How to Manage Virtual Team Effectively: Basic Rules

If you want to be a good manager or team leader and make your team productive, you would need to learn tips on how to manage virtual team effectively. Read this post to learn more!

We live in an advanced world where remote working has become common. More and more companies are providing work from home to their employees, which helps them work without leaving their comfort zone. But is it that easy for the leader to manage the team virtually effectively?

Managing a virtual team is challenging; it adds difficulty and another level of challenge to the manager or leader’s role. They have to make sure their team is attentive and productive and maintain a healthy atmosphere within the team. 

If you need to build and manage a productive team but need to figure out how to manage virtual team effectively, this is the right place. We bring tips to produce a high-performing team that delivers desired results. Browse through the secrets to managing a virtual team effectively. 

Give your employees the right tool 

Online working needs an efficient and reliable tool to meet the requirements of the task and be productive. It is the only way that keeps your workflow smooth and uninterrupted. Depending on your work requirement and project need, provide your team with an advanced tool that reduces the overheads, boosts their productivity and meets the company’s expectancy. 

Establish a solid communication

According to the reports, virtual communication is more difficult than in-person communication. Thus, the primary thing that a manager or leader can do about managing a virtual team effectively is to simplify communication. Reach everyone personally; regular conversation via email, chat or phone call and staying connected during working hours is the right approach. Choosing the right communication tool can make communication easy. 

Set the goals 

How to lead a virtual team is the primary concern for team leaders and managers. A team goes really smoothly when you are very clear about goals. For a manager, knowing the objective is important if they really want to learn how to manage virtual team effectively. For instance, if you are managing a CONTENT WRITING team, set a parameter such as a word count or deadline for every writer. 

Also read: Tips for project manager to stay organized at work

Delegate the task properly 

Thinking about how to manage a team virtually? Let us tell you that you must be more managing when working online. You should know who the person responsible for the task and project is. Else you can do:

• Split the big task into small groups and declare a supervisor for that group. This way, each employee will highly concentrate on the assigned task. 
• Give the deadline for the work, neither tight nor loose, so that you will complete the task before the delivery date. 

Use team collaboration tools 

The golden rule for how to manage virtual team effectively is to bring advanced, effective and reliable tools to the team. There are more chances of misunderstanding when working remotely. To avoid confusion and mismanagement, you should use team collaboration tools. These tools will help you in:

• Creating calendars
• Assigning tasks
• Monitoring the employee’s progress
• Organizing their work
• Keeping employees connected

Provide feedback regularly

Your team members can be your strengths and weaknesses as well. You should give genuine feedback to your employees, whether it is good or bad. Provide individual feedback to each member about their performance and group feedback about the team’s performance. This way, your team members can overcome their flaws and improve their performance. While learning how to manage a virtual team effectively, this is what you should keep in mind. 

Recognize achievements and appreciate rewards

If you want to be a good manager or boss, first learn to appreciate others. Appreciation motivates employees and recognizes their value. This way, the most talented employees stay in your team for a long time. Unlike physical teams, virtual teams do not get a chance to meet in person; you can arrange a group call to celebrate victory or give them individual shopping coupons or movie tickets. 

The Bottom Line

Managing a virtual team can be difficult for the new managers, or they do not have effective tools. Interaction and constant communication is the key solution for how to manage virtual team effectively. Managers or team leaders must be extra careful and plant everything that suits the business model. Also, feel free to incorporate the above tips because they are free to use. We will feel appreciated if you use them in managing your virtual team, and mention the use below!