Effective Communication with Virtual Teams

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Framework Primer
Effective Communication
with Virtual Teams
Presentation created by
Select the Fitting
Technology
Be Clear Stay in Sync
Be Inclusive Be Responsive
1 2 3
5 4

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Contents
Communication Tactics for Virtual Teams
Templates
− Be Inclusive
Overview
− Select the Fitting Technology
− Be Clear
− Stay in Sync
− Be Responsive
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Remote work can have issues due to insufficient interaction—this deck
discusses tactics for effective communication with Virtual Teams
Presentation Overview
There is a strong relationship between virtual communication effectiveness and overall
employee performance.
The number of people working remotely has been increasing progressively across the globe.
An employee benefits report narrates that around 60% companies in the US offer telecommuting
opportunities. According to Upwork, freelancers and contractors have increased by 81% from
2014 to 2017.
Telecommuting not only benefits people but also presents several advantages for organizations.
Research has attributed an increase in savings of around $2,000 per employee each year on real
estate costs, enhanced productivity, and lower attrition rates to telecommuting. Employees have
been found to focus better on work and take less days off while operating remotely.
However, some global enterprises have encountered problems with remote teams. Many of these
issues derive from ineffective communication with the Virtual Teams. This framework discusses
the 5 leading practices to communicate effectively with your Virtual Team:
The slide deck also includes some slide templates for you to use in your own business
presentations.
1 Select the Fitting Technology
2 Be Clear
3 Stay in Sync
4 Be Responsive
5 Be Inclusive

However, some global enterprises have
encountered problems with remote teams.
Virtual work offers tremendous benefits for both workers as well as
organizations
Addressing these challenges—through proper identification and remedial of issues related
to telecommuting—helps create an agile, well-connected, global team.
Rise of Virtual Teams
The number of people working remotely has been increasing progressively across the globe.
Source: Challenges to Managing Virtual Teams, Bakken, Harvard, 2018
For managers and leaders who deal with Virtual
Teams, communication—which gets messy in the
absence of face-to-face settings—is the foremost
issue. Additional issues and concerns include:
Ensuring all team members are connected and
striving towards the same organizational goal
Recording accurate hours
Assigning appropriate tasks
Trust
Teamwork
An employee benefits report narrates that
around 60% companies in the US offer
telecommuting opportunities. According to
Upwork, freelancers and contractors have
increased by 81% from 2014 to 2017.
Telecommuting not only benefits people but also
presents several advantages for organizations.
Research has attributed an increase in savings
of around $2,000 per employee each year on
real estate costs, enhanced productivity, and
lower attrition rates to telecommuting.
Employees have been found to focus better on
work and take less days off while operating
remotely.

To manage a Virtual Team, we must establish clear goals, conduct
frequent meetings, communicate clearly, and leverage people’s strengths
Although the study involved Virtual Teams, the same communication tactics and best
practices can assist in-office teams that rely on virtual collaboration tools.
5 Communication Tactics for Virtual Teams
Most leaders believe that the increasing sophistication and proliferation of collaborative technologies enable better
virtual communication. However, research, on globally scattered teams, link performance not with the technologies but
with effective utilization of these technologies.
A large study on Virtual Teams asked peers—who had worked together
for some time—to rate one another on virtual communication behaviors
and tactics. The peer assessments focused on 5 communication tactics
and best practices:
ASSESSMENT RESULTS
• The assessment revealed that teams with
higher scores on the 5 communication
tactics also received higher scores from
their leaders on producing quality
deliverables, timely completion of tasks,
collaborating productively, and meeting or
exceeding their targets.
• The study found a strong relationship
between virtual communication
effectiveness and overall performance.
̶ The team scoring higher on
communication significantly
outscored other teams in
performance.
Select the Fitting
Technology
Source: Five Ways to Improve Communication in Virtual Teams, Sloan Management Review, Hill and Bartol, 2018
1 2 3
5 4

Contents
Templates
− Be Inclusive
Overview
− Be Clear
− Stay in Sync
− Be Responsive

Let’s look at the 5 Communication Tactics in detail—they seem pretty
basic but often go unnoticed
The teams that embrace the 5 communication best practices outperform other teams
that don’t.
Select the Fitting Technology – Overview
Leaders need to consider various aspects when choosing their communication technologies:
Appropriate selection
of technology
Delivery mechanism should
match communication goals
Communication medium should
be based on requirements
• Text-based media—e.g., email,
chat, and bulletin boards—should
be used to convey routine
information, ideas, and to gather
simple data. For more complex
tasks—e.g., problem solving,
negotiations necessitating
scrutiny of differing opinions, or to
settle arguable interpersonal
matters—richer media tools like
web conferencing and video-
conferencing should be preferred.
• Communication apps vary based
on features—e.g., information
richness, ability to convey
nonverbal and other gestures to
help interpret meaning, and
quality of real-time interaction.
Similarly, the purpose of
communication differs—e.g., to
consolidate viewpoints, share
inputs, or to minimize confusion.
The 2 elements should
complement each other.
• Numerous communication tools
are available to teams—e.g.,
email, chat platforms, web
conferencing, and
videoconferencing—yet people
prefer those that they are most
proficient in instead of other
better-suited options which
causes problems.

Chat Project Management
Web and Video
conferencing
Collaboration and
Prototyping Scheduling Workflow Automation
Avoid solving personal and people issues over email—instead opt
for richer media to tackle sensitive subjects
More complex undertakings warrant using tools closer to in-person communication,
or even face-to-face meetings.
Select the Fitting Technology – Tools
Technology gets the Virtual Teams going. Leaders and managers should choose the communication
tools that are suitable for their teams.
Here is the list of the types of tools to help facilitate communication
in Virtual Teams:
Team managers should
consider trial runs or
delegate one of their
team member to check all
options and determine
their suitability with the
team’s needs. They need
to provide proper training
to their staff to ensure the
team can use them to
their best.

Contents
Templates
− Be Inclusive
Overview
− Be Clear
− Stay in Sync
− Be Responsive

Text-based communication leaves too much to decipher
Text based communication can be easily misinterpreted—it is important for our messages
to be as clear as possible.
Be Clear – Overview
A major portion of communication around the globe is text-based, which gives rise to assumptions,
biases, and disputes that are not beneficial for team performance.
Outlining clear-cut intentions in the message.
Reassessing messages before submission
to ensure appropriateness of tone.
Using emojis to convey emotion to avoid any
negative interpretation.
Putting emphasis on important information.
Using “response requested” in the subject
line.
Sending multiple requests in different emails
to highlight their importance.
These communication related disputes can be averted by:

Our intentions are often perceived differently by the recipients during
virtual communication
We tend to miscalculate that we have clearly outlined important elements in our email
messages—the recipients can easily overlook those.
Be Clear – How Intentions Are Lost
While using text or email communication, the intentions of the sender are often misunderstood by the
recipient due to several reasons:
Unintentional negative tone
Nonverbal communication –
the missing element
Senders’ assumptions are
perceived differently by
recipients
• While emailing, we often assume
that others will automatically
consider something important
that is critical in our eyes. The
recipients often remain clueless
of that critical matter.
• The absence of nonverbal cues
in text-based communication
makes it hard for recipients to
interpret them clearly. Thus
slightly negative email messages
are perceived significantly more
negatively than the intention of
the sender while positive
messages are interpreted as
neutral.
• Since the response of the
recipient is not visible, people
have a careless attitude while
writing, and express negative
sentiments, anger, or abusive
remarks which they otherwise
don’t say in person.

Contents
Templates
− Be Inclusive
Overview
− Be Clear
− Stay in Sync
− Be Responsive

Dispersed teams are more likely to lose track of each other and get out
of sync
It is more appropriate to get in touch with a colleague who hasn’t replied to an important
message before harboring any negativity.
Stay in Sync – Overview
In the absence of in-person meetings, team members risk losing touch, not following each other or lacking rhythm.
This can happen for a number of reasons: The team can overcome these challenges by the following
measures:
In Virtual Teams, it’s hard to tell if messages have
been received and read.
Communication gap creates uneven information
sharing among team members where some members
can get excluded from an important team email
mistakenly.
Due to the absence of face-to-face meetings, team
members often forget to keep their distant teammates
engaged and informed of the events or crises in-
house.
When a certain team member does not communicate,
the others keep guessing, assuming the worst due to
lack of information.
Keep everyone consistently informed and avoid
silence.
In-office team members need to frequently share
information with distant team members about the local
situation.
All the team should acknowledge the receipt of
important messages.
Adopt a favorable opinion about other team members
despite uncertainty.
Clarify the others’ position or intention before
concluding your judgment.

Contents
Templates
− Be Inclusive
Overview
− Be Clear
− Stay in Sync
− Be Responsive

Leaders and managers responsible for dispersed teams need to go an
extra mile to build trust among their people
Leaders need to inspire their people to support each other, inculcate team spirit, and help
resolve the problems their peers encounter.
Be Responsive – Overview
Building trust among peers is vital for successful operations of geographically scattered teams, however, it isn’t that
easy than in traditional in-office setting.
Leadership should take care of and diligently ensure the
following imperatives to develop trust among Virtual Teams:
Motivate all team members to respond promptly to
requests from each other.
Provide sufficient input on each other’s work.
Provide practical solutions to any issues the
teammates face.
Always use an optimistic tone in communications.
Acquaintance, association, and understanding play an
important role in building trust among team members in the
same office. However, these bonds are difficult to develop in
scattered teams.
In dispersed teams, people must show their devotion and
trust by the way they collaborate with others on
assignments.

Contents
Templates
− Be Inclusive
Overview
− Be Clear
− Stay in Sync
− Be Responsive

Online communication sometimes creates a void between teammates –
this may restrict open sharing of ideas between them
Seeking views and insights from all teammates—specifically from the ones in dispersed
locations—helps in indicating receptivity to diverse ideas and opinions.
Be Open – Overview
Scattered teams encompass members from diverse backgrounds, nationalities, and beliefs. These diverse backgrounds
generate creativity and rich ideas that help enhance teams’ performance.
Communication online through virtual tools has a drawback
that it deters some team members from candidly sharing
their thoughts. The reasons for their holding back
information are:
Leaders and managers can take full advantage of the
diversity of their Virtual Teams by:
The limited social cues in virtual communication that
aid in connecting team members.
People tend to suppress their urge to contribute when
they are unable to observe the reactions of their peers
to their ideas.
Virtual Teams of multiple groups at various locations
sometimes tend to communicate more within a local
group than with other groups or team members. This
becomes tricky for managers, who are considered
discriminatory towards other groups.
Ensuring open and inclusive communication among
teams.
Engaging the entire team in important decisions.
Integrating the finest ideas of the team while resolving
issues.

Contents
Templates
− Be Inclusive
Overview
− Be Clear
− Stay in Sync
− Be Responsive

Insert headline
Insert bumper.
5 Communication Tactics for Virtual Teams – TEMPLATE
Select the Fitting
Technology
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Insert headline
Insert bumper.
5 Communication Tactics for Virtual Teams – TEMPLATE ALTERNATE
Stay in
Sync
Be
Inclusive
Be Clear
Select
the Fitting
Technology
1
2
3
4
5
Be
Responsive
• Insert filler text, filler text, filler
text, filler text, filler text.

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Flevy (www.flevy.com) is the marketplace
for premium documents. These
documents can range from Business
Frameworks to Financial Models to
PowerPoint Templates.
Flevy was founded under the principle that
companies waste a lot of time and money
recreating the same foundational business
documents. Our vision is for Flevy to
become a comprehensive knowledge base
of business documents. All organizations,
from startups to large enterprises, can use
Flevy— whether it's to jumpstart projects, to
find reference or comparison materials, or
just to learn.
Contact Us
Please contact us with any questions you may have
about our company.
• General Inquiries
support@flevy.com
• Media/PR
press@flevy.com
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