The trend of having virtual teams collaborate on projects while working in different physical locations have been growing for the past few years. I remember working on a few such projects in the past 5 years. Distributed teams are always more challenging to work with as a project manager. From coping with different time-zones, to culture and language differences, as well as the ever-present technical tool challenges – like team members having bad internet connections with poor audio quality to calls dropping, background noises etcetera – are the typical scenarios you will have to deal with on a daily basis. Add to that how difficult it is to build healthy relationships with team members who haven’t met in person yet and therefore will take more time to build trust and mutual respect, and you have all the ingredients for a stressful project experience. Unfortunately, this is the situation many project teams find themselves in as part of the ‘global economy’ we live in.
Today, enterprises are expanding their reach by taking advantage of telecommuting, with workers plying their trade based out of different offices, countries and even their own homes. Thanks to the Internet, modern professionals are enabled to work from virtually anywhere.
Some advantages of working as part of virtual teams, is the exposure to experts from outsourced companies and team members having more opportunities to engage with professional peers who reside anywhere around the globe.
Still, the effective deployment of virtual project teams, is challenging for enterprise leaders. For instance, a Deloitte study found that 66-percent of virtual workgroups failed to meet clients’ expectations. Further studies revealed that many professionals believe that virtual communication is not as effective as face-to-face meetings. They also expressed feelings of confusion when using new teleconferencing technologies.
Despite these sentiments, one study found that successful virtual teams outperformed employees who completed projects while working out of traditional office settings. Other studies found that virtual teams improve productivity, with some consulting firms experiencing performance gains of up to 43-percent. Although research has shown that virtual project teams can produce improved outcomes compared to teams operating out of traditional offices, the experience can prove just as stressful if not more difficult than working in normal office settings.
In this type of work environment, there are obstacles to productivity. To begin with, some workers may never meet in person or even live in the same country. Furthermore, it may prove difficult for project leaders to coordinate team members who live in different time zones.
For this reason, project leaders of virtual teams should establish policies that deal with these kinds of issues up front. Another important aspect is mindfulness, which means that you as the leader take responsibility for your words and actions. The team members are also made mindful and are careful of their words and actions; they don’t let their negative emotions impact the others around them.
A well-planned project will ensure employee mental health and optimal productivity. Moreover, by teaching team members to understand each other’s cultural nuances, team leaders can create inclusive and cohesive work environments where staff members respect each other and, ultimately, are satisfied with their roles.
To find more resources for mindfulness at work and what employers can do to help,check out this employee mental health guide developed by Maryville University’s online degree program.