Achieving Virtual Success

Patti Gilchrist, PMP, is a Senior Technical Manager with more than 20 years of IT experience. Visit her website at www.freepmstudy.com

  Communications Management   Talent Management   Teams  

As work is shifting from a production-based to a service-related business, the need for knowledge workers has increased and the nature of the work no longer requires workers to be bound to a physical work location:

“The increasing globalization of trade and corporate activity increases the pressure to innovate and provide quality services to worldwide markets. Over time, this has led organizations to choose the most qualified people, a ‘dream-team,’ regardless of their physical location.” 

-- Managing Groups and Teams/How Do You Manage Global Virtual Teams (WikiBooks)

Whether virtual teams are a dream or a dreaded nightmare is debatable due to the significant challenges associated with managing remote resources. Whether you are an advocate of virtual teams or not, the fact remains that if you are a project manager, you will most likely face the challenge at one time or another to manage a project comprised of virtual resources.

While fundamentally the same concepts necessary for the success of a traditional team still apply to global virtual teams, the approach requires modification. To be successful at virtual team management, you must exploit the benefits that global virtual teams bring while minimizing the disadvantages such as communication challenges and a lack of physical contact.

WikiBooks cites the building blocks to …

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