Virtual teams will work if they have the best people. Myth or Reality?

Posted by Yael Zofi and Perin Colah on April 3rd, 2012

 

Last week we introduced the Five Myths and Realities of Virtual Teams and explored the first myth of this series.

 

This week we are moving to:

 

MYTH 2: VIRTUAL TEAMS WILL WORK IF THEY HAVE THE BEST PEOPLE.

 

Reality: No team is guaranteed success, even when it has the best virtual players. Teams fail for various reasons, including setting unrealistic expectations, falling short of deliverables, not engaging in conversations.  Don't underestimate the important planning element that needs to go into setting the virtual team up and making it work across different cultures and countries.

 

Advice: One client, a Manager at a Computer Systems Company, summarizes it best:

 

"It really helps during the non-virtual times to address issues that come up and set up the team for success later on. You must address how we work together, what we will do to call each other on it (permission to be honest with each other when things are not as they should be), how we will engage and stay virtually committed to each other, and how we as a team get things done.  Having clear charter and team norms about what we do and how we do it really accelerates relationships." Manager, Computer Systems.

 

Look out for Virtual Teams Myth #3 next week!