Global appetite for virtual teams is growing. Remote working has shown a steady growth with an 80% increase in virtual teams from 2005 to 2015. 66% of multinational corporations make extensive use of virtual teams – customer service, project management, software development etc.
Many argue that – this growth is led by companies’ desire to cut the human resource and operational costs; however, this (cost cutting) may not be the only reason – as we have enough studies giving us a range of other factors too.
According to Harvard Business Review, a 2009 study of 80 global software development teams by BCG and WHU-Otto Beisheim School of Management indicates that well-managed dispersed teams can actually outperform those that share office space.
Similarly, a report by Aon Consulting confirms that using virtual teams a company can enhance its employees’ productivity – in fact, some organizations have gained up to 43 percent growth.
Does this mean every remote worker or team performs better?
The simplest answer is “No”. A 2005 Deloitte study of information technology projects outsourced to remoter workers/teams found that – 66 percent of workers failed to satisfy the clients’ requirements. Moreover, general perception about virtual teams is also negative – as most of the people consider virtual communication less productive as compared to face-to-face interactions.
Since IQVIS offers permanent and contractual staffing solutions, we have done quite a lot of experiments, studies, and analysis into the same.
Our experience suggests that virtual teams perform better – if you hire the right set of resources with right skills and attitude, and provide a supportive collaboration environment. Communication is the single biggest factor that can make or break in the dispersed working environment.
The following suggestions are aimed at helping you hire the best teams and ensure that your virtual team performs better and in-line with your goals.
1. Provide Empathic Leadership
In a remote working environment, the biggest challenge relates to soft working skills and managerial style. 25 to 71 percent of remote workers believe that it is the leadership style and soft skills that lead to success or failure (CIO Insight).
Co-located teams frequently benefit from a leader who works as an organizer. On the contrary, virtual teams require a manager who is responsible for defining directions and eliminates all the obscurities from the procedure. Jose Santos, a professor at INSEAD, demonstrated that highly compacted synchronization generally produces best results in globally distributed teams.
In order to achieve this greater synchronization, you need to show empathic leadership. Your ability to understand, relate to and be sensitive to colleagues and team members will lead to harmony, bond, and improved productivity.
2. Be a Democratic Decision Maker
Our cultural differences also appear in our working styles. Teams don’t work the same way everywhere. In order to ensure that you’re working with the right roles and SOPs, we recommend using local managerial approach while dealing with virtual teams.
See some examples below.
– In the United States, managers are given the training to implore input from the team, select a direction quickly and make alterations as the project progresses.
– In Sweden, teams learn to make decisions through lengthy consensus building, which can span many meetings but eventually leads to strong buy-in and rapid implementation.
– In France, the Descartes-inspired education system teaches that debate and confrontation are necessary elements of any decision-making process.
– In Japan, decisions tend to be made in informal one-on-one discussions before a formal group meeting.
A research finds that one of the most ambiguous tasks for a global team’s leader is to recognize that their styles of decision-making. There are chances that people’s working style is deeply rooted in the cultures that they come from. Therefore, global teams should have a very explicit description of how decisions will be made.
The best team manager is the one who is willing to try out different kinds of decision-making processes at different points in a project.
3. Build Trust – and Do It Differently
In virtual work engagements, trust is the most critical factor and it takes on a whole new meaning in the remote collaborative environment. Cristina Escallon, a faculty member in Managing Global Virtual Teams program, teaches that leaders of virtual teams need to concentrate on creating a highly defined process where team members deliver specific results in a repeated sequence.
Reliability, also known as trust, is thus firmly established after two or three cycles. Because of that, face-to-face meetings can be limited to once a year or so.
You can do this by:
1. Setting the right SOP
2. Defining clearer roles and hierarchy
3. Outlining clearer objectives
4. Putting in understandable KPIs
5. Setting a defined path of communication
Relationship building is and should be an ongoing process. While people working in the same facility randomly chat about their lives, remote workers do this rarely. This could be another area to foster good relationship – by adding a personal touch.
4. Use the Right Tech Stack
Technology is the fundamental enabler in remote working. Hence, it is vital to employ the right set of tools to ensure smooth workflow and performance. In this regards, you should go for the best project management tools. There are many tools – specific to every industry and type of role; however, the following will help in any case.
- Google Apps for Work
- Dropbox
- Skype
- Slack
- TeamWork Projects
- Trello
- Basecamp
- Redbooth
- Go2Meetings
- Quip
- Getflow
5. Communicate Effectively
The utmost key to global virtual team-leading is communication. But when we communicate virtually, we often become less influential.
One of the probable drawbacks of virtual teams is that communication lacks personal touch as there is no physical presence of the manager. Managers sit rigidly at their desks, glued to Skype or video conference screens, tend to lose their interpersonal or persuasive edge.
Team management experts endorse the importance of a shared vision and ambitions. As a team manager, your first objective should be to explain to everyone why they are working together – what is the purpose and what will be the end benefit. In addition, setting key milestones and important touch points also makes the relationship stronger, and communicate better.
One key element of virtual team management is to continually motivate your colleagues – to get the best results. Regular video calls are very important as they add visual cues and body language – invisible in normal chat and emails. Continuous engagement is the key to team’s performance and productivity.
IQVIS Staffing Solutions
If you want to get your projects done by the best minds in the industry, get in touch with IQVIS. We offer reliable staffing solutions – permanent as well as contractual.
