3 tips for focusing your virtual team
~ July 5th, 2010Having managed virtual teams in the past, one of the key challenges I faced was engaging my team and ensuring they were consistently focused on the behaviors and actions need to achieve our objectives. As managers, we’re judged based on our team’s results so ensuring that your team is aligned and your blind spots are minimized is paramount!
Here are a few simple techniques that can have a tremendous impact:
- Have regular 1:1s. In the remote world there are no water cooler chats. No break-room conversations. This means that keeping up to date with what your people are working on requires both of you to make an effort! First step: set aside 15 on your calendar at least every 2 weeks to sync-up. Talk about:
- activities
- accomplishments
- blockers
- upcoming deliverables.
Deb Richardson from Mozilla recently outlined a great strategy for having 1:1’s. This shouldn’t be a micro-management activity….rather the process should be collaborative with both parties contributing to the discussion. The key is staying in sync. All too often we assume that when our people are out of sight and not asking for help that everything is just fine. Stay focused!
Bonus technique: when having 1:1’s with remote employees use a video conferencing solution like Skype. The extra human touch will add a high value personal dimension to the interaction.
- Share recognition. Ken Blanchard’s classic business book, The One Minute Manager, talks about feedback on results being the #1 motivator of people. Unfortunately, with remote team members it’s easy to overlook the small but important things people do to drive results for the business: delivering above and beyond customer service to a key client, or going out of your way to help a colleague meet a deadline are both behaviors than can easily go unrecognized. As a manager, missing out on these moments not only means you’re losing opportunities to motivate the individual with some well-time kudos, but you’re also missing out on opportunities to demonstrate to the rest of your team what desired behavior looks like!
So the next time you hear of any recognizable action, share it with the rest of your team. Not only will you help engage them but you’ll be helping to set the performance bar ever-higher!
- Use feedback to make virtual life better. From the mail room to the executive suite, every employee in your company has ideas on how their team or organization can work better together. This goes double for remote employees who sometimes struggle to stay connected to the mother ship. From web conferencing techniques to weekly team email updates, as a manager, your responsibility is to get these insights out into the open where you can act on them! So how do you do this? ASK! For example, every month consider asking your team for ONE suggestion to improve visibility and communication across the group (refer to my post on making one thing your superpower for more insight into this technique).
By revealing these operational blind spots and incorporating even small recommendations into your routine, you’ll notice tremendous results and productivity gains with each passing month!
Additional Resources
There are certainly no shortage of resources out there to help managers understand how best to manage and connect with remote team members. Some focus on a comprehensive list of principles and strategies, while others offer a few quick tips.
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