Virtual Work's participating bodies in France, Italy, Portugal, Greece and Spain performed a preliminary study in order to gather in-depth and detailed information on the professional profile of e-responsibles - that is to say, managers, coordinators and leaders of delocalized work teams and virtual projects.

The study focused on day-to-day situations and their specific training needs concerning distance work based on the use shared virtual spaces generated by new technologies.

135 surveys were completed in all. Face-to-face visits, telephone conversations, videoconference... different means were used to contact professionals in sectors concerning new information technologies.

In addition, an in-depth research was also performed on the skills and knowledge recommended, according to experts, for reaching the "ideal professional profile" of eWork team leaders. To do this, the opinions of experts from the field of eWork and e-management were analysed and compared. Other sources of information include: specialised literature, press articles from specialised reviews, job offers from the Internet, training plans from continuing training plans from different universities and bodies.