Teamwork online is a growing trend today, and one of the biggest challenges most traditional companies face. This can be attributed to the number of people working remotely growing significantly. This trend continues despite multiple geographies opening up fully post the COVID-19 lockdowns.
Many employees have to shift their outlook and culture to match the new working environment when working together in a physical office. And since this trend isn’t going away anytime soon, it is in the company’s best interest to learn how to work efficiently and effectively while remote.
As per findings,
- 16% of companies worldwide are now working 100% remotely.
- 85% of managers and leaders believe that remote working and teamwork online is the future of work and will become increasingly normal.
- 77% of remote workers have said they experienced being more productive when working from home compared to working from the office.
- While remote workers mention having a better work-life balance, the biggest challenges of working remotely include not having a specific post-work schedule (22%), feeling of loneliness (19%), and lack of proper collaboration or teamwork online (17%).
Since remote working is the trend, can managers and leaders bring about a change of shift to help people work together in a virtual world? To help you out, here are strategies to help you make the most of working remotely while tackling the challenges of teamwork online, especially when your team is spread across multiple geographies and time zones:
Create a Shared Vision
Teamwork online is all about every member of your team knowing their roles and responsibilities, and what they can expect from each other. A big part of this is to ensure that you communicate the company’s shared vision and individual expectations with details on how they will play a role in ensuring that your organization achieves this target.
Leadership can help cement this by holding regular catch-ups and having well-defined KPIs (Key Performance Indicators), based on which each team member will be evaluated. The team will work effectively and be motivated to achieve the goals when they know what is expected from them. Having a shared vision also fosters feelings of togetherness and accomplishment, not just on an individual level but as a team.
Focus on the Outcomes
In an age where teams are dispersed across multiple locations and have different work routines, micromanaging each person can make it difficult for the leader and create a negative perception of the organization’s culture.
In this new environment, leaders must change their work style to focus on outcomes rather than discuss hours, responsiveness, and communication. While having a strict deadline for providing responses or being available in a particular time slot so there is an overlap between the teams can be mandatory, granular tracking of time and effort will only lead to more significant issues.
Make Video Communication a Priority
Working remotely sometimes makes people feel lonely because of the lack of face-to-face interactions. So for team meetings or weekly catch-up sessions, make it a mandatory practice to have each person switch on their video. This will ensure that teams see the people they work with, and it is especially helpful for new hires.
Although the intention is not to micromanage or keep a check on each team member, having a policy of keeping the video on helps team members get comfortable being in front of the camera and is an essential skill today as remote working gets normalized.
Teams can create and edit videos or recordings of the entire sessions for informative sessions or webinars. Depending on the subject and the information being shared, this webinar or informative session can act as a way to market your company’s expertise in a particular area. Or it can also be used to create internal resources, which can help add value to new team members who can watch the video and get a good understanding of the subject.
Create Guided Walkthroughs
Onboarding new hires or upskilling existing team members in a remote work environment is among the most challenging tasks in most organizations. Team members may feel lost without face-to-face communication and time spent closely monitoring tasks during this critical phase. To help make things easier for them, you can include pre-recorded walkthroughs, guides, and materials that will help simplify onboarding and training.
You can use an online video editor, utilizing platforms such as Invideo, to capture your screen, record screen movements quickly, and add voiceovers so that training can be all about self-learning. The trainer can host catch-up calls per requirements to help answer questions or address any gaps, which also helps make them efficient, as they do not have to spend dedicated hours with each team member.
Create Daily Routines for Team-Building
When it comes to remote working, having a daily routine is extremely important. With no boundaries between work and home, many team members extend their working hours and do non-work activities during work hours. While the company can develop some flexibility, ensuring some structure is essential to team-building.
If your workplace has team members working from different time zones or time slots, make sure there is some overlap. This ensures efficient hand-holding, where team members working for the previous shift can provide information on the activities that have been done, and the next batch can take over accordingly. This helps create a routine and ensures that team members work within their time or complete the necessary aspects on time.
Foster Informal Conversations
In a highly formal work environment, it is often difficult for team members to communicate with each other or you, their leader. This is because they are unsure how to behave and speak without understanding individual expectations and personalities. To help your team members get to know each other and you, make sure you foster opportunities that allow your team to relax and have lighter conversations.
In an office space, having a team lunch or coffee break would be an opportunity for individuals to stimulate informal conversations and get to know the people behind the title. Virtual coffee meets and sessions work similarly and can go a long way to ensure that your virtual team understands the fun side of you. It can allow your teams to get a breather, have some refreshments together, and enjoy a few minutes with their colleagues and you, connecting on things outside of work.
Build a Culture of Accountability
Collaboration and teamwork online are not just about people working simultaneously or discussing ideas over a conferencing tool. Each individual needs to play their part effectively. If an individual lacks personal accountability or isn’t getting their task done on time, it can give rise to problems. This is especially true if there are tasks with dependencies, and a delay from one team member can create delays overall.
Social loafing is the term used to explain this lack of individual accountability, which happens when one team member assumes the wider team will take care of things. Leaders need to identify team members with this attitude and make sure each member is communicating their roles and timelines, ensuring that each individual is accountable for getting things done. It also helps the wider team since this one persona can bring down the morale of the entire team.
Be the Flexible Leader That Your Team Needs
As a leader, it is up to you to bring change and be a role model for others. Since teamwork is all about listening to others and being able to work on a task, make sure you are flexible in your schedule and are ready to be with your team when they need you. Showcasing flexibility will only empower the team to reach out whenever a problem arises and not be scared to approach you or hope it will go away on its own.
Teamwork online is about being available and ensuring that your team is always approachable and open to face-to-face communication, just like in your physical office. Make time to have virtual coffee meets and 1-1, ensuring that you give your team the face-to-face contact they will miss today.
Remote work also provides an excellent opportunity for each person in the company to evolve, grow, and learn in their specific domain while enjoying the greater autonomy they can now get. Leaders cannot afford to wait and watch; the shift to remote work is real, and something that the management and teams should be able to navigate is the new normal.
Conclusion
The shift to remote work is continuing to evolve and will define the future of work. Still, while it poses a few challenges, there are greater opportunities that await organizations embracing and changing as per the new trend. Remote working enables employees to save on time spent in daily commutes and rethink priorities since they can now work while spending adequate time with family and close ones.
The sudden shift to remote working may have come as a surprise and even a difficulty for several companies. Still, it is up to the leadership to determine the roadmap ahead and bring a change in the way people think about remote work. Leaders can create a culture that appreciates teams that take ownership and co-exist in this new environment, creating learning for others to embrace this new distributed workforce.