Working With A Virtual Team

Due to Covid-19 pandemic, we are now getting even more familiar with the concept of working virtually. Separation in distance might alter the dynamics of working as a group but productivity does not have to suffer as a result of that. In this blog post I share my thoughts on what we can do to produce high quality work while working virtually, i.e. during a pandemic.

Photo by Chris Montgomery on Unsplash

Virtual Team Definition Virtual team refers to a team that communicates through technology based platforms such as e-mail, voice mail, telephone, video conferencing instead of face to face. Many organisations today already work virtually to some extent as a result of globalisation where employees, suppliers or customers are at different locations.

Benefits of a Virtual Teams Organisations that work virtually have the following benefits:

• Increased diversity: An organisation can have extremely diverse group of people with varying experiences, skills and knowledge through working virtually.

• Operating 24 hours: Virtual teams can operate on 24 hour cycle and therefore an organisation can stay open all the time.

Challenges of Virtual Teams Virtual teamwork has the same challenges of any teamwork structure as well as additional technology and management challenges.

• Management Challenges: Coordinating and managing work virtually can be a challenge. Managers of virtual teams should ensure clarity of goals, encourage collaboration and information sharing.

• Technology Challenges: A virtual teamwork needs implementation of different types of technologies in order to enable working from a distance. It is very important to utilise technology to keep virtual teams organised, motivated and productive.

Solutions to Virtual Teams Challenges: Virtual working requires forming virtual teams, assessing and meeting their technology and communication needs and keeping virtual projects on track. Following solutions can help to ensure high quality work:

• Set Clear Goals. People working in the same place can easily talk in the corridors, at lunch, during a break or after work and communicate more often to solve issues or misunderstandings. In a virtual team it is even more important to set clear goals that are measurable.
  

• Define Roles and Responsibilities. In order to prevent any duplication of work between team members roles and responsibilities should be defined clearly and communicated to all members of a virtual team so that every member knows what they are expected to do.
  

• Define and agree on processes, expectations and desired results. Processes such as decision-making approaches, methodologies, work plans and procedures and desired results such as deliverables, records, milestones should be transparent. All team members should understand and agree on the processes, expectations and desired results.
  

• Document the agreed processes, expectations and desired results and ensure that such documents are accessible to every team member.

• Ensure the commitment of team members so that they allocate their time and energy on goals with higher priority.
  

• Encourage teamwork and collaboration so that team members can work on important tasks together. Encourage several team members to solve an unexpected problem together. Suggest team members to consult each other. Recognise and praise collaborative behaviour.
  

• Share leadership based on expertise, knowledge and skillset of team members depending on the task on hand. A virtual team leader should be willing to share the control and virtual team members should be willing to offer expertise and guidance in the areas they are more knowledgeable.
  

• Ask for the feedback of team members on how they feel about virtual working conditions, working hours, communication tools used, work division etc. Improve such conditions as required.
  

• Arrange e-meetings just for team members to socialise, chat about daily stuff instead of work.
  

• Agree on standards and protocols of communication. For instance establish a protocol for e-mails for team members to know whom, when and why to send e-mails.
  

• Set up virtual e-rooms, platforms and forums in web where team members can share information and documents, chat to each other, check deliverables, provide status updates etc.

Photo by Marcus Winkler on Unsplash

• Encourage telephone or video conferencing instead of e-mails to enable many members to share their ideas at the same time to agree on a direction. Arranged phone calls can be time saving compared to e-mail communication in some cases.

• Work out ways to communicate spontaneously. For instance use electronic whiteboards where a member of the team can draw a chart, write key points on a virtual board while other team members can see it as the document is being created, comment and propose modifications.
  

• Post and manage virtual resources so that all team members can use them.

• Maintain version control of documents by choosing softwares that make it easy. It is important for all team members to know when and by whom a document is edited.
  

• Clarify procedures for archiving files to keep good record of them.

Above solutions and suggestions will enable a virtual team to work more efficiently.

Below you can also find some tips for working from home. You need a quiet, distraction free environment with good light and temperature.

Physical Equipment needed:

• Desk

• Adjustable chair

• Laptop stand and/or monitor

• Keyboard and mouse

Audio and Visual Equipment Needed:

• Speakerphones

• Headphones

• Lighting

• Webcam

Internet Connection Requirements:

• Minimum: 1.5 Mbps up and down

• Ideal: 3 Mbps up and down

• Take a speed test

Wifi Strength

• Check your wifi strength in different rooms

• Consider a wired connection (with powerline)

• Consider a wifi extension

Collaboration Tools and Services:

• Slack, Microsoft teams, Flock, Discord or Twist for chat

• G Suite, Office 365, Google Drive, OneDrive, Drop Box as office tools

• Zoom, Google Hangouts, Skype, Webex as video conference tools

• Miro, Padlet, Done, Next, Mural as virtual boards/ walls.

If you would like to learn more about the tips, steps, used practices and continue the discussion email me at zeynep@derinconsulting.com or follow me on LinkedIn. You can also access to my previous blog posts here.

---

Zeynep Yalcin Parks is lead consultant at Derin Consulting. She helps organisations become better at achieving their purpose.

---

Follow Derin Consulting on LinkedIn. Get in touch: hello@derinconsulting.com. Visit our website: www.derinconsulting.com. * Cover photo by Tran Mau Tri Tam on Unsplash.