following hypothetical human resources issue has, like so many of its ilk, no correct solution. To help your colleagues deal with such a situation, please tell us how you would resolve it. We'll print as many as space permits. Editor Evers, XYZ's RD each team will select a leader after they confer--either by video conference or conference call; each team will create a web page on which they will post schedules, results, questions, etc., as they go. Mike, I'm making you the overall leader of this virtual team project--it will be your job to keep them all on track! I believe you've got the skills--you understand human dynamics, know how to manage across functional areas and national cultures, and are able to use communication technologies as the primary means of communicating and collaborating. These are the two most important factors in making a virtual team a success. Let's make a success of this virtual venture! Tom observed that product development teams have been among the true leaders in creating virtual teams. most famous virtual team created the Internet years ago. Virtual teams have created dozens of computer languages. It's hard to identify any new product today that is not the work of a virtual team, whether explicitly recognized or not. Challenges of Virtual Teams Subsequently, Mike asked Tom for additional counsel on handling the virtual team leadership assignment, since this was a first for him and for XYZ. Tom advised Mike that he had several major challenges to overcome. The first challenge is a difference in language between us and the subsidiary company. You may remember this gave Pete a lot of trouble. Develop written records of all meetings you participate in and encourage team members to do this as well. Educate team members that what one speaks or writes in one language may be understood differently by the Freedonian team. It may take several iterations until everyone understands one another. I can give you an example from my experience with a German company--we were communicating with the German team when electronic controls were quite new and we used the term 'solid state control'--this was an unfamiliar term to the German engineer who received the communication. …