Book Review: Managing Virtual Teams
by Kathleen Rea, STC-SAC Member (KeaRea@aol.com)
By definition, a virtual team is a group of individuals with common goals
but located in different places. Separated by background, technology,
culture and time, virtual teams face unique challenges.
Many books have addressed the challenge of creating and managing virtual
teams, and other books have outlined the tools available. All have their
respective strengths and weaknesses, but this book has brought these two
important subjects, teams and tools, together in an effective format for
managers. The authors were part of a virtual team as they wrote this book,
and their experiences in bringing this book to fruition clearly show the
challenges and rewards.
Part 1 of the book outlines the basic setup of a virtual team, including
the team life cycle and specific challenges a virtual team experiences.
The chapters describe how to choose individuals for your team, how to
choose the tools and exploit the technology, and how to overcome the basic
issues and risks as you try to mold individuals of differing backgrounds
and beliefs with varying availability of technology into a smoothly operating
team with the same goal - the successful completion of the project. Communicating
with team members who are asleep at the other side of the world when you
are working is a challenge at best!
I was quite impressed with the chapters dealing with the review and evaluation
processes, which I have found to be considered as afterthoughts or given
short shrift with the virtual teams in which I have participated. These
chapters thoroughly describe the importance of these processes with reviews
and evaluations tailored to your team and the need to incorporate them
from the very beginning.
Part 2 provides an overview of the many tools available for virtual teams:
instant messaging tools, blogs, wikis, and RSS feeds, among others. Communication
is integral to the success of a virtual team. The authors used a wiki,
an editable Web site, to construct their book, but they stress that this
is only one of many tools available to managers. Managers need to pick
and choose the best tools for the project, keeping in mind the technologies
available to the team members.
When I read this book, I had the distinct feeling that I should have
read this book six months sooner, when I was a member of a virtual team.
The members of my team were in India, the Philippines, and the U.S., with
all the various cultural, time, and technology challenges. Now that I
look back, this book could have helped our team work through the risks
and changes any virtual team faces. I believe anyone reading this book
will have the same feeling. This is an easy-to-read-and-follow guide for
virtual teaming and also contains a nice list of available tools. It is
a perfect tool for virtual team members.
The wiki the authors used - www.wikiwackyworld.com
- is also open to the readers of their book and anyone who has comments
and ideas on how to work with virtual teams, inviting us to all become
a part of their virtual team!
Book Information: Managing Virtual Teams: Getting the Most
From Wikis, Blogs, and Other Collaborative Tools. Authors: M. Katherine
Brown, Brenda Huettner, and Char James-Tanny. 2007. [ISBN-10 1-59822-028-4.
384 pages. Wordware Publishing, Inc. $29.95 Paperback]
Kathleen Rea is a member of the Southern Arizona Chapter.
This article was originally published in the February 2007
edition of The Border Line, the STC Southern Arizona Chapter newsletter.
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