Building Collaborative Cultures in Cross-Functional and Interdisciplinary Virtual Teams: Relationship Management, Project Time Planning and Workspace Organization

Culture as a shared sense of ‘how to normally do things’ is what glues virtual teams together or, if lacking, tears them apart. Culture shapes, for example, how people manage relations, plan time and organize space. These assumptions tend to diverge in particular in interdisciplinary and cross-functional virtual teams and projects. Virtual team members and leaders need to integrate cultural requirements and expectations for a more collaborative teamwork, and this can be best done if one reflects upon, observes and—when required—changes communication. This chapter provides you with the concepts and tools for building collaborative team cultures for high performance.