Virtual teams have a lot going for them. Being distant tended to keep the teams more focused on the task. Their meetings were more focused and usually were shorter than teams that met face to face. But they failed more frequently. The reason for this higher incident of failure was simple. When a problem arose and the team hadn't developed the bonds with each other, the team would fail.

In fact, the strengths of focus tended to disappear in a mire of isolation. Virtual teams did not develop the relationships that would allow them to overcome problems. The teams that failed weren't really "teams" at all, but virtual organizations that did not collaborate in any meaningful way.

So if collaboration is so important, how can we collaborate better at a distance? Here are five things you can do.

1. Stop multitasking in your virtual meetings! In fact the only time an entire virtual team can collaborate is when they are meeting. Some virtual managers look at people doing their emails during meetings as something that can't be helped. Others regard it as a sign of high productivity of their team. Nothing could be further from the truth. If you want your team to collaborate and be a team make sure everyone pays attention and participates in team meetings.

2. Create office hours when team members can be reached interactively when virtual. Collaboration among team members is an important way that members bond and help to overcome that barrier of distance. But you know how hard it is to get hold of people live. Set up hours for every team member when they agree to be available to each other. They don't have to be the same for everyone, but everyone needs to have them. During this time team members agree to

1. be available
2. answer their phones
3. take the time to work with that other team member.

3. Meet face to face as frequently as possible. The tools that we have that allow us to communicate virtually are terrific. But there is no better way to develop relationships with each other than face to face meetings. Budget constraints may make this infrequent or in some cases non-existent, but make sure you make the most of the face time you have. We suggest the 10/50/40 break down for how you use face time. No more the 10% of the time should be used for information only presentations. 50% of the time should be used for work related team discussions (actual collaboration). And the final 40% should be designed for social interaction. As I look back on my career, I see that some of the strongest bonds I created with my teams were done after work at social situations.

4. Add instant messenger to your tools and use it. Instant messenger is a tool the people just coming into the business world today have grown up with. But it's not just for the kids anymore. By creating your "buddies" list that includes your virtual teammates, you will have the ability to see when people are "in" and are possibly available for communication. Did you know that 93% of communication in the traditional office is spontaneous? When we go virtual spontaneous communication is completely eliminated. No wonder we have so many communication problems! Instant messenger allows spontaneous communication for virtual teams. Seeing someone is in and available on your computer is the equivalent of seeing someone go by your cubicle when we were all in one location. It is the beginning of collaboration.

5. Team up members of your team at different locations. It is easy to be isolated from the other sites on your virtual team. Create partners for a month, a quarter or even half a year. Let them work on projects together, make interactive presentations to the rest of the team, and get to know one another. After that time have them change so that they can meet and develop at least a working relationship with others on the team. Keep this up until everyone has teamed together.

Dr. Kostner was the spokesperson for a study done last year by Frost and Sullivan (Meetings around the World) which was sponsored by Microsoft and Verizon. In this study the basic conclusion was "The more collaborative organizations are, the better they perform. Conversely, the less collaborative they are, the worse their performance is."

This was a worldwide study and demonstrated that Collaboration was the single most important factor in business success. So if you want to be really successful pay attention to creating a virtual team that collaborates well.

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