Hello, I'm Ray Sheen, virtual teams create an additional
set of communication issues and challenges.
Let's take a look at how we can address those.
Before we get started, let me explain what I mean by virtual project team.
This is a team where individuals are working together on a project goal, but
they're not co located.
They could be in a different nearby facility, working from home, or
they could be located on a different continent.
They must function as a team, but
they do not have the ability to regularly interact face to face.
So let's talk about some challenges.
One challenge is to keep everyone motivated.
Team members often feel isolated and forgotten,
they wonder if anyone knows what they are doing.
To meet this challenge, team leaders need to provide regular recognition of
achievement and ensure the virtual members are included in team activities.
Another challenge is collaborative leadership.
Project teams often rely on close collaboration between team members to
achieve project goals.
However, some people have difficulty collaborating from a remote location.
They need to be with others and where the action is located.
When a friend of mine with this characteristic took a job where she had to
work from home, she said that she felt like she was always in the timeout chair.
To meet the challenges, the team leader must proactively include virtual team
members in the collaborative sessions.
Virtual conferencing applications have made significant strides forward and
they can be used to address this issue.
Another challenge is that interaction becomes technology based rather
than interpersonal.
This is especially true if there are very different time zones involved.
The strong reliance on technology can mask or amplify misunderstandings
especially when different cultures and languages are involved.
Try to create times of actual personal interaction,
either face to face in a team virtual conference or on the phone.
The next challenge is commitment.
The virtual team member often becomes unsure of their role or
the team's progress towards the goals.
Use the responsibility matrix to clarify with them not only the tasks that they
lead, but also the ones that they are supporting.
Finally conflict resolution is challenge with virtual team members.
A small problem can stew and fester until it becomes large.
In face to face meetings, you might detect through body language or
other actions that a conflict is building.
With a virtual team,
the team leader often is not aware of the problem until it blows up into a crisis.
To meet this challenge, the team leader needs to be prepared to quickly address
any conflict that arises recognizing that if it has made it to them,
it's probably already a big deal.
Due to the geographical dispersion of virtual teams,
there are some team activities that are more challenging.
Two big ones are communication and integration activities.
These are activities where the team members and their actions must intersect,
if there is going to be a problem it will show up here.
The project leader needs to ensure there's time and
resources dedicated to both of these areas.
The project leader can expect that there will be some confusion and
misunderstanding.
A key email was missed, a comment on a teleconference was garbled, or
the various team members interpreter requirement that comes across on
a text message differently.
It's absolutely vital to create and follow a communication plan with virtual teams.
The team leader must proactively manage the communication process and
track both status and issues.
If possible get some face to face time between team members
by bringing the entire team together for selected activities.
And when there are language and cultural differences,
there will be misunderstandings, so expect it and manage it.
To help the virtual team members know what is happening,
I will often put the detailed plan in writing and document any action items.
This essentially creates a contract of expectations between everyone.
I don't use this as a hammer to beat people up or to create legal issues.
I just use it to ensure clarity of expectations.
Let's look at the impact on team relationships in a virtual environment.
There's an old saying that applies.
A team is a group of people, but a group of people is not always a team.
For that group to become a team, they must be aligned and cooperating together.
A key element of effective teamwork is trust, which is harder to develop in
a virtual environment than in a face to face environment.
Trust is based upon a track record of interactions.
The opportunity for lots of interactions is often
easier with a colocated team than when the team is virtual.
A great way to accelerate the creation of trust in a virtual team is with the team
building activities that allow for multiple interactions.
Since there are fewer opportunities, to stand around the water cooler and
talk about areas of common interest,
the interactions for virtual teams are almost always project performance related.
A major factor with respect to building trust then is the reliability
of the individual on the project.
When they say they will do something, can they be trusted?
Do they actually do it on time and do they do it well?
Also what type of attitude do they show when they're talking about the activity?
A critical activity that the project leader must do is manage the handoff
to new team members.
In a virtual team, the new team members cannot easily observe the others to know
what is normally expected.
The project leader or a team member must actively coach and
onboard the new team member.
Another challenge with virtual teams is to keep those team members on track and
performing.
Here are a few influencing competencies that work well with virtual team
members who are not performing as needed on the team.
Establish a communication plan, this may be starting to sound like a broken record
on this point, but it's absolutely fundamental.
Have clear communication channels for setting expectations and
tracking performance, then discussions about performance or
just normal data collection actions.
When dealing with an issue leave your personal agenda out of the discussion.
Focus on the goals of the team and the role of the individual.
It's not about an individual winning, it's about the team winning.
Another competency is to rise above politics, but be aware of them.
The virtual team member may have to deal with power struggles and politics at their
location or in their function that don't impact other locations and functions.
As a team member strive to establish relationships with the stakeholders and
power brokers at the virtual location.
So that you can assist the virtual team member in their activities, but
be careful with this.
Don't use those relationships to undermine your team member.
Next is to engage with emotional intelligence.
This means recognizing both your emotions and
the virtual team members emotions when dealing with the issue.
Try to stay focused on facts which are less emotional and
work at truly listening to the team member.
You should also try to understand what's behind the words that are being used
whether it's spoken words or written words.
Finally, be tenacious, ensure project decisions become actions.
The concept of trust me isn't enough.
You want to work on the principle of show me, so
that there is a foundation for trust.
You may also need to provide obvious support and encouragement for the actions
and changes, so that your virtual team member knows that you are serious.
The challenges of communicating with virtual teams are the same as those with
other teams, but the virtual nature will amplify them.
Team leaders must be prepared for
the extra work associated with leading a virtual team.