How do you convert a co-located team to a 100% virtual team overnight or within a matter of days.?
This puts a tremendous strain on the individual employees who need to learn new ways of working and reporting structure.
This is expected to continue for the foreseeable future and so it is important to understand the dynamics as well as make remote working easier.
A survey conducted in Dec 2019 with executives of MNCs found that on an average they worked on three teams and even this they found it challenging, not feeling connected to their teammates due to differing personality, varying time zones among many reasons.
Now, these executives are dealing with multiple teams with the complication of working remotely. many are being shifted in & out of teams rapidly and roles and responsibilities are changing.
The main reasons for the confusion/ uncertainty are uncertain missions, inconsistent social norms, low common identity, unclear roles and unstable membership. This results in sometimes inefficient, often unproductive, disconnected teams, disgruntled employees.
A new survey conducted recently sees a warming trend. The survey reported a lack of clarity about team role, lack of interpersonal connections due to remote work, low motivation and overloads.
There are three areas where the companies can focus to stop deterioration of employee morale.
TRIAGE:
In times of crisis, leaders should focus on most critical problems, look within teams for issues that pose immediate, threats.
Tasks: Are the teams work relevant to the current situation? Most teams will need to make changes, adjustments needed to align the team's work and way of working to the current reality
How good is the team's interpersonal foundation? Evaluate the team's culture and cohesion. Disagreements should not be there over its core priorities. Role conflicts should not become personal. Team members should remain tuned in and engaged. Team members should share rather than withhold information.
Check on how many teams each member is serving currently? Who is assigning members to teams and is there a consideration of people being on multiple teams? Are the leaders, star performers being pulled into many teams without considering the competing demands on their time and attention? Also, look for people with excess capacity who can shore up overloaded teams.
People: Being on multiple teams affects employees and the constant switching of focus especially in a virtual work environment could prove detrimental to an employee's performance. Check with team members: Are they finding it difficult to prioritize and integrate different objectives and tasks? Are they constantly in meetings or struggling to keep track of different communication channels and expectations?
STABILIZATION:
Address any critical issues you find from the previous analysis. You should immediately address the employee-facing severe distress. Next, you must work to address issues through targeted interventions.
many teams may be working hard but not creating value. "Keeping busy" is one of the most frequently identified coping mechanisms. Assess if a teams focus can be shifted to create value in the current setup or consider forming new teams instead.
Toxic dynamics may easily develop due to the uncertainty and the sudden changes in the work setup. This can cause permanent damage and make it impossible for the members to work together in future. Other seniors may step in to help teams express their differences but it is up to the team leaders who are responsible to ensure safe environments for the team members to function, raise questions, express concern, voice their opinion and offer new ideas.
If teams are being staffed in an uncoordinated manner, a more systematic approach should be developed to reduce the over-use of certain members and underuse of others. make the team staffing and allocation rules transparent and this may require some centralised enforcement.
If being on multiple teams is creating difficulties o certain members especially if they are playing different roles, then reduce multiple team membership if you can. Also use common communication norms and expectations, as much as possible, especially related to meetings, tools, and decision making. This will reduce the switching cost to employees as they jump from one team to another.
LONG TERM CARE
In uncertain times, stabilizing the team may feel like a win but it should be remembered that TRIAD and STABILIZATION are only the first steps in an ongoing process. You need to shift your focus to keep them healthy and avoiding relapses. Think across teams taking care not to burn out your best performers. Sustainable teams require ongoing attention and preventive care. The earlier you identify issues the easier it is to solve them and allowing you to intervene and ensure they don't become big issues later.
How to Prepare Your Virtual Teams for
the Long Haul by Mark Mortensen and Constance Noonan Hadley
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