5 Ways to Be a Better Virtual Leader
From the Voices on Project Management Blog
by Cameron McGaughy,
Lynda Bourne, Kevin Korterud, Peter Tarhanidis, Conrado Morlan, Jen Skrabak, Mario Trentim, Christian Bisson, Yasmina Khelifi, Sree Rao, Soma Bhattacharya, Emily Luijbregts, David Wakeman, Ramiro Rodrigues, Wanda Curlee, Lenka Pincot, cyndee miller, Jorge Martin Valdes Garciatorres, Marat Oyvetsky
Voices on Project Management offers insights, tips, advice and personal stories from project managers in different regions and industries. The goal is to get you thinking, and spark a discussion. So, if you read something that you agree with--or even disagree with--leave a comment.
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by Emily Luijbregts
As a project manager, one of the worst things in the world is feeling like you’ve failed a team member. Earlier in my career, I experienced this feeling quite a few times. It was a really steep learning curve for me, but after gaining more experience, I thought that I knew how to communicate and manage teams. Still, I wasn’t prepared to adjust my approach to lead virtual teams amid the pandemic. And then I learned.
Here are my most valuable lessons learned for leading virtual teams:
- Set expectations.
One of the most effective ways for me to manage my team is to establish ground rules at the start of the project and some clear expectation management for how we are going to work, what’s important for all of us as a team and what they can expect from me. It’s really important to avoid making any assumptions for how you think people want to work or what they are motivated by, as there is a high chance that you might be wrong. It’s not just about knowing your team members, but about having a deeper understanding of their motivations.
- Monitor work-life balance.
I’ve had several team members who have burned out. Most recently, I’ve been mentoring someone, who, since March, was working 14-hour days because they felt like they had to be seen working. When I asked them about their work-life balance, I was bluntly told that it didn’t exist. They were completely isolated from interactions outside of work and this caused a dramatic deterioration in their mental wellbeing.
One easy way for me to address the work-life balance of my team is to address the meetings I schedule. Are they really needed? Do I have the right attendees in the meeting? Are the meetings the right length? I’ve managed to cut down 50 percent of my meetings and avoid Zoom fatigue by arranging shorter catch-ups or different meetings entirely to get the same information.
- Build connections.
If you can, try to interact face-to-face at the start of the project. Using video can really help build trust. Another method for building a meaningful connection is to invest in your team members and ensure they have an opportunity for grow within your project. I try to understand each person’s own development plan and where they want to go in the next year(s), so I’m able to support that.
- Plan teambuilding activities.
Try doing quizzes, virtual team lunches, show and tell, and setting aside time in team meetings for small activities, like online trivia or other conversational “ice breakers.”
- Understand how your team likes to work.
I like to encourage my team to be innovative and creative. That includes having people think about how they work and if there’s a better way to do the work itself. As the project manager, you should understand how your team works most effectively and then protect its ability to do so.
What are the biggest virtual leadership lessons learned you’ve gathered this year? Let me know in the comments.
Posted
by
Emily Luijbregts
on: December 24, 2020 08:02 AM |
Permalink
Comments (16)
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thank you for sharing, for me, lessons learned is that you must be on time, you must be well prepared, you must be responsive in any case, you must understand the body language from his voice if you don't have a video conference, which is some times difficult.
Scott Anderton
Superintendent | DR Horton
Richmond Hill, Ga, United States
Very good post. Because the number of virtual meetings and conference calls has increased dramatically over the last year, the need to create an agenda and keep meetings short and to the point is now more than before extremely important. You have to grab the attention, go over the information, and move on to schedule the next meeting. In a virtual environment it is easy to get distracted. Keeping the meetings focused and short helps to combat distractions.
This is a very interesting article, thank you for all this info.
Kwiyuh Michael Wepngong
Community Champion
Financial Management Specialist | US Peace Corps
Yaounde, Centre, Cameroon
Understanding how your team likes to work is a great key to being a better virtual leader...
Thanks Emily
Jennifer Quon
Director, Consult Excellence Program Management| Kyndryl
New York, United States
Completely agree with your key takeaways, I would also recommend Tricia Molloy's Work-Life Balance Wisdom blog - https://www.triciamolloy.com/working-with-wisdom-blog/
I found out that breaking the ice in the very first 2-3 minutes is important during a virtual meeting. As a PM, I always ask one or two of my team members how they're doing and try to drop something funny. Immediately rushing on the agenda can save a couple of minutes, but doesn't build a nice rapport amongst team members.
I also find out that trying to finish the meeting is of paramount importance. Everyone is busy and we always have other meetings that follow. The secret: prepare an agenda and schedule the meeting with a bit of buffer time.
Emily!
Well captured. I've recently started as a project manager working remotely and I certainly will take these 5 lessons and put them into practice. Thanks aplenty.
Thanks for these tips. I'm sure they'll prove useful with my team
Wendy English
Senior Project Manager| Humphrey Products
Kalamazoo, Mi, United States
I certainly have discovered more about my team during this pandemic. Several team members are really good at status updates via text. The updates are informative and to the point. I am also very mindful of only inviting the necessary people to virtual meetings and have actually cut meeting durations down significantly.
Sunday Mordi
Elalan construction company Ltd
Express Way, Ojo, Lagos, La, Nigeria
Very insightful. My take home is where you mentioned " having a deeper understanding of their motivations"
Thank you Emily.
Bharat Tank
Associate Director IT & Operations| RICS India Pvt. Ltd
Delhi, Dl, India
Thank you for this post, I think giving space to the team - works really well and communications is the key along with listening to them.
Angie Lehmann
Project Manager| NDIT
Detroit Lakes, Mn, United States
I enjoyed reading your article. A good time to set expectations is when one is setting up the project charter. I like to have a section in the project charter called Team Operating Principles - which could include things like the project team meetings will last for 30 minutes once a week, everyone his responsible for updating tasks that are assigned to them, team members will notify leader (in advance) if they are not able to make the due date, etc. These are principles that the team agrees upon that can be included in the project charter. Make sure to have the buy-in from everyone on the team!
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