To succeed, a virtual team needs a common goal, a clear description of responsibilities of team members, a milestone chart, and adherence to best practices and effective strategies.

In virtual teams, team leaders have to formalize roles and responsibilities better and create a highly defined process where team members deliver specific results in a repeated sequence. "You must lead differently. While co-located teams often benefit most from a leader who acts as a facilitator, virtual teams need a manager who provides clearly defined direction and removes all ambiguity from the process," says Erin Meyer from INSEAD.

You must also build trust differently. "Trust takes on a whole new meaning in virtual teams. When you meet your workmates by the water cooler or photocopier every day, you know instinctively who you can and cannot trust. In a geographically distributed team, trust is measured almost exclusively in terms of reliability," continues Erin Meyer. In multi-cultural global teams, different kinds of decision making process should be used.