A virtual team is no longer a foreign concept. Everyone knows what a virtual team is and how companies can benefit from it.
JoyaGallupAccording to research, the number of people working remotely increased from 39% to 43% between 2012 and 2016. But the virtual team concept became more vigilant after the 2020 pandemic.80% of global companiesWork policy changed to virtual team collaboration during the COVID-19 crisis.
Therefore, virtual or hybrid teams will be the reality for companies in 2023. Why?
Superbugs are starting to break out and the business sector is adjusting to remote or work-from-home settings.
Therefore, this post is for you who are not aware of the benefits of virtual teams and their challenges. We looked at different levels of virtual teams to help you grow your business in 2023.
So let's get to know virtual teams better.
Development of virtual teams.
Traveling through history, we find fragments of virtual equipment dating back to the 1950s. Yes, it all started with the development of computer modems and fiber optics.
This evolution has allowed people to break down the barriers of geography, time and culture to work together towards a common goal. After that, personal computers in the 1960s, cell phones in the 1970s, and the Internet in the 1990s laid the groundwork for virtual teams.
sea oneStudy guide managementVirtual equipment became an experimental topic in the 1990s when technology companies such as Sun Microsystems invested heavily in virtual equipment.
Fast forward to 2021, the virtual team, the remote team, orHybrid work environmentsThey have become indispensable in the business world. And this trend is not going anywhere in the long run.
Virtual teams vs. traditional teams
Simply put, a team is a group of people working together to achieve a certain goal. A traditional or clustered team is a group of people who work together in close proximity. On the other hand, a virtual team consists of a group of people working in different geographic locations to achieve a common goal.
The main difference between traditional and virtual teams is physical distance. Other than that, traditional and virtual teams share some other differences such as:
team selection
In most cases, traditional teams are selected based on their functional skills and hands-on training. But unfortunately it is impossible to test skills in virtual team selection. The lack of face-to-face interaction makes it difficult to select a competent virtual team.
Therefore, technological intervention is essential to help people collaborate across functional and cultural boundaries. Therefore, remote team recruiters should use virtual interviews, psychometric tests, and time-tracking tools to assess their functional abilities despite physical barriers.
organization structure
In virtual teams, you may see flatter organizational structures with blurred boundaries between authorities and hierarchies. It takes a highly competitive market and a creative mindset to help virtual teams achieve their ultimate goal. The default work culture and policies cannot support a virtual workflow.
nature of leadership
The default leadership style doesn't work on remote teams. Micromanaging and controlling the activities of each team member is impossible in the virtual workplace. Therefore, compared to traditional teams, virtual managers learn to delegate more work to team members. The virtual management style oscillates between democratic and coaching.
information flow
Most traditional teams follow a standard informal and formal discussion pattern for sharing information throughout the organization. But virtual teams have limited means of communication at their fingertips. Therefore, they need frequent updates and shared databases to develop a transparent information sharing system.
building a relationship
Traditional teams meet daily and spend hours socializing. You'll have countless opportunities to build strong relationships, from lazy lunchtime chats to formal group discussions.
But unfortunately, virtual teams don't have many opportunities to build strong bonds. Therefore, managers of virtual teams need to focus more on this.Team building activitiessuch as informal meetings, games, etc.
Benefits of Virtual Teams for Enterprises in 2023
Virtual teams may have become commonplace in recent years, but they are more beneficial than traditional teams. If you build a suitable infrastructure today to use remote teams in your company, you can get many benefits your way, such as:
rentable
Creating a virtual team can help both organizations and employees financially.
When a person works remotely, they are responsible for their own workspace, equipment and utilities. This means you don't have to rent office space or provide a desk and other facilities in a virtual workspace.
In fact, Dell's flexible working solutions saved the company39.5 million. $in offices since 2014.
But it's not just companies that save money by virtual working.
Yes, employees can also save on commuting and many other work-related expenses like meals, new clothes, etc.
Up to 30 percent of telecommuters report annual savings of up to$ 5.240due to reduced travel and office expenses.
make employees more productive
Remote workers tend to be more productive than those who work in a standard 9-to-5 office. 77% of telecommuters report greater productivity when working from home.
But how is it possible? How can employees be more productive without control?
Well, control is exactly what makes remote workers more productive. When a person has the ability to set their own hours, they can focus better and get work done faster. The result?
To improveproductivityfor your organization.
improve employee engagement
As we mentioned earlier, a remote work setup will only work properly if you delegate responsibility to your team members. Giving your team more responsibility will increase their interest and commitment to the organization.
Employees working virtually80 percentof time they are more committed.
This is common knowledgeemployee involvedThey are more committed and motivated employees. With a remote system, you can earn your team's trust and increase their commitment to business operations.
Save time
Too often, companies or teams spend unnecessary time holding meetings that eventuallywaste your precious timeand resources
As communication and coordination between virtual teams is well defined and systematically monitored; Unnecessary meetings can be easily avoided.
In addition, various follow-up communications andEmployee monitoring toolsare available that can easily streamline virtual team discussions. Therefore, if the right tools and techniques are used to create communication reach among virtual team members, companies can save a lot of time in 2023.
global talent pool
In a virtual setting, companies have the opportunity to hire competent and highly qualified talent from around the world.
Locally, companies have to select the right candidates from the same city or pay a considerable amount to relocate a person, which is not feasible for small companies.
On the other hand, the virtual workflow allows you to tap into global talent and hire competent employees without draining your financial resources.
Additionally, you have the optionHire Affordable Virtual Assistantsor workers from economically less developed countries; This practice will bring you more economic benefits.
24/7 availability
By creating a virtual team, you can hire a more diverse workforce. Here comesemployee datato help you find proven talent. Since your remote workers are in different time zones around the world, you can provide 24/7 service to your customers.
For example, if your virtual team works in Australia and your team works in England. This allows your business to provide 24/7 support without burdening anyone.
Also, since you have remote workers spread across the world, you can accommodatecultural diversityand bring new perspectives to your organization's creative table.
easy to climb
Want to continue your work in 2023? So you need office space, invest in equipment, furnish your office and much more.
This sizing process can be expensive and time-consuming.
But as your virtual team grows, you can avoid all of those things. All you need is the right remote work software and streamline your onboarding process. And you're ready to rapidly expand your business in 2023.
Virtual Teams Challenges for Enterprises in 2023
In fact, virtual teams can bring benefits to your business in 2023. However, this is only possible if you first successfully master these virtual teams challenges:
bad communication
We cannot ignore the fact that communication is a huge challenge for virtual teams unless a company provides the proper tools and training.
In fact,show statsthat the most cited effort to engage employees was employee involvement in decision-making (45%), followed by increased communication (24%).
Therefore, you must work on creating a proper remoting policy and acquire the right tools to overcome this virtual team challenge.
Lack of social interaction.
A big part of the work culture is based around having fun together. Chat with colleagues in the halls, celebrate together and explore each other's offices.
Remote work has reduced interactions between co-workers to monotonous emails. Today, loneliness and depression are becoming major issues for remote workers.
Again, good virtual team communication and management tools can help socialize remote teams. For example, host weekly visits, play virtual games, and work on team building to keep your remote team together.
Difficult to monitor productivity
The newestandroid device managementThe tools greatly help organizations create corporate policies and security settings that ensure better levels of productivity even when working remotely.
Remote team managers often find it difficult to constantly monitor the productivity of their team members. They can't tell if their employees are working or playing online.
However, using remote time tracking and productivity tools can solve this problem without any hassle. These tools can track every movement your employees spend working or resting in real time.
It is difficult to establish responsibilities.
It's a big challenge to take responsibility while working virtual.
Lack of accountability often leads to staff conflicts and workflow delays. The solution?
Task management tools are the best solution here. These tools allow you to assign, track and monitor the progress of individual tasks from a centralized dashboard. This allows you to hold a remote worker accountable for the work assigned to them.
Low morale and mental health.
The lack of social interaction can affect the mental health of teleworkers.
Mental health can continue to take a toll on productivity and performance, especially today when all the uncertainties of the pandemic and lockdown are pushing people away.
To meet this challenge, companies must embrace compassionate ideologies. They need to understand their teleworkers' mental state and offer psychological counseling.
Employee Recognition Programsand additional health incentives can also help calm remote workers.
time zone conflicts
Hiring remote workers from different time zones can add diversity to the workplace, or working 24/7 can help with your commute. It also brings with it the challenge of managing employees who work in different time zones.
It can be extremely difficult for a manager to deal with remote workers in different time zones.
The solution here is to appoint multiple managers based on your time preferences and use centralized time tracking software like Time Tracking.Apply.
Insufficient technical support
When corporate leadership doesn't provide virtual teams with the right management and collaboration tools, it can wreak havoc in the workplace.
Before building a remote team, companies must first expand their technical infrastructure. Fortunately, today there are several affordable tools that help remote workers.
How to manage your virtual teams
As you progress through all of the Virtual Team challenges, one point will immediately be highlighted:Virtual team collaboration tools.
The backbone of an effective remote environment is the right tools. Without strong technical support, managing virtual teams is impossible. Therefore, you need the right tools to manage virtual teams.
Here are some tools virtual teams need:
- Apply:is a smartTime tracking app with screenshotsfor remote teams to increase their efficiency by 20%. This tool will help keep your remote workers productive and motivated.
- Cabinet:It is a team communication software that allows you to chat, ask questions, etc.
- Enlargement:This is the leading video calling app for hosting virtual team meetings, sharing screens and creating a seamless flow of communication within your remote team.
- Click in:It's a popular project management tool for organizing and tracking projects from a centralized dashboard.
Where do virtual teams stand in 2023?
Remote teams or virtual teams will become more important in 2023. In fact, it is predicted to.255 millionteleworkers by 2030.
So it's not wrong to say that virtual teams are the future. The faster companies get used to it, the better for them.
If you don't see the benefits of virtual teams today and haven't used them yetVirtual office managementGuidelines and tools, do it now. Because the virtual wave will become a tsunami in 2023.
That's over for now! But if you have any ideas about the virtual team, feel free to share them in the comments.