{"id":20944,"date":"2017-03-21T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2017-03-21T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/global2020prd.wpengine.com\/insights\/managing-without-travel-3-good-and-bad-reasons-to-get-face-to-face-with-your-virtual-team\/"},"modified":"2020-05-11T15:56:17","modified_gmt":"2020-05-11T15:56:17","slug":"managing-without-travel-3-good-and-bad-reasons-to-get-face-to-face-with-your-virtual-team","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/insights\/managing-without-travel-3-good-and-bad-reasons-to-get-face-to-face-with-your-virtual-team\/","title":{"rendered":"Managing without travel (3) &#8211; good and bad reasons to get face to face with your virtual team"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Face to face contact is essential to getting things done in remote and virtual teams &#8211; it may always be the best and most comfortable for us a human beings. But time, cost and carbon mean that we cant always get face to face in a distributed organization.<\/p>\n<p>Because of this we have no choice as managers of remote and virtual teams but to <strong>prioritise our face to face time\u00a0rigorously<\/strong> to get the very best\u00a0value from it.<\/p>\n<p>For example you <strong>can <\/strong>build\u00a0relationships remotely, we can all think of people we &#8220;know&#8221; and work with who we never met face to face- but it takes more time and in a serious situation do you know you could absolutely rely on them?<\/p>\n<p>A second good reason to get your remote or virtual team face to face is where you genuinely need participation, involvement or interaction of a group of people, what I call spaghetti team working.<\/p>\n<p>Thirdly, things like one to one discussions on sensitive issues like career or appraisal.\u00a0 I think we show people respect by doing this face to face.<\/p>\n<p>Fourthly there are things like celebration and recognition which are just hard to do remotely so maybe we need to put more focus on these issues when we are face to face.<\/p>\n<p>Our experience of facilitating hundreds of <a title=\"Virtual teams\" href=\"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/training-for-virtual-teams\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">remote and virtual team<\/a> projects is that the biggest impact and the number one for reason for travel should be project or activity kick offs.\u00a0 A well run kick off can reduce project cycle time by <strong>25% or more<\/strong> and also reduce the need for total travel during the project by getting the ways of working agreed at the start.<\/p>\n<p>So what about the worst reasons for travel\u00a0\u2013 ones where you should really push back and say no?\u00a0 Well I would certainly start by challenging the need for many internal meetings.\u00a0 I would also look at the flip side to our good reasons for travel, so if you already know people well, if the purpose is to be presented to or given information rather than participation, if it can be delivered through technology then it is certainly worth challenging the travel or trying alternatives.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><em>Find out more about our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/training-for-virtual-teams\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">remote and virtual teams training<\/a>\u00a0 programs.<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">What do you think is the <strong>worst<\/strong> reason you have to travel at work?<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: right;\"><em>Published September 29, 2008<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>good and bad reasons to get face to face with your virtual team<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":24068,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-20944","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","type-blog","training-virtual-teams"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.6 (Yoast SEO v27.6) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Managing without travel (3) - good and bad reasons to get face to face with your virtual team - Global Integration<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"good and bad reasons to get face to face with your virtual team\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/insights\/managing-without-travel-3-good-and-bad-reasons-to-get-face-to-face-with-your-virtual-team\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Managing without travel (3) - good and bad reasons to get face to face with your virtual team\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"good and bad reasons to get face to face with your virtual team\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/insights\/managing-without-travel-3-good-and-bad-reasons-to-get-face-to-face-with-your-virtual-team\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Global Integration\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-03-21T00:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-05-11T15:56:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/virtual-meeting.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"870\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"520\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Kevan Hall\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Kevan Hall\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/insights\\\/managing-without-travel-3-good-and-bad-reasons-to-get-face-to-face-with-your-virtual-team\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/insights\\\/managing-without-travel-3-good-and-bad-reasons-to-get-face-to-face-with-your-virtual-team\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Kevan Hall\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/3ad6577af9c33612e410fbcdc3ff2a9a\"},\"headline\":\"Managing without travel (3) &#8211; good and bad reasons to get face to face with your virtual team\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-03-21T00:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-05-11T15:56:17+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/insights\\\/managing-without-travel-3-good-and-bad-reasons-to-get-face-to-face-with-your-virtual-team\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":408,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/insights\\\/managing-without-travel-3-good-and-bad-reasons-to-get-face-to-face-with-your-virtual-team\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/04\\\/virtual-meeting.webp\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/insights\\\/managing-without-travel-3-good-and-bad-reasons-to-get-face-to-face-with-your-virtual-team\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/insights\\\/managing-without-travel-3-good-and-bad-reasons-to-get-face-to-face-with-your-virtual-team\\\/\",\"name\":\"Managing without travel (3) - good and bad reasons to get face to face with your virtual team - Global Integration\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/insights\\\/managing-without-travel-3-good-and-bad-reasons-to-get-face-to-face-with-your-virtual-team\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/insights\\\/managing-without-travel-3-good-and-bad-reasons-to-get-face-to-face-with-your-virtual-team\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/04\\\/virtual-meeting.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-03-21T00:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-05-11T15:56:17+00:00\",\"description\":\"good and bad reasons to get face to face with your virtual team\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/insights\\\/managing-without-travel-3-good-and-bad-reasons-to-get-face-to-face-with-your-virtual-team\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/insights\\\/managing-without-travel-3-good-and-bad-reasons-to-get-face-to-face-with-your-virtual-team\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/insights\\\/managing-without-travel-3-good-and-bad-reasons-to-get-face-to-face-with-your-virtual-team\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/04\\\/virtual-meeting.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/04\\\/virtual-meeting.webp\",\"width\":870,\"height\":520,\"caption\":\"Group of people getting ready for a virtual meeting\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/insights\\\/managing-without-travel-3-good-and-bad-reasons-to-get-face-to-face-with-your-virtual-team\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Managing without travel (3) &#8211; good and bad reasons to get face to face with your virtual team\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"www.global-integration.com\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Global Integration\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/GI_logo_hero.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/GI_logo_hero.webp\",\"width\":312,\"height\":271,\"caption\":\"Global Integration\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/uk.linkedin.com\\\/company\\\/global-integration\"],\"description\":\"Global Integration are a leading global training provider specializing in matrix management, cross-functional teams, remote, virtual and hybrid working. They provide highly interactive face-to-face, virtual and online learning delivered globally\",\"email\":\"kevan@global-integation.com\",\"foundingDate\":\"1994-04-01\",\"numberOfEmployees\":{\"@type\":\"QuantitativeValue\",\"minValue\":\"11\",\"maxValue\":\"50\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/3ad6577af9c33612e410fbcdc3ff2a9a\",\"name\":\"Kevan Hall\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Kevan Hall\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/insights\\\/author\\\/kevan-hall\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Managing without travel (3) - good and bad reasons to get face to face with your virtual team - Global Integration","description":"good and bad reasons to get face to face with your virtual team","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/insights\/managing-without-travel-3-good-and-bad-reasons-to-get-face-to-face-with-your-virtual-team\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Managing without travel (3) - good and bad reasons to get face to face with your virtual team","og_description":"good and bad reasons to get face to face with your virtual team","og_url":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/insights\/managing-without-travel-3-good-and-bad-reasons-to-get-face-to-face-with-your-virtual-team\/","og_site_name":"Global Integration","article_published_time":"2017-03-21T00:00:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-05-11T15:56:17+00:00","og_image":[{"width":870,"height":520,"url":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/virtual-meeting.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Kevan Hall","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Kevan Hall","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/insights\/managing-without-travel-3-good-and-bad-reasons-to-get-face-to-face-with-your-virtual-team\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/insights\/managing-without-travel-3-good-and-bad-reasons-to-get-face-to-face-with-your-virtual-team\/"},"author":{"name":"Kevan Hall","@id":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/#\/schema\/person\/3ad6577af9c33612e410fbcdc3ff2a9a"},"headline":"Managing without travel (3) &#8211; good and bad reasons to get face to face with your virtual team","datePublished":"2017-03-21T00:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2020-05-11T15:56:17+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/insights\/managing-without-travel-3-good-and-bad-reasons-to-get-face-to-face-with-your-virtual-team\/"},"wordCount":408,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/insights\/managing-without-travel-3-good-and-bad-reasons-to-get-face-to-face-with-your-virtual-team\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/virtual-meeting.webp","inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/insights\/managing-without-travel-3-good-and-bad-reasons-to-get-face-to-face-with-your-virtual-team\/","url":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/insights\/managing-without-travel-3-good-and-bad-reasons-to-get-face-to-face-with-your-virtual-team\/","name":"Managing without travel (3) - good and bad reasons to get face to face with your virtual team - Global Integration","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/insights\/managing-without-travel-3-good-and-bad-reasons-to-get-face-to-face-with-your-virtual-team\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/insights\/managing-without-travel-3-good-and-bad-reasons-to-get-face-to-face-with-your-virtual-team\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/virtual-meeting.webp","datePublished":"2017-03-21T00:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2020-05-11T15:56:17+00:00","description":"good and bad reasons to get face to face with your virtual team","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/insights\/managing-without-travel-3-good-and-bad-reasons-to-get-face-to-face-with-your-virtual-team\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/insights\/managing-without-travel-3-good-and-bad-reasons-to-get-face-to-face-with-your-virtual-team\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/insights\/managing-without-travel-3-good-and-bad-reasons-to-get-face-to-face-with-your-virtual-team\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/virtual-meeting.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/virtual-meeting.webp","width":870,"height":520,"caption":"Group of people getting ready for a virtual meeting"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/insights\/managing-without-travel-3-good-and-bad-reasons-to-get-face-to-face-with-your-virtual-team\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Managing without travel (3) &#8211; good and bad reasons to get face to face with your virtual team"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/","name":"www.global-integration.com","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/#organization","name":"Global Integration","url":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/GI_logo_hero.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/GI_logo_hero.webp","width":312,"height":271,"caption":"Global Integration"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/uk.linkedin.com\/company\/global-integration"],"description":"Global Integration are a leading global training provider specializing in matrix management, cross-functional teams, remote, virtual and hybrid working. They provide highly interactive face-to-face, virtual and online learning delivered globally","email":"kevan@global-integation.com","foundingDate":"1994-04-01","numberOfEmployees":{"@type":"QuantitativeValue","minValue":"11","maxValue":"50"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/#\/schema\/person\/3ad6577af9c33612e410fbcdc3ff2a9a","name":"Kevan Hall","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Kevan Hall"},"url":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/insights\/author\/kevan-hall\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20944","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20944"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20944\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24068"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20944"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}