Members of a virtual team share a common purpose, but are separated by distance, time, and organizational boundaries. In such a team, members are linked only by communication technologies. A software development team, for example, could have members in the United States, India, Taiwan, and Brazil. Their only communication might be through the Internet, the telephone, and videoconferences.

Virtual teams face unique challenges at every stage of their development. Even more than with conventional teams, their best opportunity for success is at the beginning stages of team development, when they must do the following:

1. Establish their purpose - This is the most important step. Each team member documents his or her understanding of the team’s purpose, its importance to the business, and their expected individual contribution. These descriptions are circulated throughout the team, and a virtual meeting is convened to discuss these documents. A team version is then created and circulated for review with the team’s sponsor.

2. Clarify member expectations – This can be accomplished with a questionnaire that asks questions such as:

• What is the purpose or mission of the team?
• What outcome is needed or expected from the team’s performance?
• How will we know when the team’s work is completed? Milestones?
• To whom does the team report and how often?
• What resources are provided to support the team?

Responses are compiled, summarized and stored in the team’s archive for future reference.

3. Understand one another – If team members understand each others’ skills, expertise and weaknesses, they can make the best use of these skills and know when to seek outside help. The team should create a template with background information on each member, then dedicate a meeting to discussing the information and planning how to exploit each member’s strengths.

4. Establish roles and responsibilities – The team leader must outline the roles and responsibilities of individual team members, then reach an understanding with each member before sharing the information with the entire team. The team then meets to discuss its roles, and adjustments are made, if necessary.

5. Building rapport – Virtual teams are at a significant disadvantage because they lack the regular, face-to-face social contact that builds relationships and promotes the trust that makes a team effective. Instead, they must hold some informal activities or exercises so they get to know one another better. They can hold a meeting in which they discuss a subject that is unrelated to work (e.g., favorite hobbies), for example.

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