Creating the Capacity for Thriving in a Virtual World

While virtual workplaces are becoming more ubiquitous, relatively few people have what it takes to collaborate closely from afar. Some people assume that great management skills are easily transferable to a virtual world. (And they’d be wrong!) Others are overwhelmed when just thinking about how hard it can be to cultivate the needed skills and competencies. (And they’d be partially right.)

What's really so different about collaborating in a virtual world? For starters, we have less time and fewer opportunities to galvanize and mobilize team members. Building trust among people who have never met is tough enough. One small misstep can take months to repair. Motivating people we can't see is hard work, especially when many priorities compete for their attention. Keeping people engaged requires a lot of energy and careful communications planning.

Even though virtual meetings have become commonplace, practice doesn’t make perfect for most organizations. The usual tripwires: Unrealistic, irrelevant agendas, lack of agreed-upon norms, failure to prepare, unclear roles, failure to enforce ground rules, and chronic multitasking among participants.

Guided Insights helps virtual teams work together more effectively. Whether you need help designing and facilitating a virtual meeting, jump-starting a global project, or navigating through cross-cultural differences, you can turn to Guided Insights.

Challenges associated with virtual teams:

Many people are not yet acquainted, trust is harder to create
Many virtual teams have no obvious leader
Tend to include diversity of perspectives, functions, cultures, ways of thinking
May span several time zones
Many participate part-time, with conflicting priorities
Interdependencies tend to be interwoven, and not always obvious
Members often use different templates, tools, ways of sharing information
…And much more

Success factors for virtual (a.k.a.) remote meetings:

Need to be brief, concise and action-packed
Participants must be fully engaged or they will quickly move onto to other tasks
It’s hard to interpret verbal cues, such as tone of voice or silence
Operating principles, or ground rules, are tougher to enforce
More preparation is required to create a level playing field so all can participate fully from the start
Multiple communication channels need to accommodate different cultures, personalities and communication styles
…And much more

effective face-to-face meetings, remote meetings, organizational communications

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“As a facilitator and webinar leader I continue to learn from Nancy’s unmatched ability to engage participants by building trust, creating a rich learning environment and asking searching questions. I continue to recommend Nancy unreservedly to my clients.” Julia Young, Facilitate.com