On Leadership

Is Your Organization Prepared to Support Virtual Work?

Whether your virtual teams are in the formation stage or have been operating for a few months – it is critical to ensure that they are set up for success and get off to a good start.  Organizations that proactively plan how to structure their virtual teams to set them up for success will see a better return on their investment than those that do not.

Here are some other guidelines to follow to ensure your organization will maximize its investment in remote work:

Keep Your Virtual Teams At a Manageable Size.

OnPoint’s research found that high performing virtual teams were smaller and more cohesive than low performing ones. For a team to make decisions effectively and operate efficiently, its ideal size should be five to ten people. When forming a new virtual team, consider who really needs to be included and make sure each member has a clear role. As more and more people get involved, virtual teams may be more susceptible to common pitfalls such as a lack of clear roles or clear goals.  If you have a larger virtual teams, consider breaking it into sub-teams responsible for a specific deliverable or a core team with advisory groups so that they function effectively in a virtual setting.  It is also critical that leaders are thoughtful about team membership and ensure that they are not encouraging their employees to over-commit themselves.

Choose Virtual Team Leaders Carefully.

The most effective virtual team leaders balance both the execution-oriented practices and the interpersonal, communication, and cultural factors that define virtual teams. Therefore, organizations should select leaders who possess those key characteristics. When assigning a leader, take the time to select the individual with the appropriate skills—and not just go with the first person to volunteer or someone who already happens to lead a team or the person with the best technical skills.  In addition, periodically assess the leaders’ effectiveness and provide targeted feedback about how they can enhance their performance. Great leaders will be happy to learn what they can do to keep improving.  

Determine How Performance Will Be Recognized and Rewarded.

When virtual team members are consistently recognized and rewarded for their achievements, their commitment to the team and organization is reinforced and they stay motivated. A lack of engagement is common when virtual team members get little recognition. When a new virtual team is established, consider the best ways to recognize its individual members, the team as a whole, and its leader. As the team’s work gets underway and progresses, make sure members are consistently recognized for their achievements. This is particularly important when people join virtual teams on a voluntary basis. It’s also important to ensure that the reward and recognition systems promote collaboration among team members.

Group celebrations and bonuses shared by all team members might be effective rewards for some virtual teams. Whenever possible involve the team’s senior sponsors and stakeholders in the recognition process in formal and informal ways. Doing so will help further motivate team members because they’ll see that their work is appreciated from the top down.

Hold a Great Kick-Off Meeting.

While meeting in person requires time and costs money, OnPoint's research shows that virtual teams that have an initial kick-off meeting perform better than those that do not. To facilitate team performance, we recommend that companies invest the time and money to bring members together for a kick-off meeting within the first 30 days of the team’s inception.  Kick-off meetings help get everyone on the same page. Virtual team members learn about the scope of the work or project, get to know the people who are on their team and come to a consensus on team structure and processes. These sessions also allow time for members to develop a team plan and to build interpersonal relationships. The synergies and significant long-term payoff gained from working face-to-face on setting team norms, processes, and relationship-building appear to outweigh the expense of travel. If a face-to-face kick-off meeting is not feasible, we recommend replicating this through a series of well-planned virtual meetings that address the same issues.

Develop A Plan for Communicating Among Team Members.

Agree on the types of technology members will use to communicate and how the team’s progress will be shared with stakeholders and management figures. Be sure to:

• Illustrate the connection between team activities and technological infrastructure
• Clarify communication needs and desires of team members
• Identify when face-to-face meetings should be used
• Train team members on communication technologies

 

During the kick-off meeting, new virtual teams will benefit from discussing how and when team members will use the available technologies. For example:

• How will the team share documents and update one another?
• Is email the best tool for this or is there another preferred mechanism?
• What communication technology will be best for conflict resolution? How about for brainstorming solutions to problems?
• What decisions are best for teleconferences or other collaborative e-tools?
• Are any key technologies not available for the team?
• Will this lack of availability create problems for the team? If so, what accommodations need to be made and how will the team minimize the impact? 

Hold Team Development Activities. 

Virtual team members often have a hard time establishing trust with one another because they don’t have the advantage of frequent in-person interactions. They also struggle because they cannot see one another’s body language, which makes it difficult to gain a sense for team members’ personalities and intentions.

Using team development activities during the kick-off meeting can help to build trust and camaraderie among team members. Many of the most successful teams in OnPoint’s study had skill development training during their initial kick-off meeting and subsequent training over time.

Three types of activities during the launch meeting help team members get to know each other, build confidence in each other’s ability, and provide a platform for teamwork and communication back on the job. They are personal introductions including background and experience, review of individual style and how it affects teamwork and communication, and an experiential exercise or team project.

Monitor and Assess Team Performance.

Leaders need to have a system in place that helps them regularly review virtual team processes to assess what’s working well and what needs to be improved. Leaders should continually monitor, assess, and improve communication, as it’s the top skill development need reported by team members and the top characteristic needed to lead from a distance.  And most importantly, they need to periodically examine how well the team is performing.

The decision to launch a virtual team should not be made on a whim. Factors such as team membership, team size, the right technology, and effective kick-off meetings should be carefully considered before launching a virtual team.  It is also important to ensure the overall organization is prepared to support virtual team work. 

Criteria for Success: Characteristics of Top Virtual Leaders and Team Members

The most effective virtual team leaders balance both the execution-oriented practices and the interpersonal, communication, and cultural factors that define virtual teams. Therefore, organizations should select leaders who possess those key characteristics. When assigning a leader, take the time to select the individual with the appropriate skills—and not just go with the first person to volunteer or someone who already happens to lead a team or the person with the best technical skills.  In addition, periodically assess the leaders’ effectiveness and provide targeted feedback about how they can enhance their performance. Great leaders will be happy to learn what they can do to keep improving.  

Leaders should also ensure that their virtual team members have the skills necessary to effectively collaborate from a distance. People who are motivated and are able to work in a self-directed manner, have a tolerance for ambiguity, are strong communicators, and are collaborative will be more effective on virtual teams. According to OnPoint’s research, the most important characteristics for virtual team members include strong interpersonal skills, initiative, and flexibility.

A recent BusinessWeek article (BusinessWeek June 2009) presented findings on what personality traits make for good virtual workers. While one might assume that introverted people would be more likely to thrive in a virtual setting, the study found that it was actually extroverts who fared best. It was discovered that extroverted employees were more adept at finding ways to stay connected to others, no matter their location. The study also showed that being structured and organized is essential for successfully working virtually, and that disorganized employees were less successful.

Organizations generally need to make sure team members have the appropriate skills for tackling particular tasks. Laszlo Bock of Google says, “It is important to compose the team differently based on the problem the team needs to solve or address.” For example, the people chosen to help solve a detailed financial problem would most likely not be selected for a virtual team that’s created to tackle a customer satisfaction issue.

However, in some situations organizations benefit from the use of cross-functional teams, in which they bring together people with different areas of expertise to address a problem. Bottom line: It is important to consider the scope of the problem to determine the criteria for virtual team membership.

You can start by establishing criteria for selecting team members. For example, a global IT virtual team in our study outlined the skill set necessary for success and then selected team members accordingly. While technical expertise in various IT areas was deemed important, the leader wanted to involve people who would work well autonomously yet who could also successfully collaborate with the rest of the team when needed.

Understanding the characteristics necessary for succeeding in a virtual environment is very important. While these characteristics may vary depending on a virtual team’s goals, the following checklist can be used to help select virtual team members and leaders.

A Good Virtual Team Leader

• Delegates work and responsibilities effectively; trusts others to achieve goals Implements processes to effectively monitor work (e.g., checks in without
• micromanaging, has strong project management skills)
• Effectively manages conflict
• Is comfortable working in an unstructured environment
• Demonstrates strong communication and management skills (e.g., provides clear direction and is responsive)
• Inspires people to achieve results
• Effectively recognizes and rewards others
• Provides coaching and feedback to others; supports others
• Appropriately consults and engages others when making decisions
• Holds others accountable for meeting commitments 

A Good Virtual Team Member

• Demonstrates a high level of motivation
• Effectively communicates with others (e.g., reaches out to others for help and proactively shares information with others)
• Effectively collaborates with others
• Is comfortable working in an unstructured environment
• Is able to operate autonomously to achieve goals/objectives
• Is self-disciplined
• Is proficient with technology
• Efficiently uses time and resources to carry out objectives
• Resolves work-related problems quickly
• Takes full accountability for decisions, actions, and performance

Virtual Collaboration is Not For Everyone: The Characteristics of Top Performing Virtual Leaders and Team Members

Many organizations have migrated toward telecommuting and virtual work due to rising travel costs, a global customer base, and the dispersion of talent.  While numerous organizations have made significant investments in virtual teams and the technology to support them, a surprising number of virtual teams are not successful. 

OnPoint Consulting surveyed 48 virtual teams across industries and found that specific characteristics are required to lead and work effectively on virtual teams.  Unfortunately, many organizations do not put as much thought as they should into their team leader decisions. In fact, we often hear stories about team leaders who were selected based on availability or simply because they volunteered. Remember, leading a virtual team is a challenging task and requires a different skill set than leading a traditional co-located team.  

What are the characteristics that make top performing virtual leaders and virtual team members successful?  Our research identified several characteristics and behaviors that enable leaders and team members to work effectively in a virtual setting.

The most effective virtual team leaders are able to balance both the execution-oriented practices and the interpersonal, communication, and cultural factors that define virtual teams. Organizations should take time to select the individual with the appropriate skills—and not just go with the first person to volunteer or someone who already happens to lead a team. In addition, they should periodically assess their leaders’ effectiveness and provide them with targeted feedback about how they can enhance their performance. Great leaders will be happy to learn what they can do to keep improving.  

Organizations should also ensure that their virtual team members have the skills necessary to effectively collaborate from a distance. People who are motivated and are able to work in a self-directed manner, have a tolerance for ambiguity, are strong communicators, and are collaborative will be more effective on virtual teams.

An article in the June 2009 edition of BusinessWeek presented findings on what personality traits make for good virtual workers. While one might assume that introverted people would be more likely to thrive in a virtual setting, the study found that it was actually extroverts who fared best. Extroverted employees were more adept at finding ways to stay connected to others, despite their location. The study also showed that being structured and organized is essential for successfully working virtually.

Organizations generally need to make sure team members have the appropriate skills for tackling particular tasks. Laszlo Bock of Google says, “It is important to compose the team differently based on the problem the team needs to solve or address.” For example, the people chosen to help solve a detailed financial problem would most likely not be selected for a virtual team that’s created to tackle a customer satisfaction issue.

According to our study, the most important characteristics for virtual team members include strong communication and interpersonal skills, initiative, and flexibility.

As organizations begin to increase the use of virtual teams it’s important to understand that virtual teaming is not for everyone.  Understanding the characteristics necessary for succeeding in a virtual environment is very important.  Organizations and virtual team leaders would benefit from considering who needs to be on virtual teams to ensure that high quality decisions are made and across-the-board buy-in is achieved.

 

 

 

Bridging the Virtual Gap: It’s All About Developing New Habits

“We have modified our environment so radically that we must modify ourselves in order to exist in this new environment.”

-- Norbert Wiener, The Human Use of Human Beings

 “If there is an office in the future,” wrote Charles Handy in a 1995 Harvard Business Review article on virtual work, “it will be more like a clubhouse: a place for meeting, eating, and greeting, with rooms reserved for activities, not for particular people.” Admittedly, most organizations haven’t reached that point yet, but the way we work has certainly changed dramatically since Handy’s mid-1990s predictions. 

Many of the world’s major corporations are choosing to go virtual.  According to a study from Communications of the ACM conducted by Intel Corporation in April 2009, approximately two-thirds of the company’s employees were on virtual teams.

So, what has contributed to this dramatic shift in the way people work, and more specifically, the growing popularity of virtual workplaces? There are three important reasons.

First, organizations are looking for the best available talent, regardless of their geographic location, which has led them to use virtual collaboration. Today when forming teams, rather than rely on a group of people who are geographically closer but may not have the right expertise many companies strategically select talented individuals who have the appropriate skill set even though they may live thousands of miles apart.

The second reason for the prevalence of virtual teams is that that the emergence of a global economy has made it particularly challenging for organizations to quickly capitalize on shifts in the marketplace and bring new products to market, effectively innovate, and respond to customers’ needs. Having team members in various locations around the world enables organizations to better meet these challenges. 

What’s the third reason for the growing popularity of virtual workplaces?  Technology. There’s no denying that advances in technology now allow organizations to achieve greater levels of efficiency and cost savings. And every year, new technologies are introduced to make it even easier and more efficient for globally dispersed teams to work together no matter how far they are physically from one another. 

But it should be said that while new technologies certainly enable virtual team collaboration, technology should be viewed as one piece of a larger puzzle, rather than the “be all, end all” solution. Despite the optimism that improved technologies will continue to emerge over time, organizations will always need to balance their use of these technologies with the interpersonal and collaborative processes necessary to support virtual teamwork.

The Virtual Challenge

In a study conducted by our company, OnPoint Consulting, we found that many companies that had made significant investments in technology and virtual teams were not performing to their full potential.  In fact, the study found that more than 25 percent of the virtual teams were not fully performing.

The cause, we believe, is that organizations are approaching working on and leading virtual teams as if the dynamics are the same as those of team members who are working in the same location. By and large, companies do not take the steps necessary to ensure their virtual teams and their virtual team leaders are set up for success. 

But why is that the case?  Why don’t the practices and behaviors used effectively by managers for decades with co-located teams work just as well in a virtual environment?

To start with, managing virtually is less “forgiving” than managing teams that are co-located.  Because it’s harder to work in a virtual setting it’s more difficult to “get away with things” and managerial weaknesses can become more pronounced.  We believe there are three characteristics of managing in a virtual setting that impact the ability of managers to “just do what they’ve always done.”

The Lack of Face-to-Face Contact

While communication among members of co-located teams can be difficult, imagine the problems when people don’t have any visual cues.  Although management and communication experts have known about the impact eye contact and body language has on our understanding of what another person is saying, we don’t fully appreciate it until those elements are missing.  It turns out that “words” and “tone of voice” is only two-thirds of the communication.  The other critical element is visual cues.

This lack of contact also makes it more difficult to build personal relationships and establish trust.  A great deal of the knowledge we have about people and their interests and values is gained through spontaneous, informal interactions at the coffee break, during lunch, or during informal breaks when we “visit” with people to chat.  That type of spontaneous informal interaction is absent in a virtual setting and can be difficult to replicate.

The Reliance on Technology

Although technology has been a significant catalyst for virtual teams it also creates challenges of its own.  No matter how “rich” the technology is, it is not as “rich” or “natural” as face-to-face communication since there is still a lot of information that’s not getting through.

In addition, using technology requires more “cognitive effort.”  An example that illustrates this idea is learning to drive a car with a standard transmission.  When you are just learning to drive using a “stick shift” it feels very unnatural and you have to think about every move – when to release the gas pedal , when to step on the clutch, when to shift the gears, when to release the clutch, and when to step on the gas.  With practice the task becomes more automatic and the driver does not have to consciously think about each step. 

When it comes to using technology to work and collaborate virtually, many of us are still in the early stages of learning.

Time Zone Differences

As we’ve noted, one advantage of virtual teams is that organizations can source personnel where ever they may be.  This also presents a challenge for virtual leaders and teams.  Having team members in different time zone makes it difficult to collaborate and to involve people in decisions that affect them.  It also makes scheduling team v-meetings (virtual meetings) difficult (someone has to get up early or stay up late) and inhibits spontaneous interactions.

The challenge for virtual leaders and teams then is to bridge this “virtual gap” and diminish the impact distance has on collaboration and communication.

So What’s the Answer?

The good news is that there is no “secret sauce.”  There are no undiscovered skills being used by effective virtual team leaders and team members. But it’s not that simple. Our study found that although many of the skills are the same as with co-located teams, leading and working from a distance does require a significant change in behavior and habit.

Here are two examples of what we mean.  Most interactions among virtual team members are business related.  We’re not able to “bump into” people in a virtual setting to have the kind of informal conversations that help build relationships and trust.  One technique used by effective team leaders and members to bridge the “virtual gap” is to initiate a call or an instant message just to “chat.”  These calls or IMs are focused on topics that would be discussed in the coffee room or over lunch – family events, sports, weather, and current events.

The second is a significant increase in the use of active listening.  In co-located situations people have the advantage of visual cues and misunderstandings still occur even when active listening is being used.  Working without visual cues requires a dramatic increase in the use of these basic, yet powerful, communication skills.

The Bottom Line

Although many companies have made significant investments in virtual teams and the technology to support them, a surprising number of these teams do not reach their full potential. 

The real secret, however, is that there is not secret.  It’s not about a new management skill that makes working virtually possible. The best virtual leaders and team members understand this and have bridged the “virtual gap” by adjusting their behavior and work habits to accommodate the unique characteristics of their virtual environment.

 

The Profile of Success: Building High Performing Virtual Teams

Although many companies have made significant investments in virtual teams and the technology to support them, a surprising number of these teams do not reach their full potential.  A recent study conducted by OnPoint Consulting, and described in more detail in Virtual Team Success: A Practical Guide to Working and Leading From a Distance, surveyed 48 virtual teams across industries to identify specific practices associated with the most successful teams.

Eleven Virtual Team Success Factors

What is the profile of high performing virtual teams?  The factors that differentiate top virtual teams and recommendations for organizations that want to enhance the performance of their virtual teams are outlined below.

• Stable and consistent team membership. Less frequent changes in team membership provide greater stability and more time for members to focus on building lasting relationships.     
• Fewer team members. Teams that were less effective were disproportionately larger.
• Members are from the same function.  Cross-functional teams appear to face unique challenges and greater levels of complexity that inhibit performance in a virtual environment.
• Members are on fewer teams.  A greater number of team members on low performing teams reported participating on too many virtual teams, which hindered their overall effectiveness.
• Members have longer tenure.  Teams with more than three years tenure performed better, which suggests that they have had time to improve their communication and execution practices.  
• Face-to-face kick off meeting.  Teams who held an initial face-to-face meeting within the first 90 days achieved better performance than those who never met face-to-face.
• More frequent meetings. Sixty-three percent of high performing teams “met” at least once a week, compared to 29% of the less effective teams. 
• Leverage technology. Members of higher performing teams were more likely to report that they had the proper technology to facilitate working together.  Higher performing teams also used video conferencing more often.
• Provide skill training.  Teams who had more than four development sessions performed significantly better than those who had one or fewer sessions.
• Team leaders who are better able to lead from a distance.  Leaders of high performing teams appear to struggle less with building collaboration virtually, which was a key challenge reported by the lower performing team leaders. 
• Have more members reporting directly to the team leader. Direct reporting relationships with their team members facilitates communication, increases the likelihood of team members having shared goals and clear roles, and enhances the ability of the leader to follow through and hold people accountable. 

 Implications for Building High Performing Virtual Teams

There are five key actions organizations can take to enhance the performance of their virtual teams.

ORGANIZATIONS

• Ensure the right fit of skill to task when selecting virtual team leaders. The most effective virtual team leaders are able to balance the execution-oriented, interpersonal practices, and the cultural factors that are prevalent in virtual teaming.  Organizations should select team leaders based on the characteristics required to manage from a distance and periodically assess their effectiveness.

 

• Don’t take the team launch for granted—set teams up for success.  Organizations need to be thoughtful about team membership, team size, and ensure that teams have the appropriate resources to work together virtually.  For example, use criteria for virtual team member selection and consider who needs to be on the team to make high quality decisions and ensure buy-in.  If the team size becomes too large, have sub-teams work on specific issues and report back to the larger team.  When possible, conduct a face-to-face start-up meeting to discuss team purpose and goals, individual roles, learn more about each other, develop team norms, plan a communication strategy, and conduct team development activities.

 

• Develop reward strategies.  Organizations should implement programs that reward and recognize virtual teams for their collective performance (e.g., “spotlight” team members or celebrate successes virtually as a team).

 

• Foster accountability.  Team leaders and members should incorporate one or more virtual team responsibilities into their goals or personal development plan.  

 

• Assess team progress.  Regularly review virtual team communication and work processes to assess what things are working well and what might be improved.  Periodically collect feedback from stakeholders to assess the team’s performance, identify barriers to high performance, and steps to overcome these barriers. 

It’s important to remember that the factors that contribute to the success of a virtual team are not the same as those for a co-located team.  Organizations that incorporate the eleven success factors when forming virtual teams and follow the five recommendations for their ongoing development will find that their investment will pay off handsomely.

 

 

 

 

Five Ingredients For Virtual Success

"Globally linked virtual teams will transform every government and company in the world.  Any of our peers who don’t do it won’t survive."

-John Chambers, CEO, Cisco

Rising travel costs, coupled with the global dispersion of talent, are just some of the reasons that organizations have migrated toward telecommuting and virtual work.  While numerous organizations have made significant investments in virtual teams and the technology to support them, a surprising number of virtual teams are not reaching their full potential. 

OnPoint Consulting surveyed 48 virtual teams across industries and found that there are specific practices associated with successful virtual teams.  We were surprised to find that many of the virtual teams in our study struggled with fundamental issues such as not having clear roles and responsibilities or not having a shared process for decision making.  

What makes top performing virtual teams successful?  Our research identified five key ingredients for optimal virtual team performance:

Trust one another to get things done.  Trust is a top factor for virtual team success but task-based trust (a belief that team members will do their job) is especially difficult to develop when interactions among team members are infrequent and difficult to arrange.  Trust builds when people follow through on commitments and hold one another accountable for results.

Processes for communicating, decision making and problem solving.   Communication challenges are more pronounced in a virtual setting, especially when there is a lack of face-to-face contact and time zone barriers.  However, high performing virtual teams find ways overcome these challenges. Effective team leaders ensure that communication processes are established early on and revisited over time.  In addition, low performing virtual teams did not establish processes to facilitate problem solving and decision making.  

Leveraging others to get work done.   Successful virtual teams have figured out how to effectively collaborate from a distance.  For example. they involve team members and help one another achieve team goals rather than independently executing tasks and objectives.  If organizations invest time and resources in virtual teams, then it is important to capitalize on this and ensure that team members understand how to work together to achieve their goals.  Successful teams develop operating guidelines to help structure team communication.

Understand how their work aligns with the strategy of their organization. High performing virtual teams are clear about how their work contributes to the success of the organization. This is extremely important in a virtual environment where team members may feel isolated and it is common for team members to become disengaged.

Demonstrate a high level of initiative. Members of high performing teams are more proactive and engaged, and they demonstrate higher levels of initiative.  One way to do this is by creating a team charter to enhance commitment and accountability.  In addition, even though the majority of teams had dedicated team leaders, team members on high performing teams proactively took on leadership responsibilities as required. 

If organizations want to maximize their return on investment, they should ensure that these core practices are in place and continually evaluate the performance of their virtual teams against these factors to assess progress over time.   

 

 

 

Hello, Is Anybody Out There? Facilitating High Impact Virtual Meetings

OnPoint’s global research study on virtual collaboration identified the factors that differentiate high performing virtual teams, or a success profile of “what good looks like”.    One important differentiator was effective virtual meeting management, such that top performing teams have high-quality virtual meetings (v-meetings) and lower performing teams struggle with this.

Unfortunately, one of the biggest trouble spots for leaders is conducting virtual meetings and many leaders have never been trained on best practices for v-meeting management.  We hear stories all the time about marathon v-meetings—some even lasting a day—that quickly lose focus and end up being a waste of everyone’s time. Given that successful virtual meetings are essential to team performance, OnPoint Consulting offers the following tips and guidelines to help virtual leaders better manage v-meetings and improve their performance.

Tip #1: Prepare For the V-Meeting

Build an effective agenda.  In order to make the most of a v-meeting, it is important to outline what will happen before, during, and after the meeting.   First, determine who needs to attend and invite participants, giving them as much advance notice as possible.  At least several days before the meeting, send a meeting reminder with the agenda, any necessary materials, and information on technology that may be used.  

We hear about regularly scheduled v-meetings that are conducted without agendas or clear objectives, but they take place because they are on the calendar.  Poorly run meetings not only waste already scarce time, but they can also jeopardize the team’s ability to meet its deadlines.  This is especially true when people are on multiple virtual teams and need to better manage their time.

The medium matters.  Identify the appropriate technologies to support the meeting’s objectives by considering how much collaboration will be necessary and then determine the appropriate level of “richness.”  For example, email, which is a one-way medium, is generally best for tasks that require little collaboration such as information sharing. When teams need to solve complex problems or make decisions, technology such as videoconferencing or collaborative software tools, such as Hewlett-Packard’s Halo or Cisco’s TelePresence, are best.  Shared web-based conferencing tools like Webex or Gotomeetings have white board functionality that can be used to brainstorm a team’s ideas and polling questions that can be used to periodically solicit feedback and engage team members.  

Address time zone barriers.  One of the most common difficulties is finding a meeting time that works well for all team members, especially for global virtual teams whose members may span multiple time zones. Team members often complain of having to work longer hours—working at 10:00 pm or even getting up at 3:00 am—to accommodate their virtual teammates. Consider rotating the meeting time to accommodate team members in different time zones. 

Tip #2: Keep Virtual Meetings on Track

Minimize tangential discussions. How do top virtual leaders keep everyone on track during the meeting?  They are upfront with the team and tell them that staying on track is everyone’s responsibility. They are well-prepared, which makes the meeting more efficient.  They also use process intervention techniques when necessary to keep the team focused.   An example of this is interrupting a discussion to refocus the participants and/or rebalance group interactions.  While process intervention can be challenging in a virtual setting due to the lack of visual cues, it becomes critical to the success of a meeting.

Reinforce shared responsibility. Team members on high performing virtual teams often take on a facilitation role as needed.  Everyone takes responsibility for keeping the group on track, ensuring that time is well-managed, and that meeting objectives are being met. To reinforce the shared responsibility, have different people lead parts of the session.  If appropriate, rotate the facilitator role among team members.

Tip #3: Balance Tasks and Trust

Top performing virtual teams balance a focus on tasks with attention to building trust and communication which are particularly important for high performance.  

One common challenge on cross-cultural virtual teams is communication and language barriers, which can be a problem when people are not face-to-face.  Some virtual teams start the v-meeting with a “warm up” or informal, non work-related, conversations. These informal conversations help team members transition from their native language and listen to one another get accustomed to accents or unfamiliar pronunciations.  The warm-ups also allow people to get to know each other and help build trust.  

Consider a virtual team that had several members for whom English was a second language.  The team leader asked each team member to share a brief story or update in English at the beginning of each meeting which had positive results. Other virtual teams may use native translators to help clarify key messages and ensure that any cultural nuances are not lost when team members communicate with one another. 

THE BOTTOM LINE

We have witnessed numerous examples where poor meeting management led to virtual team performance issues. The good news is that by following a few simple tips, team leaders can facilitate high-impact virtual meetings and successfully lead from a distance.

 

Working Effectively in a Matrix: Tips for Building and Sustaining Cooperation

In a matrix organization—where people rely on getting work done through others over whom they have no direct authority—maintaining high levels of cooperation and coordination can be a challenge.  The findings of OnPoint’s 2011 Execution Gap study helps clarify the extent to which organizations struggle with this:

• Only 47% responded favorably to the item, “decisions and actions are well coordinated across departments/functions.”
• Only 49% responded favorably to the item, “decisions and actions are well coordinated across levels of management.”
• 40% do not believe that people cooperate across functions and departments to achieve their organization’s strategic objectives.
• 44% do not believe that people in different divisions readily share information, ideas, and best practices.

What can leaders do to encourage and sustain cooperation?  OnPoint’s research indicates that there are three key “cooperation builders” that are critical for success:

1. Improve Communication and Transparency: Two simple actions—not assuming people know what you are thinking and paraphrasing to check for understanding—can go a long way toward making communication transparent and help prevent communication-related missteps. 
2. Agree On When Cooperation Is Needed and What It Looks Like: Although the process of discussing roles and agreeing on “when and how” to work together takes time, it is well worth the investment.  Formally and explicitly working out roles at the early stage of a team’s formation, or whenever a lack of cooperation is noticed, helps preserve trust and enhances productivity.
3. Align Interests and Establish Common Ground: When the objectives of one person or group are at odds with the objectives of another, cooperation suffers. To facilitate alignment, leaders must develop compatible and mutually supportive objectives in a thoughtful and explicit manner.  One approach is to develop a set of broader, collective objectives for a team or work unit, then review the task objectives for specific individuals or groups and ensure that they are consistent with and mutually supportive of the collective objectives. 

While these cooperation builders provide a foundation to encourage collaboration, they won’t eliminate disagreements about what, when, and how to do things.  In order to sustain cooperation and collaboration in a global matrix structure, leaders must gain the support of others for their ideas and constructively resolve differences across organizational boundaries.  Therefore, it is essential for today’s leaders to hone their influence and conflict management skills. 

Leaders who focus on these areas will have much greater success in creating a culture of cooperation and achieving their business objectives in today’s matrix organizations.