A team consisting of people working remotely needs a strong and capable manager in order to deliver the expected results. A manager who can be responsible for the timely completion of projects, delivery of services, and high quality of products is even more important for a virtual team than a traditional one. The members of a virtual team need to feel trust as well as support from him. How can a manager provide it? Beware of the most common mistakes of virtual teams' managers as highlighted in a recent article on the HR Zone website.
1. Insufficient manager activity
Managers of virtual teams must regularly communicate with their team members at all levels. They cannot assume that all team members properly understand their tasks and objectives. They must be prepared to answer questions and continuously monitor the progress in fulfilling the tasks.
2. Stagnation of the team
Virtual team members need clear responsibilities and clear deadlines for their tasks. If they do not know exactly what they should do and when, they begin to stagnate and may jeopardize the entire project. Manager must also know what and when to check.
3. Preferring technology over people
A good virtual team manager does not forget that there are not only machines, but people, working for him. He should regularly communicate with them over the phone so that they can hear each other's voices and talk about work-related issues personally. Relying on technology alone is not enough.
4. Favoring some workers
It often happens that the manager personally know only some members of his team or that he chooses only some of them. He trusts these people and, since he lacks personal contact with the others, tends to favor them. Trusting only some people may backfire. Each virtual team manager should have a tool to evaluate the performance of his team members objectively. He should also communicate with everybody and distribute tasks systematically.
5. Insufficient communication
If there is not enough communication in a virtual team, the team can't achieve anything. Communication needs to be frequent and better targeted than in traditional teams. The manager should have a communication plan prepared, including tools for conflict resolution, procedures for delegating tasks and a common calendar. The plan should also clearly define workers' responsibilities for maintaining mutual communication and procedures for delivering completed tasks.
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