A female leader asked me recently about leading virtual teams, and she said, “there is so much information out there on leading virtually and I don’t know what to focus on.” Given how many leaders are leading virtual teams these days, we are sharing here some best-practice ideas on leading a remote workforce. The areas that require particular attention when leading virtually are clarity, connection, and trust.
These address some of the most common challenges to teams working effectively while remote:
1. Discussions require foresight and planning
2. Mutual understanding is harder without daily interaction and context-setting
3. Feelings of social isolation create disconnect and uncertainty
These also build off ideas and research by Adam Grant at Wharton, who stresses the importance of creating shared identity and shared understanding when leading virtual teams. Shared identity is the idea that we are all together part of a cohesive team. Working remotely means that leaders have to work harder to create the sense of team cohesion. Shared understanding refers to the context that the team works in, and the information that everyone works with and from; remotely leaders have to work harder to ensure everyone has the information needed for their tasks, as well as understanding of the bigger picture and what they are working towards.
Some best practices that leaders are using to create clarity, connection, and trust are:
· Communicate team goals and priorities often, in multiple contexts (verbally in a team meeting, and then again in an email or in your team’s messaging space) and have an open-door policy to address any uncertainties people may have about their own goals and tasks. Good expectation setting and transparency of information is critical for clarity and trust.
· Ensure your team time to connect informally before or at the end of meetings; just as they would as they walked into or out of a conference room, build in time for casual conversation. Schedule team social activities: although many people are “zoomed-out”, short team social breaks go a long way to building connection and trust.
· Have regularly scheduled one-on-ones on their calendar with all direct reports. These meetings should include personal check-in time (or have dedicated meetings just for personal check-ins). Leaders who share their own struggles and challenges of working from home provide tacit acceptance for their reports to share, making it easier to know if someone is struggling, and where you can provide support. To break up the video calls and make personal check-in meetings more informal, you might suggest a walking meeting where you both dial-in while taking a walk outside.
· Trust is easily eroded when we don’t see people face to face; use your video whenever possible and ask your team to use it whenever possible while also respecting needs to keep video off at times. Turn off or pause slide sharing whenever possible during presentations, such as during group discussions. Take breaks in longer meetings so people can step away from the screen.
· Ensure that virtual meetings are participatory by using polls and the chat function to solicit input (“If we had to make a firm decision today on this project, would you vote yes or no? Everyone please reply in Chat”). Virtual decision-making can be more inclusive than in-person meetings, when the virtual functionality is utilized.
· Look for opportunities to provide recognition; in a remote working culture, visual signs of recognition are non-existent, and all humans have a basic need to be recognized for their contributions. Schedule some time in your team meeting to provide some virtual high-fives and ask peers to provide recognition to each other.
· As leaders, reinforce messages of care and support for your people. More than ever, leadership in a virtual world requires a focus on leading people aspects of work. Encourage your team to focus on outcomes and achievements, not activities or feeling obligated to be online at all hours.
