A recent article, The 7 Virtual Leadership Competencies Every Manager Needs by Rick Lepsinger says that many companies have made the shift to a virtual workplace or a hybrid approach where employees work remotely at least part of the time.
While all competent leaders have common characteristics, those who manage virtual teams must be particularly strong in some key areas to ensure they have the competencies to lead and collaborate remotely.
Communication Skills
Strong communication skills are essential for good leadership, but to a virtual leader, it means being able to stay connected with team members (to build trust and loyalty) and conduct effective virtual meetings in a meeting space (to enhance understanding from a distance) using appropriate technology.
Collaboration
The virtual leaders must recognize the barriers (cultures and time zones), and work zealously to overcome these challenges and cultivate strong collaboration within their teams in coworking office space in diverse places.
Managing accountability
Virtual leaders must hold employees accountable. They should establish reasonable deadlines, keep track of the work in progress and follow up with team members at key milestones.
Managing conflict
Distance creates confusion among virtual leaders and their teams. So leaders must identify why conflict happens and resolve it using an approach that is most suitable for a given condition.
Making good decisions
Virtual leaders need to work harder to follow up with appropriate stakeholders and gather the information necessary for decision making. They should conform to a strategic framework and take everything into consideration before deciding on a course of action.
Managing change
Virtual leaders must be able to bring in new ideas to their team, help them overcome perplexity and doubt about change and keep their team engaged and motivated to carry on with those changes.
Conclusion
These leadership traits are essential to help ensure your virtual teams are engaged and productive. If you have virtual teams in diverse places and you need workspace solutions for your business, YourOffice offers you a wide choice of office and workspace solutions: flexible office space, team office space and virtual office packages. You’ll have access to a complete array of office support and concierge services as well as state-of-the-art business technology.
How do you manage your virtual team effectively? Feel free to share your thoughts. You can also visit us on Facebook and Google Plus.
