The competitive success of an organisation is heavily dependent on the quality of leadership within the organisations. Among the growing list of skills required for effective leadership is the need for leaders to promote the deployment of effective teams in the workplace. There are numerous strategies and methods that have been utilized to prepare future leaders to meet the challenge of developing and promoting high performance teams in the workplace. Teams are widely used in organizations, with a variety of consequent benefits, including increased productivity. As a result, the aptitude and skills to successfully function in, as well as lead work-teams is recognized as highly coveted in today’s business environment. Importantly, the need for flexibility is contributing to the increased use of virtual teams, comprised of individuals who are geographically separated, and are not likely to interact face-to-face.

With the aid of relevant research, critically discuss the benefits and challenges associated with virtual teams.