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The Distance Manager: A Hands On Guide to Managing Off-Site Employees and Virtual Teams
Kimball Fisher , and Mareen Fisher Manufacturer: McGraw-Hill ProductGroup: Book Binding: Hardcover Similar Items:
ASIN: 0071360654 |
Book Description
Global business demands and new technologies have created a virtual workplace for many companies, with employees and teams routinely collaborating from distant geographical locations on the road, from home, at client sites—even on the other side of the globe. The Distance Manager provides practical information and tools to help managers bridge the communication gaps created by geographical separation, and get peak performance from employees they rarely see. This handbook is perfect for sales managers, project team leaders, senior managers, and anyone who manages people at more than one location. Key topics include:Download Description
The Distance Manager provides practical information and tools to help managers bridge the communication gaps created by geographical separation, and get peak performance from employees they rarely see.Customer Reviews:
Highly Recommended!.......2001-09-18
Ideas on Distance Management.......2001-07-18
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Virtual Teams: People Working Across Boundaries with Technology
Jessica Lipnack , and Jeffrey Stamps Manufacturer: Wiley ProductGroup: Book Binding: Hardcover Similar Items:
ASIN: 0471388254 |
Book Description
Praise for the First Edition of Virtual TeamsCustomer Reviews:
Useful, but some fluff.......2003-09-28
I found the book to be a slow read, with nuggets of information separated by deserts of fluff. The first half of the book is filled with vague ramblings about how the information age has changed the way that teams work and with case studies that illustrate how the forming of virtual teams has helped various companies solve difficult problems.
In the second half, the book begins to pick up. In a chapter entitled "Teaming with People" the authors discuss team dynamics, including essential roles with a team, how teams form and which aspects of team dynamics are especially subject to the stresses of distance communication.
The authors suggest that the beginning and closing phases of most projects are the most stressful on team members and that extra effort be exerted at the beginning phase of the project to bring the core project team members together, even if they are geographically separated. This, say the authors, will help build interpersonal relationships that can hold the team together in times of stress.
There are several optimum team sizes. 3 to 5 is the size of a core team, 5 to 25 the size of a "team family" and 25 to 200 the size of a "team camp". In the authors' opinion, any team larger than 5 people will naturally divide into sub-teams.
The authors also point out the value of rewarding teams. Making teams compete, or making them completely independent of one another has little value for the company. Cooperative goals can encourage and motivate all of the teams, while competition can demoralize them.
Finally, the authors talk about starting up teams and provide a checklist of some elements such as a customer and a management sponsor which are essential to any team's success.
Overall, I found the book to have some good information on forming and maintaining teams, and what to do when those teams are not located in the same physical location. There is some fluff, I feel, and the book could easily be half its current length without sacrificing much.
Aphoristic.......2001-10-01
Highly Recommended!.......2001-07-11
"Teamwork" Re-defined for New Realities.......2001-04-06
The authors organize their excellent material within 14 chapters whose individual titles indicate each chapter's perspective on virtual teams: Why, Networks, Teams, Trust, Place, Time, Purpose, people, Links, Launch, Navigate, Theory, Think, and Future. I agree that a virtual team "is a group of people who work interdependently with a shared purpose across space, time, and organization boundaries." Nonetheless, I still have some quibbles about the authors' sequence of subject matter (not with the content itself) and am still convinced that cooperation between and among members of virtual teams is even more difficult than it is between and among those within physical boundaries. Moreover, my own rather extensive experience with all manner of corporate clients suggests that the most formidable barriers are between two ears. If you have some serious human barriers in your own organization, I urge you to check out O'Dell and Grayson's immensely thoughtful and practical book, If Only We Knew What We Know.
But please keep in mind that even if O'Dell, Grayson, Lipnack, and Stamps were retained to create virtual teams for your organization, unless and until everyone else involved buys into the enterprise, the results would be abysmal. Hence the importance of several points which Lipnack and Stamps make in the final chapter, notably the absolutely essential need for trust. "A presumption of trust enables a successful strategy of collaboration [enables everyone involved] to be better innovators, competitors, and survivors....If purpose is the glue, trust is the grease." I agree.
Of course, no single volume such as this can provide all the right answers but Lipnack and Stamps raise most (if not all) of the most important questions. Their answers seem sensible and practical. Of course, decision-makers must decide what the nature, extent, and duration of a virtual relationship should be in their organization at any given time. The authors do provide an excellent source of information and insight which can help virtually (pun intended) any organization increase cooperation and collaboration across boundaries through the effective use of various technologies. Especially, in this age of accelerating globalization, most organizations need all the help they can get.
Practical Ideas for Boundary-Crossing Teams.......2000-10-15
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Managing Virtual Teams: Getting the Most from Wikis, Blogs, and Other Collaborative Tools (Wordware Applications Library)
Brenda Huettner , M. Katherine Brown , and Char James-Tanny Manufacturer: Wordware Publishing, Inc. ProductGroup: Book Binding: Paperback Similar Items:
ASIN: 1598220284 |
Book Description
Virtual collaborative team environments face unique challenges because their communication is not face-to-face. Managing Virtual Teams: Getting the Most from Wikis, Blogs, and Other Collaborative Tools provides practical advice for managers of distributed teams who must design the internal systems and meet deadlines with a diverse team, and for team members who want to develop and maintain professional relationships. To address these needs, this book is divided into three parts. Part I discusses team dynamics, project management and development, and forms of communication. Part II covers the types of tools currently available for collaboration such as wikis, blogs, RSS feeds, and more, and describes the different feature sets of each. Part III explains the various features of the book's companion wiki.
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Virtual Leadership: Secrets From the Round Table for the Multi-Site Manager
Jaclyn Kostner Manufacturer: Grand Central Publishing ProductGroup: Book Binding: Paperback Similar Items:
ASIN: 0446670871 |
Customer Reviews:
James Garvin obviously lacks imagination.......2006-09-09
Dublin Virtual Office.......2005-11-25
Lessons from King Arthur for the 21rst Century.......2000-09-21
So wonderful, we use it as a sales & team training tool.......2000-07-14
This book was so helpful and easy to read. It was unique because of the fabulous story it told (with a really cool twist of an ending) ... a how-to storybook for today's virtual world.
I couldn't put it down, read it in one sitting and have benefitted from it every day since. It really helped me straighten out my virtual leadership nightmare. Thanks so very much!
Virtual teaming for the 21st century!.......2000-03-01
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Virtual Teams That Work: Creating Conditions for Virtual Team Effectiveness
Manufacturer: Jossey-Bass ProductGroup: Book Binding: Hardcover Similar Items:
ASIN: 0787961620 |
Book Description
Virtual Teams That Work offers a much-needed, comprehensive guidebook for business leaders and managers who want to create the organizational conditions that will help virtual teams thrive. Each chapter in this important book focuses on best practices and includes case studies and illustrative examples from a wide variety of companies, including British Petroleum, Lucent Technologies, Ramtech, SoftCo, and Whirlpool Corporation. These real-life examples demonstrate how the principles identified in the book play out within virtual teams. Virtual Teams That Work shows how organizations can put in place the structure to help team members who speak different languages and have different cultural values develop effective ways of communicating when there is little opportunity for the members to meet face-to-face. The authors also reveal how organizations can implement performance management and reward systems that will motivate team members to cooperate across multiple boundaries. And they offer the information to determine which technologies best fit a variety of virtual-team tasks and the level of information technology support needed.
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The Virtual Office Survival Handbook: What Telecommuters and Entrepreneurs Need to Succeed in Today's Nontraditional Workplace
Alice Bredin Manufacturer: Wiley ProductGroup: Book Binding: Paperback Similar Items:
ASIN: 0471120596 |
Book Description
Whether you're working at home, on the road, or in any other nontraditional work arrangement, here's what you'll need to set up, survive, and thrive in the virtual office. Alice Bredin, the leading authority on the virtual office, gives you expert advice on:Whether you are contemplating this new work arrangement, actively in transition, or firmly entrenched in this workplace revolution, this comprehensive guide is your key to success in your new working environment.
Customer Reviews:
Ahead of its time in 1996. Somewhat dated now. Well done........1999-04-04
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Mastering Virtual Teams
Deborah L. Duarte , and Nancy Tennant Snyder Manufacturer: Jossey-Bass ProductGroup: Book Binding: Hardcover Similar Items:
ASIN: 0787955892 |
Amazon.com
Office face-time may always play a critical role in certain corporate settings, but technology and globalization have combined to thrust "virtual meetings" into an increasingly important place on today's overall business stage. With once-rigid boundaries of time, geography, and even organization now rapidly disappearing, members of almost any workplace team can communicate and collaborate regardless of physical location. How to do so most effectively? Deborah L. Duarte, assistant professor at George Washington University, and Nancy Tennant Snyder, chief learning officer for Whirlpool Corporation, outline suggestions applicable to large and small organizations alike in Mastering Virtual Teams. Designed for those who work in--as well as lead--such teams, it is divided into sections that focus on their unique inherent complexities, their creation, and their operation. Real-life examples and the authors' experienced observations are complemented by an abundance of helpful checklists and practical exercises. --Howard RothmanBook Description
The original edition of Mastering Virtual Teams offered a first-of-its-kind tool kit for leaders and members of virtual teams. Now, this revised and expanded second edition includes a CD-ROM packed with useful resources that allow virtual teams to access and use the book's many checklists, assessments, and other practical tools quickly and easily. The authors provide updated guidelines, strategies, and best practices for working cross-culturally and cross-functionally, across time and distance, to see a project through. The useful tools, exercises, and real-life examples show how anyone can master the unique dynamics of virtual team participation in an environment where the old rules no longer apply.Download Description
This third edition of the best-selling resource Mastering Virtual Teamsoffers a toolkit for leaders and members of virtual teams. Deborah L. Durate and Nancy Tennant Snyder include updated guidelines, strategies, and best practices for working effectively with virtual teams across time and distance to see a project through. The useful tools, exercises, and real-life examples show how anyone can master the unique dynamics of virtual team participation in an environment where the old rules no longer apply.Customer Reviews:
Pretty good, but do you really need to read a book to figure this out?.......2007-03-10
Another Human Resource Book with no Business case.......2001-11-03
Not great prose, but thorough coverage.......2001-03-27
Interspersed are jewels of wisdom. For example: communication and collaboration are the two most important factors in team success; sometimes it's better to wait until team members get to know one another as dependable and competent before initiating in-depth team building; trust depends on performance and competence, integrity, and concern for the well-being of others; information overload can slow down a team's decision-making process. I was pleased to find they documented that video conferencing requires a different skill set than running regular meetings.
I sometimes yearned for more real life stories and persuasive arguments, in other words, a less formulaic style. But that's my bias as a reader and not their intent.
Excellent overview of technology and techniques.......1999-08-03
Great balance of high level strategy detailed operations........1999-05-21
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Creativity in Virtual Teams: Key Components for Success (Collaborative Work Systems Series)
Jill Nemiro Manufacturer: Pfeiffer ProductGroup: Book Binding: Paperback Similar Items:
ASIN: 0787971146 |
Book Description
Creativity in Virtual Teams offers a well-researched and practical resource that outlines a new model for attaining high levels of creativity in virtual working arrangements to anyone who designs, manages, or participates in virtual teams. Written by Jill E. Nemiro—an expert in building organizations and virtual teams—Creativity in Virtual Teams provides a valuable tool that takes you beyond mere theory. Within these pages, the author leads you through a series of diagnostic tools, questions for reflection, checklists, and exercises that will help you assess and develop the five key components—design, climate, resources, norms and protocols, and continual assessment and learning—that will foster creativity in your virtual teams. In addition, Creativity in Virtual Teams is filled with illustrative lessons learned from nine highly successful and innovative virtual teams.Download Description
Creativity in Virtual Teams offers a well-researched and practical resource that outlines a new model for attaining high levels of creativity in virtual working arrangements to anyone who designs, manages, or participates in virtual teams. Written by Jill E. Nemiro—an expert in building organizations and virtual teams—Creativity in Virtual Teams provides a valuable tool that takes you beyond mere theory. Within these pages, the author leads you through a series of diagnostic tools, questions for reflection, checklists, and exercises that will help you assess and develop the five key components—design, climate, resources, norms and protocols, and continual assessment and learning—that will foster creativity in your virtual teams. In addition, Creativity in Virtual Teams is filled with illustrative lessons learned from nine highly successful and innovative virtual teams.Customer Reviews:
A Masterful Work.......2005-01-01
Highly recommended.......2004-10-17
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Implementing the Virtual Project Management Office
Marcus Goncalves Manufacturer: McGraw-Hill ProductGroup: Book Binding: Hardcover Similar Items:
ASIN: 0071459170 |
Book Description
Globalization and increased outsourcing have redefined project management. The complex dynamics involved in today's long-distance projects require a new skill set and knowledge base unlike anything needed before.
Here, leading project management expert Marcus Goncalves presents a complete guide to implementing the virtual project management office (ePMO). Leveraging his information technology expertise and PM experience, Goncalves offers cutting-edge techniques for managing projects across borders, working with colleagues and clients from different cultures, and utilizing the necessary telecommunication/Internet technologies ePM managers and their virtual teams and remote PM offices must have.
Implementing the Virtual Project Management Office complies with the Project Management Institute's Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) guidelines and extends them to ePMO. After analyzing the benefits of ePM versus conventional project management, Goncalves presents an in-depth discussion of ePM practices, scenarios, and challenges, aided by real-world examples and insightful case studies.
Providing a full focus on the management and execution of virtual projects, Goncalves demonstrates the time- and cost-saving advantages, showing how to begin realizing those advantages immediately. He gives you:
Goncalves provides comprehensive information on developing a state-of-the-art virtual project management office, from the necessary structure and environment to the technology. He also defines what concurrent ePM is and the need for change management during the process. The bonus CD features sample policies, forms, budgets, checklists, and software (including the award winning Mindmanager, from Mindjet) to assist in your ePMO implementation.
Customer Reviews:
Very interesting and useful book.......2006-11-13
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Working Virtually: Managing People for Successful Virtual Teams and Organizations
Trina Hoefling Manufacturer: Stylus Publishing ProductGroup: Book Binding: Hardcover Similar Items:
ASIN: 1579220320 |
Book Description
The move to virtual work is growing exponentially. New economy businesses have pioneered telecommuting and global work teams. 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 of both organizational and individual development--and shows how the technological 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 appropriate for your purposes?" "What's the impact on existing systems 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 to a virtual environment, discusses new team roles, and how to select virtual team candidates. She covers training, communication, and management.
As someone who began developing, and working in, virtual teams in 1984, Trina Hoefling's experience is arguably the most extensive in the field. This book will be an indispensable practical guide and reference for virtual team leaders, human resource managers, CEO's and trainers. It will also be suitable for professional certification and business courses in organizational development.
Customer Reviews:
An excellent, clearly written and positive instructional.......2003-10-10
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