3 challenges of working remotely – and ways to counteract them!

This text is meant for leaders of remote teams or remote team members who want to raise the team performance to the next level ??

If you have just started working remotely as a team, do care to listen to colleagues who are a bit more experienced in this respect. I hope that most will tell you "working remotely is cool!". Even if so, this still would not mean that they have got rid of challenges of virtual work. They might have got used to them or found their ways around… most probably, counteracting them in their virtual cooperation on a daily basis.

This article is a short version of a comprehensive text in Polish "3 Wyzwania pracy w wirtulnych zespo?ach - oraz sposoby by je pokona?!" available at O Krok Do Przodu portal for Leaders of Change. 

The three main challenges of cooperating remotely are

1. Isolation

kills trust, weakens the sense of belonging, launches the “out of sight - out of mind” syndrome. Isolation attacks the very heart of the team.

2. Fragmentation

relates to unclear team purpose, fuzzy roles and responsibilities, unclear decision making process. Your team is pulling the cart together ... but everyone pulls in a different direction.

3. Confusion

In a virtual team, you usually don't communicate enough ... but sometimes communication flow can be overwhelming. It is difficult to communicate precisely, conspiracy theories arise.

How to counteract challenges of working remotely?

The answer to Isolation is

1. Commitment

Even if you don't see each other live, create space to build real relationships, express mutual concern and fuel your involvement. Schedule the beginning of each meeting for "personal login" - so that team members can get to know each other and grow together as a team of real people. In ETTA I make a short "How are you?" round and I make sure that everyone present says a few words. There was a period in the life of our team that we ran some calls only to talk about "what’s personally up" – a form of a virtual lunch break for everyone ?? And you know what? It was in these meetings that people participated the most willingly ??

Keep in touch via shared group chat. If your communication needs to be focused or is intense, make a separate chat thread for "silly things". Laughter relaxes, lets you show a human face - and connects you. These are our coffee machine conversations in the virtual version.

As a Leader, you have a strong influence on your people's morale, including their sense of emotional connection. One of the best leaders I reported to, devoted half an hour each week for a one-on-one call with each team member. This way, you are both are perfectly up to date, and you as the Leader of the remote team have a direct impact on your people’s emotions and commitment.

The answer to Fragmentation is

2. Cohesion

Cohesion means working together in such a way that you create a synchronized whole. Team cohesion is created by allocating specific time to ... developing this cohesion. Usually, this means a series of team meetings aimed specifically at talking about the team's purpose, explicitly discussing team members’ roles and responsibilities, and working out a decision making process which is clear for everyone.

The assumption that it "will clear itself out" is wrong in every team, but in virtual teams its negative effects are particularly strong. Team building, interpersonal and functional, is a Leader's activity and requires time and specific actions.

As a Leader of a remote team, you need competencies like precise communication, moderating virtual discussions, and asking questions.

The answer to Confusion is

3. Clarity

Clarity, as a shared understanding across the team, can refer to “here and now” or to the team in general.

For here and now, communication techniques work very well, like:

? Paraphrasing ("Please tell me how you have understood that")

? Asking others opinion - beware! before expressing your own opinion. Sometimes a Leader's opinion, expressed too early, can overwhelm the team's frankness or innovation. Ask first, then talk - this is the golden rule of management also in a virtual context.

For the team in general, clarity needs to be addressed explicitly and preferably upfront, just like team cohesion. Also, any moment is good to react immediately to an emerging loss of clarity. "I get so many e-mails from the team that I can't process them" - this is a strong signal and does not necessarily mean that the person has too much work. Maybe a part of the communication flow can be transferred to chat.

Therefore, the best counteract to confusion is a joint conversation about communication, i.e. what, where and how gets communicated by whom to whom, and when. The ways of using phone, video conferencing, email, and chat are to be agreed. Together, you can decide which channel to use for urgent messages, and which for those where you can react a bit later.

Are you ready for action? Please use this handful of tips for better workflow and atmosphere in your remote team.

 ?? In ETTA Leadership & Culture virtual classrooms you can learn how to effectively manage your remote team. Personally, I've been working remotely for over 20 years, and I've run virtual trainings and digital workshops for international groups since 2008. ETTA experts are practitioners of virtual cooperation and excellent trainers.

If this text and its tips were useful and inspirational to you, please share it further! ??

And if you have other great tips and good practice to share, please comment below!

To make this article more comprehensive, I've referred to ?Where In The World Is My Team” by Terence Brake ????