The #1 question most organizations have when it comes to leading virtual teams: How do we keep virtual team members engaged, enthusiastic, motivated and energized?
Rather than write a series of practical tips to help you engage virtual team members, I offer 10 easy steps to disengage your team. (Of course, you can take the converse of each to find a tip for engaging your virtual team.)
1. Allocate tasks that encourage independence
The less dependent people are on others, the more likely they’ll be to get their work done on time. Structure assignments so people can complete their work on their own. You know how some of these people just love to chat! Don’t give them any more reasons than you have to. Once they get on the horn, there’s no telling how much time they might fritter away.
2. Keep goals fuzzy for greater flexibility
You never want to be too explicit about team goals, in case you need to change them in a hurry. Better to give out a slew of tasks and deadlines conveying the appropriate sense of urgency, keeping people so focused on their deliverables that they won’t have time to figure out how their contributions fit together toward achieving group goals (if in fact, by some miracle, they do!). After all, it’s much easier to check off items on a task list than stepping back to see how actions support overall goals.
3. Don’t bother with team norms
And you’ll have the unenviable job of insisting that everyone live by them. There’s no way you can stop John from multitasking on team calls, or Mary from sending hourly emails to everyone on the team, or Max from criticizing everything people have to say, so why even bother? Better to ignore dysfunctional behavior and hope it goes away on its own accord, or better yet, hope that someone else on the team takes care of it for you.
4. Check in with team members early and often
Don’t waste time asking about how people are doing or what you can help with. Cut to the chase and ask them when they’ll be done with their latest assignment. After all, you can’t see how they’re spending their days, and you want to make sure they’re focused in all the right places. Use IM, email, phone, text, and anything else you can think of to make sure they know you’re concerned about them (and the state of their projects). Some may call this micromanaging, but you know you’re just keeping tabs.
5. Dole out important information to certain people first
Start spreading the news with people you’re closest to. Grab a cup of coffee so you can give them the low-down and hear what they have to say. Catch the others up when you have time—maybe at next week’s team meeting, or in your Monday morning team email. They’ll probably find out the news from other people first, anyway. They can’t really expect you to take the time to call each one, can they?!
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