Making the Team: A Guide for Managers

Virtual Teams

A virtual team is a task-focused group that meets without all members necessarily being physically present or even working at the same time. Virtual teams work closely together even though they may be separated by many miles or even continents. Virtual teams may meet through conference calls, videoconferences, e-mail, or other communications tools, such as application sharing. Teams may include employees only, or they may include outsiders, such as a customer's employees. Virtual teams work well for global companies, but they can also benefit small companies operating from a single location, especially if decision makers are often at job sites or on the road. They can be short-lived, like the one that helped the VeriFone sales rep ...