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Speed, Quick Answers, Fast Results

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The Virtual Office

The Virtual Office

Technology and complexity are the bold signatures of our work experience.  Virtual teams, with the help of evolving communication channels, will continue to stretch the boundaries of what is possible.  Mahatma Gandhi once said, “There is more to life than simply increasing its speed,” but our current reality seems to contradict that maxim.

How do we keep leadership rigour in a virtual environment that values speed, quick answers, fast results?

This question was given to a panel of CFAME Connection contributors, Binod Sundararajan, Nancy Fijan and Martine Durier-Copp.  Please join the discussion by adding your comments.  We would love to hear from readers.

Binod: Great and successful leaders intuitively understand that communication with internal stakeholders is paramount to the successful buy-in of the leader’s vision. When this communication is conducted with transparency, devoid of hidden agendas, and a faith in the abilities of the internal stakeholders, then the leaders gain trust from their internal stakeholders. There is no shortcut to this, regardless of the type of channel. Whether it be email, texting, blogs, wikis, internal bulletin boards, or social media, if the leader is consistent, on message, doing what is needed by the internal stakeholders, then the troops rally behind the leader. The communication to external stakeholders is easier, because the whole organization acts like one, and the leader has set the tone for the organizational culture. These points are relevant to the question because, if the organizational culture is such, then speed, quick answers, fast results are secondary to quality, consistency, transparency and a standard of excellence that can be unrivalled.

Mobile Office

The Virtual Office – Closing Time

Nancy: I agree with Binod. Honest communication is essential. In my experience, a leader will succeed when there is clarity, commitment, tools and empathy. Clarity aligns a team on required outcomes and achievements.  Every person brings a specific skillset to the table; for a team to come together, there must be an understanding of individual roles and how the team will work together to track progress and accomplish goals. A leader seeks the 100% commitment of each team member, gaining agreement to prepare, be present and be accountable.  Optimum tools, at minimum, connecting by phone/conference line are essential for virtual teams to operate.  Better still, virtual whiteboards for creative brainstorming, video conferences or Webex for face time/chat box capability, and Dropbox or Google docs to track collateral/materials.

The most critical element, especially in a virtual environment, is empathy. Stuff happens, especially across time zones and continents.  Not everyone on a virtual team is encountering a blizzard that has shut one city down. Pitching in and helping each other out during a difficult time creates a stronger personal and team connection. Embracing the concept of iteration allows for flexibility during momentum blips whilst making the team feel like progress is still being made.

Virtual Teams

Martine:  Binod’s and my research confirms Nancy’s best practices.  Virtual teams face three challenges: goal alignment, knowledge sharing and motivation.  We have found that major communication breakdowns and conflicts in virtual teams can be mitigated through leadership intervention. If issues do arise, members of the team and team leaders will be better equipped to take action and reduce negative team results. Trustworthiness and cooperativeness are essential for positive team relationships. Trust forms while completing tasks and allows teams to expand outside the scope of their assignment to complete a project. Effective leadership seeks to create an environment that fosters interpersonal trust, shared vision, and effective decision making.

The e-Leadership Challenge

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Associate Professor of Management; Associate Director, Rowe School of Business; Academic/Research Director, CELNET; Area Coordinator, Management Area Group

Associate Professor of Management; Associate Director, Rowe School of Business; Academic/Research Director, CELNET; Area Coordinator, Management Area Group

“Being a well-connected leader to a diverse group of professionals outside of one’s team will enhance one’s ability to recruit the right people and keep good relationships. Teams that share common values and can find common interest will likely build trust and stronger relationships.” Binod Sundararajan

Binod Sundararajan, co-founder of CELNeT, contends that virtual teams are different from face-to-face.  It is essential to utilize technology to increase media richness to counteract the feelings of isolation that can plague long-distant networks.   In the virtual world, common sense is not always common knowledge.  Virtual teams require leaders who respond to the additional challenges of a mobile workforce.  Establishing a common purpose, planning team activities, negotiating role expectations, motivating and building trust within a virtual setting are the essential skillsets of an e-Leader.

In a recent “virtual” interview, Binod provided insight on the evolution of virtual teams and e-Leadership.

What prompted you to consider e-leadership research?

Binod: I have been involved with e-Learning research since 2003; my PhD dissertation was on e-Learning and blended learning.   Interestingly, research on e-Learning and virtual teams is about 10-15 years old, so we are seeing the beginning of a major trend in the way we organize work.  Without question, our understanding of virtual teams grows as adoption increases across sectors. However, this is a vast space, with teaching and learning for university students, high school students, continuing education students. The rise of online degree programs, certificate programs, like Coursera, Udemy, continue to address this market as more and more organizations, public and private, turn to Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) to connect their co-located and dispersed teams within and outside their organizations. Our literature review yielded many theories and best practices on doing distance/virtual team work, but it was Martine Durier-Copp, my co-founder in CELNeT, who recognized that there was a gap in this research:  that of e-Leadership. Leadership literature is vast, and has a long history stemming from Organizational Theory and Organizational Behaviour disciplines.

So, what then is e-Leadership and why is it any different from leadership?

Binod: Just like teaching in a face-to-face classroom is different from teaching in an online environment, managing a face-to-face co-located team is dramatically different from managing, and leading a virtual team. While there are many common issues like trust in leaders and managers, communication, and team dynamics, the technological challenges in a virtual team, the distance, lack of two-way communication compounds existing issues, while adding new ones related to complexities, tasks and timelines. The e-Leader, i.e. the Leader or Manager of a virtual team then must have a broader understanding of the contexts, a finer understanding of the complexities, an empathetic approach to team needs, a laser focus on tasks and timelines, a very good comprehension of the technologies and the adherent challenges, in order to successfully achieve the team goals and objectives.

What are the next steps?

Binod: As our research found out, there are more failures of virtual team projects than successes.  This led Martine and me to create the ConnecT© framework for e-Leadership, which connects the ‘C’s—such as culture, complexities, communications and context—with the ‘T’s—tasks, timeline, team and technology.  Our workshops to government leaders have been well-received. Currently we are exploring the landscape to identify an industry partner, with whom we will test this framework.

What do you enjoy most about giving presentations on e-leaders?

Binod: Whenever Martine and I give presentations, we look for that “aha” moment in the audience’s eyes. Participants engage in a virtual team simulation of a case, and then discuss the ConnecT© framework in the context of the case, and their own individual experiences at their workplace. We know we are doing this the right way, when the “aha” moments keep coming, and the discussions get informative, and participants respond with positive comments after the workshop is completed. All of this is thoroughly enjoyable, and it allows Martine and me to learn and refine our framework.  All in all, the outcomes enrich us all.

 

Dalhousie Faculty of Management

Dalhousie Faculty of Management

 

Leading the Virtual Team – A Graduate’s Voice

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Nancy Fijan, President & Chief Creative Officer at Nancy Fijan Consulting Inc

Nancy Fijan MBA (FS)

“I consider myself unafraid of pushing the status quo if it advances objectives and leads a better result for the business.”

Nancy Fijan President & Chief Creative Officer at Nancy Fijan Consulting Inc

Nancy Fijan (Class of 2013) is passionate about coaching talent, fostering employee excellence, and ensuring all voices are heard within complex organizations.   In a recent interview with CFAME Connection, Nancy shares her thoughts in the next post in our series on virtual teams:

How should leaders engage within the age of technological change?

Nancy: There is what I like to call a digital ethos in the world today. Thanks to the internet, Apple and now the Internet of Things, customers are driving this sentiment globally and disruptors are forcing businesses to join the community or become exiled into extinction. Mobile workers and virtual teams are a natural evolution for companies and institutions in such times.  I would ask those leaders and companies who are still resisting this evolution as to why? What are they concerned about? How are they evaluating the risk to change their ways of working? I would say to them that people are their greatest asset – trust them. People want to make a meaningful contribution, period. And will do so under the right leadership, no matter where or how they work, nor whether millennial or long tenured.

Has mobility increased your ability to communicate in real-time?

Nancy: Yes, of course. Mobility creates communication efficiency and effectiveness. I am able to process many sources of information at once and much more quickly, and respond during the in between times, (i.e. waiting for a meeting to begin or someone to join me for dinner, or sitting on the train or waiting for the plane to board), when a quick reply is all that is required. Whenever I engage with new leaders, peers, work groups or team members, I establish how and when we will communicate as not everything requires an immediate response and/or reaction. It is important to use medium wisely for decision making and momentum – patience and thoughtfulness are still very much needed in a world of digital addiction, distraction, and instant gratification. And I always shut my phone off in the car as I don’t believe in hands free when I’m driving.

BYOD and work life balance: how do you keep your personal and business separated when your contact list/phone numbers are in one device?

Nancy: This is an interesting topic. I think it depends on the company/institution culture and individual choice/preference. For work life balance, this seems to be evolving as a concept into work life integration which promotes a healthier approach to blending personal and professional priorities. I foresee new designs and developments in this space to provide mutually viable cost-effective software solutions. I also think that the onboarding process for new employees in companies will evolve from, ‘here is your company laptop and cell phone, and all of our security procedures, intranet sites that you need to follow and use’, to ‘here is your universal company ID and relevant link to connect with us to access a system or submit work.’

What do you enjoy most about being involved within a virtual team?

Nancy: I thrive on the energy and pace, and truly value the diversity of contribution and connection. It forces you to really listen, ask good questions and share ideas or opinions, whether you are coming from a place of courage, creativity or expertise. Diverse perspectives from colleagues in other countries or locations always lead to a better outcome, whether a new playbook, proposition, product or process. Always. As mentioned earlier customers are a driving force, and virtual teams create a closer connection to the actual customer experience because of how they engage to complete tasks. There are powerful insights to be garnered in this regard that sitting in a meeting room does not evoke.

Going Virtual in Canada

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Dalhousie Campus

Dalhousie Campus

“The Canadian mobile worker population is set to increase from 12.1 million in 2012, accounting for 68.9 per cent of employed Canadians, to 13.3 million in 2016, or 73 per cent of the work force.”

(Globe and Mail, 2013)

Canadians have embraced the concept of “bring your own device” (BYOD) to work, which gives employees individual choice in connecting with co-workers and/or accessing information located on company “clouds.” Laptops, notebooks, smart phones, tablets, USB wireless sticks and mobile internet hubs signify the emergence of a robust mobile work population.   Canada’s increasingly competitive wireless market has escalated the spread of viable collaboration tools that promise real-time communication. Homes, coffee shops, airports and cars transform into office space with the power of a WIFI network where speed and capacity are experiencing sustained advances.

The era of mobile workers and virtual teams has arrived.  There is no turning back.

Virtual teams are different from face-to-face interactions. In a recent presentation, Martine Durier-Copp suggested that e-leaders benefit from using a fresh approach to employee engagement.  Utilizing technology to increase media richness, adopting evolving best practices and developing organizational supports can counter the challenges commonly faced by virtual teams:

  • cultivating trust
  • lack of face-to-face contact / isolation
  • communication (language and cultural) barriers
  • aligning goals of individual team members
  • obtaining clarity regarding team objectives
  • ensuring that the team possesses necessary knowledge and skills
  • ensuring the availability of sufficient technology resources

Martine believes that major communication breakdowns and conflicts in virtual teams can be mitigated through leadership intervention. If issues do arise, members of the team and team leaders will be better equipped to take action and reduce negative team results.  The successful e-leader leads by example, recognizing the power of technology to celebrate individual contributions and encourage team success.

Next post in the Virtual Team series:  Leading the Virtual Team – A Graduate’s Voice

 

Leadership in the Age of Virtual Teams

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Technology has amplified the definition of community.  Social groups, previously limited to location, are now able to construct collaborative networks that promote and facilitate discussions that literally span the globe.    The speed of knowledge transfer has increased exponentially, transforming the way we learn and engage with others.  No longer do we require face-to-face interactions.   Friendships and camaraderie develop by participating in vibrant, meaningful conversations, which benefit from diverse experiences and viewpoints.

Virtual communities are commonplace:  LinkedIn, Twitter, SoundCloud, Facebook, Goodreads, Google+ and Flickr, to name only a few, are in our daily routine.

Advances in technology have likewise transformed workplaces by integrating hardware, software and on-line capabilities.  No longer restricted to geography, employees can network within a work environment while in transit or from a home office.  Team structures remain intact, but have embraced the added advantage of being virtual.

Martine Durier-Copp and Binod Sundararajan are internationally recognized for their knowledge and experience in building virtual teams.  Their research confirms that most team leaders are adapted to using technology to communicate and are aware that the world is more globally connected than ever before in history.  However, few have had training to address the needs of a virtual workforce.

The effective e-leader is one who connects all members of the virtual team, using a cross-cultural perspective to manage conflict and complexity and communicate expectations and goals. The goal of an e-leader is to empower the team, focus them on the timeline and tasks, with the appropriate use of technology to align the individual and group expectations and goals to those of the organizational objectives.

Martine and Binod will be highlighting their research in a series of upcoming posts on CFAME Connection.  We invite you to join the discussion, ask questions, and share experiences.

Next post: Going Virtual in Canada

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