Tips to tackle the 10 Greatest Challenges Virtual Teams are Facing

Problem of Communication

Your team has people you haven’t physically met and know nothing about them. Having communication problems is expected, and it’s good when this issue comes up in the early stages of working as virtual teams.
For your team to be successful, open effective communication channels between team members and the correct information must be disseminated. Most team leaders do not prepare enough to deal with communication problems. They feel since the team is virtual, technology has provided different communication means.

So, as a virtual team leader, you have to develop your team’s communication habits by making them check in compulsory all the time. Ask feedback from teammates and also tell them to share their views on issues all the time. Also, pick a platform like Eyeson that would allow you to share your materials seamlessly

Challenge of Structure

As a team leader, you must educate your virtual teammates on the organization’s structure. Doing this would allow your teammates to feel part of something. It also helps with communication as your teammates would know who to interact with in case of any emergency. Keeping the structure ambiguous would make your teammates deal with you suspiciously and breed distrust.
Informing your organizational structure teammates would benefit you as they would be more motivated to work in their roles and contribute to its success. You should check this link for more guidance.

Problems of Trust

Trust is necessary if teammates are going to work together. Trust brings cooperation and engagement among teammates, and without it, there wouldn’t be much motivation and energy to work. It is harder to build trust when the interaction you have with your teammates is virtual, and you must do it fast as lack of trust creates an environment of assumptions and miscommunications.

To solve this trust problem, you have to make your teammates find you, the team leader, accessible. You have to explain to each teammate why you think they are a perfect fit for the task you have assigned to them and listen to their feedback. Also, give feedback to your teammates and follow their progress. Lastly, create bonding moments for the team by organizing a virtual date when teammates talk and get to know one another.

Individual Issues

Your teammates might not be used to collaborating with their teammates over their computer screens. Some people are terrible with emails and have to send reminders to check their emails. Plus, operating through virtual means can be distracting for some people who have to juggle personal tasks with work by circumstances beyond their control. These issues could cause a decline in their attitude to work.

Team members don’t help the situation as they will prefer to hide their struggles from other teammates and team leaders. If not managed well, these differences could degenerate into conflicts among teammates. To solve this challenge, you have open communication lines, build relationships with team members and find and help them solve their issues.

Lack of Office Setting

The above showed you a glimpse of how teammates can get distracted by other things going on in their life because they juggle so many things along with being members of a virtual team. This problem exists because teammates do not feel as though they are at work. They are so used to the traditional office setting that working in a virtual team seems different. It would be great if you encouraged them to take the virtual team as they would take a regular team membership by creating a place in their houses that would feel like an office.

Productivity Challenge

Regular offices have a way of keeping employees on their toes. A typical office’s buzz provides employees with the motivation to do better than they are doing. As a team leader, it’s easier for you to stroll over to a teammate’s desk and boost their morale by talking to them. You don’t have this opportunity when you are managing a virtual, but this doesn’t mean you can’t check on your teammates. You have to call, chat, mail, or text them often, depending on the style you have chosen to adopt.

Challenge of Uniform Tools

The tools you will use for your objective must be uniform or determined by you as a team leader. You have to do this because different tools could lead to an unexpected outcome. You can discuss with your team members to determine what would most fit them and give you a uniform output.

Challenge of Time Zone

Virtual teams consist of members who live in different time zones. It can be a chore to get them to attend meetings. However, you can solve this by having a rotation among team members. Doing this would foster the spirit of sacrifice and cooperation in the team. Also, using Eyeson, you would be able to schedule meetings regularly as it offers a reminder feature which allows teammates to play their time effectively.

Loss of Morale

Loss of Morale is the result of all the above challenges. When there is no communication and trust, the team loses morale and zeal to work. Usually, this is a problem you could have dealt with if you could see physically and study your team members’ body language, but operating virtually as a team doesn’t afford you this opportunity.

Also, morale might become lost because of the repetitive nature of the tasks that it becomes unexciting to the ten members. To solve this, gamify your tasks. You can do this even if your team comprises remote workers. Give points to your teammates for their work done, give them prizes for their work, and you would see how engaged your teammates would be.

Conclusion

Virtual teams having challenges is normal, and as a team leader, you have to be at your A-game to make sure your team runs smoothly. Using a platform like Eyeson makes your work easier and would solve communication challenges. Remember that you have been fair to your teammates and also be accessible.