A Manager's Guide to Virtual Teams - Paperback

by Yael Zofi (Author)

Yael Zofi's proprietary Trust Wheel model is a proven solution to the unique challenges managers must overcome as more people migrate to partially or fully-remote working situations.

Based on the author's twenty-plus years of consulting experience, this powerful tool encourages cohesiveness and engagement among team members--even if they've never met. A Manager's Guide to Virtual Teams does this by providing a practical road map for bridging the physical distance among coworkers, incorporating self-study exercises and simple, fun activities that develop trust and ensure your team's success.

The book explores the most critical elements to success for a team founded in trust, including:

• accountability,
• communication,
• conflict management,
• and deliverables.

Complete with examples, case scenarios, and strategies to help you navigate even your biggest hurdles, A Manager's Guide to Virtual Teams will help your disparate collection of people get their work "out the door" faster and better.

Front Jacket

In the past, managing workplace teams came with potential problems, but most could be easily resolved. Fast-forward to today's technologically linked world of virtual teams and it's a completely different picture.

In today's world, teams aren't just the folks who report to you, along with the IT guy and the marketing whiz. Teams are spread across countries, time zones, languages, cultures, and more. And managing these disparate, far-flung teams is exponentially more complex and fraught with the potential to derail at any moment. A Manager's Guide to Virtual Teams is a road-map for bridging the logistical, cultural, and communication gaps that can prevent virtual teams from reaching their full potential--and a life-saver for anyone charged with delivering results from a dispersed team. Filled with self-study exercises, activities, and valuable advice based on the author's 20 years of consulting experience and hard-won wisdom from virtual team managers and members, the book explores the four most critical elements to team success: - Trust and Accountability Uncover 10 crucial tips for creating trust within and across virtual teams. - Communication Learn to navigate the unique challenges of the virtual world, especially in cross-cultural collaborations. - Conflict Management Put the examples, case scenarios, and resolution strategies to work building a unified, focused team. - Deliverables Find out how your virtual team can get work out the door faster and better. Technology has made virtual teams an everyday reality, but it hasn't reduced the potential for conflict and confusion--it has amplified the problem. A Manager's Guide to Virtual Teams brings much-needed clarity to the process of leading dispersed teams, and deep insights into how to tap into the team's collective energy to bring fast, effective results. Yael Zofi is the founder and CEO of AIM Strategies(R), Applied Innovative Management(R), a human capital consulting firm. With over 20 years of global consulting experience, she has worked with clients such as AT&T, Chase, CIGNA, General Electric, MetLife, Pfizer, Philips, Viacom, and Nokia. Her organizational development work focuses on helping leaders and their teams become more successful through organizational alignment. She has created many team-based assessment tools, facilitated global team strategy retreats, designed international talent management programs, and facilitated merger integrations with three global organizations.

Back Jacket

Virtual-Team managers worldwide are already praising this path-breaking work:

"Zofi's excellent book is a practical how-to guide to the new world of virtual teams. It's the most comprehensive resource I know of to help managers deal with cross-cultural virtual challenges. She has filled it with great anecdotes from the front lines. The exercises are real-world scenarios with detailed action plans and step-by-step blueprints. This book is a 'must have' for managers who want to be effective in an increasingly complex society." -- Robert J. Lee, Ph.D., Managing Director, iCoachNewYork; former CEO of the Center for Creative Leadership "Virtual teams are now part of the landscape for most companies. Whether it's a reality of operating in multiple locations or a way to proactively attract the best talent wherever it is, learning how to maximize its value--and avoid its pitfalls--will give you an invaluable competitive advantage. This book guides you through everything you need to know about managing virtual teams in a thorough, insightful, and easy-to-understand manner."-- Arturo Poire, Vice President & Global Head of Talent Management, Marsh & McLennan Companies "Yael Zofi's A Manager's Guide to Virtual Teams is a must-read for managers and directors operating in LEAN businesses, where scarce talent in remote corners of different organizations must work together to complete initiatives using fractions of their time." -- Jeanine Johnson, Senior Manager, Amazon "Regardless of where you are in your career, A Manager's Guide to Virtual Teams is a well organized and comprehensive resource within the global management landscape. It provides global managers with a necessary toolkit and solutions enabling them to establish and inspire winning teams."-- Alex Ovadia, Director, Global Systems, Philips Healthcare "Even with the quantum leap in the number of virtual work situations, the unique challenge of developing virtual teams has been largely ignored by the field of leadership development. However, Zofi's groundbreaking research has created the most comprehensive guide to building high-performing virtual teams that I have seen and establishes Yael Zofi as the foremost authority on virtual teams. This resource will change the way progressive organizations operate going forward." -- Jennifer Eggars, Director, Leadership Development and Organization Effectiveness, NCR "The significant value of this book is that Zofi explains how to help virtual teams function effectively. Based on data from more than 150 interviews with managers and members of virtual teams, coupled with examples of how technology enables the work, and from her experiences working with virtual teams, Zofi helps us to understand what success looks like in the workplace of the 21st century." -- W. Warner Burke, Ph.D., Edward Lee Thorndike Professor of Psychology and Education, Teachers College, Columbia University

Author Biography

YAEL ZOFI is the founder and CEO of AIM Strategies(R), a human capital consulting firm. With over 20 years of global consulting experience, she has worked with clients such as AT&T, Chase, CIGNA, General Electric, MetLife, Pfizer, Philips, Viacom, and Nokia.