Business
has gone virtual and it has gone global. You may have a pricing manager in Bangkok
and one in New Delhi. Heck, you might just have a pricing professional in every
city across the country. So how do you manage that kind of a team? The rules
are simple and could apply to following almost anyone running a virtual team.
Originally published by
Forbes.com
Be available
It
can be isolating working virtually. Don’t make team members feel you are
absent; be in regular contact to talk not just about their day-to-day duties,
but beyond that to general queries about their day, mood and social life.
Organize regular meetings with both
individuals and the whole team
This
should be done both online – through IT technology such as videoconferencing,
social media or Skype – and face-to-face, at least once or twice a year. Even
if companies are cutting costs, it’s a cost well spent on building
relationships.
Encourage informal conversations
Humans are social
animals, and people tend to assume the worst if they don’t know what others are
up to. To help build relationships and trust between members, encourage
your team to share their feelings and chat informally whenever they can.
Take this example – Pete
to Maria: “I hate coming in on rainy days, traffic is awful and I feel I am
wasting precious time, plus it stresses me out.” Maria thinks: this explains
why he is so cold and to the point some days… Not good that he lives in London.
Maybe we can be a little more flexible with his working times.
Rotate
To further break down
barriers between team members, try to ensure at least one team member spends a
short period of time in another location.
Be creative with team bonding
For example, after your
team achieves a particular goal, organize a virtual reward ceremony. Send a
small present to all team members and get everyone to open it at the same time
during a video call.
Treat time zones fairly
With teams spread around
the world, you may have a very short window to meet some members or the whole
team. Rotate every week the times for meetings to make sure one member is not
always waking up early for meetings and that another is not going home too
late.
Prioritize cultural sensitivity
Being culturally aware
in a virtual environment, where people are based around the world, is even more
important than in face to face settings. It´s crucial you have an awareness of
the cultural differences in your team and promote cultural training for all
members. For example – Susan sends short and “very direct” emails to other team
members. If they don’t know that’s part of her culture, others may feel
uncomfortable and feel she’s treating them poorly.
Invest in socializing pre-existing teams
If you inherit a strong
pre-existing sub team (everyone knows each other and works excellently
together) – bear in mind that these teams may create even more barriers if they
begin working virtually with other, unfamiliar, team members. People in strong
pre-existing teams are more reluctant to share information as they have a
method that ´works´. Invest in building relationships between the whole team
or, recruit someone new in every location and start from scratch.
Look for shared understanding when
recruiting
If recruiting, look for
people that have worked internationally and who share previous experiences and
similarities. Not necessarily in terms of culture, but in terms of shared
training activities, having worked on similar projects, education background
etc. The aim is to have some diversity but to make it easy to build trust with
some point of contact.
Manage expectations
Team members might be
expecting certain global opportunities (like moving to headquarters at some
stage). How do you motivate your team? What happens if the team goes
well? You need to deal with this along with HR – so you should know from
the beginning what you can offer them.
