This is a book about leading dispersed teams--teams that aremade up of people who don't work in the same geographicalarea. Such teams don't often meet face-to-face. Usually theirmembers are separated by time and distance, and they often bringdifferent cultural views to bear on their work. Solving potentialcommunication problems and devising processes for making decisionsand managing conflict are challenges for leaders of dispersedteams. But before they can address those challenges, they need toanalyze the support such a team will get from the organization as awhole.Dispersed teams are a necessary, strategic work unit in a worldthat continues to grow more interconnected every day. Guiding themto their full potential is a difficult challenge for even the mostseasoned team leader.