In today’s digital age, start-ups are abandoning the traditional notion of conducting the majority of their business from a centralised office. Instead, remote working and virtual teams have been adopted by many new and established businesses. But what are the important things to consider when building your virtual team? This article looks to shed light on the issue.
Technology
Of course, technology will take centre stage in any new venture looking to build a virtual team. Ensure you use suitable technology that aids communication rather than hinders it.
Bear in mind that some of your team may not own the latest digital tech, so unless you are providing hardware to your team ensure you choose digital apps and services that can be run easily on a variety of machines and do not require large amounts of memory or the fastest internet connection to run effectively.
Consider using technology that a typical virtual team member may already use such as Zoom, Teams, Slack etc, since this allows team members to communicate easily from the outset without a steep learning curve to get to grips with new software.
Clear Expectations
The key advantage of building a virtual team is that you can utilise the pool of talent and services of team members from all over the globe.
Tapping into talent worldwide is great but you will need to be clear from the onset with work hours, deadlines and communication because of the different time zones you will potentially be juggling.
Ensure your virtual team members understand the implications of time zones when it comes to submitting work to meet deadlines.
Setting clear expectations from the outset ensures everyone is on the same page and can eliminate potential frustrations.
Results Focussed Performance
Remote working allows you the founder to focus on results rather than the traditional ‘hours worked’ model.
Try not to be tempted to overly restrict or overmanage your virtual team’s time.
Encouraging a results-oriented mindset fosters a culture of continuous improvement and motivates employees to deliver their best work, irrespective of their physical location.
Ensure you set adequate milestones and key metrics that allow both you and your virtual team members to understand when your objectives are being met.
Ensure that you are available and respond promptly to any issues or questions your team may have. Having a system in place to respond automatically should you or team members not be available for any period of time can prevent long gaps in communication when dealing with different time zones.
You should schedule sufficient calls and meetings to ensure you can keep up to date with progress or any issues your team may be having.
Prioritise Team Bonding and Culture Building
One could argue that remote working requires even more emphasis on team bonding and culture building.
Don’t forget to celebrate any achievements with all team members. Offering recognition for their contribution can go a long way to building team spirit.
Intentionally plan team building activities such as online games or collaborative projects to foster camaraderie.
Don’t go overboard with the team-building activities and ensure any activities you plan are actually enjoyable by the team members themselves.
Define Your Remote Culture
Building a remote team starts with a strong foundation and a well-defined remote culture.
As founder, you need to clearly state and ensure your team members understand the company’s mission, vision and goals.
You should aim to build a team that values open communication, trust and accountability.
If you do this successfully team members will feel motivated since they will be all striving towards a common mission and goal.
Hiring the Right Team Members
Hiring the right team members is essential for building a successful virtual team. Candidates that are used to traditional supervision and management styles may not be suitable as a high amount of autonomy may be required.
Candidates who are able to motivate themselves and are goal-driven may be ideal candidates.
The hire will also need to be comfortable using technology and need to be able to adapt to new tech as your organisation grows. Ensure you hire candidates who can show you their achievements and results rather than just an impressive resume or qualifications.
As a virtual team member in a start-up, there is nowhere to hide. So potential candidates should understand their responsibilities from the get-go.
Final thoughts
Remote working and building a virtual team offers start-ups all the benefits of a worldwide pool of talent and a diverse workforce. Start-ups should incorporate the right technology at the centre of their team and communicate a clear mission to motivate their team to start-up success.
A clear and defined remote working culture will be essential as will the necessity to enable team bonding. It’s paramount that remote working centres around a results-based metric rather than the traditional ‘hours worked’ model to foster a growth mindset within your team.
With all the above in mind, you should be ready to navigate your team to start-up success
Good luck!
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