APPENDIX

The Eight Characteristics of High-Performing Virtual Teams

Why do some virtual teams function more effectively than others? Over the years, I have researched this topic and have identified certain characteristics shared by high-functioning teams. Although it would be next to impossible to assemble virtual teams that perform perfectly across all eight categories, successful virtual teams recognize the importance of creating systems and behaving consistently around these essential categories:

Let’s take a more detailed look at the successful behaviors that describe the eight categories that anchor high-performing virtual teams.

1. Members Exhibit a Global Mindset—They Look Outward, Not Inward

We are all living in a global world, even if you’re not working on a global team. With this in mind, effective virtual leaders widen their focus from the local to the global, thereby expanding the resource pool for the business. They are sensitive to the basics of working virtually—bridging cultural differences, aligning communication modes with workflow, and discouraging behaviors that exhibit territoriality. They see the big picture and make necessary accommodations to bridge potential and real differences among members. In tandem with this big-picture view is a determination to encourage diverse teammates to work outside their comfort zones and take calculated risks (which is key to bringing great ideas to the surface). Encouraging team members to develop a global mindset implicitly creates an environment of respect. Simply stated, respect engenders buy-in, without which members can’t take ownership of work product and work toward a common goal.

2. Members Share Responsibility for Achieving the Mission

When team members work from the same location, personal relationships provide the glue that binds the team together. These relationships also facilitate a sense of purpose. Imbuing members with a team spirit that creates a cohesive work unit is, of course, more difficult in a virtual environment, and requires greater effort on the part of leaders to stress the commonality of purpose. High-performing teams have created the conditions where members internalize their piece of the mission, thereby transcending the isolation that defines working in a virtual environment. Furthermore, team members develop an understanding about their mutual dependence to achieve objectives.

3. A Culture of Openness Facilitates Trust and Authenticity Among Team Members

Virtual teams have a diverse membership base; the more diverse the personalities, the greater the chance for misunderstandings to arise. Effective virtual managers work to create and maintain an environment of trust to defuse miscommunications. They focus on behaviors, not on personalities, and give people the benefit of the doubt, because they know this engenders trust. When members know that they will not be penalized for asking basic questions or for proposing “wrong” solutions, they are more willing to contribute their ideas and engage in breakthrough thinking. As the saying goes, none of us is as smart as all of us.

When a zone of trust is created, successful global leaders are authentic. They “say what they mean and mean what they say” to a high degree and model the behavior for their team members. They can be counted on to follow through on what they promise; talk and action are aligned. Being able to take people at their word increases the likelihood that the team functions at a high capacity and that valuable time is not wasted revisiting tasks and issues that were previously addressed.

4. Members Engage in Meaningful Communication with Each Other

First and foremost, high-performing virtual teams (1) establish and maintain standards on frequency and modes of communication and (2) hold members accountable for acting accordingly. Members make sure they are available to the team according to the established standards that everyone signed off on. For example, everyone knows the team’s normal working hours and how often members check voice mail, e-mail, and interoffice mail. They know how quickly to respond to or acknowledge each type of communication. In high-performing virtual teams, the message sender takes responsibility for prioritizing communication, clearly indicating what is informational and what requires action, and by whom.

Team members have figured out how to compensate for the loss of physical context in a virtual environment and make a real effort to share an understanding of situations that arise; they are willing to communicate and work together to find solutions. In addition, they are proficient at distance communication, and yet regularly use synchronous communication at critical points to speak with each other.

5. An Easy Flow of Information Exists and Is Communicated Using Various Forms of Technology

Information is the lifeblood of projects, and effective global managers have processes in place to ensure that all stakeholders are comfortable in asking for what they need, and stating when their needs are not met. In addition, everyone has access to appropriate technology to enable reliable, current exchange of information. Of critical importance is the team’s access to competent and timely technical support, including the assurance that file sharing and exchange is not compromised by compatibility issues.

Data comes at members of virtual teams at a relentless pace. If information is “pushed” to us (through unfiltered e-mails, phone calls, and the like), then our time is not our own. Pulled information, which is available through e-bulletin boards, intranets, and, again, e-mail, offers greater control because we choose when to take in information. In high-performing global teams, the ratio of pushed to pulled information is lower than normal.

6. A Conflict Management Mechanism Is in Place

Conflicts are inevitable in the virtual environment where decision makers believe strongly in their own points of view and cannot hash out issues face-to-face. Furthermore, simple miscommunications often don’t get acknowledged and fixed, and trust gets eroded. In virtual environments a conflict can be swept under the rug until it becomes such a big issue that it is hard to ignore. Effectively managed global teams have systems to resolve the tensions that arise from legitimate issues, so energy can be used productively, instead of being turned against team members. Conflicts are identified early on and dealt with fairly, in the knowledge that a well-managed conflict clears the way for increased team commitment. Here again, the manager actively engages team members in communicating issues (no issue is too minor if someone brings it up) and follows up to ensure appropriate resolution. When a culture of conflict management is in place, members more easily communicate one-on-one, thereby avoiding lengthy, energy-draining confrontations.

7. Work Systems Produce Deliverables Within Budgetary and Time Constraints

There is no substitute for operational competence in a global marketplace. When team members are geographically dispersed, a rigorous effort is required to coordinate and align components of critical work systems to meet deadlines within time and budgetary constraints. High-performing teams have figured out how operational nuts and bolts fit together to get deliverables out the door as efficiently and cost-effectively as possible.

8. Members Have a Positive Attitude That Spans Time and Distance Challenges

With an understanding that a positive, “can do” attitude stimulates productivity, members of high-functioning virtual teams assume their efforts will lead to success. When conflicts and tension arise, as they inevitably do, members hold these situations within the context of the larger picture and look to quickly find solutions, rather than assign blame. Global leaders stress the need for members to give each other the benefit of the doubt when frustrating situations come up, and to “walk a mile” in the other person’s shoes to gain an understanding of another’s point of view.