3 T’s to Creating High Performing Virtual Teams

Creating high performing virtual teams across your organization takes time, energy, and intentionality.

Leading high performing virtual teams takes many different skills and resources, and here are a few to get you started.

Trust

This starts with the leader, but includes trust in all team members.

Trust isn’t just about team members trusting and believing in each other; it is also about their leaders trusting them and demonstrating that trust.

This is something that is communicated over time and is reinforced by having clear priorities and deliverables, communicated accountability structures, and having visibility into each other’s work. This allows for viewing into the work that is being done without needing to micromanage the day to day.

Targets

Everyone on a team needs to understand the target or goal, and their role in meeting that.

Identify and communicate what the team’s priorities are, as well as individual priorities. Make this a dialogue between Core Leaders and their team members.

And identify how to celebrate progress that is being made along the way and when a target is hit. Get to know your team members. Some may want a team shout-out to celebrate their work, while others may appreciate a small gift or handwritten card as a “thank you.”

Each team member is a unique individual. Understanding each one and how to recognize their wins in a way they value, will go a long way in team morale. It also helps to communicate that they are part of something bigger, especially when teams are not all co-located.

Tools

Some organizations have/had the capability in place to have teams work virtually without missing a beat. For others, this may be a new or first-time experience.

Look into the tools that are needed for teams to be able to communicate and manage workflow effectively, and establish best practices for using those tools.

Think through how you’ll keep track of workflow, and consider platforms like Monday.com or Asana.

Consider how you’ll have asynchronous communication, and consider platforms like Slack, Jabber, or MS Teams.

And identify where you’ll store and give access to documents, and look into platforms like One Hub, Box, or Dropbox.

Evaluate and assess what is working well and what could be improved.

At the center of creating high performing virtual teams are Core Leaders, who either formally lead these teams or play a critical role.

For each of these three areas of trust, targets, and tools, consider how to continue to support your Core Leaders as they support their teams.