Strategies for Virtual Team Building
Introduction
When you set up a virtual team, it can be tempting to just jump in and start working. But that's not always the best way to get things done. In this article we'll go over some strategies for building a successful virtual team that will help you reach your goals as efficiently as possible.Determine what you want the virtual team to accomplish.
The first step to building a virtual team is to determine what you want the team to accomplish. This can be a daunting task, especially if you're new to this type of collaboration. But it's important that everyone on your virtual team has a clear understanding of their role in achieving your goals and how they will contribute towards them.It may sound simple, but setting goals is key when starting any project or activity especially one as ambitious as creating an effective virtual team. What are some things that need accomplishing? How long will it take? Are there any specific steps along the way that must happen before I get there?
Once these questions have been answered, it will be easier for everyone involved (including yourself) understand where each person fits into this process and why he needs his own set of tools so he can achieve success faster than others who might not have been given such guidance yet
Identify a leader or leaders (or "key hires") for each of your teams.
The leader or leaders should be a good fit for their team. For example, if you’re working with salespeople, you might want to hire an executive sales manager who has experience selling in that industry and understands how it works from a business perspective. If you’re creating an engineering team, look for someone who has worked on projects similar to those being developed by your team (e.g., software development). You can also hire someone with experience as an engineer but specialize in one area or another; this way, they'll be able to guide new members through all the processes necessary when building something new from scratch!Consider your needs as well as your wants.
When planning your virtual team building, it's important to remember that you can only expect so much from each other. If the goal is to learn more about each other's skills and weaknesses, then this will be hard enough without setting unrealistic expectations.Having said that, it may still be beneficial to make some assumptions about what people are capable of achieving. If a team member has been working on a new project for months but hasn't yet gotten very far (and has no idea if they ever will), then maybe an extra pair of hands would help them get there faster or at least provide some assistance along the way!
But just because someone might need help doesn't mean that giving them any specific tasks should be off limits; in fact, sometimes giving someone specific tasks is exactly what they need most! You'll want to think carefully about whether or not this person is ready for more responsibility in general before committing resources toward helping them out with something specific like designing an entire website from scratch...
Virtual teams should be small and focused on a specific task.
Virtual teams should be small and focused on a specific task. A virtual team of 10 people can do things that a traditional team of 100 cannot, because the virtual team has more autonomy and flexibility.Smaller teams are also more efficient because they can work quickly and share information easily amongst themselves, especially when it comes to brainstorming ideas or making decisions. This leads to higher quality products or services at lower costs while increasing innovation within your company's processes as well as its bottom line profits over time due to decreased overhead costs associated with maintaining multiple locations around the globe (theirs being just one example).
Virtual team members should have access to tools that support their work.
- Tools should be easy to use. Tools are a key element in the work of virtual teams, and it's important that they're easy to find, install, maintain and update.
- Tools should be available on all platforms. If you have an Android phone or iPad but not a PC or Mac computer or vice versa then you'll need some way of getting those tools onto your device so everyone can access them no matter where they're located (and if there's one thing we learned from our previous project management experience is that having multiple devices isn't always ideal).
- The software itself shouldn't contain any unnecessary features or functions; instead it should focus on providing simple functionality with minimal overhead costs associated with its usage by your team members.
