Working Virtually:
Managing People for Successful Virtual Teams and Organizations
Author: Trina Hoefling

"This is both a very practical and comprehensive guide to the factors that contribute to effective virtual teams. It offers a solid primer in the collaborative tools currently available. The great utility of this book is its pragmatic, cookbook approach to putting the human and organizational structures in place that will enable a virtual team to succeed; and in explaining why these structures are important." Carol Willett, Executive VP for Learning and Innovation, Applied Knowledge Group, Inc. "This is a tremendous book. It is substantive, well-researched, conceptually sound and practical, all at the same time. If you want the handbook for building, implementing and sustaining virtual teams and work groups, buy this book." William E. Schneider, Corporate Development Group, Inc. The move to virtual work is growing exponentially. While the collaborative technology is understood, what managers and team leaders lack is a clear guide to the human skills for bonding individuals into cohesive, high-performance teams across distances and differences. This book explains what's needed in terms both of organizational and individual development--and shows how the technologcial tools support and expand the options for collaboration. It answers such critical questions as "What makes working virtually work?" "How do we start?" "How do you develop new leaders in a virtual environment?" "What skills do virtual managers and team members need?" "How do you determine how ready they are?" "Which technologies are most apprpriate for your purposes?" "What's the impact on existing sytems and structures?" Through work charts, vivid "composite" examples, definitions and actual cases, she explains how to reframe the organization without losing the culture, how to manage the group dynamics of change, and create trust by expanding emotional bandwidth. She sets out the criteria for selecting technologies to adapt and guide communication and work flow processes for a virtual environment, discusses new team roles, and how to select virtual team candidates. She covers training, communication and management. This book is an indispensable practical guide and reference for virtual team leaders, and executives.