It's critical to find ways to identify energy in the distributed team and make it available to the whole so they can feel it and build on it. Create ways to celebrate accomplishments as a whole team even when you aren't together. Create tracks and footprints in physical space. Without these, a distributed team can disappear off the radar screens of others in the organization and team members can lose a sense of themselves as part of the team. Lacking reminders, virtual team members can forget to tune into various team communication channels unless there is something pressing.
Artifacts give a virtual team visibility in physical space.
They serve as an anchor to bring the team down to earth. Catching a glimpse of the team picture out of the corner of your eye, for example, is a subliminal reminder of the team's reality. This puts it in a team context and conveys the sense that ideas are coming from the whole team rather than a single member. Get the whole team involved These five strategies are not the lone responsibility of the team leader. If the whole team is involved in making these things happen, that not only distributes the work but makes it more likely that opportunities to support these strategies won't be missed.