As the world moves deeper into the information age, business and work are increasingly conducted remotely. The skills that led to success working face-to-face in teams during the industrial age are not necessarily the same skills that will lead to success working remotely in the information age. Many traditional principles of leadership and teamwork still apply in the information age, but require adaptation to be used optimally in the virtual team environment. For the virtual team to be successful, it should be configured and launched correctly, use the RAMP model to overcome obstacles, convene effective meetings, and be expertly optimized and accelerated. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The success of a virtual team cannot be guaranteed in the beginning, but failure can. Virtual teams often work separated by large distances and time zone differences, without any daily physical mixing. This work environment is inherently more demanding and cumbersome than that used by traditional non-virtual teams. If this fact is not taken into consideration when virtual teams are planned and launched, they may have little chance of success. Building relationships also builds trust. Team members must trust that other team members are competent and have integrity. Such trust is much harder to build with a person who is merely a remote presence on a computer screen than with a physical person encountered by a team member. Good leaders understand this fact and actively work to overcome it. Conflict resolution can also be difficult in the virtual team environment. Intense conflicts and disagreements were usually resolved by having people meet face to face in person and discuss their differences. Virtual teams often don't have this luxury. It can be more difficult for some people to be honest when they are not physically dealing with a person face to face. In contrast, other people have a greater tendency to scheme and become insubordinate when they know they cannot be physically confronted face to face. Successful virtual teams address these challenges and resolve conflicts so they don't sabotage team effectiveness. Accountability, the second RAMP principle, can be much more challenging in virtual teams and groups. Without team members in direct physical proximity to each other, it is virtually impossible to directly track or monitor performance through periodic physical observation. This is problematic if you have lazy team members who try to shirk proper work sharing, but it also becomes a challenge if a worker requires more supervision and has a lot of questions. Overall, the successful virtual team member must be able to exercise greater independence than a physical team member. A good leader helps team members cultivate the ability to work autonomously. In the industrial age of physical teams, a leader might have a physical face-to-face meeting with a team member who was struggling with motivation. In such a meeting, the leader might give a pep talk to the struggling team member, listen to his or her problems, and demonstrate that he or she understands and is empathetic. This is another dynamic that is more challenging in the virtual team environment, but certainly possible with phone and video conferencing technology. A virtual team leader must be proactive in scheduling one-on-one meetings and sessions.