Managing a Virtual Team
The Internet has enabled companies to reduce cost and assemble teams of employees from all over the globe. Communication tools get more advanced each day and make it possible for virtual teams to operate seemlessly. As a manager in a multinational organization, you are likely to be called upon to manage employees globally. If you are used to a hands-on management style with employees in the same building with you, the methods you have used in the past may not be as effective in the future with your virtual team.
There are many benefits to virtual teams including diversity of perspectives, large member selection pool, extended hours of productivity, reduced transportation costs, and reduced office location costs. However, new challenges arise with virtual teams including difficulty in performance monitoring, team member isolation, technology issues and interruptions, and a lack of socialization among team members. Global virtual teams also must deal with geographic, cultural, and timezone issues.
Managing a Virtual Team
Understanding how to take advantage of the benefits of a virtual team and minimizing the difficulties will be a considerable portion of your job managing a virtual team. Your first goal is to create a team environment and teamwork without having a team physically located near one another.
A Common Goal
The first step in creating the team environment is to establish a common goal for the team. Studies have shown that when individuals share a common goal, they will bond more quickly than if they are just working together on tasks. The common goal should be a long term one which will consist of many short term goals to achieve. The short term goals are important to let the team members feel successful as they are working towards the long term goal.
The goal needs to elevate the team to accomplish something that an individual alone cannot accomplish. This could be a software release, a high customer service score, or a completed project. Whatever the goal is, it should challenge the team members and make them strive to achieve it.
Collaborative Commitment
As you develop the common goal with your team, you need to establish a collaborative commitment to achieve the goal. A collaborative commitment is a statement from each team member that they are willing to work toward this common goal. This is a powerful motivation device to have each team member verbally describe what they will do to achieve the team goal. If a promise is made to each other verbally, it is more likely to be kept. As these promises are kept, it will build trust on the team.
Leadership
It takes a strong manager to work with a team across the globe. As the leader of the team, you must be willing to hold people accountable and not accept excuses for missed deadlines, poor performance, or an employee that seems to disappear when they should be working.
You must hold your team to a high standard of excellence and be consistent with your management style. You may find it easy when you have a mixed team of on-site and remote workers to treat the employees differently, but as their leader, you need to be consistent in your discipline and rewards.
Conclusion
At times, managing a global team can seem very difficult, but the rewards for your personal and career growth can be tremendous.
