Top Tips for Leading Virtual Teams
Many businesses and organizations now rely on virtual resources and teams as part of their business operations. This increasing reliance has expanded the traditional office boundary to multiple locations, sometimes spread over diverse geographical areas. This presents several challenges when managing and leading virtual teams.
Leading Virtual Teams
Virtual teams have become very popular in recent years. Virtual, or remote, resources allows small and medium companies and startups to compete globally in an ever-growing market.
Effective utilization of virtual teams empowers organizations with the freedom to work with smaller teams and clients less limited by geographical boundaries, enabling cost-savings and faster delivery.
However, managing and leading virtual teams can be challenging. When you have multiple resources, in multiple locations, sometimes across varying timezones, issues are bound to arise.
Ten Tips for Managing and Leading Virtual Teams
Our team have put together the tips below to help manage and lead your virtual teams more effectively:
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Managing Virtual Teams
While collaboration tools have definitely been useful when managing and leading virtual teams, there are still some challenges to contend with, primarily, the lack of in-person interaction means the quality of communication between team members can vary greatly.
In short, managing and leading virtual teams can be challenging due to a variety of factors that inhibit face-to-face communication. Challenges can be more extreme when you are leading an inherited virtual team.
It is crucial that you put in place robust structures and protocols to manage communication and coordinate work, as the lack of these will have a negative impact on team performance.
You can use the aforementioned ten tips to leading virtual teams as a checklist to determine and prioritize what you need to do to ensure you are leading your virtual team effectively.
