An increasingly common form of teamworking is the use of virtual teams, where members rarely interact face-to-face. A virtual team may include members from the same organisation who are located around the world. Or it may include people from different organisations that work together as suppliers, customers or strategic partners. Rapid developments in information technology have enabled dispersed team members to work together in teams.
A number of forces have driven the increasing use of virtual teams:
- Flatter organisational structures
- Competitive environments that require inter-organisational cooperation and synergy (e.g. strategic partnering)
- Changes in workers' expectations (e.g. the ability to work remotely)
- A shift from production to service/knowledge
- Globalisation
An example of an organisation that uses virtual teams extensively is advertising agency StrawberryFrog. They have over 100 staff from 25 countries based in four hubs (or 'frog ponds'): Amsterdam, New York, Sao Paulo and Mumbai. StrawberryFrog relies on a very flat structure that consists of a core of strategic-creative-management experts (or frogs as they call themselves) who possess a wealth of advertising knowledge and insight into consumers across diverse markets. They are supported by a global network of more than 350 copywriters, filmmakers and other artists. However, managing such a loose configuration of talent creates some challenges (Robbins et al. 2009).