As the leader for a new global project team, you need to get everyone on board right from the start with energy, enthusiasm and commitment to work as a team. As a seasoned project manager, you may be adept at shepherding project teams through the usual phases of forming, forming storming and performing. But this time it’s different, since most of the members will work from a distance for the duration of this two-year project.
Joining me in writing this article is Kathy Connolly, founder of The Office Outdoors, a team development consulting firm. We show how some of the essential activities for building any high-performing team can be applied to project teams who must work virtually to get the job done.
Choose the right people
When you have the ability to influence who participates (and this is not always possible), look for people with diverse perspectives with the right combination of skills, knowledge and experience. To operate successfully as a member of a virtual team, however, people need certain competencies that others may not. Examples: tolerance for ambiguity; sensitivity to cultural differences; willingness to work independently; ability and openness to communicate using a variety of methods, both asynchronously and synchronously; and keen listening skills.
Make shared goals explicit
While crucial for any team, this is more important and far more challenging for a virtual team. More important, because virtual teams have few opportunities to correct misunderstandings, fine-tune agreements, or debate differences. Without clear shared goals, virtual team members can more easily inadvertently veer off in different directions and become derailed quickly. More challenging, because few virtual teams allocate the kind of time necessary for the kind of in-depth conversations needed to hammer out explicit goals that all understand and agree to. Set aside a series of virtual meetings right up front to make the goals explicit, and make sure that everyone has an opportunity to reflect and revise.
Develop ground rules tuned to a virtual team
For example, agree on who needs to attend which meetings and how frequently. Be specific about the extent to which multitasking is acceptable on team calls. Discuss the consequences of failure to do important prework. Agree how conflicts will be resolved among members. Establish an agreed-upon protocol for handling distracting, disrespectful or disruptive behavior. Agree who needs to be on the “to” list for certain topics and who can be simply cc’d. Establish conventions for sharing, editing and posting vital documentation, including editing and approval rights.
