{"id":10461,"date":"2017-08-28T06:39:26","date_gmt":"2017-08-28T13:39:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/recruitloop.com\/blog\/?p=10461"},"modified":"2017-08-28T22:29:21","modified_gmt":"2017-08-29T05:29:21","slug":"7-tips-managing-virtual-teams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/7-tips-managing-virtual-teams\/","title":{"rendered":"7 Tips for Managing Virtual Teams"},"content":{"rendered":"

Editor\u2019s Note:\u00a0<\/strong>This is a guest post by Vaishali Badgujar \u2013 Digital Marketer at Time Doctor. Her opinions are her own.<\/em><\/p>\n

It\u2019s a fact:\u00a017.2 million people in the U.S. are working from home at least some of the time.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s over 5% of the nation\u2019s workforce. More and more business managers are faced with managing teams<\/a> in which people are working in different parts of the country, or even different countries around the world.<\/p>\n

Here are seven strategies that work when managing virtual teams.<\/p>\n

1. Know what your team members are working on<\/strong><\/h2>\n

It\u2019s important that your team members don’t work in isolation. They should always be aware of what their teammates have to do. This encourages collaboration when needed, and also gives employees a \u201cbig picture\u201d that motivates them to accomplish smaller tasks.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s vital, of course, that managers are aware of what team members are accomplishing each day. This can consist of a simple daily report covering what was worked on and what the top priorities are for the next day.<\/p>\n

2. Communicate often and effectively<\/strong><\/h2>\n

There are many ways to communicate between virtual team members<\/a>, and it\u2019s important to choose the right method, depending on what needs to be said. If you are discussing an emotional issue, it is best to talk over the phone rather than a text chat or email. The ideal method of handling emotional issues are in-person meetings, but that\u2019s often not possible.<\/p>\n

Also, if you find that an email communication keeps going back and forth, it might be more effective to convert that into a phone meeting. A company policy of writing brief emails is useful for increasing productivity<\/a> in your virtual team. Short emails save the time of both parties and force the writer to get straight to the point.<\/p>\n

3. Track your team members\u2019 productivity and goals<\/strong><\/h2>\n

This is important for any team, but especially so when managing a virtual one. You need to have clear benchmarks for what productivity means for each person. You should track outcomes and set minimum standards on an individual basis. It\u2019s almost always more effective when team members set and commit to their own goals, rather than having outcomes dictated by management.<\/p>\n