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In response to an increasingly global marketplace, over half of organizational leaders are now called upon to collaborate with and oversee virtual teams—groups of remote employees who are spread out across cultures and time zones, connecting with the group via technology such as Skype, email, and phone conferences.
The advantages of virtual collaborations are immediately apparent:
According to Rath, understanding your own strengths as a leader can offer insight into the best ways for you to communicate and manage your teams, making your work more productive. The time you save by streamlining your work according to your strengths can be re-invested in relationships with team members (for example, by having one-on-one chats with everyone to assess their goals and contributions.)
- diverse perspectives create an environment of creativity and multiple solutions,
- virtual communication is “greener” than arranging travel to get everyone in the same room,
- and many employees feel more engaged with work when they feel autonomy over their location.
Encouraging community
Friendships at work can increase employee satisfaction and production by almost 50 percent, a statistic that makes the ability to build strong relationships a highly desirable leadership skill. In one study, employees who shared bios, pictures, and video chats reported the highest levels of feeling they belonged to a team—which increased engagement and production. They reported even more work satisfaction when their team leader demonstrated ways to connect (e.g., explaining how to install Skype or connect Facebook pages for everyone to view). Likewise, leaders who exhibit regard for the team members’ values are more likely to develop strong and productive working relationships. Showing your respect for the schedules of employees in other time zones by scheduling a call at 4:00 a.m. your time, for example, will go a long way in earning their trust.Investing in strengths
In his book, Strengths Based Leadership, Senior Gallup researcher Tom Rath says that “when leaders focus on and invest in their employees’ strengths, the odds of each person being engaged goes up eightfold.” One approach is to mix up the methods of communication between phone, email, Skype, and face-to-face meetings in order to allow all team members the opportunity to highlight their personal communications strengths—extroverts will have a chance to shine in live chat, while more introverted employees may feel confident sharing ideas in written form.