Get Out the Universal Remote.
Do you know where your Virtual team is? Have you utilized virtual team building strategies to set up your team? Your virtual team can consist of colleagues located across the street, across the country or across the ocean. This is where building a virtual team is required.
If you answered YES to these questions, then you are in the majority, thanks to the relentless march of technology and globalization. The building blocks of superior team performance – communicating across cultures and time zones, establishing trust and accountability, managing conflict and handling deliverables – need to be in sync. As a leader you manage that process, and creating a roadmap is how to do it. Follow Yael’s guidelines to generate your own ROADMAP, and your virtual journey through a complex maze will be successful.
Yael understands that when you manage employees you rarely, if ever, see unique problems arise. Her expertise in managing virtual team performance and running successful virtual meetings will make you a more effective global leader.
Virtual Team Building Strategies = Going On A Road Trip!
“Virtual Team, whether across the street or across the world, is a team whose members simultaneously work together on a common purpose while
physically apart.”
Yael Zofi
A Manager’s Guide to Virtual Teams
p. 7
Setting up your virtual team is easy – right? Unfortunately, many teams flounder and ultimately fail, because they were not set up right. Common complaints include: “We don’t have a way of working together and communicating as a team.”
“I don’t know what my role is or what others do exactly, so I’m not sure whom to go to for answers.”
“Our team was never set-up right in the first place. There’s a lot of tension on our team right now, because everyone has different expectations and there’s no way to communicate that.”
Building a virtual team is like preparing for your road trip. Plan where you are going and what to bring for the ride. If possible, do a test drive.
Put your best foot forward as you start your journey:
- Determine your TEAM DESTINATION (purpose, mission, and goals) and clarify your DESTINATION to all the team members.
- Develop a TEAM CODE (communication, response, contact protocols, conflict management and information sharing). The TEAM CODE should ideally be simple, so that the potential for misunderstanding is reduced).
- Articulate RULES OF THE ROAD (overriding team operations structure).
- Be prepared to REALIGN your team as needed.
In order to determine your Team Destination, ask yourself:
- What are you charged with accomplishing?
- Who are your stakeholders?
- What will success look like?
- Who should be part of my team?
Now you have an itinerary! Start your roadtrip and lock your team GPS system to navigate industry highways, business detours and occasional back roads.
