Terence Brake is President of the American arm of TMA (Transnational Management Associates Limited), a leading global executive development consultancy with offices worldwide. TMA's innovative learning solutions help employees at all levels within organizations to meet the personal challenge of doing successful business in the global market place.
Terence is a respected author and leading figure in the international cross-cultural training field. He is a Summer Institute for Intercultural Communication faculty member - where he teaches a program on Global Virtual Teams - and is a speaker at Society for Intercultural Education and Research and ASTD conferences. He has over 10 years experience of working in and coaching virtual teams

CONTENTS
Acknowledgements ix
Cast of Characters xiii
Welcome Mat 1
Let the Games Begin 3
Cooperation 21
Convergence 43
Coordination 61
Capability 85
Communication 109
Cultural Intelligence 139
Showtime: All Together Now! 169
Briefing Report: Global Virtual Team Essentials 185
Useful Terms 211
ftoc.

The work revolution is here and now!
Connecting with colleagues around the globe via technologies such as web conferencing, social networks, online forums, blogs and wikis is transforming the way we work . . . but . . . there are many challenges to be overcome in making the new workplace work for us. Not just technical challenges, but human ones. Collaboration can be difficult enough when we are working face-to-face with others, but put us thousands of miles apart, in multiple time zones, and in diverse cultural groups, and . . . watch out!
This book provides the concepts and tools for making global collaboration a success for you and your business, every time. It doesn't matter if you are new to working in the virtual global workplace, or very experienced, inside you will find a wealth of practical know-how that you can use immediately to get great results.
Did we mention that it is also hugely entertaining? Definitely not your business-as-usual business book.
"This book really hits the mark. Talent is everywhere, but the challenge is to meld it into a collaborative force that can continue to drive our global competitiveness. The book isn't just a fun read. It's packed with practical tips for enabling people to work together effectively in the global workplace. We have excellent collaboration technologies, but it will be the mindsets and skills for working across distances that will truly make the difference."
Brian Callaghan, Vice President, Leadership & Executive Development, ArcelorMittal
". . . very practical, innovative, and entertaining. Instead of producing another formulaic business book, Terry Brake has humanized the new global and virtual workplace and put some flesh and blood behind all the technological glitz. As well as giving us a glimpse into the new workplace, he is also trying to prepare us for the fact that as the Gamer generations come to work, the new workspace may someday become a gamespace. Are we ready to play?"
Margaret Regan, President and CEO, Future Work Institute
"It's wild, but I get it. A real contribution. Terry Brake has combined the new technological world of avatars, blogs digital non-verbals, and VoIP with the challenges of managing global teams in a way which opens new horizons and methods for global management. In addition, he has used these modern methods to address basic age old issues of group communication, cohesion, coordination and trust in a groundbreaking way to provide a whole new toolkit for leaders of global teams. This is an impressive and futuristic view of global team leadership."
Stephen H. Rhinesmith, Senior Partner - Executive Learning Center, Oliver Wyman-Delta Organization & Leadership and author of Managers Guide to Globalization: Six Skills for Success in a Changing World
"A delightful book filled with great insights and pragmatic suggestions for how to thrive in the emerging world of distributed teams and virtual collaboration spaces. The key is not more new technology but new ways to stay grounded, focused and engaged with our virtual team members."
John Seely Brown, Independent co-chairman, Deloitte Center for Edge Innovation, Former Chief Scientist, Xerox Corp and Director of Xerox PARC, Co-author, The Social Life of Information, HBSP 2000.