Virtual Leadership

More and more I am faced with the challenge of clients who work in virtual environments and therefore struggle with effective collaboration, communication and team development. The notion of working in the 'virtual environment' is one that can be found in many places and is used to denote new organizational forms such as Virtual Teams, Teleworking and Communities of Practice that attempt to address the changed social, economic and technological environments in which such organizations now operate.

Virtual work environments have gone way beyond a trend as more than two-thirds of American workers surveyed have engaged in virtual work. Of those surveyed, 31 percent work in a virtual management structure, i.e., their immediate manager or staff members are not located in the same office. The vast majority of virtual employees(91%) agree that virtual work saves their companies time and money.

While a full 95 percent of workers who have participated on virtual teams found the experience productive and enjoyable, there are inherent challenges for leaders to address to maintain team collaboration, trust, motivation and productivity.

As our workplace evolves virtually, it seems the rules for managing employees have changed. Effectively leading employees who telecommute or work throughout various locations presents a different set of challenges for today’s managers.

In order to build a high performing virtual team, leaders must find new ways to close interpersonal and geographic distances to bring everyone together around common goals. Leaders need to focus on results and communicating with workers to maintain productivity.

The goal of a leader is to build a high performing virtual team which shares a clear and unified vision of the work to be done. It is also important that virtual teams value each others contribution and work together to build a future with the organization.

The greatest challenge for leading virtual teams is communication. Successful leadership can improve team communication by:

• Leading effective meetings
• Requiring Project Updates
• Holding Teleconferences – Video Conferences
• Effective Voice Mail
• Effective Email
• Setting up a Communications Plan with your team
• Building Your own Communication Skills

Despite new technologies, effective communication hinges on a few fundamentals. First, communication must be timely and clear. Second, all communication must have meaning and applicability. Systems for effective communication in a virtual world must be dependable and must be inclusive of everyone.

Successfully managing in a virtual environment rests on a foundation of trust. Unfortunately, isolation can often breed distrust. Therefore, giving and receiving solid, practical feedback takes on a new importance. As a virtual leader, you must check in regularly with employees to find out how things are going, proactively address emerging problems, and help your team work to their potential.

In my next blog, I will discuss how to better coach a virtual team and review additional fundamentals for successfully leading in a virtual environment.

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