Key Takeaways:
9 in 10 business leaders have experienced the adverse impact of poor communication at work, so prioritizing regular and effective communication is non-negotiable.
Remote employees are more likely to experience negative emotions like stress (45%), sadness (30%) and loneliness (27%), which is why good leaders must ensure their well-being.
93% of business executives agree that building and maintaining trust improves the bottom line.
68% of executives believe that a purpose gives companies the agility to innovate in times of disruption. So leaders must acknowledge achievements, offer meaningful feedback and foster a sense of belonging in their virtual team.
In this rapidly changing world of workplaces, virtual teams have emerged to be the new heroes. Employees are no longer confined to cubicles and offices have broken all geographical barriers!
With the rise in such remote workspaces, a new kind of leadership is in demand—where the leadership goes beyond the usual engagement and management, where leaders foster positivity and are prompt in conflict resolutions.
This art of leadership is most essential in today’s digital-first world. The ability to inspire, motivate and help the team unlock their full potential—and to do so remotely—makes one an ideal leader.
What Is Leadership in Virtual Teams?
Virtual teams differ from traditional teams in that they collaborate remotely using digital tools instead of working together in a physical office.
Since there is limited face-to-face interaction within virtual teams, they may encounter some challenges in collaboration.
That’s why business leaders must adopt a different, more communication-driven approach to keep everyone aligned and motivated.
In virtual teams, the leadership goes beyond mere management. It’s about inspiring, guiding and uniting a team that is operating from various locations.
It’s the art of leading with clarity and empathy, enabling teams to give their best at work!
Challenges of Leading Remote Teams
Without the structure of an office and with cultural differences, leading a virtual team is like navigating uncharted waters.
Understanding these challenges in virtual teams is the first step towards overcoming them.
Communication Barriers
In a virtual team, miscommunication is more than just an inconvenience. It is a productivity killer!
Nearly 9 in 10 business leaders have experienced the adverse impact of poor communication at work. Business leaders also estimate that their teams lose an average of 19% of a 40-hour workweek to poor communication.
Leading a remote team makes it difficult to navigate through all the digital interactions that come with it. Without regular communication, misunderstandings crop up and team alignment suffers, causing delays.
Virtual meetings are also met with technical glitches and network issues.
This inconsistent communication makes leadership roles extremely challenging.
Isolation and Burnout
Remote work offers great flexibility to employees, but there’s a catch. It comes with its silent struggle of loneliness and burnout.
A Gallup report on remote work highlights that while fully remote workers report higher engagement, they are less likely to be thriving in their lives overall when compared to on-site employees.
This report also shows that remote employees are more likely to experience negative emotions like stress (45%), sadness (30%) and loneliness (27%).
Without the usual office buzz, employees may feel unseen and emotionally detached. Remote work also sometimes blurs the boundary between personal and professional life. With no such separation, stress piles up and exhaustion sets in.
Leaders must acknowledge the detrimental effects of isolation and work toward resolving it.
Balancing Workload
In the absence of physical presence, work distribution often becomes uneven and chaotic.
While some employees remain underutilized, others become overburdened with endless tasks. This can easily spiral into frustration and burnout in the long run.
Lack of real-time oversight leads to missed deadlines and duplication of tasks.
When this workload imbalance persists, productivity takes a hit and the motivation of the entire team dips!
Building Team Cohesion
Building a strong and unified team is a complex task.
Since collaborations are transactional in nature and virtual employees often seem to work in silos, it’s relatively harder to form bonds in virtual teams.
On top of it, disregarded cultural differences make it more difficult to build cohesion in a virtual team. A study found that, in virtual/digital settings, cultural differences are often perceived as “risks” rather than “assets” compared to face-to-face teams.
Without intentional effort, the risks only amplify, leading to disengagement and lower morale within the team.
Handling Team Conflicts
Robert Bales, a social psychologist, says,
Poor teamwork … can prevent effective final performance. And it can also prevent team members from gaining satisfaction in being a member of a team and the organization.
Conflicts are an inevitable part of any team. They are more pronounced in a remote team where challenges like miscommunication and isolation already persist.
In a virtual team, it is harder to even detect conflicts. Absence of non-verbal cues and passive-aggressive texts can brew silent resentments.
All this eventually impacts the dynamic of a virtual team, where trust weakens and productivity suffers.
Adapting New Technology
Technology came into being to make our lives easier. While it did and continues to do so, some challenges crop up along the way.
Not everyone is tech-savvy. So it gets harder to strike a balance between the tech experts and tech amateurs. This is more true in a remote team where the company is entirely tech-dependent!
The rising cases of cybersecurity breaches also put your data and privacy at risk. This makes virtual employees who are not adapted to new tech more vulnerable.
How To Successfully Lead a Virtual Team
In a study published in the National Library of Medicine, it was revealed that remote working increases the importance of positive leadership for employee vigor.
Here’s a quick guide to help you enhance positive leadership in your virtual team.
Define Individual Roles and Clarify Team Purpose
Imagine the chaos in a team that lacks a unified purpose and where individual roles are not defined. In such scenarios, tasks slip through the cracks, deadlines are missed and conflicts increase.
As a leader, start by outlining individual roles in the team. For example, for your marketing virtual team, you must clearly assign roles of a content strategist, social media manager, graphic designer, SEO specialist and copywriter.
One tip to set clear goals would be to use the SMART framework, where you set “specific”, “measurable”, “achievable”, “relevant” and “time-bound” goals.
When each member has specific deliverables, the team can align better to achieve its core goal.
Set Realistic Deadlines
Unrealistic deadlines can overwhelm any team. The rush to meet deadlines often disrupts an organized schedule and leads to a compromise in the quality of work.
Why invite this chaos and confusion?
Instead, set realistic deadlines by factoring in:
- Individual and team workload capacity.
- Task complexity.
- Time zone differences.
- Unforeseen challenges.
Achievable deadlines give your team members the time to think creatively, brainstorm ideas, innovate and stay motivated throughout the project.
Establish Communication Protocols
Because your virtual team works remotely and has no in-person interaction, it’s all the more important to prioritize regular communication. If a leader compromises on this core aspect of teamwork, it will be a roadblock in the workflow.
88% of business leaders say that they wish their company had better tools to help people communicate effectively. Ensure that you use top-notch communication tools, including:
- Video conferencing tools like Google Meet and Microsoft Teams.
- Chat tools like Slack.
- Real-time collaboration tools like Google Docs and Google Slides.
- Project management tools like Trello and Asana.
Apart from these, you must establish some communication protocols like meeting times, message response times and task update schedules.
One tip is to conduct icebreaking sessions when you onboard a new remote employee to build a connection between team members.
Icebreakers will help them shed inhibitions, get to know each other on a more personal level and build trusting relationships.
Leverage Technology
In the virtual workspace, technology is everything. From meeting board rooms to project dashboards, digital tools can assist your team with all work-related tasks.
Whether they want to brainstorm ideas, schedule meetings, share files, check task progress or review each other’s work, there are professional-grade tools for every task.
Not just for work, digital tools can also be used for casual chats and virtual game sessions to build camaraderie among team members.
While the use of technology should be empowering, it should not be overwhelming. Choose a set of digital tools that is easy to use while meeting industry standards.
Be Mindful of Tone and Virtual Etiquette
Words carry a lot of weight, especially in a virtual setting where physical gestures are rare.
Always encourage clear and respectful communication among team members. Use positive language to display warmth. Be mindful of facial expressions and tone of voice in video interactions.
A short workshop or course about virtual etiquette during a team’s onboarding can go a long way.
A healthy work culture is only possible where mutual respect thrives!
Track Progress and Manage Capacity Effectively
In a team with distributed roles, it gets tricky to manage workload capacity and monitor progress. You don’t want to assign responsibilities unevenly and end up with underworking and overworking employees.
To allocate work and track progress in a virtual team effectively, you must:
- Understand each member’s skills and workload capacity.
- Break down projects into smaller tasks.
- Create measurable goals for quality work.
- Set KPIs like task completion rate or responsiveness.
- Check in regularly to adjust roles and acknowledge efforts.
When every team member works efficiently on their individual tasks and fully utilizes their skills, your team as a whole produces faster and higher-quality results, while also building a shared sense of responsibility.
Foster Trust To Strengthen Team Connections
93% of business executives agree that building and maintaining trust improves the bottom line. As a business leader, it is your responsibility to build trust with and within your virtual team.
Without inherent trust, communication feels forced and productivity suffers! Building trust creates confident employees, a sense of belonging and a positive work culture.
Trust begins with transparency. Share background information and business decisions with your team that affect them directly.
Encourage employees to communicate openly and foster personal connections. One tip is to use team-building activities to help them connect easily.
Recognize good work, however small, and provide personal and public recognition. When employees feel valued and appreciated for their work, they develop strong trust and are motivated to work more effectively.
Encourage Accountability and Self-Leadership
Constant supervision kills creativity. A high-performing virtual team wouldn’t need the regular inspection either. But checking your team’s progress is also important.
Instead of tracking them at every step, you must cultivate a culture of self-accountability.
Chris McChesney, FranklinCovey global practice leader of execution, says,
Accountability is a driving force for producing results. But few leaders realize that the greatest driver is the team’s accountability to each other—the determination to fulfill a commitment and avoid letting down their teammates.
After you set clear goals, try to step away. Let the team members take initiative, navigate the challenges individually and achieve the desired results.
Once your virtual team is self-fueled, it will become unstoppable!
Give Constructive Feedback
Feedback helps a person grow. When you give feedback in a constructive manner, it helps them flourish!
Your work as a leader is to fuel growth and enhance collaboration in the team.
Craft your feedback carefully. Choose the correct words, use the right tone and display the empathy a leader should!
Couple your feedback for your virtual employee with some appreciation. That will not only help them learn but also make them effective assistants for you.
Ensure Well-Being
Burnout at the workplace is real. And just because your virtual team works remotely, it doesn’t imply they aren’t burned out.
A burned-out team is an unproductive team. So you have to be mindful of their well-being at all times.
Promote flexible work schedules, normalize taking breaks and encourage casual chit-chats.
When leaders prioritize well-being, the team feels motivated and tries to give their best performance!
Be Transparent and Approachable
In a virtual world, it is difficult to keep everything in harmony. But a good leader can change that!
With your tone of trust and collaboration, you can establish a great rapport among team members. Encourage honest conversations and empower teams to voice their opinions. This will make you authentic and approachable.
Always remember that trust starts at the top. A transparent and friendly leader can lead a virtual team to great heights!
Lead by Example
If you wish to advocate for punctuality, make sure there’s no day you log in late. If you wish to promote accountability, take responsibility in case of a fault.
Leaders always lead by example. This will reflect that you live by the values you’ve set first!
When leaders walk the talk, it sets a precedent and lifts the morale of the entire virtual team. They find their inspiration in your activities and look up to you.
When you lead by example, your leadership becomes contagious!
Resolve Conflicts Amicably
An unresolved conflict won’t magically disappear overnight. It will only further the resentment and create more chaos.
The mark of effective leadership is to manage conflicts smoothly. In a remote team, conflicts can take many forms. And it is in the best interest of the organizational leadership to resolve it then and there.
A lingering conflict can not only hamper the team’s performance but also sabotage the company’s image.
Whether it is miscommunication, task-related disagreements or mismatched working styles, understand the perspectives of all parties and accordingly use proactive or reactive conflict-resolving strategies.
Importance of Effective Leadership in Remote Teams
What makes leadership essential in remote teams? Is it just to create clarity and bridge trust? Or is there more to it?
Driving Productivity
Without a good leader, a virtual team will spiral into disorder. But when the efforts are aligned and deadlines are met successfully, credit usually belongs to the leader.
Whether you use trust or tools to evaluate employee productivity, effective supervision without micromanagement will foster accountability in your team. This will drive productivity and get you fast results.
Fostering Innovation
Both autonomy in a workplace and a platform to present diverse ideas foster innovation.
When leaders give their teams autonomy, innovation thrives! This is because the employees like to experiment with their creativity and present groundbreaking ideas.
A virtual team has members from diverse backgrounds. Research shows that inclusive companies are 1.7 times more likely to be innovative. Encouraging varied perspectives can challenge the status quo and embrace newer ideas.
Strengthening Team Cohesion
The strength of a virtual team depends on its leadership. Without face-to-face interactions and spontaneous chats, the team will fall apart, if not for a strong leader.
Great leaders can unify scattered individuals into a cohesive team. They foster open communication and encourage collaboration. They organize team-building activities and celebrate wins together.
Such small gestures enable the virtual team to not just work, but thrive together!
Enhancing Employee Retention
Employees stay where they feel valued. Great leaders can make employees feel so.
Research shows that 68% of executives believe that a purpose gives companies the agility to innovate in times of disruption. When leaders invest in their people, the employees find a purpose and chart their growth story accordingly.
So leaders must acknowledge achievements, offer meaningful feedback and foster a sense of belonging. They must also prioritize well-being and work-life balance.
This builds the employee’s trust, who looks forward to a long future at the organization.
Optimizing Talent
A virtual team is no less than a goldmine of talent. But without effective leadership, the skills go underutilized and their potential is wasted.
Good leaders don’t just go about randomly assigning tasks—they strategically match the right opportunities with the right skills.
This unlocks the hidden potential of a team and maximizes its productivity at the organization.
Building a Resilient Work Culture
In a virtual environment, challenges are multifold. From tech glitches to communication barriers, there are many means by which a team can lose its balance.
But effective leadership fosters resilience in the team and turns every obstacle into an opportunity. It cultivates a culture of growth where setbacks are not viewed as failures but lessons.
It also encourages adaptability and fosters problem-solving skills.
By promoting a resilient work culture, leaders build stellar virtual teams.
Boosting Company Reputation
In this day and age of digital media, marketing is the most essential aspect of an organization.
Good leadership doesn’t just shape a team—it shapes the perception of the company too. Whether it is through customer service or industry recognition, an effective leader always catches the attention!
When leaders create an organizational culture of trust and excellence, it enhances the reputation and credibility of the organization they represent.
Characteristics of a Successful Virtual Team
When building a virtual team, you don’t want to end up with disconnected and disengaged employees. A successful virtual team is one that goes beyond connecting over digital tools and thrives on trust, communication and shared accountability.
Here’s a list of traits that’ll help you identify a high-performing virtual team.
Strong Team Cohesion
The greatest achievement of a virtual team is to function with synergy, trust and a shared purpose. In a tightly-knit cohesive team where all members feel valued, innovation and creativity thrive!
Not just that, information flow becomes seamless and the teamwork no longer feels forced.
Clear Communication Channels
Since the luxury of casual office chit-chats is absent in a virtual workspace, efficient communication channels become everything!
A clear communication channel implies everyone knows where to find project-related information, where to communicate issues and where to initiate a casual conversation.
Such well-defined channels bring about clarity across the team and make collaboration seamless.
High Accountability
Virtual spaces aren’t where managers hover over the desks of employees to monitor progress. In fact, success here is when the team owns their responsibilities and delivers results before hitting deadlines.
In such highly accountable teams, tasks don’t fall through the cracks and productivity stays consistent.
Adaptability to Challenges
The metrics of a successful team are gauged from its adaptability to unexpected roadblocks. Whether it’s technical glitches or timezone conflicts, a successful virtual team comes up with a solution together.
A great virtual team uses new tools, evolves its collaboration styles and finds creative solutions to all challenges. With them, obstacles turn into opportunities for growth!
Proactive Problem Solving
A cohesive team doesn’t wait for problems to escalate. They anticipate challenges beforehand, brainstorm solutions and tackle them head-on.
Their effective problem-solving skills don’t let any issue disrupt the team’s workflow. Their agility helps them focus on solutions rather than setbacks.
Inclusive Team Culture
The most essential characteristic of a successful virtual team is its strong sense of belonging. With a virtual office space and diverse team members, keeping unity within teams can be challenging.
But an inclusive team culture ensures no one feels isolated and neglected. A successful virtual team will ensure all opinions are heard and everyone can collaborate without hesitation.
In such an inclusive space, innovation thrives and bonds grow stronger!
Wrapping Up
Leading a virtual team is more than just managing workflow.
It’s about fostering a culture of trust despite the lack of physical proximity. It’s about enhancing collaboration that transcends cultural boundaries. It’s about empowering virtual employees to achieve peak performance.
The right teams, when guided well, can do wonders for your organization
If you are on the lookout for such stellar teams to join your organization, you need people who are expert-vetted and thoroughly professional.