How to Succeed As a Member of a Virtual Team

CAREER ARCHITECT EXPRESS Virtual Teams in a Virtual World How to Succeed As a Member of a Virtual Team Michael M. Lombardo & Robert W. Eichinger Heather C. Barnfield, Series Editor YOUR SKILL AREAS OF FOCUS: Introduction 1 Learning on the Fly 13 Dealing with Ambiguity 20 Perseverance 28 Interpersonal Savvy 37 Peer Relationships 46 Patience 54 Self-Knowledge 61 And on a cautionary note Insensitive to Others 69 Closing Thoughts 77 Additional Resources 80

The rise of the flexible work environment As times have changed, however, a once-rare element of employee satisfaction has taken on increased precedence the flexibility that is characteristic of virtual teams. The workplace of yesterday was many things, but it was not particularly flexible. Even the best-run organizations were fairly rigid places to work. Office hours were pretty much 8 to 5, no exceptions. Meetings took place around a big table. If you weren t at your desk when everyone else was, you needed a good excuse or a doctor s note. Nowadays, the drawbacks to this kind of work environment seem obvious. Not everyone does their best work in an office. Just because someone is physically present doesn t mean they re productive. Good ideas don t always follow an office schedule. Technology has played a significant role in loosening up the office environment. Tools invented in the last few decades particularly the personal computer and the Internet have made it feasible for workplaces to become more flexible. These technologies have been embraced by both organizations and individuals. Organizations value the ability to hire talented people no matter where they may live. Individuals enjoy the freedom to work in different ways, places, and times. Indeed, flexibility is becoming such a critical element of work satisfaction that many organizations are using flexible work arrangements as a tool to attract strong talent. 2 Younger generations are especially attracted to workplaces that allow a lot of flexibility. In fact, if you are a member of the Millennial Generation (born between the early 1980s and early 2000s), you probably expect your organization to provide a great deal of flexibility. Accelerating inclusion and increasing reach Technology is not the only force driving change in today s workforce. In recent decades, more and more organizations have stressed the importance of inclusion. Increasingly, they are coming to recognize that an office full of people who all look, think, and work the same cannot thrive in a complex world. As a result, organizations are asking themselves how they can build a workforce that is both highly talented and highly diverse. Virtual teams are one way to achieve this. 2 Meister, J. (2013, April 1). Flexible Workplaces: Employee Perk or Business Tool to Recruit Top Talent. Forbes.com. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/jeannemeister/2013/04/01/flexible-workspaces-another-workplaceperk-or-a-must-have-to-attract-top-talent/ introduction 4

Establishing new branches or bases in different parts of the world is costly and complex. Expanding the team virtually can introduce a widespread workforce able to capitalize on new business opportunities efficiently and economically. Fewer tax hurdles. No additional bricks and mortar. No expat packages. Reduced cultural challenges. The organization can hire people in different parts of the world, and the individual can live where they want to. The company expands its footprint. The individuals take on new career opportunities without having to relocate. A win-win situation! This kind of inclusion can encompass many different kinds of employees, not just those in other countries or regions. For example, a virtual team can provide job opportunities for people whose limited mobility prevents them from commuting into an office every day. Increased diversity, increased opportunities, increased talent in the team. Happy employees are productive employees Some might assume that the greater freedom that a virtual team provides might have significant costs in terms of productivity. If people aren t gathered together in the same place at the same time, how are they going to get things done? Won t their manager need to spend much of the day communicating the same things over and over again? Won t some people slack off if they re not watched closely? And if a problem arises, won t it be hard to solve it quickly if half the team doesn t even know it s happening? These fears are legitimate, but are often unfounded. Studies have found that well-managed virtual teams can achieve better results than conventional, co-located teams 3. This is another way virtual teams offer real benefits to both organizations and individuals. An organization reaps the benefits of an engaged, productive workforce. At the same time, individuals have more freedom to work in the ways that suit them best. Someone who isn t a morning person might not have to always wake up at the crack of dawn to catch a bus. Parents who work at don t have to worry as much about balancing a nightmare commute with childcare arrangements. Well-managed virtual teams are showing that giving employees more latitude can increase, rather than decrease, productivity. 3 Ferrazzi, K. (2012, March 20). Virtual Teams Can Outperform Traditional Teams. HBR Blog Network. Retrieved from http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2012/03/how_virtual_teams_can_outperfo.html introduction 5

If you find it challenging to work in environments that are not fastpaced then realize that being on a virtual team is a great chance to stretch your approach. Virtual teams may work at a different pace than you re used to. It s not that they re necessarily slow, it s that even the fastestpaced days feel different than they would in a conventional work environment. It s not like a hospital emergency room with dozens of new patients showing up every hour. It s not like a factory churning to meet a thousand orders. The speed of virtual teams feels different. It s more like a puzzle being put together by many hands in many different places. This change might be challenging to adapt to at first. Remedies 7, 8, and 9 can help. Of course, if you didn t see anything that strongly resonated with you in the above prompts, that doesn t mean there isn t a remedy that fits your situation. Go ahead and scan the list below to find the solution that will best get you started on developing this all-important skill. Some Strategies for Developing Patience Consider these remedies as a practical means of jump-starting your development on this competency: 1. Trouble listening? Be courteous. Impatient people interrupt, finish other people s sentences when they hesitate, ask people to hurry, urge people to finish and get to the point. All these behaviors of the impatient person intimidate, irritate, demotivate, and frustrate others and lead to incomplete communications, damaged relationships, a feeling of injustice, and leave others demeaned in the process. All for the sake of gaining a few minutes of your valuable time. Add five seconds to your average response/interrupt tolerance time until you stop doing these things most of the time. Learn to pause to give people a second chance. People often stumble on words with impatient people, hurrying to get through before their first or next interruption. Patience 56

2. Sending the wrong signals? Watch the non-verbal signals. Impatient people signal their impatience through speech and actions, of course, but they also signal non-verbally. The washboard brow, body shifting, finger and pencil drumming, and glares. People might not see these behaviors in the virtual setting, but they could easily notice other indications of impatience: sighing, a blunt vocal tone, or speaking quickly. What do you do? Ask others you trust for your five most frequent impatience signals. Work to eliminate them. 3. Losing your composure? Keep cool. Impatient people want it now. They are not good at waiting. Sometimes impatience flowers into loss of composure. When things don t go as fast as they want, it triggers an emotional response. In a virtual team, this can result in firing off e-mails that are more demanding and forcefully-worded than is helpful. If you call someone on the phone, your impatience could cause you to push for immediate action without taking the time to understand the other people s perspectives or concerns. Before hitting send on that harsh e-mail or dialing your phone when you re irritated, you might want to take a moment to cool down. When you re emotional and stressed, your communication is unlikely to be effective and certainly won t do you any favors. Wait until you re calmer. 4. Know who sets you off? Identify who trips your impatience trigger. Some people probably bring out your impatience more than others. Who are they? What is it about them that makes you more impatient? Pace? Language? Thought process? Accent? These people may include people you don t like, who ramble, who whine and complain, or who are repetitive advocates for things you have already rejected. Mentally rehearse some calming tactics before meeting with people who trigger your impatience. Work on understanding their positions without judging them you can always judge later. In all cases, focus them on the issues or problems to be discussed, return them to the point, interrupt to summarize and state your position. Try to gently train them to be more efficient with you next time without damaging them in the process. Patience 57

5. Arrogant? Keep arrogance in check. People who have a towering strength or lots of success get less feedback and keep rolling along and over others until their careers get in trouble. If you are arrogant you devalue the contributions of others you should work doubly hard at reading and listening to others. You don t have to accept everything, just listen to understand before you react. You need to submerge your what I want/think demeanor and keep asking yourself, What are they saying; how are they reacting? 6. Being left out of the loop? Work on your openness and approachability. Impatient people don t get as much information as patient listeners do. They are more often surprised by events when others knew they were coming. People are hesitant to talk to impatient people. It s too painful. People don t pass on hunches, unbaked thoughts, maybes, and possibilities to impatient people. You will be out of the information loop and miss important information you need to know to be effective. Suspend judgment on informal communications. Just take it in. Acknowledge that you understand. Ask a question or two. Follow up later. 7. Too quick? Rein in your horse. Impatient people provide answers, conclusions, and solutions too early in the process. Others haven t even understood the problem yet. Providing solutions too quickly will make your people dependent and irritated. If you don t teach them how you think and how you can come up with solutions so fast, they will never learn. Take the time to really define the problem not impatiently throw out a solution. Brainstorm what questions need to be answered in order to resolve it. Give your people the task to think about for a day and come back with some solutions. Be a teacher instead of a dictator of solutions. Study yourself. Keep a journal of what triggered your behavior and what the observed consequences were. Learn to detect and control your triggers before they get you in trouble. Patience 58

8. Checking in too often? Follow a process. Impatient people check in a lot. How s it coming. Is it done yet? When will it be finished? Let me see what you ve done so far. That is disruptive to due process and wastes time. When you give out a task or assign a project, establish agreed-upon time checkpoints. You can also assign percentage checkpoints. Check in with me when you are about 25% finished so we can make midcourse corrections and 75% so we can make final corrections. Let them figure out how to do the task. Hold back from checking in at other than the agreed-upon times and percentages. 9. Too dependent upon yourself? Let others bring solutions to you. Look at others solutions more. Invite discussion and disagreement, welcome bad news, ask that people come up with the second and third solution. A useful trick is to assign issues and questions before you have given them any thought. Two weeks before you are due to decide, ask your people to examine that issue and report to you two days before you have to deal with it. That way, you really don t have any solutions yet. This really motivates people and makes you look less impatient. Things You Can do Right Now You don t have to be a member of a virtual team currently to exercise your skill at Patience. Seek out situations such as the ones described below to get more practice and build your skills in advance. Don t limit yourself to the workplace. Look for opportunities in your life outside of work to utilize and develop this competency. Teach a child a new skill (e.g., reading, operating a computer, a sport). Manage a temporary group of green, inexperienced people as their coach, teacher, guide, mentor, etc. Manage a group of resistant people with low morale through an unpopular change or project. Manage a dissatisfied internal or external customer; troubleshoot a performance or quality problem with a product or service. Be a member of a union-negotiating or grievance-handling team. Patience 59

Suggested Readings These readings can add to your understanding of Patience and provide additional ideas for development. Bradberry, T., & Greaves, J. (2005). The emotional intelligence quick book: Everything you need to know to put your EQ to work. New York, NY: Fireside. Easwaran, E. (2006). Take your time: How to find patience, peace, and meaning. Tomales, CA: Nilgiri Press. Gandhi, M., & Fischer, L. (Eds.). (2002). The essential Gandhi: An anthology of his writings on his life, work, and ideas. New York, NY: Vintage Press. Gonthier, G., & Morrissey, K. (2002). Rude awakenings: Overcoming the civility crisis in the workplace. Chicago, IL: Dearborn Trade. Losyk, B. (2004). Get a grip! Overcoming stress and thriving in the workplace. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons. Mehrotra, R. (2005). The essential Dalai Lama: His important teachings. New York, NY: Penguin Group. Plato. (H. Tarrant, Ed.). (2003). The last days of Socrates (H. Tredennick, Trans.). New York, NY: Penguin Books. Ryan, M. J. (2003). The power of patience: How to slow the rush and enjoy more happiness, success, and peace of mind every day. New York, NY: Broadway Press. Sellers, P., Harrington, A., & Wheat, A. (2001). Patient but not passive. Fortune, 144, 188-193. Tutu, D. (2007). Love: The words and inspiration of Mother Teresa. Auckland, NZ: PQ Blackwell Ltd. The key to everything is patience. You get the chicken by hatching the egg, not by smashing it. Arnold H. Glasgow American humorist and writer Patience 60

CAREER ARCHITECT EXPRESS CAREER ARCHITECT EXPRESS Michael M. Lombardo & Robert W. Eichinger Heather C. Barnfield, Series Editor YOUR SKILL AREAS OF FOCUS: Introduction 1 Technical Learning 13 Organizing 19 Directing Others 25 Managing Through Systems 31 Sizing Up People 38 Building Effective Teams 46 Managing Vision and Purpose 54 And on a cautionary note Overmanaging 62 Closing Thoughts 69 Additional Resources 72 Michael M. Lombardo & Robert W. Eichinger Heather C. Barnfield, Series Editor YOUR SKILL AREAS OF FOCUS: Introduction 1 Priority Setting 13 Informing 19 Managing and Measuring Work 27 Interpersonal Savvy 35 Managing Diversity 44 Personal Learning 54 Written Communications 61 Closing Thoughts 70 Additional Resources 73 How to Succeed as a member of a Virtual Team Additional Resources Other Titles In the career architect Express Series VIRTUAL TEAMS IN A VIRTUAL WORLD How to Succeed Leading a Virtual Team Virtual Teams in a Virtual World: How to Succeed Leading a Virtual Team delivers relevant, researchbased guidance to help you understand why leading a virtual team may be a challenging transition. It provides you with practical guidance on how to make a success of leading team members who work remotely from you. How to Succeed Leading a Virtual Team is for: Managers who are leading a virtual team for the first time, or experienced virtual team leaders looking to sharpen their virtual team leadership skills. HR professionals who need to provide support and guidance to leaders of virtual teams; to coach them in becoming more effective. Managers who have virtual team leaders reporting to them and need to support and coach them in how to be more effective in leading people based in different locations across the country. VIRTUAL TEAMS IN A VIRTUAL WORLD How to Succeed Leading a Multi-National Virtual Team Virtual Teams in a Virtual World: How to Succeed Leading a Multi-National Virtual Team delivers relevant, research-based guidance to help you understand the intricacies of leading a team whose members are based in different countries. It provides guidance that can help you navigate both the cultural and physical distances between people. How to Succeed Leading a Multi-National Virtual Team is for: Managers who find themselves leading a team of remote workers based in more than one country. It s for those who are seeking advice on navigating the complexities of different nationalities and cultures being represented in the same team. HR professionals who need to be able to help leaders increase their effectiveness in leading a multi-national virtual team. Managers with individuals reporting to them who lead people based in different countries and who need to be coached to increase their virtual leadership effectiveness. additional resources 80

Without insight, you ll never fully utilize your strengths. Without insight, your weaknesses are likely to trip you up when you least expect it. Without insight, you will surely fail to reach your potential. In fact, lack of insight may even get you fired! Becoming more self-aware may not be comfortable, but gaining insight is the first step toward improvement. FYI for Insight is designed for leaders who are ready for honest selfexamination, who want to improve their effectiveness, raise their performance on the job, and enhance their careers. POWERFUL CONTENT INCLUDES: leadership characteristics. behaviors for each leadership characteristic. people to be skilled or to struggle with each leadership characteristic. exploration of likely root causes and promotes honest self-reflection. improve your effectiveness. Based on research that has identified which leadership characteristics lead to success and which characteristics can get you fired, this book and the companion Web site (http://insight.lominger.com) provide all the resources you need to gain insight into the most critical leadership skills and start you on the path toward improvement. ISBN 978-1-933578-30-9 9 781933 578309 > Written by two of the world s most respected thought leaders on competency-based development, this book can help any motivated adult with a development need. THE SAME GREAT DEVELOPMENT RESOURCE THAT YOU HAVE COME TO EXPECT AND MUCH MORE The Career Architect Development Planner 5th Edition includes 103 chapters on 67 Leadership Architect Competencies, 10 Performance Dimensions, 19 Career Stallers and Stoppers, and 7 Global Focus Areas referencing the skilled, unskilled, and overused definitions to help identify a need. Supporting development content includes causes for the need, the map (why the skill is important), some remedies (tips), and suggested readings. Advanced development content unique to The Career Architect Development Planner includes the best sources for feedback, the best developmental part-time assignments and full-time jobs, and the best ways to learn from your plan. POWERFUL NEW AND ENHANCED CONTENT ADDED TO THIS 5TH EDITION RELEASE INCLUDES: needs with targeted remedies. question and action step. skills can create noise. the most common development needs and career goals. develop any of the 67 Competencies. method for engaging a learner in the improvement process. aligned with each chapter. For additional information and related publications, please ISBN 978-1-933578-22-4 contact Korn/Ferry Leadership and Talent Consulting at business_office@kornferry.com or visit us on the Web at www.kornferry.com or www.lominger.com. COPYRIGHT 1996 2010 LOMINGER INTERNATIONAL: A KORN/FERRY COMPANY. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 9 781933 578224 > Item number 82042 For additional information and related publications, please contact Korn/Ferry Leadership and Talent Consulting at business_office@kornferry.com or visit us on the Web at www.kornferry.com or www.lominger.com. COPYRIGHT 1992 2010 LOMINGER INTERNATIONAL: A KORN/FERRY COMPANY. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Item number 82041 How to Succeed as a member of a Virtual Team supplemental Resources The most effective learners seek insight from multiple sources. In addition to all the material provided in How to Succeed As a Member of a Virtual Team, you can access the useful supplemental resources listed below. Investigate these resources to help you gain additional insight, increase your self-awareness, and enhance your success on your job and in your career. All resources listed below are available at http://store.lominger.com. FYI For Insight Why is it important to gain insight? Why is it important to become more self-aware and have a realistic knowledge of your capabilities? Overview highlights the essence and importance for each of the 26 What It Looks Like illustrates detailed skilled, unskilled, or overused How It Compares helps you understand how common it is for If this is an issue for you, it s likely because provides an Dos and Don ts offers a list of ideas for taking action right away to FYI For Insight FYI For Insight The 21 Leadership Characteristics for SUCCESS and the 5 that get you FIRED Kim E. Ruyle, George S. Hallenbeck Jr., J. Evelyn Orr & Victoria V. Swisher FYI for Insight: 21 Leadership Characteristics for Success and the 5 That Get You Fired starts individuals on a path toward improvement by building self-awareness. FYI for Insight is used to help individuals gain awareness, get to acceptance, and take action to improve performance. In addition, take a FREE online self-awareness assessment at http://insight.lominger.com. FYI For Your Improvement 5th Edition provides a deeper dive into developmental remedies for competencies that comprise the leadership characteristics. It is also an easy-to-use development and coaching tool for learners, managers, mentors, coaches, and feedback givers. The Career Architect Development Planner 5th edition This easy-to-use advanced development book has become the standard for leadership development at thousands of companies around the globe. Keyword and development theme index quickly find and address developmental Enhanced remedy titles pinpoint developmental needs by posing a quick diagnostic Additional causes for stallers and stoppers illustrate how overuse or lack of certain Competency connections illustrate how various competency combinations tie to Developmental difficulty matrix shows how difficult it is for a typical person to Updated learning plan organize your plan on an easy-to-use two-page spread. Coaching resource guide provides coaches and mentors with a step-by-step Updated suggested readings hundreds of the best, most current books and articles Career Architect Development Planner Career Architect Development Planner A Systematic Approach to Development Including 103 Research-Based and Experience- Tested Development Plans and Coaching Tips for learners, managers, mentors, and feedback givers Michael M. Lombardo & Robert W. Eichinger 5 th Edition Career Architect Development Planner 5th Edition was created to help with deeper and more expert development initiatives. Each chapter provides the same development content as FYI For Your Improvement with four additional learning sections that focus on long-term experiential development. Voices Multi-Rater 360º Feedback System is a Webenabled, competency-based, and research-validated 360º feedback tool that provides learners with a powerful tool for development and improvement. additional resources 81

Career Architect Express Virtual Teams in a Virtual World: How to Succeed As a Member of a Virtual Team IMPORTANT NOTICE: COPYRIGHT 2013 LOMINGER INTERNATIONAL: A KORN/FERRY COMPANY ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this work may be copied or transferred to any other expression or form without a license from Lominger International: A Korn/Ferry Company. www.kornferry.com www.lominger.com Career Architect is the exclusive registered trademark of Lominger International: A Korn/Ferry Company. Item number: 82220 career architect Express 82

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