ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the stages and decisions a team navigates in order to achieve a highly successful launch. It also defines the most important actions to take as a virtual leader that help teams launch quickly The First Path for virtual teams is to develop virtual leaders' new team. The chapter explores how to structure virtual trust and expand emotional bandwidth until genuine team relationships form. It lays the groundwork for developing team agreements, structure for work flow, and communication. A structured team development process is a highly effective way to get a virtual team started right. Teams go through up to six predictable development stages: forming; storming; norming; performing; renorming; and adjourning. Face-to-face interaction always helps teams form fast, and the team development process is ideal to launch in person. The virtual team has choices about how to adapt the organization's processes to fit its needs.
