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With so many people social distancing today, by working at home it can be very difficult to run a workplace team virtually. We find that the lack of face-to-face communication can certainly affect a group's overall performance. That's why it's important to get to know the basics of how to build a strong remote team. A strong foundation starts with the requirements of the group itself.
If we're looking at the characteristics that make up a good virtual team, then the following factors are probably the most important:
Communicative: 19%
Collaborative: 18%
Proactively Engaged: 17%
Organised: 14%
Looking at the above traits we can see that probably the most important of them is clear and competent team interaction. It's common sense that without this you'll not be able to put together a functioning remote team. If it's your job to motivate a team, then you'll need crystal clear communication to create an atmosphere where collaboration comes easily.
Considering that virtual team members can be situated all over the globe, then it can be difficult to ensure that the group stays on the same page. Obviously, it takes effort and time to bring every new member up to speed and onboard them with the work progress. Nevertheless, this is an integral part of team building. After all, you want the team to work well together in the same manner as they would if they were working together in an office environment. You should also consider for a minute that even working with colleagues at each elbow, team members will still need time to adjust to each other in order to be able to function as one harmonious organism. Remote teams are no different in that each member needs a little time to adapt to how others work and communicate.
As the team leader, it's important that you communicate the vision behind the project at hand. This is the only way that your team will be able to work successfully together. It also creates a more unified workflow. As you’re probably guessing by now, communication is key to all good workplace teams.
In order to improve your team's performance, it's essential that you have the right tools of communication at your fingertips. This can amplify the difference between a team that's unproductive and one that is high performing. Take note that not all members of the team are going to work in the same manner or be comfortable with the same form or mode of communication. We've listed the main virtual communication tools below according to their popularity:
Emails: 98%
Video conferencing: 89%
Phone calls: 88%
Instant Messaging: 50%
Texting: 49%
Collaboration Hubs: 41%
We suggest that as a given, old members of the team use more than one of the above options from the list as means of communication. By doing so, they're able to ensure that all communications are able to reach the right person at the right time. By employing these collaboration and communication tools, you'll be just that one bit closer to building a strong virtual team.
Once you have the optimal tools of communication then you can decide on a type of environment you wish to build where your team can actually communicate with each other. If you like, their “virtual workspace.” Being the team leader then you should try and encourage the members of your team to reach out to each other and interact together in a more casual setting. Having said that many employees today see their jobs as simply a means of earning a living. And they have no desire or intention to interact, meet with or hang out with their work colleagues.
This means that encouraging workers to get on together informally can sometimes be an uphill task, especially as behind this idea is a scheme to increase workplace production. That's why we prefer that any personal meetings actually take place around a virtual water-cooler during work time. That should include all work related conversations and even personal ones. Considering that people are social distancing, and that many are alone, then they should be encouraged to partake in all necessary social virtual activities during working hours.
For many people, one of the joys of working virtually is that you are able to work independently. To that degree, it's important to encourage each member of your team that their ideas and opinions are respected. In many ways, you want them to believe in themselves and trust in their own abilities. One reason for this is that you're giving employees their own accountability. You're allowing them to embrace their responsibilities. This would definitely lead to better quality standards, as well as meeting deadlines more punctually. With these two factors you'll find that the business will grow.
Not only will you be encouraging each employee to believe in themselves, but equally importantly, you'll be helping them to evolve. It's going to be to everybody's benefit if people are constantly developing their critical thinking skills, along with their skills for decision making.
At the end of the day, your virtual team will only be strong as the trust you have between each other. As the team leader, by encouraging your team members to be independent, you're also showing that you trust them and you want them to feel empowered. Trust is a two-way street. So by giving it out, you are much more likely to receive it back. Just like the military, any team that has faith in the leaders, will produce successful results.
