July 31 was a very special day for me – it was the day that my book, Virtual Teams for Dummies, was finally released! It’s the latest title in the popular Dummies series for Wiley Publishing.

It was many months of research, writing and editing, but it was totally worth it.

The book is based on my research study on virtual team effectiveness, but it expands on my findings in fun and insightful ways – it’s packed with tons of practical advice, interviews, case studies and ‘how to guides’ to create and manage highly effective virtual teams.

Virtual Teams for Dummies offers the following for virtual team managers:

• Includes research findings based on a year-long study on the effectiveness of virtual teams
• Mindset and skill shift for managers from old school traditional team management to virtual team management
• Covers the communication and relationship strategies for virtual teams
• Examines how the frequency of in-person meetings affects a remote team’s success

Obviously I’m very proud of it and I sincerely believe it is a great asset for any leader or team member on a virtual team. I’ve been working with virtual – sometimes called remote or distributed teams – for close to 20 years. In my experience, I’ve seen the result of businesses launching head first into creating virtual teams with no consideration for the unique challenges facing leaders and team members. There are the issues of communication, isolation, use of technology, cultural considerations, and so much more. I wanted to provide leaders with a guidebook for supporting their remote teams.

If you’re interested in learning more about best practices of virtual teams, it’s a great resource. Check it out at Virtual Teams for Dummies on amazon.com. I’d love to hear your feedback. Let me know what you think!

You can also find more educational resources for managing virtual teams on my website, Virtual Team Academy.