استراتژی های ساخت تیم های مجازی موثر: اعتماد کلیدی است  Strategies for building effective virtual teams: Trust is key

1. Introduction Fred has just been assigned to lead a team responsible for installing new credit card system software for a large bank in the Republic of Colombia. While this sounds like a normal leadership transition seen in any organization, this particular circumstance is different. The team of programmers and installers does not reside in any single location, but consists of individuals located around the world. Instead of bringing team members together in a conference room to introduce their new manager, itis up to Fred to contact and build relationships with each member of his new team. Although management scholars have created a large body of knowledge on how to manage teams that are physically present in a single location, there is far less understanding of how leaders can manage teams effectively that work together virtually, using computer-based communication technology. It is a far different challenge to lead teams whose members are physically co-located than itisto lead a team comprised of people spread out all overthe world–—or even overthe same building–—who seldom, if ever, see each other. Although virtual teams have existed since early history when empires sent their emissaries to rule distant lands, the impressive growth in webmediated organizational relationships has created an added interest in how to manage virtual teams successfully. As organizations increasingly expect their managers to lead employees in these online groupings, it becomes imperative to identify and train employees in the skills to do this effectively. The purpose of this article is to organize and present strategies that have been found successful by organizations seeking to help their managers lead virtual teams. While all successful managers have to ensure that they have provided the basic organizational support for their employees, the especially effective leaders also ensure they build trustworthy relationships. Thus, we emphasize how each of the strategies contributes to building and sustaining a climate of trust in the team. We organize the strategies into three interrelated categories: organization, leader, and team. While these are obviously interrelated and difficult to separate, there are specific cues in each category that, if properly presented, contribute to the success of an organization’s virtual teams. Cues in each of these categories can aid in the development of trust at two levels (Crisp & Jarvenpaa, 2013; Jarvenpaa, Knoll, & Leidner, 1998): initial team creation (swift trust) and continuing team performance (lasting trust).