This paper describes a case study in working as a virtual team. It is not a standard “industrial>’ case. but an account of a team distributed across the planet whose common interest was to explore the possibilities of remo{e working. It concentrates on the “pottnership between people” aspect of the team’s experience. includlng the task and process aspects of a virtual team: the role of side channel communications; the need for trust: and the need to allow for the different viewpoints of the people imolved in the team. The main learning points ~vhich emerge rocus on four issues: the relevance of having a (ask. commitment from Permission to make digital/hard copies of all or part of this material for personal or classroom use. is granted withoul fee provided thaL tie copies are not made or distributed for pro~t or commercial advantage, lhe copyn.ght notice, the title .of the pub~catlon and its date appear, and notice is gwen that copyright M by pernmmon of the ACM, Inc. To copy otherwise, to republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires specific permission and/or fee. SIGCPR/ SIGMIS ’96, Denver Colorado USA USA team tnembers: how the team organizes itselfl and the roles of the individuals in the team.