Virtual Teams: Communication Strategies, Challenges and Ways to Overcome them

Communication Strategies for Virtual Teams

Leadership 

            It can be difficult trying to ensure all the pieces fit together when assembling a virtual team. That is something virtual team leaders often must do. Finding or being a good leader for your team is the first step toward building a successful team. While leadership with experience in face-to-face business might have excelled, they should be willing and able to adapt to the differences between them. "An effective virtual team leader must be skilled in moving people toward negotiation, consensus, and ultimate solutions" (DuFrene-Lehman, 2016). Finding a good team leader will help ensure a smooth flow of operations. Ginsburg mentions a leader “who would elicit not only levels of individual performance that exceeded anything achieved earlier, but also motivated workers to perform, primarily for the greater good, relegating self-interest to lesser importance” (2017). A virtual team without support from either a designated leader or each other will not be able to work together. A poorly trained leader could miss feelings of stress and anxiety within their team and miss the signs of burnout. Teams who are overworked and not paying attention to their wellbeing, health, or personal lives have greater challenges to overcome than simple miscommunication.  

Set Team Expectations 

Once you have your team, discussing a set of guidelines for daily operations, interactions, and expectations will help your team manage themselves more effectively. Weekdone (2020) suggests that guidelines may be a tool to help new team members get used to working virtually if they haven’t done it before. Overcoming the challenge of moving from a face-to-face team environment to working virtually could be made easier with the proper guidelines for them to follow. Ensure everyone understands the importance of adherence and voices any concerns upfront to avoid problems later. Give team members the ability to contribute to and edit these guidelines as issues or conflicts arise that may prompt further discussion. Guidelines are very similar to policies and procedures with more trust involved and less policing from leadership. A team member who refuses to follow basic guidelines won’t last long on that team. These expectations can be as simple as updating your availability status on whatever meeting or chat client your team uses, but they also might be complex and outline e-mail etiquette extensively as it relates to language and cultural barriers within the team. If done properly, a focused set of guidelines will provide the foundation for successful day-to-day operations.  

Have a Common Goal 

Choosing team members for your team can be challenging. “Particular characteristics of a team member who contributes to the success of a virtual team should be identified to assist in selecting future members” (Ginsburg, 2017). An effective team must contain people who agree with the mission or vision for the project to be successful. Once the team is assembled, they should continue to receive intrinsically motivating support and reinforcement of that original vision. Schramm (2020) asserts that a team should have a shared mission and be driven toward a common goal. I mean, that's why they were selected to work together on this virtual collaboration, right? It's good to know, as a member of that team, that you are all united toward reaching an end goal together. When the team isn't working together toward the greater good, the lack of camaraderie or cooperation can lead to lack of trust and more stress for each team member, overall. It helps to start each day with a goal for that day, week, month, quarter, etc.  

Language Proficiency and Accessibility  

A team leader should also look for language proficiency or accessibility. “A certain degree of fluency in the common language used by the team is a prerequisite to effective communication” (DuFrene-Lehmen, 2016). There should be a clear way to communicate effectively, whether it be a demonstrated proficiency in a common language or proficiency using a translator program. When a common language is agreed upon and used for all communications, written and spoken, it allows a clearer translation while also allowing exposure to and collaboration with other cultures that would otherwise not be available due to distance.  When language barriers are not considered, important information can be lost in translation. If there's a serious miscommunication, it could end in hurt feelings, or worse, resignation. It is best to ensure there is a clear expectation about language used at work and in work-related communications. Avoiding slang or location-specific colloquialisms will help ensure nothing is lost in translation or simply misunderstood.  

 Technological Aspects 

A team leader should ensure each member of the team is technologically savvy and able to operate whatever software or collaboration tool is to be used. Perhaps the team is fresh starting out and a tool hasn't been chosen yet. Showing proficiency in operating basic technology and tools should be a requirement. When team members can operate the chosen technology, meetings go smoothly, and team members can focus on ideas and cooperation rather than fixing bugs and helping someone figure out why their webcam isn't working. It is also important for everyone to have what they need to access that technology and any related training they may need. When technology is working properly for the team and the team can properly use it, the team can meet and collaborate with greater ease.  
 
 
 

How to Communicate 

There are many tools for online communication and collaboration. You can touch base and stay in contact with your team in a multitude of ways.  
Just about everyone with access to technology has an e-mail these days. According to Statista.com, about 4.3 billion e-mail users exist worldwide (Ceci, 2022). In fact, there were over 330 billion e-mails sent in 2022 alone (Ceci, 2022)! Popular e-mail tools include Gmail, Yahoo, AOL, etc. An e-mail should be sent in situations which don’t require an immediate answer, and time should be allowed for a response.  

Since the CoVID-19 pandemic, video-conferencing tools have seen a huge growth in use by non-business users. While these tools have existed for a while, many people had no idea they existed! Users can utilize a camera phone, webcam or other video-capable device to run applications which allow teams to communicate as close to face-to-face as possible. There are several types of video conferencing with different setups involved. In virtual team environments, you are more likely to be 1:1 or in a group conference call. There are several platforms that allow sharing of screens and files while allowing for video communication, as well, including Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Skype, WebEx, etc.  

While you can simply make a phone call in most cases, there are also collaboration platforms which allow audio or tele-conferencing calls with a voiceover IP. When set up properly, these platforms allow users to make landline connections with an internet-based phone number. If you’ve ever heard the term “robo call,” that’s exactly the type of call it is, an internet-based phone automatically dialing phone numbers through a program. However, used as a tool for virtual collaboration, it allows team members to communicate in places where cell phone coverage is spotty, but there is a reliable internet connection. Some platforms which offer VoIP calling are Microsoft Teams Phone and Google Voice. There are also other services which offer exclusively VoIP services without running through a collaborative platform.  

Unlike e-mail, chats are sent with the intention of catching the recipient of the message at their desk to chat in real-time. Some platforms you can use to chat with team members include Google Chat, Microsoft Teams, Slack, etc. Users can log in to their chat client to let other team members know they are available to chat or will be soon utilizing a custom status message.  

Status Messages don’t relay a lot of information, but they do share your current status with your team members. For example, when they send a message and see your status is set to OOO (out of office) because you’re on vacation until next Tuesday, they will see your status and know immediately not to expect your reply or sit around anxiously waiting for it. A status message says so little, yet it shares so much valuable information with your team.  

Good communication is vital within virtual teams. You don’t have the luxury of going up to a co-worker in the office and having a face-to-face discussion to get clarity on a project or issue. Trying to explain or keep your team on track can be difficult when communication isn’t clear or consistent. Small messages saying “good morning!” or “what do you have going on today?” can help jumpstart a conversation to see how your team is doing and find out their game plan for the day. DuFrene-Lehman (2016) state that high performing team members seem to communicate more. Not only do they communicate more, but they also make sure that their messages are task focused. They continue to say that over-overcommunication even led to more “creative ideas” (DuFrene-Lehmen, 2016). Now for leaders, sending messages more frequently recapped the team’s work and any progress that has been made. Transparency can go far within a team. Keeping your team in the loop of any updates, both good and bad, will help the team understand the expectation of communication as well as building that necessary trust.   

Downfalls to Poor Communication 

Without proper communication and follow-up, a lot of information can get lost. Lost information means more time, and more time means delays in productivity. This type of poor communication happened to me while working in my virtual team.

While I was planning meetings to gather information about an upcoming project, I realized that I hadn’t been included in any other meetings about it yet. Because I was developing the training for this project, I needed to know about it! I spent a great deal of my own time gathering information about it from certain stakeholders to prepare myself for the training whenever they were ready for me. I waited... and I waited some more. While I was waiting, I didn’t get any updates, invites to relevant meetings, nor included in any e-mail chains about it.  

Then, I received a call from the director asking why the training hadn’t been completed! I told him about my waiting and not having received any information about the project. He then told me something that shocked me! Much to my surprise, the project “lead” had been keeping me in the loop, and I had, indeed, attended every meeting. Imagine my surprise! I corrected his bold assumptions and even offered to share my screen while we searched for the information I supposedly received together. While I had been waiting for someone to reach out to me, I hadn’t considered that I may need to be more assertive to get things done. It made me feel like I was the one who dropped the ball and affected my team.  

While I was able to eventually get the information I needed to complete the training, the launch date was delayed and had to be pushed back. It affected me as a team member, though. Now, instead of waiting patiently to receive needed information, I assert myself into relevant meetings and overcommunicate with project leads and stakeholders to ensure I don’t slip through the cracks again. I also include my director in all of my meetings to ensure there is nothing missing from our important communications. We can also both ensure important deadlines are met consistently. Poor communication, under communication and a complete lack of communication are all damaging to your team and its productivity.  

Improving Team Communication 

It would be beneficial to learn how to make your messages clear and understandable. These messages can be emails or a quick instant message on your team’s desired tool. Dufrene and Lehmen listed excellent points of how to “craft” a desirable message to your team that keeps the message neutral. These points include keeping a friendly tone, potentially avoiding sarcasm or humor, and making the message clear and easy to read, especially if visuals are being used. (DuFrene-Lehmen, 2016). 

Have regularly scheduled contact with your team. This may include a short message, 1:1s, or even weekly or bi-weekly team meetings. These meetings will provide regular opportunities to give updates on progress, check on teammates, and find out where support may be necessary. Since you may have team members that work in different time zones across the world, potentially, it would be important to schedule these meetings with input from your team to make sure there are no conflicts and everyone can make themselves available. (DuFrene-Lehmen, 2016). Also having a meeting agenda sent out ahead of time can help keep your meeting on track as well as ensure that the team members understand the value of the meeting (DuFrene-Lehmen, 2016). 

It's very important to have good documentation and tracking of that. Technology allows us to closely track and monitor our tasks and it gives us the ability to follow up much more easily. It can be distressing to attend a meeting with only part of the information you need to do your part and no idea where the rest of it went. It can be a lot for your team to handle to keep up with sorting out missing, misdirected or misfiled data. Ensuring that all information is documented, tracked, and handled is an important part of a functional and successful virtual team. Making sure information is appropriately shared amongst the group can help keep the team aligned with that common goal. This will give time to ensure understanding throughout the team, as well as allow time for additions to the agenda or clarifications on agenda items.  

by H. E. Lanigan and H. Morphis

References 

1. Ceci, L. (2022). Number of e-mail users worldwide from 2017 to 2025. Statista. https://www.statista.com/statistics/255080/number-of-e-mail-users-worldwide/ 
2. Ceci, L. (2022). Number of sent and received e-mails per day worldwide from 2017 to 2025. Statista. https://www.statista.com/statistics/456500/daily-number-of-e-mails-worldwide/ 
3. DuFrene, D. D., & Lehman, C. M.. (2016). Managing virtual teams. Business Expert Press. (2nd ed.). 
4. Ginsburg, J. P.. (2017, April 6). Determining the personality characteristics that identify a successful global virtual team member. Imagine America Blog. https://www.imagine-america.org/online-journaldetermining-personality-characteristics-identify-successful-global-virtual-team-membe/ 
5. Schramm, S.. (2020, August 3). 6 qualities that allow virtual teams to thrive: Communication, motivation and purpose fuel work of Keep Exploring team. Working@Duke. https://today.duke.edu/2020/08/6-qualities-allow-virtual-teams-thrive 
6. Weekdone. (2020, November 10). Virtual team communication tips. YouTube. https://youtu.be/PbT-rmoGxJ4