It's increasingly rare in business today to lead a go-to-market, product-specific development team where all the team members are direct reports. More the norm is that only a percentage of any team member's time is devoted to new product development. Over the next few posts, I will go into greater depth on five key strategies needed to create and run virtual product teams to achieve product launch.

5 Key Strategies: Goals, Roles, Responsibility, Accountability, Reward

1. Goal. What is the goal? Yes, it's a simple question, but the clearer the goal, the easier it is to accomplish. This includes company direction, market case, customer requirements, resource planning, schedule, budget, and management sponsorship.

2. Roles. Who does what? In order accomplish any goal, can you get the right team in place to succeed? How does one role interact with the other roles (team dynamics). What communication methods are employed? How do you create a cohesive, energetic team?

3. Responsibilities. Based on a team member's role, product goal, what are they responsible for producing in order to meet all objectives? Do these goals align, interact, and foster better individual and team contribution?

4. Accountability. There will be weak links in every team; sometimes the strongest asset can also be the weakest link. Transparent accountability is the way to navigate and build success into the fiber of any team.

5. Reward. What are the individual and team rewards for accomplishing the common goal? Most people believe that reward for just doing one's job are unnecessary. I believe a multi-pronged approach to reward creates value for team members and the team as a whole. An acknowledged team is a happy team, be the acknowledgment in the form of money, recognition, or time.

The next two posts are on Goal Setting and Roles and Responsibilities including free templates for your use.