I had a great time at #SHRM16 and I was so thrilled that my session on managing and leading virtual teams was so packed, even at 7am!\u00a0 A big thank you to everyone who attended and provided great insights during the session.\u00a0 A few people spoke to me afterwards regarding their challenges with adjusting to working on a virtual team.\u00a0 Since time was limited for my presentation, I want to delve deeper into how employees can transition into a virtual work environment and how as HR leaders we can support employees to move from a structured environment to a more fluid one.<\/p>\n
Not everyone will enjoy or excel at working in a virtual environment.<\/p>\n
In fact in a recent Forbes article I posted, they have determined that some people have a more \u201cremote\u201d personality than others<\/a>.\u00a0 They are characterized as:<\/p>\n When people with this personality (which I am), have the opportunity to work remotely they are happy and 43% say they LOVE their job. When they have to work in an office only 24% love their job.<\/p>\n However, what was interesting about the data is that those that prefer to work in an office environment (identifying as an \u201coffice\u201d personality) were able to adapt to a remote environment quite easily. In fact, 31% of those with an office personality said they love their job, when they worked remotely. \u00a0So, it\u2019s better to have an office personality and work remotely than to have a remote personality and have to work in an office.<\/p>\n Employees need to reflect on their personality, their preferred work styles, their need for face-to-face communication and collaboration, and their desire for direction and feedback to determine if working on a virtual team will be a good fit for them.\u00a0 When evaluating if, or how, to adjust to a virtual team environment, consider the following:<\/p>\n Several people at the SHRM conference this week spoke to me about how they had to learn to transition to a virtual work environment. In some cases, employees had worked in an office for years and then had to work remotely which required a new set of skills. The challenges they faced were:<\/p>\n One gentleman mentioned that to be successful he has structured his day in a way that mimicks an office experience.\u00a0 He goes into his home office at the same time every morning, sets a timer to remind himself to take a 30min lunch break, and at the end of the day leaves his home office and locks the door.<\/p>\n A leader mentioned that in particular with her team members in Asia, she discovered that that since they always say \u2018yes\u2019 to her requests and agree to take participate in conference calls during odd hours that their personal lives were being negatively impacted due to extended work hours and time zone issues.\u00a0 She had to become more sensitive and aware of how asking virtual team members to participate in late night events were creating family difficulties with their spouse and children.<\/p>\n HR leaders can support both employees and managers when transitioning to a virtual team structure or more fluid work environment by:<\/p>\n Increasingly so, more employees will be working remotely, leveraging technology to communicate, and engaging with colleagues in a more flexible and fluid way.\u00a0 The structured 9am-5pm work day has already been eroded with smart phones, tablets and laptops that allow (and often require) that we be available to work anytime, anywhere. As our workplace environment shifts, some employees will be able to adapt to these changes more quickly and with greater ease.\u00a0 Some managers will struggle with how to empower employees more and let go of a micro-management leadership style.\u00a0 Employees will need to find ways to ensure that work doesn\u2019t consume them and that they carve out personal time, while meeting the needs of colleagues in different times zones, around the world.<\/p>\n Flexibility, fluidity, independence, self-discipline and a conscious effort on building relationships are the necessary competencies required to be successful in a virtual team environment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I had a great time at #SHRM16 and I was so thrilled that my session on managing and leading virtual teams was so packed, even at 7am!\u00a0 A big thank you to everyone who attended and provided great insights during … Continue reading \n
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Adjusting To The Transition<\/h3>\n
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Supporting Employees & Leaders<\/h3>\n
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