Description
Many organizations worldwide are currently exploring the potential gains to be made from working with virtual teams. Although many different things are meant by use of 'virtual' (and indeed by 'teams'), usually it denotes groups of people with common purpose and goals working in different locations and often different time zones; they will be interconnected via a variety of telecommunications networks, perhaps including the Internet and intranet, video conferencing, shared white boards, as well as telephone, mail and e-mail. For organizations implementing such virtual teams there is a great need for guidance, in terms of the organizational structure and support which needs to be put in place. This book offers a practical guide to developing virtual teams, providing both an overview of what is involved and also a clear simple framework around which organizations can build their own implementation process. Although the different support technologies are discussed (at a generic level), the thrust of the book is on the organizational and human factors issues which must be addressed to make virtual teams a success. It contains detailed case studies to show how virtual teams work and where they can go wrong.
Table of Contents
Contents: Introduction. When Should We Use Virtual Teams?: The move towards virtual working; What are virtual teams?; Why virtual teams?; What have traditional teams taught us? What We Need to Know When Implementing Virtual Teams: Technology for virtual teams; Why not virtual teams?; Are certain jobs more suited to virtual working than others?; Virtual Team complexity; Managing virtual workers; Success strategies; Communication strategies; Supporting the virtual team; Implementing change; Survey of virtual teams in UK industry. Case Studies of Virtual Teams in Industry: Case study 1: Defencom; Case study 2: Dalgen; Case study 3: Firstcase Telecommunications; Case study 4: Bullcom; Conclusions from case studies. Guidelines and Tools for Virtual Team Success: Introduction; Guideline 1: Produce personal profiles; Guideline 2: Develop virtual socializing skills; Guideline 3: Agree a code of conduct protocol; Guideline 4: Agree a communication protocol; Guideline 5: Produce a meetings protocol; Guideline 6: Generate a product implementation plan; Guideline 7: Plan for training and competency; Guideline 8: Produce a reporting and recording protocol; Guideline 9: Design a central knowledge base; Guideline 10: Agree a system for performance measurement; Guideline 11: Set a strategy for team evaluation; Guideline 12: Develop recognition and reward policies and systems. Epilogue. In conclusion; Further resources; Index.
