“Virtuality is found in how team members work, not in where team members work.” Thomas P. Wise
I picked up that bit from a book review posting of "Trust in Virtual Teams" by Thomas P. Wise.
Translation:
- Geography
- Communications
- Culture
What I think:
I line up big time on the culture thing. I've always said: You can't push culture through the Internet cable all that well. Commonly, you've got two identities: Remote and Local. And each identity has a personality and behavior that fits the either the local or remote culture. (Will the "real" you come forward?)
But, the the others are important. For instance, working from home a day a week pretty much means just a geographic separation: you're not going to lose your culture (beliefs and norms) in just a day at the house. But, given enough time in a remote geography, and you're going to "go native" as they say.
And, of course, if you can't effectively communicate, then there goes the body language and probably half your communications input.
But, these are my ideas; for Wise's take, read the book.
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