Page 255 - Managing the Mobile Workforce

234 � mAnAgIng the moBIle workForCe

Most, but not all, people we’ve interviewed and everything we’ve
read or experienced tells us that having face-to-face meetings at the
start of developing a team is crucial. Some people, such as Brian
Hoffmann, think that spending extended time in the same location is
important, especially for teams that are going to exist for several years.
Others believe that an initial meeting in person, with face-to-face
meetings on some regular basis later on, is enough. Sometimes virtual
team members never meet, and those teams still work out very well.
Author Kit Brown-Hoekstra, who has significant experience both
observing and leading virtual teams, (see “Keys to Developing Virtual
Teams” page 240) thinks the kickoff meeting is critically important.
Even when that meeting can’t be done in person, which is the pre-
ferred method, getting everyone on the same page is essential. Ask-
ing all team members to introduce themselves and talk a little about
themselves and their role in the team seems like a small thing, but
it helps people know whom to go to and for what purpose, lets the
manager know if the person understands her or his role, and begins
to build relationships. Tuckman has described the forming stages as
one of orienting to the team by testing boundaries and establishing
relationships, which is consistent with how we look at forming in the
virtual team development process.

transforming
As the team begins its work, the process of moving from a group of
individuals to a team begins in earnest. It is really a “re-forming” pro-
cess through which a group of individuals are transformed into a team
whose members consider themselves to have a shared identity. As the
team works together, the norms that the team leader pre-established
are practiced and evolve as the group settles into a way of interacting
that works for it. This is, essentially, then also a re-norming process—
taking the leader’s expectations and transforming them into group
expectations. Processes are adapted, delegation of responsibilities
and timelines change to fit the growing maturity of the team and the
changing external situation, and improvements are made as the team