Virtual teams have been around for a long time but they became wildly popular in 2020, partly due to the movement restrictions that were put in place to curb the COVID-19 pandemic. In fact, some companies have been using virtual teams successfully during the pandemic to boost their efficiency and productivity.
So, why do many companies find it difficult to exploit the value of virtual teams? We took some time to research the challenges that make it difficult for them to utilize the advantages of virtual team productivity fully. Have a look at the list of 11 concerns that hinder businesses from maximization using this competitive advantage.
The first biggest challenge is cold-calling. Working with people across different locations daily creates challenges in being on the same page regarding each other’s work.
Communication becomes an issue when employees cannot get into personal relationships that they would otherwise have had if they were sitting together in one office. This results in an unclear understanding of roles and responsibilities, making tasks difficult to execute within the given deadlines.
How to solve this: Communication plays a vital role in solving this issue. Regular communication over the phone, using chat tools, project management software, etc., allows employees to talk with each other regularly, which helps them understand each other’s work better.
2. National Culture Issues
National culture plays an important role when working with people of different backgrounds. People who are not used to international cultures tend to misunderstand the intentions of others and end up doing things they would never do if they were communicating face-to-face. Cultural differences may lead to clashes among employees, which increases the level of stress among them. This misunderstanding will likely lead to a loss in team morale and a breakdown in communication processes, due to which productivity will decrease drastically.
How to solve this: To solve this issue, companies should conduct some background research on different cultures and countries before they reach out to the virtual teams. Moreover, organizations should hire people who are well-versed in international cultures and can easily connect with new teammates and encourage team bonding through various networking events like dinners, lunches, etc.
3. Work Ethic Issues
Employees working with each other daily tend to form a mutual understanding of their expectations within given deadlines and frame their work schedules accordingly. On the contrary, when employees are separated by geographical boundaries and don’t meet face-to-face often become unclear regarding performance expectations leading to inefficient collaboration processes, consequently affecting the overall performance of the team.
How to solve this: The only way to make virtual teams successful is by making them understand and realize what their work ethic should be like. If the work ethic problems are due to other pressing issues like pending essays for example, the employees who are still studying can benefit from the writing websites.
4. Difficulty in Keeping up with Standards Across Multiple Locations
The lack of synchronization in terms of system standards and processes across different locations is extremely difficult. Since virtual companies are constantly expanding, they keep on adding new employees who come with their own levels of understanding regarding their work culture, values, and ethics.
When all these employees are located in different countries, it becomes hard to follow the same rules. Virtual teams usually struggle to adopt complex systems because every employee has their own way of doing things, which makes it difficult to standardize the whole process.
How to solve this: According to Cantwell who also manages teams of employees working remotely at term paper help, companies can solve the challenges related to keeping up with standards across multiple locations by conducting detailed interviews of all employees from different locations before they decide to hire them. Once the procedure is completed, managers will have a clear picture of the work ethic people portray and base their decisions on that knowledge.
5. Added Costs
While it seems quite simple and straightforward to implement completely virtual teams which don’t require extensive office space, there are hidden costs that organizations have to bear when working with virtual teams. Employees need constant support from professional service providers over phone or video calls for various purposes such as installing new software etc. All these services charge more than traditional face-to-face. Moreover, organizations have to pay considerably higher travel expenses because people have to travel across different locations to meet their teammates.
How to solve this: Virtual teams can harmoniously work with each other if they are based in countries with similar time zones. Moreover, companies should also consider sharing resources such as facilities, equipment, etc., so that employees don’t have to bear added costs later on.
6. Communication Problems due to Non-synchronized Work Hours or Languages/Dialects
When people are working on different work schedules or when the time zone of the employees is not synchronized, it becomes extremely difficult for managers to communicate with their teams. Employees don’t have a common time at which they can discuss everything and share details, making it difficult and inefficient to coordinate effectively across locations.
How to solve this: To avoid communication problems due to non-synchronized work hours or languages/dialects, companies should take extra measures such as having scheduled calls throughout the day even if there isn’t anything important going on. This way, employees from different regions will know that they have a regular call scheduled, which will be beneficial for them in terms of building trust among team members irrespective of where they are.
7. Secrecy about Company Strategies and Collaborations
It’s extremely difficult for managers to keep collaboration strategies secret from their teams working with full-time employees across different locations. Even though companies try their best to prevent sharing of information, it is extremely hard for virtual teams to maintain secrecy because there are no physical barriers or boundaries that restrict people from chatting about things that aren’t supposed to be talked about.
How to solve this: Collaboration and sharing of all important information should be done only during the scheduled calls and meetings. This way, team members will not have come up with ideas or suggestions on their own, which may be useful for the company but might not go down well if the rest of the team wasn’t aware of them before taking any actions.
8. Disconnect from Team Members after Working Hours
Even though virtual teams can increase performance by leveraging the power of teamwork, it’s extremely difficult for managers to motivate their employees if team members aren’t located in the same country or don’t work during similar time zones. There isn’t any common time when people can interact with each other which makes them feel disconnected even though they are doing their jobs very well.
How to solve this: Companies should try and take measures such as making sure employees get weeks off instead of only days off if they work for the same company across different locations. This way, they can spend more time with their family or friends, which will make them feel wanted and appreciated even if they’re spending most of their time at work.
9. Death of Trust among Team Members
It is very difficult for managers to build trust among their teams if they are not located in the same place. Even though virtual teams have the potential to increase performance, it’s difficult for them to gain traction if team members don’t know each other by face or they don’t feel like they can completely rely on each other because of geographical distance.
How to solve this: Managers should make team members feel like they’re part of the same team no matter where they are located by conducting video conferencing or getting them together for company retreats or on-site visits if possible. This will help build trust among them and motivate them to work harder because they will feel responsible for each other.
10. Problems Motivating the Employees/Organization to Embrace Virtual Teamwork
Even though virtual teams have the potential to increase performance by leveraging the power of teamwork, it’s extremely difficult for managers to motivate their employees if they don’t embrace virtual collaboration. Bottom-line is that employees will not be encouraged enough or willing to work hard for their company if they’re segregated geographically and don’t see the purpose of working together.
How to solve this: Managers should conduct training and workshops with their respective teams on why they need to work together so that they can move towards a common goal. Moreover, it would be helpful if managers also regularly organize company retreats so that employees feel more connected and motivated to work together across different locations to achieve the business goal.
11. Lack of Quality Control Due to Lack of Physical Presence
It’s extremely difficult for managers to keep track of their employees while they’re working on virtual teams which can lead to poor time management at the remote offices among other issues. Moreover, even though it enables workers and organizations to function across physical distances and time zones, there is a lack of quality control which means that companies can’t make sure that people are actually doing what they’re supposed to be doing.
How to solve this: Managers should conduct quality control meetings with their respective teams so that they can ask questions and understand how different tasks are being done. In addition, managers should also frequently monitor employees’ progress by checking in with them regularly, including asking them about their current challenges. This will help motivate workers by knowing that their manager is monitoring them without any biases.
The Bottom Line
It is difficult to manage virtual teams but companies should try and take measures such as building trust among their teams by having team members meet in person so that they can motivate them to perform better. It would be helpful for managers to conduct quality control meetings with their respective teams of how different tasks are being done.
About the author:
Tiffany Harper is a training guru who’s been working in the corporate sector as a technology expert for several years now. She is a management graduate and loves to share her experience through blogs and expert articles with essay writing website. For her love of writing, she provided online consultations for an assignment help UK while working with the professional writer service. Please do not hesitate to contact her on LinkedIn.
