#A81

A virtual team consists of a group of individuals working remotely by collaborating through

emails and video or voice conferencing. Effective virtual teams can get the job done by
maintaining social bonding. Virtual teams give its’ team members the flexibility to maintain
work-life balance and allows organizations to do some cost-cutting.
The biggest challenge of working in virtual teams is poor communication and a lack of high
touch environment. Lack of attention and lack of engagement in virtual meetings are signs that a
virtual team lacks a high touch environment. The lack of everyday face to face communication
results in loss of information. Often the team members go without any contact for many days.
Type of communication is also a big challenge. If one person is phone only communicator and
another is email only communicator, then it will be almost impossible to work together.
Foresight, planning, dedication, and hard work is required for building productive and efficient
virtual teams. The right mix of ingredients can get the toughest jobs done in no time! Here are
some recommendations for future virtual teams to combat the challenges:
1. Start meetings with a social chat for building trust and respect cultural differences.
2. Develop an identity for the team and outline roles and responsibilities.
3. Establish more than one communication tool.
4. Assess time zones before scheduling regular meetings.
5. Choose the right combination of people.
6. Prefer video calls over emails and messaging.
Those who have done it right know that virtual teams and co-located teams can’t be built and
managed the same way. By educating leaders and team members, we hope to create strong and
prosperous virtual teams.