Five Ways to Improve Communication in Virtual Teams

 

This is an article that appeared 2 years ago n it is as relevant today as it was then.

As collaborative technologies multiply it is natural to assume that more sophisticated tools will lead to better collaboration among team members. However, this is dependent on how people use it.

Five aspects are discussed here. These may seem basic but when they are discussed with the teams and steps are taken to implement them they lead to significant improvement in performance.

Match technology to the task

Teams have many tools available for collaboration - emails, chats, conference calling, video conferencing. people often use what is convenient or what they are comfortable with but some are better suited for certain tasks than others.

A team is required to reconcile different viewpoints, give and receive feedback and avoid misunderstanding. The purpose should determine the tool to be used.

• Use email, chat when transmitting information, updates, when it is one-way - pushing information to the members. 
• Web conferencing are richer more suited to complex tools like problem-solving, negotiations requiring reconciling various ideas and negotiations., requiring various vies and perspectives.
• Avoid solving personal issues over emails and chat. The more complex the task the closer one should be to in-person communication.

Make intentions clear

Most communications today are text-based - emails or chats. They leave too much to interpretation, common biases or understandings can lead to unhealthy conflicts. Intentions get lost due to several reasons

• People tend to be more negative in writing When we cannot see the reaction of the person receiving the message, we say things that we would not say in person. Technology makes us bolder and we can be more negative in writing than face to face.
• Negativity goes both ways people receiving the message tend to interpret it more negatively than what the sender intended. Emotions are non-verbal and this is missed in messages. 
• People read with different lenses  We assume that people will focus on important issues in the message. It is easy for critical information to get overlooked.

To prevent misunderstanding in messages, 

• be very clear on what you want to say. 
• review messages to make sure of the tone.
• Err on the side of positivity to mitigate the tendency toward misinterpretation.
• Emphasise important information, highlighting parts that require attention.
• Separate requests into multiple emails to increase the importance of each request

Stay in Sync

When team members do not interact face to face, the chances of misunderstanding is greater. This could be due to

• When teams are not colocated, the messages may be rd at different times.
• Communication failures can lead to an uneven distribution of information.
• Individuals may get excluded from emails by mistake.
• Lack of in-person contact may lead to an out-of-sight, out-of-mind effect and not inform the team members updated.
• When any team member is silent, others are in the dark.

Avoid this by 

• Prioritising tasks and keeping everyone in the loop. 
• Maintain regular communications with all team members.
• Proactively share information, time demands, priorities.
• Acknowledge important messages.
• Give people benefit of the doubt. Clarify to understand intentions.
• Check-in with member who hasn't responded to time-sensitive messages.

Be responsive and supportive.

In a dispersed team, trust is very critical for effective functioning and more difficult to develop. Trust is influenced by familiarity and liking to a large extent. 

To develop trust in virtual teams, encourage members to respond promptly to messages from teammates, take time to provide feedback, proactively suggest solutions to problems faced and maintain a positive tone in communications. 

Be open and inclusive

Teams may have members from diverse cultures, experiences. This can lead to a diversity of ideas to boost team creativity and performance it sometimes discourages members from speaking up. People may hold back when they cannot visually observe how their feedback has been received. When the team members are distributed across location, members tend to communicate within the local group. 

To get the best benefits of a diverse team, focus on communicating openly and inclusively. Involve the entire team in all important decisions. Actively solicit the perspectives and viewpoints of all team members. Seek to integrate the best of teams ideas when working to resolve differences. 

Role of leadership

• Create a team charter that describes how one should work together. Specify the technologies team will use and not use for different teaks. 
• Decide on specific formats and etiquettes for written communication. 
• How team members would be kept in the loop for important decisions.
• Expected time to respond
• The rule of thumb on type of communication to be used.

People with previous experience in virtual collaboration perform better. Leaders can depend on these members to model effective behaviours and help other members be in sync with the team objectives and purpose. 

Five Ways to Improve Communication in Virtual Teams

N. Sharon Hill and Kathryn M. Bartol • MITSMT 2018/06