Again, every team needs to have performance standards and expectations, but this is particularly vital when the manager is unable to observe behavior directly. The team needs to understand not only what they are going to achieve, but how they will achieve it. When people come from a diverse set of experiences, functions, and possibly even divisional or geographical cultural backgrounds, it should not be assumed that they all share the same perspective about what constitutes quality or excellence. This is an opportunity for the leader to set benchmarks, suggest sharing of best practices, and encourage the team to clearly articulate standards by which their performance will be evaluated.

Effective coaching is a challenge for most managers, but especially so when they lack the opportunity to observe their team members carrying out tasks and interacting on a regular basis. Nonetheless, coaching is as important, or more so, when the team is dispersed. Leaders of virtual teams need to set individual and group expectations, monitor the team's progress, and give feedback, just as they would if everyone were sharing the same location.

Adaptations include making virtual observations of performance by evaluating work outputs and deliverables such as:

* Documents and reports