Virtual Leadership: Empower Distributed Augmented Teams
How to maximize collaboration and productivity when managing a globally distributed workforce
Nowadays, it’s not just the data that’s distributed! The appeal, and necessity, for businesses to build and work with distributed teams is on the rise, and all indications are that this remote working trend will continue to grow.
Executives need to learn how to communicate and work effectively with remote teams in order to take advantage of the exceptionally creative and engineering talent a distributed team can provide to any organization.
What is Virtual Leadership?
Virtual leadership refers to leadership in geographically and/or temporally dispersed work environments, mediated via information and communication technologies such as e-mail and videoconferencing.
(Cascio, 2000; Hertel et al., 2005)
Why is it so important?
Employees are the lifeblood of an organization. A company’s success rides on its employees. Hence, it is important that the employee's state of mind, motivation, and productivity are a company’s top priority.
But managing a distributed team is no piece of cake. Difficulty in collaboration and lack of motivation are two significant challenges witnessed by employees working remotely.
How is Distributed Team different from ODC?
While taking recent few interviews, I came across the same question again and again from various candidates asking about how is our team — with members across multiple locations — is different from a conventional ODC a.k.a. Offshore Development Center.
Before we get too far into the topic, I wanted to quickly address their definitions, as the terms are dissimilar, yet often confused. ODC team means you would be dealing with TWO teams viz. Offshore & Onshore, while Distributed team means only ONE team!
ODC is a model that allows customers to get their own development centers in other countries. The team employed is based on the client’s requirement that will plan, research, analyze, design, and manage tasks in close cooperation with the client’s headquarters via their on-shore counterparts.
Distributed Team, on the other hand, refers to multiple collaborating members that are not co-located at one physical site. A very important aspect of distributed working — and one that often leads to failure if you neglect it — is making sure that “everyone is treated in the same way”. You cannot create a ‘headquarters’ or ‘home country’ team and treat all the others as part of a remote team.
Ways in which you can get the ball rolling with distributed teams?
Set Up Effective Communication Systems and Protocols
According to the Harvard Business Review, “Remote communication can distort the normal pace of our conversations”.
By taking advantage of user-friendly communication protocols, businesses working with remote teams can reduce the disconnect that often comes with virtual distance.
Also, pay attention to the words used in communications. The words like outsourcing and offshoring often provoke many different reactions and hence should be avoided!
Give qualified work
Demonstrate that your distributed team is not an experiment, but a long-term vision. I’m not sure about other countries, but in India, developers prefer to work on challenging tasks that require excellent skills. Hence, make sure the teammates do not get the feeling of any bias in the quality of work allocated.
Build a relationship based on trust
Trust is one of the best investments a company can make which can guarantee the best returns. According to Harvard Business Review, employees in high-trust organizations are highly motivated, have more energy at work, collaborate better with their colleagues, and stay with their employers longer than people working at low-trust companies.
The managers should make a genuine effort to know each member of their team on a personal level. While extroverts may love to jump on a video call, the introverts in the team may prefer not more than 2 weekly video calls. Know your team and adjust accordingly. Make them feel a part of one unified team.
Recognize great work
According to HubSpot, 69% of employees say they would invest more effort in their work if their efforts were recognized better.
A lack of recognition remains one of the most common reasons why employees quit their job. Our fundamental need as humans is to feel valued and appreciated.
It is a known fact that there is a direct correlation between increased recognition from managers and the motivation levels of employees. Recognition can work wonders when motivating offshore teams. Thus as a manager, your goal should be to create a work culture that thrives on appreciation and recognition.
Make your team events Inclusive
Include the team in corporate events (meetings, strategic sessions, team-building activities, etc.). Treat everyone in your team as an integral part of the company.
Respect their time
Your teammates are possibly located in different time zones and continents. Communication can be a challenge in such cases. Remember that they will not be available 24*7. Respect their time!
Don’t keep them up for a task till late as while for you, the day may have just started but for them, it’s the end.
Make an effort to provide them with a good work-life balance. Cut out unnecessary meetings and calls. Consider establishing multiple touchpoints with your team.
Implement an open-door policy
An open-door policy literally means leaving the office door “open”. The CEOs, managers, and presidents of the company should practice this kind of communication policy in order to encourage openness and transparency with the employees. As a manager, you should strive to create an open culture where employees can talk, share ideas, and concerns freely with each other and with their managers.
Conclusion
A company’s success is largely dependent on its employees who are the lifeline of any organization. As a manager, being miles away from your team shouldn’t deter you from keeping them inspired. Make an effort to include employee satisfaction as a part of the company’s overall business strategy.
One final bit of advice is to never stop learning and embracing cultural differences! Managing remote and culturally diverse teams is a huge challenge, but with that challenge comes satisfaction and learning opportunities for not only just the executives but the individual team members as well.
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