Written by: Bahar Selman, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
What is virtual leadership and what is the best way to lead a virtual team? If COVID-19 pandemic had two rewarding aspects for humankind, those would be the rapid digitalization of corporates and the ultimate comfort of working remotely from home.
A virtual leader must be skilled at team development and individual growth. They should be able to help their team members improve their skills, boost their camaraderie, and move the organization forward. The global health crisis is one example of how this new way of managing is causing businesses to make significant investments in automation.
Taking on the responsibility of leading a remote team is not as simple as it may seem. Effective remote leadership requires effective communication skills, excellent time management, and the ability to maintain a positive attitude under pressure. Fortunately, there are many tools to help you achieve this goal.
To help you achieve your goal of having a successful and collaborative team, consider working closely with a professional, whose sole purpose would be to mold you into the best virtual leader that you can possibly become. Because there are many different virtual leadership styles and many key points to take into consideration if you are choosing the relatively unconventional road of building a team!
Why Is It Difficult To Lead A Remote Team
Why is it difficult to lead a remote team? Let us explain. While leading a remote team can be very rewarding, there are some things that you should keep in mind when leading a remote team. This article covers some of the most common pitfalls of remote teams. Follow these tips to keep your team motivated and productive. It's important to build trust in a remote team. A great way to do this is to communicate openly and often. If your team is remote, consider establishing regular one-on-one meetings to build trust.
It's also important to understand your remote team's culture. Any organization has a culture, but a remote team's culture may be completely different. As the manager, you must be clear about the values of the organization and the communication etiquette. Communicating with your remote team will make the entire process easier. If you have an open dialogue with your team, you'll be more likely to have a successful remote team.
Hiring the right people for your remote team is challenging. It's especially difficult to find the right people, and one person can hurt the team as a whole. Traditional hiring practices aren't as effective when you're leading a remote-first team. It's difficult to tell who's qualified if you have never met in person. And traditional CVs won't cut it. In a remote team, your team may not even recognize each other's previous employers.
4 Things That Will Make You A Good Virtual Leader
Despite the convenience of video conferencing, if you want to effectively lead a virtual team, you need to be aware of common mistakes. In addition to not knowing how to read people's facial expressions, virtual leaders cannot use body language to communicate clearly. While this can be solved by using high-quality video, poor video quality can lead to misinterpretation of a speaker's tone. Hence, the word choice is essential for effective communication.
Focus on results, not how things get done
The most important lesson to learn when leading a virtual team is: "Focus on the results, not how things get done." In the office, we often use visual cues to indicate productivity. Since we are dispersed, we are often blind to how things are progressing. This feeling of out of control can be even worse when you're leading a remote team. To counter this, virtual leaders must focus on the outcomes of their work and ensure their team is getting their fair share of the work done.
While it's tempting to think that you can lead a virtual team by assigning a single individual to accomplish a task, it's important to keep in mind that success doesn't always depend on the leader. Dispersed teams often get distracted and spend their time on things that aren't the most important. One health insurance company, for example, had thousands of employees working from home, all working to fulfill the needs of their customers. By focusing on results, the team was able to increase their productivity by 50%.
Communicate regularly
While leading a virtual team is not unlike leading a traditional team, the work is different. It takes some extra effort to keep everyone informed and motivated. Communicating regularly is crucial to keeping everyone on track.
Here are some tips to keep communication flowing smoothly:
Set clear expectations. Micromanagement is tempting when leading a virtual team. Setting benchmarks and expectations will help you manage more effectively and ensure that your employees deliver quality work on time. Consider using productivity tracking software or project management software to keep your team on track and complete projects on time. These tools can also help you to track your employees' performance and keep them motivated.
Build a relationship with your team members. Even if your virtual team isn't geographically present, you can still build good relationships with them by hosting regular meetings with them in person. Try organizing virtual happy hours with your team members using online tools such as Kahoot. This is a great way to build relationships and work on group projects. In addition to meetings, you can also organize virtual happy hours, use Skype or other online tools to communicate regularly.
Maintain your own mental and physical health
The biggest challenge of leading a virtual team is maintaining your own mental and physical health. Colocated workers have the same physical distance as colleagues who work in a different building, but they are still separated by affinity and operational distance. Virtual teams are more prone to conflicts because of these differences.
Fortunately, there are a few simple ways to make your virtual team more effective:
Firstly, it is important to be aware of the symptoms of burnout in your employees. Whether they are remote workers or traditional employees, the distance between them and their work environment makes it difficult to recognize if there is a problem. Watch for signs of mental deterioration such as marked changes in behavior. If they become less engaged in their work, they may miss deadlines, turn off their camera when on a call, use foul language, and neglect their appearance.
Be accessible
Leaders of virtual teams must be available to communicate with their teams and their members. It's important to establish an open-door policy to encourage people to reach out with questions or concerns. Whether through text messages, email, voice clips, or shared documents, an open door policy will reinforce your availability. Leaders of virtual teams also need to consider different communication channels, such as phone and video conferencing. If the team works remotely, make sure the background and image of your video chat is professional and reflects your image. In addition, it is vital to monitor your team's body language when communicating on camera, as it can convey the tone you wish to convey.
Being accessible to your team members can be especially important if your virtual team works from home. Being available for team members via email and phone can help them adjust to a virtual environment. It also gives them the opportunity to communicate with you during their downtime, such as a meeting during which team members can share ideas and feedback. Being accessible to your team can help you avoid the sense of isolation that remote workers often feel, which can hinder their performance.
Why You Need A Communication Coach As A Virtual Leader
You want to know why you need a communication coach as a virtual leader? The answer is simple. As the virtual workplace expands, virtual leaders will become more important than ever. The world of work is changing and a virtual workplace is the new norm. As more employees work from home, managers must be more creative to lead a remote team.
Being an effective virtual leader is vital to your team's success. By fostering the right communication skills, you can build a high-performing remote team and become a valuable asset to your company.
If you are unsure of the reason why you can’t seem to grasp the wholeness of being a virtual leader, the answer might be the untraditional communication means. Whether in real or virtual world, a clear and effective communication is your key to success.
As a virtual leader, you need to be clear on what you expect from your team, and how you can help them meet their goals. Therefore, an expert on effective communication is someone you should consider working with along the way. Contrary to popular belief, good leaders are not born, they are made! You can become a better group leader by working on what you lack and there is no shame in that!
Verbal delivery is essential in virtual meetings. For example: If you talk too quickly or talk too slowly, others may miss important information. Practice your verbal delivery by participating in interactive exercises with your communication coach. A great virtual leader is able to connect with his or her team emotionally. This means that they're honest and transparent with their status updates. In short, they have a strong presence and inspire their team members.
Effective virtual leadership is not much different than effective leadership in an office. The main difference lies in how you set a vision and motivate your team. While in-person leadership requires face-to-face meetings and collaboration, virtual leadership relies on collaborative agendas. A collaborative agenda helps people get more work done and keeps meetings productive.
Do not forget: As a virtual leader, you are the architect of the company's culture and vision.
Bahar Selman, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Bahar Selman is an ICF accredited professional coach (ACC) and a master trainer focusing on personal and professional growth, building confidence, and leadership. Her mission is to help many millennials achieve success and fulfilment in both their careers and lives. She successfully managed brands and led professional teams in companies like Danone, Hayat, Diageo, and Red Bull for over a decade.
She has been serving clients globally with personal and business coaching, delivering training programs and workshops. Bahar has actively trained over 5.000 individuals worldwide through online and offline platforms.
Through her continued wide reaches, she can also help promote her passion for diversity and inclusion with a focus point on supporting women in their career paths.
