Before the Covid-19 pandemic, the idea of teams working virtually was being discussed but only as a fancy futuristic endeavour along with the long-term visions of most companies. This, however, is the reality across most organisations today.
Leading virtual teams presents a whole new challenge, especially for organisations that have never managed staff working remotely. Research on virtual teams shows there are two levels of challenges: Those that are relatively easy to recognise and address, and those that are deeper and more complex, therefore requiring greater attention.
Martine Haas, professor of management at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, says virtual teams require greater and different care and attention. Failure to meet these needs often leads to less-than-desirable results.
Therefore, for institutions to lead highly effective virtual teams, they should overcome both the surface level and deep-level challenges. Surface level challenges include finding the right technology, balancing time zones, flattening hierarchy and counteracting language barriers, especially during multicultural virtual engagements.
On the other hand, deep-level challenges include shared identity and understanding. The concept of virtual teams has eliminated the benefits of management by wandering around and close physical supervision. It is therefore upon an organisation to ensure everyone is heard without feeling marginalised owing to the language barrier and other limitations that come with communication technology.
Organisations should never assume that every new technology will be readily adopted by everyone and applied to all functions in the same way. It is therefore paramount for organisations to find out what technology is available for their needs, take care of any tech-related issues and consider the option of using different platforms for different purposes.
Balancing time zones is also critical when employees live in different time zones. One of the options to consider is rotating times so that each employee gets their share of attending a meeting during odd hours such as at midnight or dawn, which is common when people call into meetings from different time zones.
It is paramount that organisations build shared identity, especially when team members do not consider themselves as part of the team. This issue, when left unresolved, can interfere with smooth operations.
Organisations should also consider increasing focus on fundamentals of good management which include establishing clear goals, running great meetings, communicating clearly, building trust, encouraging transparency, and leveraging team members’ individual and collective strengths.
Secondly, it is important for managers to ensure staff have the support they need. In remote environments, managers have limited visibility into work challenges or barriers facing employees. Consequently, they should make a point of establishing regular conversations to check in with each employee.
Thirdly, it is necessary to create a high level of transparency among team members. Employees are largely on board when there is more transparency in the workplace. Managers, therefore, must set an example of transparency by sharing openly with employees and encouraging them to always feel comfortable sharing their thoughts or asking questions.
Finally, building trust with employees is another important aspect that institutions must never forget when managing virtual teams. In an in-person environment, there are more opportunities to naturally build trust during informal interactions but with remote teams, these opportunities hardly exist and so managers need to be more intentional about building team trust.
Even as organisations manage teams remotely, the real questions they need to ponder is what does the future hold for working from home? Are there jobs that will require teams to permanently work from home? How will we define home as a work environment taking into consideration issues such as insurance and rent, among others? How will virtual meetings fatigue be dealt with?
For instance, companies that used to pay for huge office spaces and now have to cut down, those that used to pay or provide transport to employees, those that used to buy meals for their teams, will now be counting huge savings from such cost centres. What then happens to the employees who convert their houses to office spaces? Are we looking at a time when compensation for rent, insurance cover will also be considered for the home office? Will we need to scale down the physical office space?
Indeed, the true impact of the new virtual teams is yet to be known considering that Covid-19 fast-tracked the change process. This is going to be a steep learning curve for many organisations as they review their policies and processes to adapt and adjust to the new normal.
Human Resource and Administration Director at KenGen
