Contrary to the popular belief, virtual teams rock when you’re interested in productivity, talent and creativity. Having a group spread around the globe tends to be no only a cost effective solution, but rather one that empowers your organization, if you follow just three golden rules.
(Related: Top 5 Challenges When Working With Virtual Teams)
Half of the organizations in the US use virtual teams, according to survey results published by the Society for Human Resource Management. “When virtual teams work, their productivity can be impressive,” said Evren Esen, manager of SHRM’s survey research center. “But getting them to function can be a challenge”.
Cisco even showed that “approximately 69 percent of the employees surveyed cited higher productivity when working remote, and 75 percent of those surveyed said the timeliness of their work improved.” The research gathered data from 2000 employees.
IFMA Foundation calculated that there is an 18% increase in productivity in the case of a virtual team, compared to a regular one, while the cost of workplace support reduces by 38 percent.
The three steps to success
Virtual teams tend to be very diverse, with their members located on different time zones and different cultures. Over 40% of the virtual team members have never met, still, in most cases they manage to work together even better compared to face-to-face colleagues. The most successful teams usually follow these three rules:
1. Knowledge sharing
The transfer of knowledge from one individual to another is an important part of our evolution. Shared information with the help of dedicated collaboration tools drive innovation, a value that lies at the core of the best companies worldwide. It helps create new products, and supports the development of each of the team members.
The ability of capturing knowledge and passing it on to co-workers are two of the qualities each individual should try to master. We’ve shared in a previous post why hoarding knowledge is a real set-back for productivity and organizations are becoming more and more aware of the importance of fostering a community of continuous learning inside their company, especially when dealing with distributed teams.
2. Building personal relations
It’s easier to meet someone face-to-face at the cafeteria, during the lunch break or at the watercooler. When in a virtual team, one must create that sort of informal environment. Over half of HR professionals that work at companies that use virtual teams say that building team relations is an obstacle that prevents people from being successful, according to the Society for Human Resource Management.
One of the virtual teams’ most common complaint is the inability to pick someone’s state of mind. Try helping others by being honest about how you feel and a particular day, by telling them a bit about you and even by using emojis and GIFs, as lifehacker suggests.
Remember: even in a virtual team, people working together have similar problems, interests and goals, and some times even similar hobbies. Regardless of the cultures and the time zones, we are pretty much the same.
3. Distribution of work
Almost a third of the virtual teams members complain about this, the same study shows. Most of the time, it’s a leadership problem, that can be solved with gamification. Keeping people engaged in the activity, knowing how to talk to each of them and how to motivate them can improve the team’s performance overall and at an individual level.
One last note: always assume ignorance before malice, a principle also known as Hanlon’s razor. Don’t believe that someone did something wrong just to piss you off. It’s more likely that they did a mistake. Try to understand the context and to communicate with that person rather than pointing fingers.
Happy Knowledge Sharing!
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