Skills 360 – Managing Virtual Teams (Part 2)

Discussion Questions

1. What are your preferred technologies for online communication?

2. How much flexibility do you think people should have in setting their own work hours?
3. Ideally, what percentage of time do you want to be in the office as opposed to
working remotely?

Transcript

Hello and welcome back to the Skills 360 podcast. I’m your host, Tim Simmons, and
today I want to discuss how to manage virtual teams.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, there were a lot of doubts about whether people
could be truly productive working from home. Well, guess what we discovered when
workplaces went virtual? People are not just as productive while working remotely,
many are more productive. With no travel time, back-to-back meetings, and less
time at the water cooler, many people get more done working from home.

That doesn’t mean we never have to worry about accountability for remote workers.
But measures to ensure accountability have to be counterbalanced by systems that
allow workers some autonomy and control over their workflow. Post-pandemic,
many workers are simply unwilling to return to a rigid style of management. So we
need to find the sweet spot between structure and flexibility. And we need to
support that balance with the right technology and systems.

In our last lesson, I underlined the importance of good communication and meetings
for virtual teams. And that requires the right tools. Popular videoconferencing
software includes Zoom, MS Teams, and Webex. Make sure you explore the pros and
cons of these platforms and consider the features you truly need.

A lot of companies made a quick pivot early in the pandemic to a particular platform,
without too much deliberation. If that’s the case, it may be time to reconsider and
take a more analytical approach. Even if you stick with what you’ve been using, have
a close look at how you’re using it. Many teams established norms and conventions
very quickly but never evaluated their effectiveness.

Besides videoconferencing, many teams rely on communication software like Slack,

project management software like Basecamp or Asana, and CRMs like Salesforce or
HubSpot. The right tools can really up your virtual collaboration game. The wrong
tools can be a major obstacle to productivity, not to mention a pain in the neck for
employees.

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To choose the right tools, start by assessing your own needs and talking to your
employees about their preferences. Then look for the platform or suite of tools that
matches those needs and preferences. Many companies resist switching tools
because of the sunk costs and the fundamental challenges of change management.
But if they’re the wrong tools, then you’re just throwing good money after bad. And
the opportunity cost – in terms of improved productivity - far outweighs the sunk
costs over anything beyond the short-term.

Organizing your virtual workplace depends not just on technologies, but also on
systems and processes. This is where the balance between autonomy and
standardization is key.

When it comes to scheduling, you probably don’t need everyone at their desk every
day from 9 to 5. Consider allowing people some discretion in setting the hours they
work, particularly as they may be working around domestic schedules. But you do
want people’s work hours to overlap, so they can collaborate, solve problems, and
get information from each other quickly.

As for process, it’s very important to be clear on standard operating procedures. In

the virtual workplace, it’s harder for people to get quick answers. So clarify tasks
and processes, not just goals and roles. A good system of processes and procedures
will reduce the need for oversight and help employees when they’re missing the
continual daily feedback and input that is easy to get in the physical office.

When you go about designing policies and processes, be sure to consider equity and
fairness. Many companies are rushing to implement new hybrid work models or
operating procedures without understanding how different employees may be
impacted differently. People can become very resentful if they feel they’re
disadvantaged or inconvenienced compared to others. And in this day and age, when
competition for talent is so fierce, you can’t afford that resentment.

One final thing I can’t emphasize enough when it comes to platforms and systems
for virtual teams is training. Throwing a new project management tool at your team
without the right support is not going to improve productivity. And remember that
different people need different degrees of training and support. And that training and
support shouldn’t be a one-time affair. It’s an ongoing endeavor.

Without a doubt, virtual teams are here to stay. And we’ve looked at many ways to
ensure the success of your virtual team as a manager. To support good relationships
and effective collaboration, you need effective communication and great meetings.
To support all these things, you need the right technology and systems. And
remember that the right balance between structure and flexibility can ensure
productivity, effectiveness, and job satisfaction.

That’s all for today. So long. And see you again soon!

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Vocabulary

Virtual team: work teams that meet and collaborate using online tools rather than in
person; “We’ve put together a virtual team of people from different parts of the
country to lead this policy review project.”

Productive: working hard and achieving good results; “After so long working form
my quiet home, I find it difficult to be productive in a loud and busy office
environment.”

To work remotely: to work from home or other place away from a company office,
using technological communication and tools; “About half our team is in the office
every day and the other half works remotely.”

Back-to-back: happening one after another with no break; “I’ve got back-to-back
meetings all day, so I’m sorry but I don’t even have time for a quick phone call with
you.”

Water cooler: the situation or place in an office where people talk informally; “Hey
Brian, I heard around the water cooler yesterday that you’re off to Hawaii on
vacation next week?”

Accountability: the willingness to accept responsibility for work or actions; “When

the CEO blamed the government and the competition for the problems, the media
said we have an accountability problem.”

Counterbalance: to have an effect that is opposite to something else; “I always try

to be very happy and positive in staff meetings to counterbalance some of the
negative attitude of others.”

Autonomy: independence or the power to make your own decisions; “As the only
sales rep in the western region, I have a lot of autonomy in my work and can pursue
opportunities as I see fit.”

Workflow: the system of processes in which people get work done; “A consultant has
looked at our factory workflow and identified some places where we could do better.”

Post-pandemic: after a pandemic, which is a situation where many people in a

country or the world are affected by a disease; “The post-pandemic workplace is
going to look very different, as many companies downsize their offices and adjust
layouts.”

Rigid: hard or inflexible; “Is this template for proposals rigid, or am I allowed to
change up some of the sections and formatting?”

Sweet spot: the ideal place or best combination of factors; “We’re still trying to
figure out the sweet spot for staffing levels, where we have just enough but not too
many employees.”

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To underline: to emphasize; “Of all these factors in the economy, I just want to
underline inflation as probably the biggest problem right now.”

Pros and cons: advantages and disadvantages; “After listing the pros and cons of
moving to a new office space, we realized that there were just too many problems
with the idea.”

Pivot: a change in the direction of something such as a policy or work focus; “Many
people forget that Netflix started as a DVD delivery service, before they made a
smart pivot to streaming services.”

Deliberation: careful thinking; “This job opportunity in Spain looks amazing, but
after a lot of deliberation I’ve decided to turn it down and stay in Chicago.”

To stick with: to continue to do or use something; “So, do we want to stick with

Asana for project management or make a switch to Monday.com?”

Norms and conventions: typical or standard ways of doing something; “As soon as I
joined the company, I could see that the norms and conventions for meetings are
much clearer and structured than the start-up I used to work in.”

To evaluate: to carefully assess something’s quality or how someone is performing;

“An employee performance review is a chance for managers to evaluate how their
employees are doing and make goals for the coming year.”

CRM: customer relations management, software that helps a business organize its
relationships with customers or clients; “We got by with spreadsheets for a long
time, but we’re big enough now that I think we need to invest in a good CRM.”

To up your game: to improve the way you do something; “Pursuing an MBA can help
you build a business network and really up your game as a manager.”

Pain in the neck: something frustrating or annoying; “Most of the people I manage
are really easy to work with, but Jordan is a pain in the neck with all his demands
and complaints.”

To assess: to carefully consider something to make a judgment; “I see this budget

review as a good chance to assess our costs and figure out how we might save some
money.”

Suite: a set or related computer programs or tools; “With Microsoft 365, you can get
the entire suite of Office tools online.”

Sunk costs: money that has already been spent and can’t be recovered; “I know
we’ve got over a million in sunk costs on this project, but I still think cancelling it is
a good idea.”

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Fundamental challenges: the main or basic problems in something; “One of the
fundamental challenges of working from home is creating very clear boundaries
around your time.”

To throw good money after bad: to continue spending more money on something
that will only fail; “It’s clear this payroll system isn’t working for us, so let’s stop
throwing good money after bad and just find another one.”

Opportunity cost: the benefit that could be gained but is given up to choose a
different course of action; “Yes, we can pull Dan out of marketing to help with this
project, but the opportunity cost is that his skills won’t be available to marketing.”

Standardization: the process of making all things of a certain type have the same
features or quality; “With so many different approaches to client management, we’re
looking at greater standardization to ensure quality.”

9 to 5: normal or standardized work hours for many offices; “Yeah, if you like the 9
to 5 life you can work with a big company, or you could work for yourself and have
more flexibility.”

Discretion: the right or ability to make decisions; “We allow our consultants a lot of
discretion in choosing which clients they want to work with.”

Domestic schedule: the schedule of someone’s home or family life; “As a single
parent of three teenagers, I have a very busy domestic schedule.”

To collaborate: to work together; “Because we don’t have all the skills we need for
this project, we’re looking to collaborate with another business on it.”

Standard operating procedures: a process or set of activities used by workers to

complete a task; “Changing standard operating procedures in our Kansas factory
required us to provide a lot of training to our workers.”

Oversight: the process or responsibility for making sure something happens correctly
or that workers perform; “Having all my employees fill out timesheets and track
their activities each day makes oversight a lot easier.”

Equity: justice, or equal outcomes for people; “With a strong commitment to gender
equity, our company provides equal pay to men and women.”

Hybrid work model: an arrangement where some people work virtually some of the
time, and in person at other times; “Some people are concerned that this new hybrid
work model will reward people in the office more than people who work from home.”

Impacted: affected; “Workers around the world are deeply impacted by inflation,
and smart companies are responding by raising wages.”

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Resentful: feeling angry or upset because of unfair or disrespectful treatment; “I
started getting very resentful when I realized I was working harder than my
colleagues but getting paid the same.”

In this day and age: in current times or today; “In this day and age, leadership is
about much more than just telling people what to do and showing strength.”

Fierce: tough or strong or involving very strong feelings; “With three new players in
our market, there’s fierce competition for customers.”

To throw something at someone: to introduce a new tool or process for people

without too much preparation or support; “Can we get some training on this new
email system or are you just going to throw it at us without any support?”

Degrees of: levels of; “We’re seeing very different degrees of worker happiness at
our two offices, resulting from different management styles.”

One-time affair: something that happens just once, rather than repeatedly or
continuously; “I like this big party as a show of appreciation, but I’m curious is it a
one-time affair or an ongoing change in our culture?”

Ongoing endeavor: an activity or project that continues over time; “Improving

workplace respect is an ongoing endeavor, not something you can just fix and then
forget about.”

Here to stay: continuing to exist for a long time; “I know some of you don’t like this
new dress code policy, but it’s here to stay so you’d better get used to it.”

Job satisfaction: how happy or satisfied someone is at their work; “Our recent
employee survey shows that job satisfaction has gone up since we improved our
benefits plan.”

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Review

1. When managing virtual teams, it’s very important to find the right balance
between __________ and __________.
A accountability / blame
B policy / process
C structure / flexibility
D autonomy / independence

2. If you made a quick pivot to online work platforms early in the pandemic, then
you should probably…
A …switch to something different.
B …let your employees know that you’ll be continuing to do so.
C …change back to your previous ways of working.
D …carefully evaluate how you’re using these platforms.

3. When choosing the right tools and technologies for your virtual team, you
should… Select all that apply:
A …talk to employees about their preferences.
B …differentiate yourselves from the competition.
C …assess your team’s needs.
D …prioritize the newest or latest technologies.

4. When organizing work schedules with virtual teams, what is probably NOT a
good idea?
A Ensure overlap between people’s schedules.
B Give some flexibility for individuals to set their own schedules.
C Create s system that supports collaboration.
D Ask everyone to work the same hours in a day.

5. Which of the following is a way of reducing the need for oversight when
managing a virtual team?
A Create a good system of processes and procedures.
B Allow employees to set their own schedules.
C Provide multiple channels of communication.
D Pay competitive wages.

6. Which of the following should you consider when designing policies and
processes with virtual teams? Select all that apply:
A Training and support.
B Equity and fairness.
C Standardizing work schedules.
D Differences between employees.
E Speed and cost savings.

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Review Answers

1. When managing virtual teams, it’s very important to find the right balance
between __________ and __________.
C structure / flexibility

2. If you made a quick pivot to online work platforms early in the pandemic, then
you should probably…
D … carefully evaluate how you’re using these platforms.

3. When choosing the right tools and technologies for your virtual team, you
should… [choose 2]
A … talk to employees about their preferences.
C … assess your team’s needs.

4. When organizing work schedules with virtual teams, what is probably NOT a
good idea?
D Ask everyone to work the same hours in a day.

5. Which of the following is a way of reducing the need for oversight when
managing a virtual team?
A Create a good system of processes and procedures.

6. Which of the following should you consider when designing policies and
processes with virtual teams? [choose all that apply]
A Training and support.
B Equity and fairness.
D Differences between employees.
E Speed and cost savings.

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