Can a Team Be Effective If Its Members Have Never Met in Person?

The world is becoming increasingly globalized, and business is steadily erasing borders between countries. It might seem that the formula for success lies in teams where top specialists from around the world collaborate without ever leaving their homes. Naturally, this kind of setup brings its own challenges—but they do not always show up where we expect. A study by Professor Vasyl Taras, Department Chair at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (USA), based on surveys of participants in global virtual teams (GVTs), shows that the reality of remote collaboration usually differs from initial assumptions.

Expectations vs. reality in global virtual teams

The challenges people expect when managing global virtual teams often differ from those that actually hinder collaboration. According to the study’s findings, in the initial round of surveys, participants—perhaps unsurprisingly—highlighted time zone differences, language barriers, and cultural diversity as key concerns. In practice, however, the biggest obstacles turned out to be institutional differences (such as expectations around teamwork and how responsibilities are divided, discussed below), a lack of informal communication, and conflicting priorities across projects.

For instance, language difficulties were initially rated at 2.8 out of 5, but their actual impact was much lower—just 1.3. That’s not surprising, given that modern tools like Google Translate, ChatGPT, and similar services have gone a long way in reducing language barriers. Similarly, time zone differences were rated as a 3.4-level concern before the project, but post-project feedback showed the real impact was closer to 2.6. Still, among all international and cultural factors (see Figure 1), time zone differences remained the most persistent challenge for global virtual teams.

In contrast, issues such as lack of effort from individual team members (2.9 expected vs. 2.7 actual) and problems with workload distribution (2.6 expected vs. 2.5 actual) remained consistently relevant. 

Interestingly, not a single factor caused more difficulty in practice than participants had expected at the start of the project.

Main challenges faced by global virtual teams and strategies for overcoming them

Lack of informal communication

Virtual teams rarely get the chance to engage in the kind of spontaneous conversations that happen naturally in physical office spaces. These informal interactions help build trust among colleagues and create a sense of connection. Without them, team dynamics can feel dry and strictly task-focused, which makes it harder to build productive collaboration.

Findings from the X-Culture study show that regular video calls and informal check-ins can significantly improve team performance. For instance, if a team spends a week at the beginning of a project getting to know one another online, their effectiveness increases noticeably. However, if this introductory phase stretches to three weeks, the team may lose focus on actual work tasks.

Institutional differences and aligning expectations

One of the main challenges is the uneven distribution of work. Active team members often complain about colleagues who either do not contribute enough, lack essential technical or communication skills, or, conversely, dominate discussions. These dynamics can create tension and reduce overall team effectiveness.

To address these issues, managers need to set clear expectations regarding each member’s contributions. Transparent role definitions and task assignments can help prevent situations where some team members feel overwhelmed while others remain under-involved.

Conflicting project priorities

Members of international remote teams often juggle multiple projects at once. As a result, some team members may contribute less due to their significant commitments to parallel projects. This creates an imbalance within the team and can lead to conflict. 

Managers can minimize this challenge by implementing flexible deadlines, individualized work schedules, and regular task status updates. These practices help ensure the workload matches each team member’s actual capacity.

Using technological solutions to enhance effectiveness

Effectively managing virtual teams takes more than just removing barriers—it also involves using the right tools to support smooth collaboration. Platforms like Asana, Trello, and Jira help structure tasks, simplify coordination, and make it easier to track progress transparently. Communication tools such as Microsoft Teams and Slack not only enable quick messaging but also support video meetings and provide space for informal interaction. Informal team-building efforts also go a long way: introducing virtual team-building sessions and ice-breaker activities can build trust, boost motivation, and foster more productive collaboration in global virtual teams.