  This article explores some of the challenges faced when managing virtual
teams, in particular the role played by trust and identity in virtual teams. It
outlines why teams and virtual teams have become a valuable part of the modern
organization and presents ten short case studies that illustrate the range of
activities in which virtual teams can be found. Following this, the article
examines some of the common problems encountered in virtual team working. It
discusses two broad classes of solutions. The first are solutions that are
essentially technical in nature (i.e., where changes to or improvements in
technology would help to solve or ameliorate the problem); the second are more
organizationally based (i.e., where the root of the problem is in people and
how they are managed). The article concludes that both the technical and the
organizational solutions need to be considered in parallel if an attempt to
build an effective virtual team is to be successful.
