Successful Virtual Teams
As we continue to fight against COVID-19, millions of workers are forced to work from home all around the world. For now, it might be too soon to tell whether this pandemic will result in a lasting impact on how jobs are done in the future. COVID-19 gave rise to the establishment of a flexible workforce and the advancements in technological aspects making it much easier to establish virtual teams across the globe.
Most companies implemented a work from home strategy in order to keep the lives and businesses going despite the global pandemic that the whole world is facing. Company leaders were able to overcome the first challenge brought by the shift from working in the office to working from home - by providing employees tech tools, defining goals, and setting up video conference accounts. However, this is just the beginning of creating an effective work environment for employees who are working from the comfort of their homes.
Despite the numerous advantages of working from home, the biggest obstacle is keeping virtual teams motivated and energized. Here are some tips on how you can motivate your virtual teams from afar:
- Create a Plan
Effective planning helps you achieve organizational goals by being able to maximize available resources. In managing virtual teams, it is important that you have a clear plan on how you are going to attack in a given circumstance in order to achieve your goal. - Communicate
Good communication is a must in establishing a successful virtual team as it promotes relationship building and unity, therefore improving the way virtual team members coordinate to get the job done. Maintaining good communication with virtual team members may be challenging, but there is a wide variety of communication tools which you can choose from. Make sure you choose what is most comfortable not only for you, but also for your team. Openness among team members is an essential enabler for growth and development of the whole team. - Share learning experience
Take short breaks from work and learn to listen to each other. This will give employees the webinar vibes as everyone can talk about their experiences and give encouragement to each other to strengthen their skills. The idea of sharing experiences is being able to share your personal takeaways and to learn from each other's experiences. - Create happy hours
In the office setting, short trips to the pantry or taking coffee breaks with your co-workers is a good escape from work for a short period of time. Of course, this is not possible for virtual teams. A way to get around this is to designate a time where team leaders can host a conference call with their team where everyone is given the opportunity to bond and de-stress, or talk about life, over a cup of coffee or a cold beverage. Leaders can also host "game time" over a conference call, where the whole team can play charades, Pictionary, or word games"”of course, the winner gets a reward! - Acknowledge team members
For every accomplished goal, start your conference call by giving acknowledgement to your team members. You can do this by giving them a shout-out and sending out certificates as a token of appreciation to them through their emails. This will encourage them to do better next time. It is a fun way to spice things up, since everyone is working from home. It costs nothing to be kind and people appreciate small acts of kindness.
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