In a study published by the “Academy of Management Executive” a virtual team was described as a “group of people who work independently with shared purpose across space, time, and organization boundaries, using technology to communicate and collaborate.” A 2009 survey by Cisco found that from thousands of teleworkers 69 percent of them said their productivity was higher when they worked remotely and 83 percent said their communication with other team members was either unaffected or enhanced by being dispersed. More research has found that more dispersed teams often outperform “co-located” teams, but that the most important factor in the success of a remote team was having processes in place to make sure each member contributes fully, including adequate support and communication. Other good practices include scheduling time for virtual camaraderie building, including chatting in an informal context. The BBC estimates that 1.3 million U.K. people work virtually full-time, and that 3.7 million people do so part-time.
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