Virtual Team Management
Let’s face it, managing team members whether it’s one person or 10, contractor or employee, in-person or virtual can be very challenging. Unless you have a system in place for yourself and your team members to have clarity on expectations and goals.
After almost 30 years now of having to rely on someone else to work with me to get things done there’s a few things I’ve learned. Much of what I’m going to outline are tactical parts of managing, so as someone who continues to work on improving who I am as a leader I would encourage you to have a mirror in the form of a coach or a mastermind group in addition to these things because perception is real and motivation or inspiration do not come from poor perceptions.
First, create team member descriptions - get clear with yourself on what you want this role to be and what specific skill sets this person needs to have. A good description outlines the attitude or mindset you want this person to portray, it’s important not to get personal here it’s about how that attitude plays into the role. An example for someone who would be in a client care role: Ability to show empathy and patience with our clients and work calmly to find a solution to ease their frustration.
Second, establish clear expectations and specific goals for the team member. From my years in corporate I still use SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Timely) goals and KPI’s (Key Performance Indicators). Understanding each is a key to the success of the member and the overall team, for the client care role a SMART goal could be to respond to each client inquiry within 2 hours during business day and a KPI could be to maintain attrition of clients at less than 5%. Set your own in these areas as a foundation then also work with the team member to come up with some together.
Lastly, communicate and review often (at minimum monthly) surrounding the expectations and most importantly to build rapport and dialogue with the team member. Learn what excites them about their world, not just what they do for work. Building this relationship will keep you focused on them and their perception not you striving for perfection as a leader.
Having an excited and productive team is a great joy as it makes the work you’re doing have more meaning and purpose. I work hard every day to try to do better so my team has that same goal.
