Guide To Leading a Virtual Team
Leading a virtual team can require different communication, leadership and decision-making than leading a team in an office setting. Learning tips for leading a virtual team can help you improve and maintain your leadership skills in remote roles. In this article, we outline the challenges and benefits of virtual teams, describe how to lead a virtual team and list skills you can use in a leadership role.
What is a virtual team?
A virtual team is a group of employees working for a company from different locations. They can use technology like instant messaging, videoconferencing, email and more to communicate about their work and accomplish tasks. Working on a virtual team can come with new challenges and benefits. Here are some of the challenges:
Communication: Technology can give virtual employees the ability to communicate, but relying on technology comes with its challenges. If an employee's internet stops working, for example, this can hinder a team's ability to work.
Structure: There's less structure for members of a virtual team than employees working in an office due to increased flexibility.
Distractions: Remote work can introduce distractions into the workday.
Accountability: Another challenge of working on a virtual team is managing accountability from team members.
Below are a few of the benefits of virtual teams:
Work-life balance: The lack of a commute and flexible hours of remote work can give virtual employees a better work-life balance.
Morale: Flexible scheduling and a better work-life balance can contribute to higher morale for virtual teams than teams working in an office.
Cost: Companies with virtual teams can save money on costs like rent and office supplies.
Talent pool: Virtual teams can allow companies to hire from a larger talent pool, which can allow them to hire the most qualified employees.
Productivity: The ability to work a flexible schedule can lead to higher productivity among members of a virtual team.
Scalability: The larger talent pool and desirable benefits of a virtual team can help companies scale their operations more easily.
How to lead a virtual team
Here are steps you can take to lead a virtual team effectively:
1. Develop trust
When you're working on a virtual team, it can be harder to develop trust with employees you only interact with remotely. Leaders of virtual teams can help foster trust among team members using the following strategies:
Open communication: Virtual team leaders can set a standard for open communication for team members.
Introduce new team members: You can help team members develop strong working relationships with trust by introducing new members to the team.
Focus on output: Leaders can set their focus on a team's output, rather than the hours spent, to gain trust from members of their team.
Set shared goals: Another strategy for fostering a sense of trust on a virtual team is setting shared goals for team members. This can allow team members to work together to perform their job duties.
2. Build a culture
Another challenge for virtual teams lies in culture-building. As a leader of a virtual team, you can develop a positive culture by helping team members connect. Here are a few tips for building a workplace culture with a virtual team:
Allow for casual conversation: You can create chat channels or informal meetings where team members can discuss topics that are unrelated to work. This can
Host virtual events: Virtual games or events can give team members an opportunity to build working relationships and camaraderie.
Meet in-person: If virtual team members work in the same area or attend industry conferences, you can organize in-person meetups that can allow employees to form relationships.
Offer desirable benefits: Another way companies can promote a positive workplace culture on virtual teams is in its benefits package. Flexible schedules, more vacation time and volunteer days can boost morale and build a strong culture.
3. Manage accountability
Virtual team leaders can also use digital tools to manage accountability from team members. Here are a few ways you can hold employees accountable on a virtual team:
Set clear expectations: When employees know what their manager expects, they're more likely to perform their job duties correctly, so setting clear expectations can help virtual team leaders manage accountability.
Set SMART goals: Goals that are specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time-based can help ensure employees on virtual teams can achieve their goals.
Communicate about how you measure performance: When employees understand how a company qualifies or quantifies their performance, they can take a greater sense of ownership and accountability for their work.
4. Take advantage of digital tools
Digital tools can help virtual teams track their time, measure the quality of their work and connect from different geographic areas. Leaders of virtual teams can research the digital tools available and set a budget for these tools to help employees perform their jobs successfully. Here are some examples of tools available for virtual teams:
Time-management software: Virtual teams can use software that tracks the time they spend working. This can help companies measure the amount of time it takes employees to perform their job duties.
File-storage software: You can use cloud-based software for file storage to ensure team members can access the information they need for their jobs and share documents securely.
Collaboration tools: Many digital tools have collaborative components that allow team members to work together to complete projects.
Communication tools: Email, videoconferencing, phone calls and chats are some of the ways virtual employees can communicate while they work.
Project-management tools: Virtual leaders can also introduce digital tools for project management that allow employees to organize their tasks and manage deadlines. These tools also allow team leaders to oversee their team's progress.
Another element to using digital communication tools is knowing which tools to use for different situations. Here are some examples of ways to use communication tools for different purposes:
Project-management tools: You can communicate with team members about specific tasks or projects through project-management tools.
Instant messaging or chats: When you need to ask a question or a quick clarification, you can use instant-messaging tools to communicate with team members.
Email: You can use email for in-depth conversations or announcements.
Videoconferencing: You can use videoconferencing software to conduct regular team meetings and host discussions with virtual team members.
Text messaging: It's best to only use text messaging when there's a critical situation that requires immediate attention.
5. Clarify goals and expectations
Another strategy you can use to lead a digital team is to set goals and expectations that employees understand. This can help employees perform their duties successfully and prevent miscommunications. Here are tips for clarifying goals and expectations for employees:
Set quantifiable goals: When you set goals for employees that they can track (a quota, for example), they can take greater ownership over the quality and quantity of their work.
Establish processes for tracking goals: Leaders can introduce software or processes for employees to track their work individually. This can give employees a sense of ownership over their work.
6. Define workflows
Virtual team leaders can also define workflows to help employees stay organized at work. Here are some examples of helpful workflow definition for virtual teams:
Define communication workflows: You can establish how you plan to use each communication channel in a virtual team so team members know which channels to monitor. This can promote open communication on a virtual team.
Define processes: When leaders take the time to define how employees can accomplish tasks, it can help employees understand expectations and perform their duties successfully.
7. Meet regularly
When you're leading a virtual team, you can conduct regular joint and individual meetings to announce new developments and get feedback from team members. Regular team meetings can also help team members develop trust, build working relationships and understand the team's performance as a whole.
8. Track outputs
Team leaders can emphasize tracking a virtual team's outputs, rather than the hours team members spend on work, to ensure the team remains effective. Focusing on outputs can also help leaders set goals and expectations for team members.
9. Implement regular performance reviews
Another strategy for leading virtual teams is developing a performance review process for members. Here are a few benefits of conducting regular performance reviews:
Coaching: Implementing performance reviews can provide team leaders with opportunities for coaching team members to improve their work or processes.
Recognition: Performance reviews can provide leaders a chance to offer recognition for a team member's accomplishments, which can lead to a positive work environment for virtual teams.
Feedback: Team members can provide valuable feedback about working on a virtual team that leaders can use to improve a team's processes and outputs.
10. Communicate your availability
Leaders of virtual teams can communicate with team members about their availability to promote open communication in a virtual team. You can communicate your typical work schedule, as well as days you're taking off, so team members know when and how to communicate with you about issues or concerns.
11. Make note of time zone differences
Some virtual teams span time zones, which can lead to unique difficulties when members are available at different times. Here are a few ways to balance time zone differences on virtual teams:
Announce meetings in advance: When leaders give team members advance notice of team meetings, it can allow team members to make arrangements in their individual schedules to be present for the meeting.
Establish working hours: While virtual team members can have flexibility in their schedules, you can establish working hours for team members so you know of times that you can count on everyone being available to work. For example, you can have each employee work from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. a certain number of days per week in their time zone.
12. Offer incentives
When you're managing a virtual team, a common challenge is motivation. Offering incentives can encourage virtual team members to reach their goals and meet or exceed expectations. Here are examples of incentives for virtual teams:
Professional development: One way for companies to motivate virtual team members to perform is to offer professional development opportunities for employees who consistently excel at their duties.
Gifts: Gift cards or other small gifts can show members of a remote team your appreciation and reward them for meeting goals.
Skills for leading a virtual team
You can use the following skills to help you improve and maintain the quality of your virtual team leadership:
Flexibility: The ability to adapt to a changing situation can help leaders of virtual teams find solutions to issues that arise.
Communication: Virtual team leaders can use strong written and verbal communication skills to ensure that everyone on a team understands instructions and expectations.
Cultural sensitivity: A recognition of different cultures and practices from virtual team leaders can promote a positive culture and diversity on a virtual team, especially when a virtual team's membership spans continents.
Patience: Leaders of virtual teams can use patience when they're waiting for a response from a team member or when managing employees in different time zones.
Technology skills: The ability to use software and internet tools to manage and connect with team members is important to a virtual team leader.