Outline

1. Outline • Myths and Realities of virtual teams • Roles and competencies • Building Trust • Meetings

2. Myths and realities of leading virtual teams • Virtual team members can be left alone • Complexity of communicating over time and distance is exaggerated • Leader needs to speak several languages and have lived in other countries • It is difficult to help people whom you do not see regularly • Trust and networking are unimportant in virtual team work • Every aspect should be planned, organized and controlled

3. Roles and competencies • Balancing coordination and collaboration • Coordination and collaboration roles • Ambassador • Conveyor of information • Coordination with team members • Building and maintaining trust • Share learning • Autonomy roles • Manage self • Take responsibility • Clarify ambiguous tasks • Address conflicting loyalties

4. Areas of competence • Project Management • Networking • Use of technology • Self – management • Crossing Boundaries • Interpersonal awareness

5. Building Trust • Categories • Performance and competence • Integrity • Concern for well being of others

6. Building Trust – attitudes and behaviors • Power distance • Uncertainty avoidance • Individualism • Long term perspective • Context

7. Meetings and Roles • Meetings will always be more composed of people than of technology • In general, virtual teams exchange information much less effectively than face to face teams do • With proper selection of technology and effective facilitation, virtual team meetings can be as effective as face to face meetings • Roles in a virtual meeting according to the text • Owner • Participant • Facilitator • Technology

8. Planning for a virtual meeting • Selection of technology • Level of interaction • Planning • Who • Where • When • Agenda • Objective • Items • Facilitating effective use of technology • Training

9. Roles at a meeting • A complete meeting will have: • Chairperson • Run the agenda • Facilitator • Keep the peace • Give all people airtime • Evaluate the meeting • Time Keeper • Give people the hook • Keep it moving • Scribe • Minutes • Action Items

10. Effective meetings • What makes an effective meeting? • Preparing what to say • Opportunity to contribute • Higher status encourages others to contribute • Motivated people • Recapping earlier meetings and events • Clear objective • Precise agenda • Staying on the time track

11. Informality at meetings • Discussion