1st Edition

Trust in Virtual Teams Organization, Strategies and Assurance for Successful Projects

By Thomas P. Wise Copyright 2013

    As projects become more complex and the project teams are more geographically and culturally dispersed, so strong, trusting relationships come to the fore. Trust provides the security that enables project teams to work together effectively, even when they face project-threatening problems and challenges. Because today’s team members work virtually as much by choice as by geographic necessity, business leaders must understand how team relationships such as trust, cross-divisional projects, and how offshore team participation are all positively motivated by a solid quality assurance program. Offering real world solutions, Trust in Virtual Teams provides a clear view of how virtual projects can succeed, and how quality assurance compliments and promotes effective organizational design and project management to build solid trust relationships. Dr Wise combines the latest research in virtual team trust with simple and proven quality methods. He builds upon more than 20 years of experience in quality and project work to guide team managers in creating high performing project teams. Our understanding of the role human factors play in project performance and project resilience continues to grow. As it does, so does our need to address the behaviors and culture that enable good performance. Tom Wise’s book is a thoughtful and pragmatic guide to help project teams and managers do just that.

    Contents: Foreword; Preface; Part I Understanding and Building Trust: Understanding trust; Why talk about trust?; Building personality based trust; Building cognitive based trust; Building institutional based trust. Part II Virtual Team Working: What are the elements of virtuality?; Am I virtual?; How different roles are affected by virtuality; Understanding quality assurance: the basic mechanics to support information discovery. Part III Quality Assurance, Trust and the Virtual Team: Organizational strategies that influence the success of virtual team management; Bibliography; Index.

    Biography

    Dr Wise, PMP, ASQ-CQM, is a Quality Director with 20+ years’ experience in problem solving and process improvement in industry, including Nuclear Power, Finance, and Communications. A professor with Villanova University, DeSales University, and University of Phoenix, Dr Wise teaches supplier and software quality, business research, and organizational and project management.

    Finalist in the 'Business: Management and Leadership' category of the 2013 International Book Awards. Honorable Mention at the 2013 New York Book Festival. Honorable Mention at the 2013 Great Midwest Book Festival. 'The managing of virtual teams has become a part of daily life for the majority of IT project managers today. Tom’s book gives insight and guidance in many important areas not covered in most PM training and methodologies. I definitely recommend it as part of a toolbox for meeting today’s management challenges.’ Thomas F. Olenick, President, Olenick & Associates, Chicago, USA ’The book is very well written and the subject is one of the most challenging aspects of management in our current business scenario aptly termed as project swarm. Trust is the key to build virtual teams and this book offers direction to create an environment of solid trust like sedimentary rock! The words found here are about providing project teams the best opportunity to improve their global team work and mitigate project risks.’ Bindu Narayan, Head Quality, Tata Elxsi, India ’Tom does a fantastic job highlighting the incredible value created by independent teams with a common goal, while providing a roadmap for success. His personal, real-life examples bring the content to life, reinforcing the importance of communications, collaboration and the profound impact on overall productivity from dependent team deliverables. A must-read for anyone working with technology teams delivering high-velocity, innovative, products.’ John Schanz, Chief Network Officer, Comcast Cable, USA ’Dr Thomas Wise provides answers to real-life business challenges and translates them into simple models for everyday application in his masterpiece Trust in Virtual Teams. This is definitely the most practical business transformation book that is in the book stores today.’ Reuben Daniel, Global Business Transformation Leader, Cognizant Technology Solutions, USA ’A conci