Closeness at a Distance: Leading Virtual Groups to High Performance

Closeness at a Distance is a groundbreaking approach to the challenges so many teams, and team leaders, face today. Virtual working is now a reality for most professionals, and the winners of tomorrow will be companies that proactively drive the performance of their virtual cooperations. Virtual leadership, project management at a distance, and networking are today’s and tomorrow’s critical success factors. So any leader needs to ask him or herself “Is your virtual collaboration as successful as it should be?” How to answer this question, and how to improve performance in this key area, is the focus of this book. It introduces readers to Virtual Performance Improvement (VPI©) as the gateway to solutions to all key challenges faced by international virtual teams, groups, and networks. The book supports leaders so they perform successfully and effectively in virtual global environments. It guides team leaders, project and network managers, members, and even whole organizations, to areas of potential improvement in virtual performance and will help them turn vital challenges into competitive advantages. The book gives new insights into how to assist global groups, teams, and networks to perform better, and links project management, organizational, and cultural issues with the world of communication technology. ‘Enriched with numerous case studies and a storyline woven into the chapters, this book will be of immediate, practical help to anyone working with virtual teams and groups, or consulting, coaching, or training in such a context

Marcus Hildebrandt is founder and managing director of learning.de and head of Virtual Performance Improvement (VPI®) at intercultures. He has been working internationally as an executive coach and consultant in the fields of personnel development, leadership development, and organization development, and has created innovative learning and meeting formats for the past 16 years. He has done pioneering work on virtual teams, and on e-coaching and e-moderation. He codeveloped the Virtual Performance Assessment (VPA®) and the Interpersonal Feedback Profiler, two tools that help professionals to improve the performance of global teams, groups, and networks. Line Jehle is founder and managing director of perform-globally.com. She has been working internationally as an executive coach and consultant for the past 18 years. Her professional focus is on helping organizations to improve their global performance through executive training courses and coaching. She codeveloped the Virtual Performance Assessment (VPA®) and is a member of the International Coaching Federation. Stefan Meister is founder and managing director of intercultures, an international consulting and training company that helps organizations to work efficiently with global complexity. As a trainer, consultant, and coach he has worked with over 70 companies in more than 30 different countries. He cocreated the Virtual Performance Assessment (VPA)® and the Interpersonal Feedback Profiler. Susanne Skoruppa works as a consultant, coach, and author at the nexus of Organization Development and conflict resolution. A lawyer and organizational psychologist, she has worked for the United Nations, the World Bank, and a number of national public and private organizations, and has ample experience working in and with intercultural, virtual teams, and groups. She teaches at the Free University of Berlin.