Leading Virtual Teams: Strategies for Success
Do you lead a virtual or hybrid team? Are you struggling to lead them? You aren’t alone. During the pandemic, up to 40% of workers were working remotely (up from 7% in 2016). In November 2023, this number was about 20% (Statistics Canada, 2024). Regardless of the exact number of virtual workers, we can agree that many teams will be either fully remote or hybrid, and managing these teams have different challenges than managing in-person teams.
When your team was all together (and generally with you), you could just walk up to them or look over and see how they were doing. Meetings were easier and the small, informal conversations that built relationships and trust happened naturally.
In this new environment, however, leaders need to draw on new or different skills to manage meetings, oversee employees, and build relationships.
If you are leading a fully virtual or a hybrid team, here are some important considerations.
Communication
You will need to be more deliberate in your communication. You can’t just walk up to someone and tap them on the shoulder; and when you talk to one person, others aren’t in earshot to also hear.
Utilize collaborative communication platforms like Microsoft Teams or Slack. Additionally, use video conference teams like Zoom or Microsoft Teams for meetings.
Create a clear communication guide so people know when to email, instant message, call or schedule up a meeting. Set expectations for response time and how formal or informal communication should be.
Provide regular updates using a variety of communication methods. Team members should know when they can expect to learn information and how to access that information.
If you manage a hybrid team, ensure that virtual workers are given the same information as those who are in person with you. It’s easy to give information or instructions to people when you see them, but then forget to share that same information or those same instructions to those not in the office.
You need to clearly communicate expectations. Ensure you have a job description which includes job responsibilities, tasks, deliverables, key performance indicators/metrics and milestones. This foundational document will serve as an important reference for both you and the employee.
Support is critical. Provide regular feedback through scheduled and informal check ins. Ensure you discuss successes and challenges, professional development and career path. Determine obstacles and remove them.
Build Relationships
Virtual and remote workers lack the small daily interactions that contribute to building relationships, so you may need to consciously create them. Reflect on times when these naturally occur such as before or after a meeting, at the water cooler/coffee pot or at lunch time. Some options include:
Build in time at the beginning of a meeting for those interactions. Encourage people to join meetings a few minutes early just to talk (and maybe start them at 5 minutes later to build in that team) .
Schedule team-building activities
Create chat channels for those informal conversations. If people aren’t participating, consider asking a weekly question (this is a great leadership opportunity for someone on your team). Some examples could be: Do you prefer Star Trek or Star Wars, What is a TV show you’d recommend? What is something on your bucket list?
Add a short time to the beginning of a meeting where you ask a question and have participants answer (you can generally accomplish this in 5-7 minutes). “This or That” questions are generally quick if you have a larger group (eg. Tea or Coffee; Beach or Ski Vacation). Use the tools available in virtual meeting platforms such as Chat or Raise Hand.
Schedule co-working or virtual water cooler sessions where people can work and have conversations
It is still critical that you maintain regular one on one meetings with each employee on your team; especially the remote ones, and don’t “let them off easy.” If they say they don’t have anything to discuss, be prepared with questions or conversation starters so you can get to know them and uncover any challenges they are facing.
Try to make your meetings interactive. Staring at a computer screen can be exhausting, so use tools such as reactions, chat, and whiteboard built into video conferencing platforms like Zoom or Microsoft Teams. Create an expectation that participants turn their cameras on so you can read non-verbal cues too.
Boundaries/Balance
Working from home seems great as you eliminate your commute, however, maintaining balance or boundaries can be challenging. It’s easy to sneak back to your desk at night, check your email or just do one more thing. Ensure that you are clear about when they are working and that they disconnect from work.
Be cognizant of time zones when you schedule meetings, so you don’t create an expectation that they work outside of their regularly scheduled hours.
Ensure you support them with boundaries.
Encourage them to take breaks (eg. they don’t work through lunch).
Early in the pandemic I heard a story about someone who wanted to maintain the boundary between work and home, as she worked from home. When she went into the office, she drove there and home which created a natural transition, so when she switched to working from home, she created that transition by walking one way around the block at the beginning of the day to signal “going to work” and then walking the opposite way around the block after work to signal “going home.”
What’s Next?
While these are all great ideas for leading virtual teams, you can adapt them if you lead in person teams too. What can you do?
Set up regular scheduled meetings with each individual member of your team.
Ensure you have job descriptions for each team member
Determine how to incorporate more “small talk” time to build relationships
Do a DISC session so you understand the communication preferences of each member of your team
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