Building virtual work team

Research strongly suggests that work teams are most effective when members feel their work can make a significant organizational contribution, care about their tasks, believe they are free to make decisions and are mutually confident in each others' skills, trustworthiness and willingness to collaborate.

Constructing this climate is difficult even when all the team members work in the same place. For example, teams composed of individuals from separate organizational units bring different goals and approaches to problems. (Think about a product design team whose members might include a creative artist, an accountant from finance, an engineer from manufacturing and a sales representative.) Teams whose members are racially, nationally and gender diverse can encounter difficulties originating with stereotypes and cultural barriers.

Building an efficient team gets even more difficult when members are geographically or organizationally separated. Members of a virtual team do not have the advantages of regular, topic-focused meetings, cannot access the social cues available in face to face (F2F) interactions and are unable to stop by someone's desk to clarify information. The potential technological problems begin with the differing skills of team members and go on to include systems that may not be standardized, lag time, data fragmentation and other problems that arise when information is to be shared among people in different time zones or cultures. Further, unless someone is working hard to see there is a common source of information, it won't exist, because critical pieces get unintentionally hidden under different topics and filenames in the numerous emails, personal files and other hard-to-find places. Semi-virtual teams, meaning a co-located group with other members linked by technology (think crisis management) may be prone to additional problems of the insider/outsider variety.

Where to begin to create a positive work team climate?

First, remember that words in the English (American) language do not have mono-usage (a precise meaning that is universally understood even within our culture--think North, South, East and West). Or even mean the same thing in the United States and Great Britain (football, anyone?) So, make all your statements precise and in a tone not to offend.

Second, we are not all on the same page. Remember how we reach out to select information to confirm what we already believe (confirmation bias and selective interpretation might lead us to the belief: I/we don't have to consult experts or examine this piece of information because I/we agree with it already).

Third, realize that more of us may be on the same page than not. Are you involved in groupthink (I'm not going to bring it up even though I feel there may be a problem; everyone else seems to be in agreement, they're saying what the boss wants and they may be right anyway -- I would never want to look like a fool) or hive mind (By golly, we're enthusiastic, smart and all together with the right answer).

Fourth, what action steps do I need to take? Work to build team trust. Your team needs clear goals, expectations and guidelines. This enables a high level of accountability. Now, it is important to increase F2F time to moderate the difficulties of physical separation and enhance opportunities for trust building.

Fifth, develop implicit guidelines for virtual team interaction. This will occur when members never forget that the perceptions of the other team members are important because they may not be responding to us but to what they see in the documents, messages and exchanges presented to them. Technical and written messages often become terse and misleading without F2F.

Finally, polish your presentation image for effectiveness. Whether you are the team leader or a team member, in a virtual environment you need to come across as a professional who projects sophistication, intelligence and credibility. It begins by thinking out what you need to say and writing it out. Take the time necessary to make your communication clear and concise rather than sending something that is longer and rambling just because it's quicker and easier to write that way.

Then wait. Before pushing the send button, review and check again to get the spelling, grammar and word usage right (the spellchecker cannot do this for you). Edit to maintain a professional appearance. Visualize yourself as the recipient of the message. Be especially careful to remove language that might offend. Avoid being too clever. What is momentarily cute to you may be considered sarcastic by another.

Too busy to take this approach? Of course not. Just think of how much time it will cost to rectify errors or repair relationships if you send the wrong message, even without intending to, and destroy the team's trust in you.

Dorothy Perrin Moore, Ph.D., is professor emerita of business and entrepreneurship at The Citadel.The Job Coaches are experienced volunteers from the Center for Women's Job Counseling Program. Ask them a question at 763-7333 or email info@c4women.org. If you want further assistance, make a counseling appointment; a donation of $35 is requested.