaction.

What: Copy And Paste article featuring information on online collaboration tools for small businesses
Posts To Which It Is Related: Posts on Collaboration Technology
Bottom Line: I thought that this would be a great article to share with our readers as it highlights how to find affordable software that will help small businesses better communicate with their virtual teams. Large companies are not the only place one will find geographically dispersed employees and these tools are aimed at small businesses. As the author notes, “collaboration tools can take the headache out of sharing documents, tracking projects, communication, and many other tasks that are frequently the bane of virtual workers and team members in different geographical locations.” The author notes that one should first make a list of things that they would need from online collaboration software for their team before searching for tools. This will cut down on the time needed to search for these tools and will ensure that only useful software is downloaded. Some of the types of online tools the author discusses are:

Internal Websites: Can help with synchronizing tasks and sharing information but HTML knowledge is not needed
Online Calenders: Ensures that team members (and clients) are all on the same page when setting or canceling appointments
Document Sharing and Categorization: An efficient filing system for documents that allows users to track document changes, categorize documents for specific use, and even require users to check dociments in or out
Alternatives to Email: As we have discussed on LeadingVirtually.com, email is not the most effective form of communication for a virtual team. Online collaboration tools include alternatives to email such as task lists and project tracking information so members can stay synchronized

Many of you already know about tools that do this but I felt that this article would be useful for our casual readers or small business users. As virtual teamwork becomes more popular, tools like this will be necessary to ensure that virtual teams are successful and efficient.

The post The Leading Virtually Digest, September 12, 2008 appeared first on Leading Virtually.

The Leading Virtually Digest, August 29, 2008

Angelo Sasso — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 15:25:59 +0000

What: Inquirer.net article about how to manage virtual teams

Posts to which it is related: Confessions of a Telecommuter, How Do I Begin To Improve The Functioning of my Virtual Team?

Bottom Line: I found this article interesting as it was written based on the advice of three Filipino managers. It was surprising to see that the views about virtual teams from managers from another country were very consistent with what we have been saying on Leading Virtually. This article highlights the fact that virtual teams will come across similar problems no matter where they are located geographically. The author mentions that information systems support is very important for virtual teams and I cannot agree more. This is something I had brought up in my “Confessions of a Telecommuter” post and I am glad to see it being addressed by another author.

What: MedicExchange.com article the use of Second Life as a research platform for modeling efficient health care delivery.

Posts to which it is related: Wonderland: A Tool For Online Collaboration
Time To Think Differently About Collaboration In Virtual Worlds

Bottom Line: Scientists at the University of Arkansas are conducting research using Second Life to address the problem of inefficient health care delivery (i.e., business support, supply chain problems, etc.) to produce “tools” that will help combat rising health costs in the United States. So far, the researches have created a virtual hospital on the University’s island in Second Life, complete with patient rooms, operating suits, bathrooms, and stockrooms. Avatars, such as doctors and nurses, occupy the site. Unlike other Second Life avatars, the avatars in this project have internal organs in preparation for possible future functions of the project. By creating supply chain vignettes using Second Life, the researches can begin to see how the supply chain in an actual hospital works and what can be done to get it to operate more efficiently. This application of Second Life is extremely interesting and unique and shows the versatility of virtual worlds for business use.

What: MarketWatch article about a medical use of virtual collaboration technology.
Posts to which it is related: Emergent Collaboration: The Reason Why Email Should Not Be Used for Collaboration.

Bottom line: This article announces that one of the busiest neuroscience institutes in the US is starting a knowledge-sharing program in the form of a webcast series. Methodist University Hospital plans to broadcast consultations among panels of experts on especially challenging cases of people with brain tumors. Their goal seems to be twofold: first, to share the top level expertise of the panel with others in the field, but also to create a broader dialogue among neuroscientists (assumedly for the purpose of improving brain tumor treatment overall). This highlights an amazing collaborative effort by expert doctors who are using virtual technology to help patients from around the world. This exchange of ideas would not have been possible without the proper technology needed to support such a global meeting.

The post The Leading Virtually Digest, August 29, 2008 appeared first on Leading Virtually.

Confessions of a Telecommuter

Angelo Sasso — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 19:22:48 +0000

Part of the value of working with LeadingVirtually.com is that the group actually operates as a virtual team, allowing us to face the challenges that we write about in a working environment. LeadingVirtually.com is only one of the many things that each of us is involved in. One job I had previously was a telecommuting job for a company in New York City. I worked part time during the week and on weekends from my home. Before making the transition from working in the New York city office to doing telework from Binghamton, I thought that the job would be easy since I could do it from the comfort of my own apartment. Was I wrong! There are tons of challenges that are unique to a virtual / telecommuting job that many workers do not even consider when taking the position. Some of the challenges I faced were due to the nature of working unsupervised and away from the resources of a main office. These challenges can be associated with the IT infrastructure of a company that is unable to support virtual workers or management that is not trained to support telecommuters. Other challenges that I faced were psychological in nature that made telecommuting a stressful job. In this post, I am going to discuss:

The challenges I faced as a telecommuter,
- resulting from the organization, the work, and my psychological state;
how I overcame these challenges;
and some tips on how to successfully telecommute based on my experience.

One challenge I faced was the inability to access key information from my company’s headquarters in a timely manner, and this made it difficult for me to perform my duties effectively. My company supported a Remote VPN that gave me access to their network; however, this access was taken away from me because the company’s IT security measures overlooked virtual workers. No one was able to help me gain access back to the company intranet. Even when I did have access to the intranet, it was difficult for me to access key information and documents that I needed to perform my duties. This was very frustrating to me as it made certain tasks very time-consuming and difficult because I had to contact the appropriate people, who were also busy, for the information I needed. The fast-paced nature of the company meant that policies were constantly changing and all employees had to remain abreast of product changes and new standards in the way we interacted with customers. The main way these changes were communicated within the company were through weekly meetings and sporadic emails that were sent to members in the appropriate departments. Because I was telecommuting, I would not be part of these meetings or be able to find the few emails that were sent concerning changes amidst the mass of (mostly irrelevant) emails that were sent daily throughout the office. Wading through the hundreds of internal emails that would accumulate everyday in my Inbox was time-consuming and I would often miss the important updates or fixes I needed to know about to perform my job effectively. The system in place at my company was not suitable for supporting a teleworker nor conducive for the virtual team situation I was in. This is a challenge that many telecommuters do not think about when considering a telecommuting job. The job can become tedious and frustrating when support systems are not in place and your productivity may take a hit because of things that are out of your control. Depending on the organization’s structure and policies, many of the “roadblocks” in place could take a long time to disappear.

Psychological challenges also change the nature of a telecommuting job as opposed to a face-to-face job. Since your home becomes your office, you sometimes begin to feel that you are always at work. This can make your home become very unappealing or even depressing to be in. It also becomes hard to focus on the task at hand because there can be many distractions around you that do not appear in a regular office setting. Staying motivated is sometimes difficult because of this. I found it hard to not take constant breaks because I was unable to stay focused on my work or I became frustrated with what I was doing because of the logistical challenges. Not being able to interact with coworkers in person made the job a lonely one. The mental challenges of working virtually are often not considered by someone who wants to undertake a telecommuting position; however, they can make the job even more difficult than the organizational problems that one can face and are even harder to avoid.

It took me some time to overcome the challenges I faced in my telecommuting position. I worked with my manager and others in my organization to make the information sharing process more effective for me; however, it never seemed as if I was a priority so it was still difficult for me to receive the tools I needed in a timely manner. The psychological challenges of working in a virtual team were the ones I was able to overcome, since they were in my control. One thing I did was make goals for myself based on the task I was performing. I set these goals hourly, and if I reached the goal before the hour was over I would take a short break for the remainder of the hour. This not only ensured that I finished my work, but also gave me incentive to work quickly and effectively. It gave me something to look forward to and made the nature of the work almost like a game, where I would try to hit my goal more quickly each time or increase the goal to challenge myself further. I also found that splitting my shifts up and doing something in between these shifts, like going to the gym or grabbing a bite to eat with a friend, made me feel like I was not trapped in my apartment and that I was not always working alone. Distractions were minimized because of the goal setting that I put in place. This allowed me to remain focused so I could finish and take my short break.

I now realize how effective some of the research we do at Leading Virtually can be to a virtual worker. The tips that Surinder and Betsy write about could have helped me when I was trying to become an effective virtual worker. They also could have helped my manager understand how to boost my productivity. Tools such as the Team Compact and After Action Review are highly useful and can be used in a telecommuting situation.

Below are some tips that I would give to someone who is considering telecommuting based on my experience:

Make sure you take into account both the psychological and organizational hurdles you will have to overcome in order to be an effective worker.
Communicate your goals with your manager and understand what type of infrastructure you will need to accomplish these goals. Ask your manager to be your advocate within the organization for the changes that will need to take place to help you do your job.
- Understanding what type of infrastructure you need to accomplish your goals begins with keeping note of all the resources you use when you regularly work.
- Communicate with your IT department before transitioning into a telecommuting role to see if the systems in place adequately support this type of role. They will usually be honest with you as you will be bugging them whenever you have an issue!
Set goals for yourself while working to keep yourself focused and motivated. When you have reached your goal, take a short break.
If possible, split your shift up during the day. In between shifts, leave your home and go somewhere else. Try to meet up with a friend and interact with others during these breaks.

Of course, a manager of a telecommuter can also use these tips to determine if telecommuting would be suitable for a direct report and how to effectively lead or manage this person if s/he decides to telecommute.

The post Confessions of a Telecommuter appeared first on Leading Virtually.

The Leading Virtually Digest, August 8, 2008

Angelo Sasso — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 03:28:16 +0000

What: Atlanta Business Chronicle article about the bottom line benefits of telecommuting
Posts To Which It Is Related: So You Think You’d Like To Telecommute?, Leading In Face-To-Face Versus Virtual Teams
Bottom Line: Mike Williams, the director of programs for the Clean Air Campaign, has come up with a few statistics that will help those who would like to telecommute convince an employer that telework is good for the company’s bottom line. Some of the bottom-line benefits discussed in the article are as follows:

88% of teleworkers report increased morale
65% of telecommuters say that they’re less likely to look for another job
74% report increased productivity (85% of managers agree)
91% of managers say that telecommuting has not decreased work quality

While the statistics listed in this article make a strong case for telecommuting, there are things to take into consideration before delving into telework. See the Related Posts above to get an idea of some of the challenges virtual workers and their managers face when transitioning from a face-to-face team to a virtual team.

What: Wall Street Journal article on why most online communities fail
Posts To Which It Is Related: Rethinking The Value Of Virtual Worlds For Virtual Team Collaboration, Time To Think Differently About Collaboration In Virtual Worlds
Bottom Line: Web 2.0 is the rage in internet marketing and businesses are focusing on efforts to create online communities; however, few people take part in these communities because businesses focus only on the value that the community can provide to itself. Many businesses repeat a series of blunders. One mistake these businesses make is that they spend too much of their resources on fancy technology rather than reaching out to potential community members. This relates to our blog and leaders of virtual teams as devoting too many resources to “fancy” technology may be a hindrance to virtual collaboration. Another problem is that many businesses do not devote someone who has experience running the online community to heading the project, which usually results in failure. Another problem is that businesses go about measuring their success using metrics that do not really reflect their end goals. The connections with this type of online collaboration and virtual team leadership are apparent as leaders of virtual teams run into similiar problems when establishing their virtual work communities.

What: Youtube video (as reported on this blog ) that showcases 50 active virtual world spaces on the internet
Posts To Which It Is Related: Using Virtual Worlds For Leadership Development, Wonderland: A Tool For Online Collaboration
Bottom Line: It is hard to believe that there are over 50 active (and popular) virtual world spaces on the internet. These virtual worlds serve multiple purposes, from business use to informal social use. Gary Hayes, Director of the Laboratory for Advanced Media Production in Sydney, recently captured a bunch of small vignettes that showcase the nature of these virtual worlds. He says that it shows how ubiquitous, popular and streamlined many of these spaces are becoming across the intraweb.” The video really showcases the different direction some of these worlds are taking. See the video here – it is truly a must see for fans of virtual worlds!

The post The Leading Virtually Digest, August 8, 2008 appeared first on Leading Virtually.

Virtual Team Tools Now Available

Angelo Sasso — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 23:16:06 +0000

The LeadingVirtually.com team has launched a new section on “Virtual Team Tools” that features various useful tools that can help you lead your virtual team effectively. Our research-based virtual team tools have been used successfully by a large number of distributed teams and have proved to be invaluable in smooth virtual team operations. You can access these tools by clicking on them in the right sidebar from any page on our website.

The two virtual team tools currently available are Team Compact and After Action Review. We have referred to these tools in our past posts (see posts referring to team compact, posts referring to after action review). You can use the procedures and tips that we provide to help your team develop a team compact and conduct after action reviews. Increase your team’s productivity and strengthen the bonds between distributed team members with these tools. We will make more tools available as we create them!

We have also updated our site to make it more user friendly! Let us know what you think about our site redesign and our tools in the comments section. Also, let us know what other types of tools you would like to see on the site in the future.

The post Virtual Team Tools Now Available appeared first on Leading Virtually.

The Leading Virtually Digest, July 14, 2008

Angelo Sasso — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 21:40:42 +0000

What: A New York Times article about Barack Obama’s use of social networking to create a virtual organization to help his campaign.
Posts to which it is related: Improving Virtual Team Performance Using Technology
Bottom Line: Chris Hughes, one of the founders of the popular online social network Facebook, is in charge of Barack Obama’s social networking campaign. This campaign is centered around http://my.barackobama.com. This “new-media” campaign has allowed Obama’s team to reach millions of supporters and organize political campaigns among volunteers in a virtual setting. A forum for networking a national campaign was created on a local level, a feat that could only be accomplished by using the internet and virtual contact. As the article states, “Mr. Obama’s social network [mirrors] the off-line world the same way that Facebook seeks to, because supporters would foster more meaningful connections by attending neighborhood meetings and calling on people who were part of their daily lives. The Internet served as the connective tissue.”

What: A WSJ blog post about Second Life avatars being used in an IBM – created virtual world, a first in cross-program avatar integration.
Posts to which it is related: The Future of Virtual Teams: Collaboration in 3D Web
Bottom Line: In the past, various virtual worlds, such as Second Life and Wonderland, have remained exclusive and separate to its users; having an account or presence in one world meant that you would have to create a completely different presence if you wanted to participate in another virtual world. The development of a business presence in one virtual world often meant that a large amount of resources had to be devoted exclusively to that virtual world platform. With the ability to have one unified presence among various virtual worlds, virtual worlds may be able to expand beyond a niche medium and become more widespread. The blog posting goes on to say that as “interchanges of avatars and their associated creations become commonplace, more companies should be able to reuse animated storefronts, recreation areas and other digital assets they create-and won’t worry about investing too much time and money in a service that could be linked to the fortunes of this or that startup.” This will expand the use of virtual worlds for virtual team meetings.

What: A WSJ blog post about how personalized emails can be “creepy” and ineffective if a strong relationship is not established first.
Posts to which it is related: Digest on Email, Email Etiquette: The Thank You Email
Bottom Line: Marketers have often believed that a personalized email message is a great way to complete a sale. A new study shows that while some types of personalization in an email can be helpful (like including the recipient’s name), other types can be off -putting. However, the types of personalization that are regarded as creepy diminish as a stronger relationship is established between the two parties. The connection with virtual teams? A virtual team leader trying to become too personal with members early on in the life of the virtual team can be ineffective and actually hurt relationship development in the virtual team.

The post The Leading Virtually Digest, July 14, 2008 appeared first on Leading Virtually.

The Advantages of Face to Face Meetings for Virtual Teams

Angelo Sasso — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 17:48:20 +0000

Recently, the Leading Virtually team had its first live meeting since we began blogging roughly 8 months ago. The entire team convened for the first time, and I had the honor of meeting Betsy, who I have been working with for months! Surinder was my professor at Binghamton University but we had not seen each other for about 5 months before this meeting took place. This face to face meeting has given me a new perspective on the advantages a virtual team can gain from a face to face meeting, even after working virtually for a period of time. These advantages fall mainly in the realm of team building:

Strengthening of bonds among team members
Creation of a similiar experience to build comfort among virtual team members
Reinforcement of the importance of one’s work-related roles and their implications on “real” people and other team members

Meeting in the real world obviously has many benefits for a virtual team; however, what exactly are the advantages of these face to face meetings? After our face to face meeting, I noticed a strengthening of the bond amongst all the team members. Betsy became more than just a voice via Skype or a person who I collaborate with via email – she became a real person, a friend. I felt more of a connection with her than I had just through the work we have done together virtually. In other words, seeing Betsy immediately strengthened by bond with her. Seeing Surinder also strengthened the bond I had with him as we were able to talk about things as friends in person rather than virtually. As hard as it is for me to explain, the real life meeting gave our team an advantage in that we became closer as people, which will make it easier to work together in the future.

The meeting also created a special experience for us that we now all share in common. We had experienced many virtual meetings and work sessions, but this meeting was different and therefore kind of a stand-out event. At the end of the meeting, I gave Betsy a hug as she left, something I had hesitated to do when I first arrived at the meeting because I was unsure if it was appropriate. After the meeting, I felt more comfortable with her and this simple form of social communication – a hug – became a symbol of that new found comfort within our team. An important aspect of our meeting is that we discussed things other than just our site; we also spoke about our personal lives. Thinking back, this face to face meeting has served as an “ice breaker” for future meetings we will conduct virtually by making us more comfortable with one another.

Another advantage our face to face meeting has was that it reinforced the importance of each of our relative roles within the team. My deadlines now no longer affect a voice on Skype or a person writing email – they now affect my friends and colleagues. I feel that my tasks are much more important to complete because if I do not I will be letting down people I know. The implications of this is important for virtual teams. By creating bonds and raising the comfort level amongst team members through a face to face meeting, productivity in a virtual team may actually increase. Virtual team members will feel that their work has real life implications on real people that they know and connect with.

In the past, we have found that most teams that work virtually initially meet face to face first before migrating to a virtual team platform. This serves a similiar purpose as it has for our team – to build trust and relationships among the various team members before beginning to work virtually. Although our team went against standard practice and met in person after a significant period of time working virtually, we received the same benefits as teams that meet at the beginning of their formation. I may even venture to say that our virtual meetings helped make the three of us more comfortable and laid back when we met for our face to face meeting and there was some benefit of “breaking the ice” virtually before meeting face to face.

I highly recommend that distributed teams, virtual teams, telecommuters, etc. make time out to have a face to face meeting with the team they are going to be working with early on in the project. Sometimes this is simply not feasible; however, the members of the team should strive to meet face to face at least once during the project’s lifecycle as the benefits for team formation and relationship building are great. Betsy has discussed another advantage of our face to face meeting – the transfer of trust – which you can read about in her post here.

If you enjoyed this article, you may enjoy these other articles that discuss aspects of face to face and virtual teams:

Transfer of Trust in Virtual Team Collaboration

Leading in Face-to-Face Versus Virtual Teams

Recruiting for Virtual Collaboration and Virtual Teams

The post The Advantages of Face to Face Meetings for Virtual Teams appeared first on Leading Virtually.