"I like to connect to people in the virtual world, exchanging thoughts and ideas, when in the physical world we might never have the opportunity to cross paths."  - Demi Moore


The quote above says a lot about how we interact with others because of today's technology. With social media allowing us to connect with others regardless of geography we are truly becoming a virtual society. This is also true for our working relationships. The virtual workforce is growing. Currently 25% of the US workforce works remote at least one day a week. Forrester estimates that by 2016 43% of the workforce will be virtual. Virtual teams are not new to project management but they do require special attention to work well.

Last year I moderated a panel on the virtual workforce. One of the questions asked of the panel is how do their organizations address team building of virtual teams? Some of the answers dealt with the use of technology such as video conferencing and chat rooms. Other answers focused on establishing regular meetings. governance, and cadence. However, one specific answer triggered my though process the most. One of the panelists mentioned that personal things such as acknowledging team members birthdays or holidays in different countries was important. This answer got me to realize that although the project team may be virtual it is still a team and the team dynamics needs to be managed.

When managing a virtual team encourage interaction among the team members. When a issue arises think about assigning it to two team members to work jointly. Encourage team members to reach out to each other with questions. Use team meetings to conduct peer reviews. The more the team interacts in this manner the less it seems like a virtual team and the more it functions as a well built team.