According to the World Economic Forum, telework is “one of the biggest drivers of transformation” in the workplace.

This is not news to me. I noticed the explosive growth of virtual teams in my own business years ago. Time after time I watched as companies used the same practices for communication, training, management and technology for virtual teams as they were using for traditional teams whose members are officed in the same location.

Spoiler alert – it wasn’t working.

Why were organizations creating all these virtual teams, with no consideration for the unique challenges facing virtual team leaders and team members?

I needed to find out more.

After searching, I could not find any current research on the topic, so I decided to conduct my own. The results yielded key insights about productivity perception gaps between executives and virtual team members, work-life balance on virtual teams, cost savings, the challenges of communication and technology on virtual teams, the importance of established rules and accountability, and much, much more.

My findings got the attention of Wiley Publishing and they asked me to publish my findings – and expand upon them – in a book titled Virtual Teams for Dummies, which was to be newest title in the popular Dummies series.

It was a great opportunity – and a ton of work – and I am so proud to announce that Virtual Teams for Dummies was released last month, and it successfully provides practical advice, case studies and ‘how to guides’ to create and manage highly effective virtual teams. And of course, it is presented in the signature Dummies style of expert editorial, engaging language and an approachable style.

I hope you have a chance to read it and learn from it. I would love to hear your feedback!