Distance Does NOT Make the Heart Grow Fonder

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Geographic distance can lead to psychological distance.  Generally, the further away colleagues are, the less connected we may feel.  Cultural differences may also lead to psychological distance because we feel closer to people who are similar or who work in a way that makes sense to us. If we feel psychologically distant from our colleagues,
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Task-Technology Fit for Seamless Team Communication

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How virtual teams effectively use communication tools. We have all been in a meeting that should have been an email.  And we have all read email exchanges that should have been meetings.  As communication tools are the backbone of virtual work, virtual teams benefit from understanding the characteristics of the various tools and agreeing on
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Mis-diagnosing Virtual Collaboration

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Sometimes looking from a different angle makes the difference.   For years I have pondered the key ingredients to make an offshoring structure in a company a success.  By offshoring I mean the centralization of a function in one location (ie., Shared Service Center, Center of Excellence, R&D Center) with internal customers or colleagues around the
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The Risks Lurking Within Your Hybrid Virtual Team

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A Common Hybrid Team Story A virtual team were responsible for delivering a solution to a European client.  The team consisted of 2 marketing persons in France, 3 developers in India and 4 salespeople in Spain, including José the team leader.  Everyone was excited for the new customer and wanted this to succeed, but struggled to
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