Leading Your Virtual Team With Empathy
Epic Intentions is an interdisciplinary society of Georgia Tech student consultants who aid local nonprofits through semester-long design projects. These projects allow students to leverage and expand their skills in a real-world context while solving challenges facing our nonprofit partners, allowing them to focus resources on fulfilling their missions.
The world is in chaos. Everyone is stressed. We are working in new, confusing, and exciting ways, but are we actually working well? Virtual team members report experiencing a number of challenges related to feelings of isolation and burnout, difficulties with collaborating across time zones, and dealing with distractions while working from home. These situations cause feelings of frustration, anger, and resentment among team members which deteriorate team bonds, mental health, and productivity. To avoid these unhealthy conditions, it is essential to lead with empathy.
What is empathy?
Empathy is awareness of other people’s feelings and emotions. It’s putting yourself in someone else’s shoes. It’s also a two-way street — empathy requires a reciprocal connection of openness, trust, and vulnerability.
This dynamic can be difficult to establish and maintain in a virtual setting for a number of reasons. Getting to know new team members you have never met in-person can be awkward. In attempts to separate work from home, team members may be less willing to engage in personal or social discussions, preferring to focus on work during virtual meetings and avoiding unnecessary communication outside of work hours. Team members may also be hesitant to share their feelings and personal experiences in front of everyone.
Building A Connection
Leading with empathy requires a strong foundation built over time — it is your responsibility to break down barriers and foster a sense of understanding and care among team members.
Set aside meeting time to check-in with your team. This can be informative (sharing recent highs and lows, sharing how you feel in general or about a certain topic, etc) or entertaining (sharing funny media, sharing the last song you listened to, etc).
Frequent, short check-ins where each team member speaks enables the team to quickly get an idea of how others feel and what they experience. Reinforce these bonds by encouraging discussions to continue in your team’s group chat/messaging channel.
How does a leader use empathy?
Here are some ways to show team members they are valued and supported as we adjust to new ways of working.
Prioritize Health and Well-Being
As previously mentioned, different time zones and home environments affect virtual work — an empathetic leader considers these factors. Schedule meetings and other team events in a way that accommodates different time zones (no one wants to stay up for a 3am meeting!).
Work around personal situations. For example, if someone’s partner has an important virtual meeting or their child has a virtual school event, they may prefer meeting at a different time or participating via text instead of voice.
Although it is impossible to accommodate everyone all the time, learning these small details, being flexible, and providing support resources can reduce stress and distractions, keeping team members focused on the project.
Inspire Confidence
Choose words and actions that make your team feel comfortable, and tap into individual motivations and goals to keep everyone encouraged. This is especially important when the team is facing challenges or setbacks. Instead of placing blame or focusing on the negatives, use active listening to put yourself in the team members’ shoes and figure out why these roadblocks are happening and how to overcome them. In these situations, consider reaching out to team members individually, since they may be uncomfortable voicing their frustrations and problems publicly.
Find Balance with Objectivity
While understanding different emotions and perspectives is an important part of motivating and guiding a successful team, effective decisions cannot be made with pure emotion. Instead, use empathy as a guide for decisions — anticipate how your team may react to a situation, know what questions to ask to get the information you need, and explore possible outcomes or solutions through different perspectives. Empathy should enhance data and rational analysis, not overtake them.
Conclusion
According to leadership expert Colleen Ryan, “empathy is a critical skill for effective leadership for one, simple reason — trust. If your employees don’t trust you, you are not a leader; you are just a manager.” Leading with empathy demonstrates reliability and trustworthiness and shows team members that you have what it takes to make everyone succeed.
