Page 265 - Managing the Mobile Workforce

244 � mAnAgIng the moBIle workForCe

to (such as it’s early in the morning and you are still in your pajamas).
“When I am working on a virtual team, if my clients have access to
messaging, I just leave it on all the time,” says Kit. “It’s like a water
cooler. It’s like popping your head up over the cube wall, especially if
people are paying attention to and managing their status button.”

` summAry

We had a lot of fun writing this chapter. Whenever you can start by
playing the World of Warcraft and end with virtual teamwork in your
pajamas you know you’ve been on a learning journey. In this chapter
we’ve shared what experienced virtual team leaders like Zev Barsky
and Brian Hoffmann do to develop high performing, global virtual
teams; we’ve offered a virtual team development process that differs,
in emphasis anyway, from what most people have viewed the steps to
be; and we have presented what experts like Shauna Wilson and Kit
Brown-Hoekstra have found work with virtual teams worldwide.
Our journey, as a writing team of two coauthors, started with a
bike ride and bagels, and has continued as we have developed our
own little virtual team and friendship. We can vouch that the process
works!