With the advent of the internet, the world’s focus shifted away from manual labor. The speed and accessibility of the internet have enabled people to work remotely and have made it possible for businesses to reach a global audience.
Virtual project teams are increasingly becoming a part of corporate structure. We will discuss the biggest challenge to managing a virtual project team and how you can overcome it.
What is a Virtual Project Team?
A virtual project team, also known as a virtual team working on a specific project, collaborates from a different location to achieve the project goals.
Virtual project teams may never meet face-to-face. Still, with proper technology, they can form relationships, collaborate at work, and generate a sizable profit for the organization in which they work.
Virtual team members typically work from co-working spaces, remote offices, and homes.
The Rise of Virtual Project Team
In recent years, virtual teams have risen due to their numerous advantages and the flexibility it adds to project management. It is now known that individuals demand greater flexibility at work to control their schedules and create a work-life balance.
Many companies have now accustomed themselves to working with teams not in the exact geographical locations as them.
The invention of innovative communication technology has also contributed to thriving virtual teams, making virtual project management easier and smoother.
A new generation of workers is entering the workforce, but older workers who can adapt are staying in with the help of virtual teams.
This creates an even more productive team energized by youthful enthusiasm and new ideas but anchored by the experience and skills of older team members.
Benefits of Virtual Project Team
A virtual project team comes with a host of benefits, and some of them will be explained below.
It Saves Cost
Virtual teams can save costs for organizations.
Since virtual teams do not require a physical office space, companies can save money on office rent, utilities, and other overhead costs associated with maintaining a physical workspace.
Additionally, virtual teams allow organizations to tap into a global pool of talent, which can often result in cost savings by accessing talent that may be less expensive in other countries or regions.
Overall, virtual teams offer cost-effective solutions for organizations while allowing them to achieve their project goals.
Improved Communication
Virtual teams have made communication more effective and efficient in recent times.
The use of video conferencing tools and instant messaging enables team members to communicate in real time and make project decisions.
This means that team members are always up-to-date with the latest developments, reducing the chances of errors and misunderstandings.
Virtual communication has also eliminated barriers like language, location, and time zones, which might be a challenge for co-located teams.
Improved Employee Retention
Virtual teams can also contribute to improved employee retention. Virtual teams provide greater flexibility and work-life balance by allowing employees to work remotely, which can be particularly attractive to employees who value these factors. This can lead to increased job satisfaction and employee loyalty, resulting in improved retention rates for the organization.
Research conducted by experts has shown that organizations with virtual teams are two times more likely to retain their employees than those who operate with traditional teams. They also find it easier to trust each other since they can see each other face-to-face less often.
Enhances Productivity
With a virtual project team, there is an increase in work productivity as it allows team members to share knowledge and ideas more effectively, which leads to better solutions being created faster.
There is also reduced time to solve conflicts or communication issues during remote work.
With the invention of productivity tools like Pomodoro techniques and others, task management has become easier for virtual teams to achieve high productivity, which might have been impossible in traditional project settings due to distractions.
Access to a Wide Range of Talent
Another benefit of a virtual project team is that it gives access to a lot of talent, allowing businesses or organizations to choose the one they desire. This means they can find and hire the best candidates more quickly and won’t worry about losing top talent to other companies offering better working conditions.
Virtual teams also allow employees to work collaboratively on projects without being in the exact physical location.
Challenges of Virtual Project Team
While virtual teams have benefits that appeal to the eyes, they also have challenges. The following are some of them:
Communication Differences
Poor communication poses one of the biggest challenges to managing a virtual project team. This is because geographically dispersed teams are often unable to communicate effectively. After all, they don’t have the same understanding and familiarity with each other’s accents and dialects.
Research shows in-person body language significantly impacts how verbal communication is perceived, leaving virtual teams vulnerable to misunderstanding.
Text-based communication, such as email and text messages, lacks body language, tone, and other subtle nonverbal cues that workers receive from the in-person conversation, increasing the likelihood of misinterpretation.
Breeds Distrust
Since the project team are not in the exact location, there is fear that they might not be doing the right thing or anything. Communication struggles and the inability to meet face-to-face can make building trust between team members much harder.
For example, a co-worker might notice that one person never responds quickly and begins to feel that they are working more than others.
Distrust is one of the most severe challenges of digital teams, and building trust takes time.
Holding people accountable is much more difficult when they are not right before you.
Absence of Office Culture
Creating a great office culture is hard when the team is not physically together. This can lead to frustration and conflict among team members, ultimately damaging the team’s performance.
It can also create workplace conflict where some team members may stop communicating with themselves over a misunderstanding. Such cannot be settled because the chances of meeting each other are slim.
Delegation Challenges
Another significant challenge for managing a virtual project team is delegating and assigning the right roles and responsibilities. Communicating remotely makes getting crossed wires or forgetting to update individual team members easier.
Confusion over who’s doing a particular task or is responsible for completing the activity can upset the unity and threaten team collaboration.
Project managers must avoid micromanaging their virtual teams, knowing when to take a hands-off approach and trust their employees.
Not leveraging the Right Communication Management Tools.
Several internet-based tools help teams build and manage projects without a physical office environment.
For example, imagine you are managing a development team and developing exciting new software that could see tremendous results for your business. Your remote team might be equipped with all the latest tech tools they need, but it will unravel quickly if they do not stay on top of their assigned tasks.
Luckily, an array of project management tools are effective in managing tasks. Examples include Asana, Jira, Wrike, and more. This tool allows you to organize projects and collaborate with a remote team.
Isolated Team Members
One of the most obvious yet often overlooked challenges of working in a virtual project team is the potential for employee loneliness. Team relationships will be challenging to build due to members not being physically present.
A lack of face-to-face contact may lead to lower team cohesion and a lack of rapport. With remote teams left to work long stretches alone and no across-office chats to boost morale and build connection, well-being, and productivity will likely be impacted.
Distracting environments
Virtual teams often struggle with distracting environments, and each distraction diminishes the efficiency of usually well-performing employees.
A distracting environment is one in which it’s challenging to stay focused. This can be a problem for both individual team members and the entire team as a whole.
This can lead to confusion and hindered decision-making. It can also slow down team productivity because employees cannot share their ideas quickly and easily.
Overcoming the Challenges of the Virtual Project Team
The following are some of the ways that the challenges of the virtual project team can be overcome:
Adopt an open communication and collaboration platform for your team
The communication problem of the virtual project team should be tackled by adopting an open communication platform where team members can collaborate to get work done.
Team members must agree on what, when, and how the information will be shared and how and when they will respond. Develop a priority system to distinguish messages that require an immediate response from those with longer time frames.
Plenty of tools on the market make connecting and collaborating with your team efficient.
When planning your virtual office, you must incorporate tools for Video calling, Messaging, Visual Collaboration, and Time tracking. Project management Software like Zoom, Slack, Mural, and Monitask can enhance communication and collaboration.
Create time for virtual collaborative tasks.
The project manager should enhance collaboration between project team members by creating tasks or activities requiring collaborative efforts.
Such team-building activities will make individuals depend on each other, further fostering teamwork and bridging the loneliness gap.
The project manager can create extra time for team members to catch up and discuss their personal lives during weekly virtual team meetings. They can also encourage camera-shy employees, encourage to join or create dedicated chat channels to discuss their favorite hobbies.
Make Meeting Times Flexible
Meetings are an essential part of bringing teams together through human interaction.
The team leader should bridge the location gap by ensuring that meeting times are flexible for the team members in their respective locations. Scheduling a virtual teams meeting at a convenient and accessible time may take some planning, but it will be well worth it.
You can also rotate meeting times so that all team members have a turn working according to their clock.
Share productivity tips and best practices.
In solving the virtual team challenges, the project manager should also help by sharing valuable productivity hacks and best practices that can be employed.
This will help increase engagement and show the rest of your team a few tricks to be more productive.
It can be noise-canceling headphones to maintain focus or timer tools like the Pomodoro to reduce distraction.
You can also encourage team members to share their best ways to stay focused with the rest of the team.
Be Mindful of Team’s Diversity
In managing the virtual project team, the project manager should be mindful of the language and cultural differences of the team members.
A skilled project manager never fails to foster good collaboration and empathic relationships among employees from various backgrounds.
Set a Clear Path for Conflict Resolution
Conflict is likely to occur during virtual team communication and, if not properly managed, can negatively affect the team. The project manager must set a clear path to resolve conflict using various communication tools.
It is also essential to create an online office culture. Having company and department instant message groups where team members can report issues or obstacles can help build an ongoing conversation.
Conclusion
Virtual teams have become an essential tool for businesses looking to stay competitive. With their many benefits, virtual teams are an excellent way to leverage people’s talents worldwide while keeping costs down.
Moreover, virtual teams are often more efficient than traditional teams. With the ability to work at their own pace and during the times that suit them best, team members can be more productive and achieve better results. This flexibility also allows businesses to tap into a wider talent pool, regardless of geographic location, leading to increased innovation and creativity.
Relevant Question
What unique challenges are associated with virtual teams?
Some of the unique challenges of managing virtual teams include:
- Lack of office culture
- Distractions
- Communication lapses
- Not using the right work tools
- Lack of team management and cohesion
What is the challenge of being a virtual team leader?
The virtual team leader is likely to encounter some of the following challenges:
- Communication with team members
- Nurturing remote team relationships
- Accountability
- Remote project and task management
- Virtual team building activities
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