The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the working world in a lot of different ways, accelerating the shift towards more remote working and distributed team models, and we've seen more and more businesses operating remotely, with less reliance on physical office spaces.
Despite the hardships associated with the crisis, many businesses have discovered unique benefits from having teams operate virtually, rather than physically, but keeping up with communication and fostering collaboration has proven challenging. Here are some key tips to keep virtual teams on track.
One of the biggest challenges associated with virtual teams is keeping virtual team members updated and on the same page, whether you send an email or hold a conference call. Make sure that everyone is accountable for the work they submit. Communication in virtual teams is absolutely essential.
Programs like Skype, Zoom, and Slack facilitate the process of holding virtual meetings with your teams, so make sure everyone has accounts on these kinds of platforms and logs in at the start of each working day.
Before you even begin working with a virtual team, it's important to hold an initial planning meeting and lay out the duties and roles of each member of that team.
This can help to get your projects off to the best possible start, with minimal confusion and no risk of people misinterpreting their roles or setting off in the wrong direction, leaving tasks undone.
Another big issue that can sometimes arise with distributed teams is that it can be hard for them to collaborate on certain projects. However, there are many tech tools that can help with this.
We've already spoken about communication tools like Slack to help workers communicate with one another, and you can also use management tools like Google Docs and flexible project management systems such as Trello for workers to share files and update each other, stay on track and keep work hours in control.
It can be tempting to try and micromanage your virtual teams, especially if you have people operating in totally different countries and time zones and you worry about projects going off-track.
However, this sort of attitude often ends badly, and it's important to show trust in your dispersed team to help them feel valued and encouraged to do their best possible work. Spend time with them and stay in touch regularly with team management tools to make remote work successful.
About Author: Jessica Chapman is an editor and best essay writing service expert from Chicago. She offers dissertation services and professional writing services to students in need of assistance. Outside of work, Jessica is interested in sport, politics, and travel.