The Challenges And Opportunities Of Virtual Work

Threats to team commitment and trust. Building team commitment, trust, and mutual support virtually, is challenging. By focusing on relationship-focused activities, leaders promote a collective sense of purpose and a positive environment.
Feelings of isolation. Virtual work increases feelings of isolation. This makes it more important to be supportive and address team members’ concerns.
Benefits of autonomy. Virtual work bestows autonomy, and employees appreciate choosing when, where, and how to complete their work. This increases motivation and well-being.

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Five Leadership Best Practices: Focus On Results

Ethics and collaboration aside, evaluate employees on the outcomes of their work rather than how, when, and from where they produce those outcomes.

Remember that employees value the autonomy working virtually provides because it gives them enormous flexibility to balance ...

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Learning To Let Go

To get the work done, virtual leaders may become more directive because they feel a loss of control. It is difficult to monitor employees’ work remotely. To compensate, they over-rely on providing structure and direction to monitor and control.

Paradoxically, this...

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Five Leadership Best Practices: Delegate

Accept that micromanagement isn’t possible as a virtual leader. Delegate to team members and empower them to manage their own performance.

Studies show that team leaders fear becoming dispensable and underestimate team members’ ability to lead when necessary. This hin...

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Five Leadership Best Practices: Stop Controlling

Leaders must give up on their desire to control. If letting go is difficult, take time to self-reflect. Why micromanage and smother employees? Why keep checking if team members are connected?

Employees know when leaders are checking in out of genuine concern and when t...

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Five Leadership Best Practices: Check-In Regularly And Encourage Your Team

Team members need to know that you care about their well-being and are there to support them. So, check in regularly and encourage team members to keep everyone informed of their activities and any challenges.

This fosters an environment of trust, commitment, and ...

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The Lack Of Visibility

In the office, leaders can clearly view progress and provide immediate feedback through direct communication. This is more challenging through a screen.

So, rather than being overly directive, leaders should create conditions where employees feel empowered to complete their work, a...

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