The Real Challenges of Virtual Working |
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Published on Friday, the 19th of March 2010 |
As technology facilitates remote working, home working and virtual teams, so the nature of employment itself is changing. Whereas once workers took on roles over the long term, exchanging their efforts and allegiance in return for a steady pay cheque and a tidy pension once their time was done, now it seems that pay is falling, job insecurity is on the rise and benefits are often a thing of the past. In the eyes of many employers these new ways of working are defined as ‘flexibility’. The danger is though that if too much 'flexibility' is demanded then workers can end up dispirited and unmotivated. The policy could backfire as retention slides and productivity falls.
Just-in-time labour forces that can be turned on and off like a switch and rewarded for only sheer productivity don't make for happy workforces. Business Week quotes a U.S Conference Board survey released at the beginning of the year showing that only 45% of workers surveyed were satisfied with their jobs. That’s the lowest figure in 22 years of polling. Poor morale means poor performance, which leads to counterproductive results.
Research also indicates that as much as a quarter of the workforce will be soon made up of part-time, temporary or contract workers with most of them located remotely. If it's happening already in America then it's only a matter of time before the UK and Europe start to feel the wind of workforce change too. You are probably already aware of examples where remote expertise is hired in on a short-term basis. Many of you may already be running ‘virtual teams’. Teams that as well as operating remotely aren't even on the books.
Whilst there are inherent benefits through lower sickness and absenteeism, retirement, unemployment, tax and insurance responsibilities, many companies are also keenly aware of the challenges that running virtual teams presents. Issues such as motivation, accountability, overworking and isolation can all come into play and understanding how to manage or lead a virtual team is an essential requirement for increasing numbers of organisations. Often regarded as a largely technical issue, research clearly shows that it is the human skills and attitudes that define the success or failure of virtual teams, with the absolute key being effective communication.
So what are the most important considerations for managers of the 21st Century virtual team? What are the things you need to pay particular attention to in order to ensure that virtual working can deliver real business benefits?
Technology:
It's important that technology is put in its rightful place – as a means to an end. Technology is a tool that helps you on your journey. It isn't the destination. It takes a skilled manager to be able to identify what technology is needed and when to use it. The right CMS, the right communications systems, the right databases, presentation software or digital asset management system deployed appropriately can make a big difference. You need commitment from the team; you need them to ‘buy in’ to the technology to achieve the right goals. And you’ll need to be sure that they’re happy about using it. It's hard to imagine how many billions of dollars worth of software there is out there that is underused or even completely unused because people were too anxious about using it or simply didn't like using it. As ever, when it comes to technology – keep it simple, keep it intuitive and make sure that there are tangible benefits from using it. Your technology needs to be embraced from the bottom up. There's little mileage in imposing unpopular tools. Make sure too that team members receive plenty of training. The more proficient people are the more transparent technology becomes and the more satisfying it is to use.
Collaboration:
The business world is increasingly collaborative, based on rapid, flexible short-term partnerships and allegiances forged for quick success. The preference is for projects that gather together sets of core skills and then disband once the job is completed. Alternatively it's not uncommon now to work on a more ongoing basis in partnership with external teams – outsourcing specific requirements such as tax and financial work to save on the overheads associated with employing expensive, resource-hungry staff in-house. In order to be properly successful, your teams must be able to act upon common goals and with a genuine belief in each other’s abilities and ambitions. Successful collaboration can only exist in an environment of trust earned through people getting to know one another. When team members are spread far and wide with little or no likelihood of ever meeting up in person, it takes a shrewd manager and strategic leadership to be able to establish a working environment where people can quickly befriend their co-workers and respect and appreciate their skills.
Trust and Loyalty:
Any successful team has a high degree of loyalty to the team leader, the other members of the team and to the aims and objectives that the project is attempting to meet. Loyalty is a prerequisite to competitive advantage. Strong virtual teams spend time developing high levels of loyalty and trust, and these attributes need to flow from the top down. It's important that managers learn to accept that it's results that count and not the minutiae of how those results are achieved. Trust and loyalty are about accepting a shared responsibility for success, working at your best to contribute your side of the bargain and allowing others to do the same. Having trust in colleagues who work remotely is an important attribute for a virtual team manager to possess.
There's a tie in here with technology – ICT offers the infrastructure but it's people who communicate with clients and colleagues. If organisation don't empower their teams and trust them to use the technology to its potential, then the systems will add little value.
Empower, embrace and genuinely appreciate your remote workforces for real competitive advantage.
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