Working with a team is a lot easier to work with than working individually. Doing things in a team the work can be easy rather than tedious and cumbersome. Team works are generally very efficient and productive rather than working individually because in a team we get to work with different people who have different opinions, advices and perspectives for a single thing, and managing to get all the ideas and amalgamation of all the ideas to make one great idea is possible in only a team.
But working in a team can also have different opinions which can lead to conflicts but that's what team leaders are for, to listen to each and every team member and come to a conclusion and try to avoid any conflicts but giving an opportunity for a healthy discussion. But, as from last one year, due to the covid 19 virus everything has now shifted to an online platform, no one to one contact, everything is shut.
Starting from schools and other educational institutions to offices, they are having online access. People are now doing work from home for their offices, teachers and students are attending classes online, Business women and businessmen are running their businesses from their house, online.
What Are Remote Team-
Just like any other, remote teams are a group of people coming together for a project, or working together from different geographical backgrounds through online mode of communication. They communicate with each other via emails, zoom meetings and other online technologies.
They may never get to meet physically. Being from different backgrounds, it encourages different creative ideas and concepts. They operate and discuss on different topics and aspects of the project they are working on through different online platforms. The remote team is also known as a virtual team, distributed team etc. But just like any other thing it has its own advantages and disadvantages.
Advantages
- The differences regarding the team member's background can be a positive impact on the project due to the different and creative and new ideas.
- Makes a more equivalent work environment, eradicating age, race, and inability discrimination by driving people to communicate with others.
- Remote teams are more cost friendly as the travelling, accommodation and other expenses are not required.
- Every individual gets their turn to speak without any hesitation or fear.
Disadvantages
- As there is a cultural and geographical difference, conflicts can be seen.
- Convincing team members on a virtual mode is less effective than on a face to face physical mode.
- As everything is related to online technology and stuff, the older generation who are not much acquainted with the technologies can find it difficult and have to put in a lot of effort for that.
- As everyone belongs to different geographical locations there might be a time difference and which can lead to a mismanaged distribution of information.
Managing Remote Teams
Managing remote teams is somewhat like managing a normal team, but rather in a virtual mode. But sometimes managing remote teams can be frustrating and difficult due to many different reasons like conflicts and misunderstanding between team members, miscommunication of information, Internet and other technological issues etc.
But it's the responsibility of the team leader for the smooth and effective working of the team in the virtual mode. The team leader itself can make a lot of difference and can make the virtual mode like the physical mode. Managing a team can be tricky but if it goes perfectly it will turn into a successful project. The team leader can manage the remote team or the virtual team by-
- Making the team member feel free to communicate and share an idea that they have.
- Understanding the problems of the members related to technical or other things. .
- Giving a proper and clear purpose and expectation of the project they are working on.
- Set regular goals for the team to achieve, it will keep them motivated.
- Assigning different tasks to people on the basis of their field of interest.
- Having trust and complete transparency between the team members themselves and also with the team leader.
- Be organised and hold regular meetings to check on the progress of the project.
- Be a good team leader to the team by knowing them properly on a personal level which they are comfortable with.
- Focus on the productivity and result of the project by not giving an ample amount of work and not stressing the team members about the project.
- Learn to take criticism from the team members and improve as a leader.
Managing the whole team with geographical and cultural differences can be difficult in a virtual mode.
But it's the responsibility of the team leader for the smooth and effective working of the team in the virtual mode. The team leader itself can make a lot of difference and can make the virtual mode like the physical mode. Managing a team can be tricky but if it goes perfectly it will turn into a successful project. The team leader can manage the remote team or the virtual team by -
- Using employee monitoring software for effectively managing the remote teams
- Making the team member feel free to communicate and share an idea that they have.
