Unify made the comment that "Virtual teams are taking over but there’s still work to be done." I couldn't agree more.
As I do most mornings, I woke up on a recent morning up and checked my Twitter feed. It's interesting how things change. Years ago, I used to wake up and call into my voice mail, then it switched to checking email and now Twitter has become my main focus area. Sure there was the overnight mumbo jumbo about general news but there was also this interesting graphic that Unify published.
In the tweet Unify made the comment that "Virtual teams are taking over but there's still work to be done." I couldn't agree more. Often when I'm speaking with IT leaders or even workers about remote working, there's a feeling that remote working is a panacea to all business challenges. You get to hire the best talent regardless of location, there are no office expenses and the employee should be eternally grateful to work for such a progressive and awesome company that supports remote working. The other points that are taken as gospel is that remote workers can be as productive or even more productive than in-office employees, and virtual teams work just as effectively as in-person teams. We're all professionals, right?
The Unify data points basically call that out, but do issue a cautionary point. Seventy-six percent report working in virtual teams, but 56% also are less productive. Just for disclosure, I haven't talked to Unify about these data points so I don't know the sample size, who is being polled or anything other than the three data points you see in the graphic.
From interviewing many, many people about virtual teams, there are some challenges associated with remote working and virtual teams - and these can be deadly to an organization.
The biggest issue with working virtually is social isolation. As I said before, we are all professionals and we expect professional behavior out of employees. But we are also all human and we need to feel socially connected to our co-workers. This happens at the office by bumping into someone and talking about last night's game or by grabbing some lunch and bonding over a common challenge. Social connectedness is very important to the productivity of an employee. Workers want to feel connected and that they are working toward a common goal, but that's often very difficult to replicate remotely.
Another challenge is just maintaining a high energy level. Being part of a team requires enthusiasm for the project, and we often get our enthusiasm from others in our team. Sure, there's a few people out there who are incredibly self-motivated and can lead the teams, but most people aren't like that. If you've ever seen a video of Ray Lewis, LB from the Baltimore Ravens and the pregame ritual he did to fire up his teammates, you'll know what I mean. Here's a YouTube collection of Lewis, Drew Brees and others as they fire up their teams. Now try doing that virtually!
Now in a business setting there's no crazed linebacker in the middle of a bunch of people yelling and jumping but there is normally an individual or two who seems to have limitless energy and is always fired up. We've all worked with someone like that before, and while that person may drive us crazy sometimes, we need that person for the team to be a success. This is part of the challenge of remote working – unless the worker is a great self-starter, it's often hard to keep the energy level up when you're sitting by yourself most of the time. Even if there's a call going on, if the people in the same physical room are boisterous and filled with energy, that doesn't translate well over a call. This can cause the virtual worker to be a detriment to the team.
I believe creating this social connectivity to the company is a significant value proposition for UC. I think all of us have probably gotten to know several people fairly well through using chat or video. The key is that businesses need to foster a culture where these tools are the norm. For example, if a worker needs to interact with a virtual worker, he or she could send an email. The virtual worker would receive it, reply and the task would get done, but there is no social connection made. Instead, what if the worker did one-on-one video with the virtual worker? Now that worker can ask the questions "in person" and get to know the virtual worker, which could be helpful in the future. Let's say the remote worker agreed to a statement but had some reservations. This may never come out in an email conversation but it certainly would with video. Being able to learn and interpret co-workers' body language is a huge part of effective collaboration.
If video isn't available, I believe chat to be an effective tool as well. Not as effective as video, but far more so than email or an audio bridge. Chat allows for sidebars and extended conversations that can help foster relationships and create those social connections.
Any company looking to expand its remote workforce and attempting to leverage virtual teams needs to ensure it has the right tools in place to foster this. Without a robust UC solution, the initiative just may be a silent killer to the organization.
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