The World is Flat

Just now when I am reading “The World is Flat” by Thomas L Friedman while I am commuting from and to the office (or customer locations) I come across a nice article at the Microsoft Business site which is related to this subject.

About “The World is Flat” Wikipedia is saying the following:

“The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century is an international bestseller book by Thomas L. Friedman, analyzing the progress of globalization with an emphasis on the early 21st century. The title is a metaphor for viewing the world as flat or level in terms of commerce and competition, as in a level playing field —or one where all competitors have an equal opportunity. As the first edition cover indicates, the title also alludes to the historic shifts in perception once people realised the world was not flat, but round and how a similar shift in perception —albeit figurative— is required if countries, companies and individuals want to remain competitive in a global market where historical, regional and geographical divisions are becoming increasingly irrelevant.”

The article on the Microsoft Business site is named “Virtual Teams Get Closer” and discusses the way how you can have a complete team working on different locations and maybe even without a solid office where they have a desk. It is discussing the tools and best approaches on how to create a virtual team. How can you best manage the workflow and such when your team is not in the same room? How do you deal with meetings and such?

Having a virtual team and making it a success is not only about the technological tools you have but also on how you manage the team. It can be a big success or a big failure.