Customer Reviews

Virtual Team Success: A Practical Guide for Working and Leading from a Distance

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have been leading a virtual team for years at a global company and have read practically every virtual team book that has been released. All of the books I have read addressed the challenges faced by virtual teams, but only "Virtual Team Success" provided practical examples of how to address these challenges and how to avoid future issues. I applaud the authors for giving virtual teams a handbook of sorts to use as a guide going forward. My virtual team is far from perfect so I hope to incorporate some of the tips and guidelines to make our team more efficient and ultimately more successful.

I am relatively new to the world of virtual teams, primarily through my doctoral studies over the last couple of years. We were introduced to Virtual Team Success this year and I only wish it had been introduced earlier. It provides the reader with practical real world ideas relating to building and operating within virtual teams. This book is packed with information from starting up teams to developing process all the way through thoughtful reflection of evaluating outcomes. A must read for those interested in or already incorporating virtual teams into work or education.

I am a partner in a company with partners in Florida, Colorado and Canada. This book has been shared by the partners and has given us valuable and practical insights. I highly recommend it!

One of the best managment books I've read in a long time. This very readable book provides outstanding insights into managing virtual teams. The suggestions are very helpful and practical to apply. I will use it often as a resource in managing my teams and highly recommend this book to anyone wanting to improve the effectiveness of teams.

Excellent guide to leading from a distance. I found the tips and suggestions to be very helpful. Definitely one of the better management books I've read. I would highly recommend this book to any manager with a virtual team.

Of all the books I've read on leadership and management, this book is, by far, one of the best. The practical writing makes it easy to read and the tips were easily translated to "my world" as a virtual team leader. The authors do a good job of translating theory and their research to "real life" tips and suggestions. I highly recommend this book to anyone currently leading a virtual team.

Rick Lepsinger has done it again. Virtual Team Success provides practical solutions that are easy to implement and work. This book is a must have for anyone leading from a distance.

As a leader of a dispersed team, this book is extremely practical. Every virtual team leader needs to read this.

I have worked virtually for many years and have struggled with the challenges described in this book. For the first time, I have valuable tips and techniques that will help me deal with conflict, build trust, and ensure our team delivers results. Having this book available on my Kindle allows me to read paragraphs to my team during our team meetings leading to interesting discussion points.

Virtual Team Success provides a concise but informative look at the root causes for virtual team failure and the attributes of those teams that excel.

Backed by sound research, in part one, the authors systematically nail the key challenges virtual teams face, provide a profile of what effective teams look like, and reveal how to successfully launch a virtual team. I found the latter particularly telling. Having worked in global environments and been asked to participate on many virtual teams, I have often witnessed companies launch straight into forming a virtual team without considering whether the technology supports the team, what are the measurements for performance, how will roles be defined, how will participants be held accountable, and even whether the leader has the necessary skills to manage this special type of team.

The second part of the book hones in on how to lead the virtual team by providing techniques, tips, specific performance boosters, and specifics on how to facilitate virtual meetings. It not only examines the attributes that a virtual team leader needs but also gives specific strategies for building trust, handling team conflict, managing change, and keeping the team on track - just to name a few.

The only point in the entire book that I took exception to was the statement that research suggests extroverts make better virtual team leaders than introverts. This struck me as a bit of a stereotype and the underlying research merits a closer inspection for interpretation. The perception that introverts cannot lead highly dynamic environments that are sometimes public-facing is erroneous. Having read several books on the subject, research indicates that a significant percentage of effective leaders are introverts. Their powers of reflection can be a real attribute when trying to understand and manage team dynamics. Moreover, the introvert's ability to work offline in a one-on-one manner with team members is vital for building virtual team trust. Finally, many virtual teams communicate via collaboration tools such as text chat, email, blogs and websites, these formats make it ideal for introverts who like to thoughtfully reflect before communicating.

That said, Virtual Team Success does provide a balanced view of both the technical and soft skills that will help make your teams work. The exercises added value and the tables and exhibits provided outstanding at-a-glance information which I plan to refer to often. This book is essential reading for anyone involved in the formation or leadership of virtual teams.