What is a virtual team? It’s a geographically distributed team that works on the same project.
For employees, being part of a virtual team (or as it’s frequently called “ working out-of-the-office”) means improved work-life balance and getting the desired flexibility to work from home or anywhere in the world.
Advantages of virtual teams:
- Possibility to work with the best talent, no matter their location
- Members of virtual teams are proven to be more productive, engaged and motivated
- High employee retention as compared to traditional teams
- Virtual teams help save costs
Drawbacks of virtual teams:
- Lots of effort goes into establishing transparent processes and trust
- Dependence on technology in terms of work and communication
- Team members are often isolated socially and detached from each other
How to ensure virtual team function well?
- Setup clear end to end processes
- Use a project management tool to keep the team engaged and support the processes setup
- Overcome communication bottlenecks due to misunderstanding (requirements) or lack of communication
- Create sense of connection between all members of the team
- Promote trust in your organization
