{"id":22462,"date":"2020-11-25T08:33:22","date_gmt":"2020-11-25T08:33:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.experfy.com\/blog\/remote-work-is-here-to-stay-three-keys-to-building-high-performing-virtual-teams\/"},"modified":"2023-10-04T13:19:06","modified_gmt":"2023-10-04T13:19:06","slug":"remote-work-is-here-to-stay-three-keys-to-building-high-performing-virtual-teams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.experfy.com\/blog\/future-of-work\/remote-work-is-here-to-stay-three-keys-to-building-high-performing-virtual-teams\/","title":{"rendered":"Remote Work Is Here To Stay. Three Keys To Building High-Performing Virtual Teams"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Five in 10 remote workers say they\u00a0 don\u2019t want to go back to the office<\/a>\u00a0after COVID-19. Perhaps you don\u2019t want to go back either. No matter how you feel, smart leaders know it\u2019s time to stop thinking of working from home as a short-term solution to a temporary pandemic.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Remote work is here to stay, so now is the time to get really good at it. To help, we turned to science to find answers about what makes for high performing virtual teams. Thankfully, researchers were digging deeply into this topic for decades before the coronavirus pandemic hit.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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The research shows that successful virtual teams have mastered three areas of focus<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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1.\u00a0 \u00a0 Trust<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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2.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Connection<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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3.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Performance standards<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Trust<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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Before the coronavirus forced us to go virtual, we often heard leaders say they were concerned about trust.\u00a0 How will I know people are doing their work if I can\u2019t see them at their desks?<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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While there\u2019s always an outlier, research says your worries about trusting team members are unfounded. Gallup agrees, telling leaders to\u00a0 ditch their trust issues<\/a>. Their advice aligns with ours: study past performance, and trust that. If someone has always been a good performer, they\u2019ll continue to be, whether working from home or at the office.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Where you do need to think about trust, however, is the trust your team has for its leader and the organization.\u00a0Institutional trust<\/strong>\u00a0is important in virtual teams. Research suggests that teams perform better when they trust the organization. We can build trust by sharing information freely and fairly and by resourcing teams and individuals equitably.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Also important is relational trust<\/strong>\u00a0in virtual teams, especially when a team is new. One way to do this is to make space for non-work talk on your teams. Dedicate the first few minutes of every meeting to checking in as human beings, rather than co-workers. Share appropriate information about your personal life and affirm the personal lives of your colleagues. Making space for social interaction help develop trust and high-quality relationships.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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“Remote Work Is Here To Stay. Three Keys To Building High-Performing Virtual Teams”
Trust, connection, and performance: the three areas of focus leaders need for creating and\u00a0… [+]\u00a0CENTER FOR VALUES-DRIVEN LEADERSHIP AT BENEDICTINE UNIVERSITY<\/small><\/figcaption><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Want more info on trust? Check out our new eBook,\u00a0Leading High-Performing, High-Engagement Virtual Teams<\/a>.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Connection<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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Virtual teams start to feel disconnected when there\u2019s a communication breakdown. One of the most important things you can do as a leader is to assess how knowledge is shared in your team: is it reaching the team members who are most at the periphery? Is it timely? Is it efficient, with the right medium (email vs. video conference, for example) for the task? If so, you\u2019re establishing strong connections.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Researchers say another type of connection is also important for high-performing teams:\u00a0high quality connections<\/strong>\u00a0(HQCs). HQCs happen when we have regular, short, positive interactions at work, no matter if those interactions happen over Slack, email, or Zoom. HQCs give us a sense of positive energy in the moment, especially when we can tell the feeling is mutual. Researchers believe HQCs lead to higher performance because high quality relationships and the resulting psychological safety allow for greater learning in organizations and may contribute to innovation.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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How can you create more HQCs? There are lots of ideas in\u00a0our new eBook for virtual team leaders<\/a>. But to get started, think about the colleague you work with most. Now think about something he or she has done this week that made your work easier or better. Drop him or her a note, something like, \u201cThis may seem small, but I was just thinking about how much I appreciated \u2026\u201d<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Performance standards<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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Finally, virtual team leaders need to put their focus on performance standards. Leading management scholar Edgar Schein says extraordinary teams have a sense of distinctiveness that is often driven by high performance standards.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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How do you set high standards for your virtual team? First, make sure every team member knows why they are there and how their work connects to the organization\u2019s mission and the project\u2019s purpose. Being clear on that helps the team understand why their work matters.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Then connect each person to clear goals that are a stretch to deliver. If your goals can be reached just by working a little harder, you haven\u2019t really stretched. Challenge your team to set goals that require thinking differently in order to succeed. That will push you and your team to innovate.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Find more resources on virtual team leadership<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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For the rest of this month, we\u2019ll focus this column how to build a connected and engaged virtual team. We\u2019ll ask what a future of remote work<\/a> means for consultants, like those at Accenture, who have always spent most of their time onsite at client offices. We\u2019ll talk tech with Bank of America\u2019s Chief Operations and Technology Officer. And we\u2019ll consider how remote work helps or hinders your efforts to build an inclusive organization. Check back here for more content and be sure to download our eBook on\u00a0 virtual team leadership <\/a>\u00a0or join us on September 24 for\u00a0a webinar with more great content on leading high-performing virtual teams<\/a>.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Co-Author<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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Amber A. Johnson, Ph.D. Chief Communications Officer; Senior Research Associate; Executive Recruiter,\u00a0 Center for Values-Driven Leadership at Benedictine University<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Remote work is here to stay, so now is the time to get good at it. To help, we turned to science to find answers about what makes for high performing virtual teams. Successful virtual teams have mastered three areas of focus.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":981,"featured_media":18001,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[182],"tags":[108,1048,254,1049],"ppma_author":[3808],"class_list":["post-22462","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-future-of-work","tag-future-of-work","tag-high-performance","tag-remote-working","tag-virtual-teams"],"authors":[{"term_id":3808,"user_id":981,"is_guest":0,"slug":"jim-ludema","display_name":"Jim Ludema","avatar_url":"https:\/\/www.experfy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Jim-Ludema-150x150.jpeg","user_url":"https:\/\/cvdl.ben.edu\/%20","last_name":"Ludema","first_name":"Jim","job_title":"","description":"Jim Ludema is Director, Center for Values-Driven Leadership at Benedictine Univ. He is also Professor Ph. D Program in Organization Development, a Consultant & Author, Workplace Culture & Values"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.experfy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22462","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.experfy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.experfy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.experfy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/981"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.experfy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22462"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.experfy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22462\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33225,"href":"https:\/\/www.experfy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22462\/revisions\/33225"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.experfy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18001"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.experfy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22462"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.experfy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22462"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.experfy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22462"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.experfy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=22462"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}