Leading Virtual Teams in a Crisis

Given the potential slowdown in the US after two years of continuous shocks, remote work remains attractive to many employees and is also an important retention tool. When working with employees who are remote/virtual, leaders require different skills to maintain worker engagement and productivity, make decisions quickly, and communicate effectively.

Research by The Conference Board on the DNA of Engagement has identified 12 behaviors of highly engaging leaders that can be tailored for virtual teams:

1. Reinforcing the organization’s vision. Reminding employees of the compelling vision and values of the organization may be especially important during challenging and stressful times.
2. Communicating with transparency to bring people along. Communicate with urgency; employees have questions and need reassurance quickly.
3. Setting a clear direction for what’s ahead. With many teams working remotely, setting direction and guidance becomes more critical, even as work becomes more challenging to navigate.
4. Creating a virtual team contract to maintain work standards and boundaries. Team leaders can alleviate anxiety by creating a virtual team contract that sets clear boundaries and guidelines and shares new metrics of success.
5. Maintaining a sense of urgency around the things that matter most. One hallmark of a strong crisis leader is the ability to adapt and prioritize.
6. Seeking feedback and empowering individuals and teams. When working in a shared office, it is easy to stop by a cubicle or gather as a team to provide feedback and ideas, but this requires scheduled brainstorming in a remote environment.
7. Maintaining trust and integrity through a focus on well-being. A focus on health and safety during the pandemic is critical as employees struggle with the multitude of changes, both professional and personal.
8. Inspiring innovation through new tools and technologies. To prioritize the productivity of virtual teams, team leaders should check to see whether every team member is aware of the organization’s available communication and collaboration tools and consider individual or team tech training to ensure everyone is comfortable using them.
9. Fostering collaboration by encouraging employees to be themselves. Informal “watercooler” conversations have a powerful impact on team dynamics and creating opportunities to virtually replicate these interactions can have positive effects on the team.
10. Using this time to personalize relationships and experiences. Remember that this crisis will affect workers differently so tailor messaging and support to individual needs.
11. Continuing to provide rewards and recognition. Take the time to recognize employees who are going above and beyond for customers or other team members to keep motivation and an ownership spirit strong.
12. Driving personal development in a virtual environment. Leaders must provide learning opportunities so that employees can remain effective in a virtual environment and continue to develop new skills, even while adjusting to the recent changes required by the crisis.

For more insights on how to deploy these strategies under adverse economic circumstances, see the following article written April 24, 2020, HC Management During COVID-19: Leading Virtual Teams in a Crisis, containing tactics and examples that are still applicable today.