Here are the five practical steps to manage a virtual team.
We’re living in exciting times. The modern workplace is a very different environment than in the past. One of the reasons is the growing ability of people to work remotely.
But as more people work away from a typical office setting, the manager’s job is also evolving.
How do you effectively manage people you almost never see face-to-face?
How do you adapt?
Study after study shows that on the whole, remote workers are significantly more productive than their office-bound colleagues, and substantially more satisfied with their jobs as well.
For instance, Stanford University did a two-year study that reached the same conclusion. But, not every job can be done remotely. Some work requires a physical presence. Manufacturing, distribution, and a lot of other employment pretty much necessitate somebody being on-site. And some people don’t flourish working remotely.
So now, what’s the best way to manage those remote workers effectively?
There are four primary responsibilities that the remote manager has, building trust, removing roadblocks, nurturing team connections, and managing workload and deliverables.
1.Building Trust at a distance
- Providing consistency and structure in a virtual team
- Developing working agreements and defined norms in a virtual team *
(check below how to develop a work agreement)
- Fostering Equality and transparency in a remote team
- Rewarding and recognizing individuals at a distance
- Distributing authority in a remote team
2.Removing Roadblocks
-Giving remote workers the tools to be successful
-Cultivating cross-cultural awareness in a virtual team
-Creating opportunities for in-person team interactions
-Managing mixed remote and on-site teams
3.Nurturing Team Connections
-Understanding the manager’s connecting in a remote team
-Maintaining regular contact with team members
-Deepening relationships with remote team members
-Encouraging team vs individual identity in a remote team
4.Managing Workloads and Deliverables
-Setting clear goals in a remote team
-Providing feedback to a remote employee
-Communicating change in a remote team
-Using tools to collaborate and prevent duplication in a remote team.
Developing a Team Working Agreement
*Suggested Points of Agreement
Core working hours when members are expected to be online or in the office
How to communicate vacation or sick days
When and where regular team meetings take place
Who should attend which meetings
Expected behavior during those meetings
Expected behavior during the rest of the day
Which software products are used to track work and to communicate
How and when to use those software products
Who plays which role on the team
What days the team eats lunch together
