2020 iLEAD e-book

How to manage virtual teams
So, how do you build an effective virtual team? There may be a lot of advice out there, but there are four
fundamental must-­‐haves: the right team, the right leadership, the right touchpoints and the right technology.
Team composition should be your starting point. You won’t get anywhere, unless you have the right people
working in teams of the right size, in the right roles. Successful virtual team players have a few qualities in
common. Make sure that you start by assessing your people for all those qualities so that you develop them
accordingly.
The most effective virtual teams are small ones—fewer than 10 people. Note that it takes only 6
conversations for every person on a team of 4 to touch base with everyone else, but that number rises to 190
for a team of 20. When projects require the efforts of multiple people from various departments, try splitting
them in appropriate sub-­ ‐teams to get them focused.
Leadership is key in building high-­‐performance virtual teams and is dependent on finding the optimum ratio of
face-­‐to-­ ‐face to virtual interactions.
Try taking 10 minutes at the beginning of conference calls for everyone to share their news. This is probably
the easiest way to overcome the feelings of isolation when people don’t work together physically.
If you’ve established trust, you’ve set everyone up for open dialogue. Push members to be frank with each
other and try modeling constructive feedback. Agree on how quickly team members should respond to
requests from one another, and outline follow-­‐up steps. If you have a conference call about project details,
follow up with an e-­ ‐mail to minimize misunderstandings.
Virtual teams should come together in person at certain times. An initial meeting, face-­‐ to-­‐face, will go a long
way toward introducing teammates, setting expectations and clarifying goals and guidelines. Eye contact and
body language help kindle personal connections and trust. Send your newcomers into headquarters or other
locations to meet colleagues who will be important to their success. Encourage them to videoconference with
the rest of their teammates.
Virtual team leaders need to continually motivate members to deliver their best, but e -­‐mails and conference
calls are not enough to sustain momentum. So get people together, periodically, to celebrate achievements or
to crack tough problems.
Even top-­‐notch virtual teams can be felled by poor technology. Try using platforms that integrate all types of
communication. By supporting real-­‐time conversation between two remote participants, direct calls and
texting are some of the simplest and most powerful tools in the arsenal.
Look for systems that don’t require access codes, a feature very helpful for team members who are driving.
Also look for single-­‐click recording and automated transcription.
Discussion fora allow team members to present issues to the entire group, for colleagues to study or
comment on when they have time. Scholars refer to this sort of collaboration as “messy talk” and say it’s
critical for completing complex projects.
Virtual teams are hard to get right. But, by practicing consistently good practices you can boost the
productivity of such teams —even beyond that of teams who share office space.