How to sustain a virtual workforce

2020 will be labelled as the year of the virtual workplace and team. Work from home options and virtual teaming became common phrases around both the boardroom table and at home, and indeed they are here to stay. Surprisingly, virtual workforces are not an altogether novel work arrangement option. Besides, remote working and virtual teams have been expanding in popularity for some time; they attract a global talent pool; they are cost-effective and offer employees flexible options to balance outside of work responsibilities. Most recently, virtual employees and teams have become more the norm and an imperative for organisations to trade and function at an optimal level. Furthermore, many virtual teams will be knowledge-based and technical teams where innovation, problem-solving and sharing information are necessary to fulfil tasks and objectives. The questions that troubles business leaders most is how to manage, lead and sustain virtual team effectively?

However, there are some disadvantages to having virtual teams and employing individuals who work virtually and removed from the hive of the physical office. Firstly, there can be lower collaboration and connection between individuals and less contact between the manager and the team. Secondly, virtual teams can also have decreased work satisfaction, goal commitment and building trust is a challenge. Consequently, there is a certain level of reservation and hesitation for people to fully and freely give their thoughts, opinions and talents when working online (mostly through emails and online chat platforms and occasionally video calls). The assurances of body language and the in-person support of other team members virtually disappears.

Adapt to change

The look and behaviour of teams will change in a virtual environment and so should the leadership style required to guide and motivate these online hubs of performance and productivity. For instance, leadership styles have morphed over the years to suit the team’s environment and requirements. The ‘Great Man Theory’ of the 1840s changed dramatically over the years towards transactional and transformational leadership of the 1970s. Consequently, we now find ourselves in a different type of leadership era-the dawn of virtual leadership.

In the same way, teams and individual workers have also had to adapt and be responsive to changes in leadership style and sources of motivation. Therefore, overcoming barriers like the frequency of communication, technical knowledge, geographical distances and different time zones are part of an adaption process that will soon become a manageable factor in virtual teams. Following these adaptations and a little learning curve, performance objectives can be reached.

Motivational shift

Perhaps the most challenging elements of increasingly working in virtual teams are the lack of social and emotional connections exercised and tapped into daily? Consequently merely grabbing a cup of coffee or attending a meeting provides an opportunity for socialisation and building camaraderie. Conversely, the virtual team now need to draw their motivation from more intrinsic than external forces. Firstly, receiving public reward and acknowledgement from peers and managers that was the norm, are exchanged for the continuous satisfaction and responsibility of working independently. Secondly, customer feedback which was hopefully a motivating factor and most frequently received face-to-face is substituted by the high-potential and meaningful work undertaken at home. Ultimately, the key to maintaining momentum with both motivation and performance in virtual teams (and with the members of the officed-based team should the team be a hybrid team) is to adapt the team’s culture and leadership to what drives this new type of performance.

Virtual teams need an adjusted culture

Culture boils down to behaviours, attitudes and beliefs. Generally, the team culture is an offshoot of the larger organisational culture. Similarly, the virtual team can create its own culture to a certain extent, which may be a good or bad thing depending on the organisation’s dominant culture.

Virtual teams need to peg some values high up on the ‘behaviour list’ to create a high-performance culture within the team:

• The team must strive to be self-managing
• The team needs to share and seek knowledge
• Consciously increase the number of virtual face-to-face communication opportunities (keep up social connections)
• purpose- how do the virtual team and their tasks fit into the organisational goals
• reward- create a platform for peer to peer recognition as well as offer reward and recognition down the hierarchy

Share the leadership

Leadership has evolved from an autocratic and impersonal style to a more relationship and face-to-face conversation-style to a newer virtual-type leadership style. Undoubtedly those teams who survive and thrive will be the ones who are able to adapt to the changing environment. Whether you prefer to think of a virtual team as a sailboat with adjustable sails, able to manoeuvre in multiple directions or as a school of fish highly agile to change and responsive to circumstances? Whichever metaphor resonates with you, a level of leadership is required at an individual level-each where a person becomes accountable and contributes.

Shared leadership in a virtual team involves:

• mutual influence
• collaborative decision making
• shared responsibility
• team members lead and motivate one another towards goal achievement

The virtual team and worker are here to stay

Virtual workforces are no longer an anomaly but a frequent feature of many meetings, workshops, L and D training and governance frameworks. Moreover, where virtual workers have become a permanent feature of an organisation, governance policy needs to facilitate and accommodate these individuals accordingly. The policies need to motivate and support the in-house members of the organisation with the same expectations and protections as they do the virtual workforce. For instance, essential elements like training, risk reporting, attendance of whole-organisation meetings, conflict resolution and cybersecurity need to adapt as part of a governance objective for these new and ever-expanding teams.

Virtual teams should be high-performing even whilst out of sight. Organisations should not assume that any group, either on-site or virtual, has an embedded culture that will nurture performance, collaboration and leadership. There must be an effort made by both the individuals and the manager to guide the team and sustain long term motivation and organisational engagement.

References:

Day, D. V., Gronn, P., & Salas, E. (2004). Leadership capacity in teams. The Leadership Quarterly, 15(6), 857–880.

Duarte, D. L., & Snyder, N. T. (2006). Mastering virtual teams: Strategies, tools, and techniques that succeed. John Wiley & Sons.

Kirkman, B. L., & Rosen, B. (1999). Beyond self-management: Antecedents and consequences of team empowerment. Academy of Management journal, 42(1), 58–74.

Kirkman, B. L., Rosen, B., Tesluk, P. E., & Gibson, C. B. (2004). The impact of team empowerment on virtual team performance: The moderating role of face-to-face interaction. Academy of management journal, 47(2), 175–192.

Malhotra, A., Majchrzak, A., & Rosen, B. (2007). Leading virtual teams. Academy of Management perspectives, 21(1), 60–70.

Zigurs, I. (2003). Leadership in virtual teams: Oxymoron or opportunity?. Organizational dynamics.