In a traditional team most members work for the same company. With virtual teams there is an arms length commitment because many members are outsourced and have more of a commitment to their parent company. Since team members in virtual teams are chosen for their specialty not their leadership roles, this replaces a collaborative commitment with a specialist commitment. There is less of unity within the team. Misunderstandings in virtual teams can be heightened.
Conflicts are harder to resolve.
For example, arguing over e-mail does not have the same effect as doing it personally. When a problem occurs on one side of the world there tends to be a delay because a team member might have to wait until the start of the other team member s business day. Managing a virtual team is also more difficult than a traditional team. For example, let s say we have a team where some members work in an office and some work independently. Managers are not able to call meetings whenever they deem necessary.