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CHAPTER 10: LEADING TEAMS 311
• Agree on ground rules. At the beginning of the team’s work, all team
members need to explicitly understand both team and individual goals,
deadlines, and expectations for participation and performance. It is
important that leaders define a clear context so that people can make
decisions, monitor their own performance, and regulate their behavior
to accomplish goals. Teams should work together to choose the
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collaboration software and other communications technologies they will
use and then immediately practice using the new technology together. 65
Agreeing on communications etiquette is also essential. The team has to
agree on issues such as whether good-natured flaming is okay or off limits,
whether there are time limits on responding to voice mail or e-mail, and
so forth.
• Effectively use technology. Communication can be a tremendous problem
for virtual teams, and the ideas for using electronic communication
channels in Chapter 9 can help virtual team leaders be more effective.
When possible, leaders should use face-to-face communication sessions
when rich communication is needed, such as for problem solving or
whenever misunderstandings and frustration threaten the team’s work. 66
Leaders can also schedule regular times for people to interact online and
be sure all team members are trained in how to effectively use electronic
communications. For example, leaders find that everything needs to be
made more explicit online. Experienced virtual workers have learned how
to “verbalize” to colleagues online when they’re shifting mental gears or
need more feedback.

Global Teams
Virtual teams are frequently also global teams, which means people are working
together not only across spatial distances but across time barriers and cultural
and language differences as well. The use of global teams is rapidly increasing. A

survey of 103 firms found that nearly half now use global teams for new product
development. Moreover, one out of every five teams in these companies is likely

to be global. Global teams are work teams made up of culturally diverse mem- Global teams
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Global teams
teams made up of culturally
bers who live and work in different countries and coordinate some part of their teams made up of culturally
diverse members who live and
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activities on a global basis. For example, global teams of software developers diverse members who live and
work in different countries and
work in different countries and
at Tandem Services Corporation coordinate their work electronically so that the coordinate some part of their
coordinate some part of their
activities on a global basis
team is productive around the clock. Team members in London code a project activities on a global basis
and transmit the code each evening to members in the United States for testing.
U.S. team members then forward the code they’ve tested to Tokyo for debugging.
The next morning, the London team members pick up with the code debugged by
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their Tokyo colleagues, and another cycle begins. In some organizations, such as
open-source software maker MySQL, most employees are scattered around the
world and never see one another face-to-face.
IN THE LEAD MySQL
How to instill esprit de corps in a far-fl ung virtual team is a challenge leaders at
MySQL, a Swedish software maker, face daily. MySQL, which produces a database
management system used in Web applications, employs around 320 people scat-
tered in 25 countries. The majority of them work from home.
For MySQL, building an effective global team begins with hiring the right
people. Leaders look for people with the right technical skills and a passion for
their work, and then fi nd ways to keep them connected and motivated. Thomas