virtualteams.com: Networks and virtual teams: article on how far-flung teams can be super effective, if they do 3 things:

1. They exploit diversity. The team can't just be diverse; it has to make the most of it. Our teams credit their creative breakthroughs to challenging people from different disciplines, cultures, and the like to come up with something better together. They did.
2. They use pretty simple technology to simulate reality. By today’s standards, what they use is not very complicated. More than 80% of the teams use teleconference calls and shared websites. More than half used IM even when their companies prohibited it. Only a third used video conferencing. Some banned email.
3. They hold the team together. It takes a lot of communication. Some leaders spent as much as a third of their time just on the phone with team members.

I am starting to work on far-flung teams, and one observation so far: we've been wanting to do meetings over Skype, but because of technical problems, we went IM instead. IM meetings are extremely effective. Something about IM gives you a few seconds to think before you talk. It just works. Meetings last only 10 to 20 minutes, and we usually take 2 to 4 decisions in such a meeting (2 people). If you've worked in coorporate America, you'll know that's much better than the standard (meetings 1 hour, 1 decision per 3 meetings). Imagine the time we save! We haven't gone back to Skype yet, and I don't think we will.

# Dec 3, 2004

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