By: Jennifer Murnane, P.h.D., Senior Human Capital Strategist
The concept of disparately located work teams is becoming more and more prevalent in the world today, what with the demands and demographics of the workforce, the rise of technologies that enable remote collaboration, and the globalization of the work being done. While the term virtual is a conventional way to refer to teams who are not co-located, the connotation of the word virtual infers that these teams are something less than real or actual. That couldn’t be further from the truth. In fact, virtual teams have been found to improve productivity, lower labor costs, reduce employee expenses, advance recruiting outcomes, improve employee morale, and reduce employee turnover.
Virtual work teams have become a necessity to many organizations and have been proven to save time and money in many regards, but what about evaluating the investment in those teams (beyond the cost savings of overhead and space)? If virtual teams are the future of work, how do we ensure that our organizations have the appropriate structures in place to ensure success for the organizations and the employees themselves?
Here are some components to focus on (and evaluate) in order to determine whether your virtual teams are delivering what the organization needs:
1. Communication programs and processes
As virtual teams communicate electronically, there are fewer opportunities for informal communication than in a face-to-face environment. Consistent and thoughtful communication and feedback are critical to successful collaboration and ensuring that productivity is not lost or diminished due to unclear expectations. What is the impact of your communication policies, processes, etc. on your organization?
2. Team Development
It is important to have opportunities in place to reward outstanding performers in your organization—no matter where they are located or the nature of their work. Building bench strength of the next generation of leaders is important to your organizational growth. Promotion and growth opportunities are an important component of team development and ultimately impact retention.
3. Mentoring Programs
Just as mentoring has been shown to have an impact in many aspects of organizations on both the mentors and mentees, it is even more critical for virtual organizations. Mentoring new team members in not only organizational culture and roles, but in the role of a virtual team member, can be highly effective in producing positive organizational outcomes.
Virtual employees may be considered a new demographic for evaluating performance-based organizational outcomes (as to whether or not employees are co-located or work remotely). It is critical for organizations to embrace the opportunities and sub-culture presented by this growing group of virtual workers to effectively impact their real performance in the organization.
Jennifer Murnane, Ph.D., is a Senior Human Capital Strategist for Capital Analytics. Jennifer’s experience spans the fields of finance, adult education and human capital. Her unique experience in securities analysis and management led her to further pursue the value of human capital in organizations. She has authored several dozen academic and practitioner articles and is a sought-after public speaker in the area of human capital management.