Manager's Guide to Virtual Teams

Chapter 1What Is a Virtual Team?

Teamwork is the ability to work together toward a common vision and the ability to direct individual accomplishment toward organizational objectives. It is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results.

—Andrew Carnegie

Let’s consider three common situations involving virtual team management. Meeting challenges like those described here are part of what we discuss in this book.

Case One: The Global Team Management Challenge

Not too long ago we worked with a manager at Cummins Engine, Inc. He was located in the U.K., but the small teams reporting to him were scattered across more than twenty countries. An especially bright and capable leader, the manager found that he would seldom see a more significant ...