How to Improve Collaboration in Teams Working Virtually

It is easy to be persuaded why collaboration is important for an organisation’s success. Taking any product or service to market now is the result of a much wider group of people, organisations and processes. The supply chain is becoming longer, teams are global and the workplace is becoming more and more virtual. – Andy Grossman, CEDR

 

In the wake of the Coronavirus shutdown, working remotely has become the only option for most and this offers a unique opportunity to rethink team effectiveness.

Same Challenge Different Location

Our conflict management training and mediation experience tells us that teams working remotely face the same challenges as teams operating in person.

Ineffective communication and lack of constructive conflict borne out of a lack of trust leads to inattention to results and diminishing commitment to business objectives.

Creating a Team is One Thing

There is a plethora of sound advice out there on putting an effective team together.

A particular emphasis is put on the diversity of a team in order to:

• Pool together complementary skills
• Discourage groupthink
• Increase creativity and productivity

However, diversity alone does not mean that all members of the team will contribute equally to the assignment, project or crisis at hand – whether virtual or not.

Technology Alone is Not the Answer

Given the geographical spread of today’s projects and workforce, with team members and clients in different parts of the world, technology alone should not be seen as the panacea to virtual collaboration.

Here are four reasons why organisations fail to address team effectiveness in teams operating remotely:

1.      Effective team work is often confused with sharing information on digital platforms. This alone does not bring about successful collaboration.

2.      Collaboration contradicts the competitive nature of capitalism. This traditionally demands employees to be competitive, assertive and above all individualistic to achieve quick results.

3.      With virtual teams, potential conflict is much less visible and therefore can go unaddressed for longer with potentially worse outcomes.

4.      The immediate, pragmatic demands of collaboration are much more demanding than they first seem. People often underestimate the challenge involved and don’t commit the time and resource needed.

What does a Team Need in Order to be Effective?

1.      Learning agility – this requires teams to spend more time experimenting rather than planning and to positively engage in conflict

2.      Social skills – persuasion, emotional intelligence, listening, empathy, creativity and communication. These skills are increasing in demand across all industries as organisations look to harness what automation and artificial intelligence can’t.

3.      Better conflicts – collaboration doesn’t mean people won’t or shouldn’t agree on everything. Disagreements are part of working together and everyone in the team, including the leader, needs the relationship and process skills to engage effectively in differences, turning conflict into opportunity.

3 Ways to Improve Virtual Collaboration

1.      Build trust

• Step forward, step back – everyone steps up to lead when their particular expertise or talent is needed
• Constructive confrontation – no finger pointing
• Don’t shoot the messenger – tell others quickly about changes or problems that arise
• Discussion – nothing should be off limits
• Analysis not assumptions – rely and base debate around facts
• Confidentiality – personal disclosures must remain within the team or with the manger

2.      Create constructive conflict and commitment

• Address conflicts promptly and directly with each other and at the same time with the entire group – do not ignore issues.
• Keep disagreements descriptive and or factual, acting on information gathered or obtained rather than assumptions
• Listen fully to dissenters, clarify and encourage understanding of their views
• Show flexibility with different communication styles – appreciate some people may not be as forthcoming with their opinions, equally don’t let one voice steam-roll the rest
• Summarise the outcome and what the group agreed upon after a discussion
• Be wary of groupthink – akin to the above, allow a diverse team to flourish by ensuring all have a voice
• Harness the skills of a mediator within a group to facilitate healthy and free-flowing dialogue
• Be comfortable with reaching out to an external facilitator if you run into problems and need help with team-building or communication

3.      Build accountability

• Make clear everyone’s individual responsibility
• Check-in regularly with status updates, e.g. scrum meetings on a daily or weekly basis where people state their objective and follow-up to see what has been achieved.
• Have clearly outline SMART (Specific-Measurable-Attainable-Relevant-Timebound) goals in place
• Recognise and celebrate achievements

Having read this, think now of your own team: Is collaboration part of your mindset? Or in other words, are you as effective as you wish to be?