Virtual Collaboration: The Skills Needed to Collaborate in a Virtual Environment

Abstract

With support from the scholarly literature, the author of this paper argues that to succeed in virtual collaborative teams (VCTs) individuals need to have relationship building skills, which include the ability to establish trust, familiarity, a positive environment/context, and embracing diversity, as well as communication skills, which include the use of simple language, ambiguity, and knowledge sharing. The author of this paper further argues that individuals need collaboration skills, which include autonomy/delegation, motivation, adaptability, and innovation, as well as technological skills, which include the use of web collaboration technologies, and virtual worlds/avatars to engage in successful collaboration in virtual environments. In addition, this paper also argues that despite the many advantages of VCTs, many disadvantages to their use still exist.