Managing Virtual Teams

Virtual teams use email and social media to communicate. It’s hard to think of any team that isn’t virtual to some extent. When your team are in different buildings, time-zones or cultures, traditional face-to-face management techniques may not work.

Our evidence summary on trust in virtual teams spells out the kinds of problems that make virtual teams difficult to manage, like lack of understanding and dealing with conflict. So how can we improve the effectiveness of virtual teams?

Key Points

• Effective virtual teams are good at maintaining social bonds while getting the job done.
• Coordination of tasks has a pivotal role in virtual team performance.
• Good communication is instrumental to team cohesion and relationship building, which in turn may improve the way the team coordinates its activities.