Working in a virtual team presents many challenges. When you can’t see your colleagues face toface, and you don’t have the social interactions that build relationships and rapport, it can be difficult to gain mutual trust. If not handled properly, this lack of trust can undermine everything theteam is trying to achieve.
Another big challenge is communication, especially when a remote team includes members from different countries and cultures. It can also be more difficult to capture the visual cues (such as bodylanguage and facial expressions) that make communication flow, even when using video. Also, it may be more difficult to express your opinion, resolve a team conflict, keep being motivated in a virtual team.
The most important soft skills to work effectively in a virtual team are:
- Active communication and listening: Effective communication is important within a virtual team. Open communication not only helps you avoid misunderstandings, but will also increase your effectiveness. Keep in mind, that texting or writing emails is not the same as talking to someone face to face – make sure your messages are undrestandable, specific and polite.
- Conflict Resolution: You have to be able to handle conflict within your team in an objective and fair manner. It’s not always about who is right and who is wrong, but about finding the best solution for the whole team and organization.
- Emotional Intelligence: Sometimes, you may need to raise sensitive issues or topics withyour boss, colleagues or employees. When this happens, think about how you will communicate.
- Honesty: You must be honest with yourself and your team about any issues that arise.Often, it is best to express concerns when they happen. Be assertive, and learn to manage your emotions.
Virtual Teams at Digital Latam
Since we are an international company with headquarters in Germany and Spain, woking in a virtual team is an every-day normality for us. We hire new team members via online inteviews, couching them via online trainings and achieve our goals while being in a couple of different countries. That makes us trustworthy experts in that field. Moreover, we created numerous courses on this topic.If you have any trouble setting up and managing a virtual team – don’t hesitate to contact us!
