"Developing Real Skills for Virtual Teams"

A lot of virtual team research crosses my screen, most of which is earnest and much of which is the equivalent of a Sunday-night eat-up of what's in the refrigerator. And then something like this comes through, "Developing Real Skills for Virtual Teams," from University of North Carolina's Kenan-Flagler Business School. Not surprising, given that one of our two collaborators on the HBR  "far-flung teams" classic, "Can Absence Make a Team Grow Stronger?" -- Arvind Malhotra -- is associate professor of strategy and entrepreneurship there.

This is a truly excellent white paper on the basics of how virtual teams can succeed, including lots of statistics, a good list of challenges, and some pointers for HR. Download and enjoy. Well done, Kenan-Flagler folks, and thanks to their community manager, Harrison Kratz, for alerting me back in February of this year. Good ideas never die; they just remain in the inbox until their proper moment.

Here's the outline for the paper; links will take you right to the sections of the paper.

Contents

1. Introduction
2. The Rise and Staying Power of Virtual Teams
3. Virtual Team Challenges
4. The Characteristics of Effective Virtual Teams
5. How HR Can Support Virtual Work Teams
6. Conclusion
7. About UNC Executive Development