{"id":1811,"date":"2021-01-11T10:39:03","date_gmt":"2021-01-11T09:39:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lam.unisg.ch\/blog\/?p=1811"},"modified":"2021-04-02T22:29:35","modified_gmt":"2021-04-02T20:29:35","slug":"5-things-you-need-to-know-about-managing-your-virtual-team","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lam.unisg.ch\/blog\/en\/5-things-you-need-to-know-about-managing-your-virtual-team","title":{"rendered":"5 things you need to know about managing your virtual team"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul style=\"list-style-type: disc;\">\n<li>1. <em>Teams<\/em> have been on the rise for a long period\u2014well before Covid-19 manifested itself. Companies in information technology and other industries characterised by rapid innovation have successfully started experimenting with team-based structures since the beginning of the last decade. Teams go beyond traditional hierarchies. Team members provide their professional expertise required for the task at hand. Although we increasingly understand how to manage teams effectively, senior executives have often been dragging their feet in rolling out physical teams.<\/li>\n<li>2. Like other teams, <em>virtual teams<\/em> seek to perform a task in the best possible way. However, virtual teams face the double hurdle of physical distance (which can lead to a loss of warmth and social camaraderie) and communication barriers (such as the risk of miscommunication, of missing non-verbal cues, and of feeling detached). \u00a0Therefore, running a successful virtual team is an even bigger challenge than running a successful physical team. The flip side is that if we know how to run a virtual team well, we are also better prepared to manage physical teams!<\/li>\n<li>3. Due to Covid-19, companies have had no choice but to rely on virtual teams. <em>Initial evidence on virtual team effectiveness <\/em>has been mixed. Research conducted by our Institute after the Covid-19 pandemic broke out in spring and summer 2020 suggests that both virtual team leaders and virtual team members believe that they have been relatively effective in running their business. On average around four out of five virtual team leaders and virtual team members feel that their teams have been successful and able to reach their goals.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n  \n  <div class=\"box right courses\">\n          <div class=\"course clickable\">\n        <h5>Executive School Programmes:<\/h5>\n        <div class=\"terms\">\n          Open Programmes<br>        <\/div>\n\n        <h4>\n          <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.es.unisg.ch\/de\/programme\/leading-high-performance-teams-digital-age\">Leading High Performance Teams in the Digital Age<\/a>        <\/h4>\n\n        <div class=\"description\">\n          <span lang=\"EN-US\" xml:lang=\"EN-US\">Learn about\u00a0the key drivers, implications and critical contextual factors of high-performance teams in this programme.<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span lang=\"EN-US\" xml:lang=\"EN-US\">Designed as a very practical course, the\u00a0<\/span>Leading High-Performance Teams in the Digital Age<span lang=\"EN-US\" xml:lang=\"EN-US\">\u00a0course will give you effective tools for understanding and improving your team\u2019s performance.<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span lang=\"EN-US\" xml:lang=\"EN-US\">Throughout the seven modules, you will learn how to measure team processes such as objective setting and handling conflicts and team diversity and essential psychological aspects.<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span lang=\"EN-US\" xml:lang=\"EN-US\">You will apply every tool to your own team\u2019s context, creating an immediate potential impact on your team\u2019s effectiveness.<\/span>        <\/div>\n      \n      <\/div>\n        <\/div>\n  \n<ul style=\"list-style-type: disc;\">\n<li>4. However, <em>it is not all good news<\/em>. Due to the double hurdle of physical distance and communication barriers it is more difficult for virtual teams to understand team objectives (especially with new tasks) or to deal with team conflicts.\u00a0 Our research suggests that people are also more likely to feel isolated in a virtual team.\u00a0 This holds for both virtual team leaders and virtual team members, although virtual team leaders tend to be more optimistic than their team members.<\/li>\n<li>5. Therefore, <em>leadership matters even more in virtual teams<\/em> than in physical teams. Virtual teams will be with us for a long period and may never disappear.\u00a0 Virtual team leaders should familiarise themselves with the latest tools, particularly in the field of team psychology, shared leadership, and team roles and objectives.\u00a0 Such tools are available and will help virtual team leaders improve their team effectiveness and members\u2019 well-being.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>A group of prominent and renowned colleagues at the University of St.Gallen co-designed the new <a href=\"https:\/\/www.es.unisg.ch\/en\/programme\/leading-high-performance-teams-digital-age\">\u201cLeading High Performance Teams in the Digital Age\u201d<\/a> course.\u00a0 This practical course will help team leaders gauge critical team features and live up to their virtual team potential. We will provide participants with <em>effective tools for measuring and improving team performance<\/em>. During seven modules, participants will become familiar with a specific tool to measure critical virtual team aspects such as objective setting, handling of conflicts, team diversity and team leadership.\u00a0 Participants will immediately apply these tools to their own team context, creating an immediate impact.<\/p>\n<p>If you want to share your virtual team experiences, please take this 5-minute survey:<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/app.fim-unisg.ch\/surveys\/public\/dGqlVeAAVEZ5\">https:\/\/app.fim-unisg.ch\/surveys\/public\/dGqlVeAAVEZ5<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Let\u2019s together make virtual teams a better place!<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n            <div id=\"mailerlite-form_2\" data-temp-id=\"6a305d036d589\">\n                <div class=\"mailerlite-form\">\n                    <form action=\"\" method=\"post\">\n                                                    <div class=\"mailerlite-form-title\"><h3>Don't miss our updates<\/h3><\/div>\n                                                <div class=\"mailerlite-form-description\"><p>Don't miss our updates - sign up to our weekly newsletter.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n                        <div class=\"mailerlite-form-inputs\">\n                                                                                            <div class=\"mailerlite-form-field\">\n                                    <label for=\"mailerlite-2-field-email\">Email<\/label>\n                                    <input id=\"mailerlite-2-field-email\"\n                                           type=\"email\" required=\"required\"\n                                           name=\"form_fields[email]\"\n                                           placeholder=\"Email\"\/>\n                                <\/div>\n                                                        <div class=\"mailerlite-form-loader\">Please wait...<\/div>\n                            <div class=\"mailerlite-subscribe-button-container\">\n                                <input class=\"mailerlite-subscribe-submit\" type=\"submit\"\n                                       value=\"Subscribe\"\/>\n                            <\/div>\n                            <input type=\"hidden\" name=\"form_id\" value=\"2\"\/>\n                            <input type=\"hidden\" name=\"action\" value=\"mailerlite_subscribe_form\"\/>\n                            <input type=\"hidden\" name=\"ml_nonce\" value=\"2a112fcef2\"\/>\n                        <\/div>\n                        <div class=\"mailerlite-form-response\">\n                                                            <h4><p><span style=\"color: #339966;\">Thank you for signing up to our updates!<\/span><\/p>\n<\/h4>\n                                                    <\/div>\n                    <\/form>\n                <\/div>\n            <\/div>\n\n        \n            <script type=\"text\/javascript\">\n                window.addEventListener(\"load\", function () {\n                    var jQuery = window.jQueryWP || window.jQuery;\n\n                    jQuery(document).ready(function () {\n\n                        if(jQuery) {\n                            var form_container = jQuery(\"#mailerlite-form_2[data-temp-id=6a305d036d589] form\");\n\n                            jQuery(\".mailerlite-subscribe-submit\", form_container).prop('disabled', true);\n\n                            jQuery.post('https:\/\/lam.unisg.ch\/blog\/wp-admin\/admin-ajax.php', { \"action\" : \"ml_create_nonce\", \"ml_nonce\" : jQuery(\"input[name='ml_nonce']\", form_container).val() }, function (response) {\n\n                                if(response.success) {\n                                    jQuery(\"input[name='ml_nonce']\", form_container).val(response.data.ml_nonce);\n                                    jQuery(\".mailerlite-subscribe-submit\", form_container).prop('disabled', false);\n                                }\n                            });\n\n                            if ( typeof form_container.validate == 'function' ) {\n                                form_container.submit(function (e) {\n                                    e.preventDefault();\n                                }).validate({\n                                    submitHandler: function (form) {\n\n                                        jQuery(this.submitButton).prop('disabled', true);\n\n                                        form_container.find('.mailerlite-subscribe-button-container').fadeOut(function () {\n                                            form_container.find('.mailerlite-form-loader').fadeIn()\n                                        });\n\n                                        var data = jQuery(form).serialize();\n\n                                        jQuery.post('https:\/\/lam.unisg.ch\/blog\/wp-admin\/admin-ajax.php', data, function () {\n                                            form_container.find('.mailerlite-form-inputs').fadeOut(function () {\n                                                form_container.find('.mailerlite-form-response').fadeIn()\n                                            });\n                                        });\n                                    }\n                                });\n                            }\n                        }\n                    });\n                }, false);\n            <\/script>\n        \n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>1. Teams have been on the rise for a long period\u2014well before Covid-19 manifested itself. Companies in information technology and other industries characterised by rapid innovation have successfully started experimenting with team-based structures since the beginning of the last decade. Teams go beyond traditional hierarchies. Team members provide their professional expertise required for the task [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":1812,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false},"categories":[59,56,25,31],"tags":[325,118,509,510],"acf":{"excerpt":"<p>Due to Covid-19, most professionals in Europe and North America have become a member of one or, more likely, a range of virtual teams. Managers and employees in organisations of all shapes and sizes have had to function in virtual teams using digital technologies they were previously unfamiliar with. The experiences have been mixed. What do we know about virtual teams?<\/p>\n","school":false},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lam.unisg.ch\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1811"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lam.unisg.ch\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lam.unisg.ch\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lam.unisg.ch\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lam.unisg.ch\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1811"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lam.unisg.ch\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1811\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lam.unisg.ch\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1812"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lam.unisg.ch\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1811"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lam.unisg.ch\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1811"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lam.unisg.ch\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1811"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}