This week I read an interesting research article (Perceived Proximity in Virtual Work: Explaining the Paradox of Far-but-Close) that talked about perceived proximity. The authors (Wilson, O’Leary, Metiu, and Jett) define perceived proximity as two or more individuals having the feeling of being close, regardless of physical distance between them. Often, one assumes that physical proximity and perceived proximity are highly correlated, but the… Read more →
My fellow bloggers and I have made many recommendations on this blog about how to improve the functioning of virtual teams. When we recently presented these recommendations to an audience, we were told that it would be useful if we could take some of the most critical recommendations and frame them in a way that makes it easier for someone… Read more →
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… Read more →
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… Read more →
Broadly speaking, a team compact is a document that: Establishes guidelines and boundaries for behavior within a team. Clarifies what’s expected of each member at different stages of the team’s task or project. Determines a framework for interactions in the present as well as future time. A team compact is similar to the team charter that project managers create for… Read more →
For those who are interested in virtual team collaboration, the concept of teamwork is crucial. But rarely is “teamwork” actually defined. Just as the adage goes, we know it when we see it, but we may have trouble explicitly saying what makes for good teamwork. This week, Surinder sent me an academic journal article by Martin Hoegl and Hans Georg… Read more →
As more companies are considering the option of allowing their employees to telecommute (see the recent flurry of news about telecommuting), there is an increasing need to understand how leading in virtual teams is different from leading in face-to-face teams. In many cases, people have challenged the idea that leading in virtual teams is different from leading in face-to-face situations…. Read more →
What: Rochester Democrat & Chronicle article titled “Supervising a virtual team is still all about basics.” Posts to which it is related: Overcoming Virtual Team Challenges: After Action Review, Building Trust in Virtual Teams Bottom line: The article talks about three things needed to manage virtual teams: (1) Communication – share all relevant information with the team and use appropriate… Read more →
What: Chief Learning Officer article on leading in the digital age. Posts to which it is related: Controls in Virtual Teams: The Case of Boeing, Culture Matters in Virtual Teams, Building Trust in Virtual Teams, Improving Virtual Team Leadership Using Technology Bottom line: The article reports results from a survey of 247 executives conducted by the Center for Creative Leadership… Read more →
What: Denver Post article about use of virtual teams and virtual worlds in education. Post to which it is related: The Future of Virtual Teams: Collaboration in 3D Web, Building Trust in Virtual Teams. Bottom line: Educators are incorporating virtual teamwork in virtual worlds that are designed specifically for student learning. Students find that this kind of learning is more… Read more →