Can You Build A Solid Virtual Team?

Working in an office environment is an ideal place to get to know your team members and employees on a much more intimate level. Running an e-commerce business on the other hand will take your management skills to a new level. Many businesses that exist primarily on the internet will find that eventually help is needed. That help comes in the form of a virtual team that will communicate in mostly electronic and written form and work mainly out of their own homes. This virtual team management will require some new skills and leadership essentials that you, as the business owner, will need to adapt to in order to keep the business running smoothly when it is not totally under your own thumb. Virtual leadership requires a unique skill set, which is growing in demand.  As businesses online grow, the need to quickly ramp up additional help can spring upon a growing business at any time.

For many people, the opportunity to work at home is highly appealing. There are few people who would decline working from their home office, or even their couch, on a full time basis but there are fewer people who can truly handle the conversion to virtual team member. As the leader of this virtual team, you need to be able to weed out the members who can do the job and do it well, with little to no supervision , and ultimately, focus on building your team around those than can produce solid results. Leaders and workers alike must conform to work practices yet remain flexible to keep the work “environment” productive and conducive to all members.

Learning how to lead a virtual team typically involves constant electronic communication via email and digital voice over-IP (VOIP). Other teams will require more extensive technology for communication, such as online meeting software and video conferencing. Telephone communication  and conference calling may also be involved, depending on the nature of the business and the team members. Effective communication is essential to any business, but it’s one of the cornerstones of success for a business that uses a virtual office environment. Each party has to be able to communicate what they are doing to other team members in order for it to be a success. For teams that are built entirely virtual, there are some rules of the road that should be adhered to for all team members to help alleviate communication problems upfront:

Here is a list of proactive measures your virtual business should institute for all virtual team members:

Meet In Person
Many businesses employ top-notch freelancers or telecommuters that doesn’t require daily physical interaction. While a virtual office can certainly be very effective, it’s a good idea to have in-person meetings from time to time in order for team members to interact and build face-to-face relationships with each other.  Person to person meetings can help build loyalty as well as productivity when team members feel “invested” in relationships with other team members.  Face-to-face interaction can help to build that sense of being invested in the people around you, even if it’s primarily a virtual environment.

Leadership Updates
As a leader, it is just as important (if not more) that you also maintain constant communication with your team members. Make sure everyone is in the loop and understands where the business is headed. Salesmen and administrative folks all need to be on the same page with the entire company, so it can continue operating as a whole entity instead of as individual silos.

Training Is Still Imperative
When you are working with or hiring virtual team members, it is still essential they are all trained properly as to how you do business. When your team members are answering your customers correspondence or handling their phone calls, you need to ensure there is a protocol that is followed each time.

Trust is one of the all-important issues that surrounds virtual teams. If a leader doesn’t feel entirely confident in the abilities of virtual team members, it can be hard to maintain a cohesive team. There is an importance to hierarchy and following structure and making sure your team does the same. Managing the team will require skills and knowledge but it also requires experience, as both you and the team learn to navigate the waters of your ecommerce business together..

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