Five tips for boosting the performance of virtual teams

As the entire world grapples with the COVID-19 pandemic, business leaders find themselves in uncharted waters when it comes to managing remote workers.

Like many companies, we’ve temporarily closed offices and asked employees to work from home in an effort to practice social distancing and slow the spread of this virus. We’ve long had a number of employees work offsite on a full-time basis, but this scale of remote work is unprecedented for us. I’m sure it is for many other companies out there as well.

That’s why it’s so important right now for business leaders to maximize the performance of virtual teams. The article below from MIT Sloan Management Review is a few years old, but I think the advice rings especially true today. The author lays out five best practices when it comes to boosting virtual teams:

• Match the technology to the task.
• Make intentions clear.
• Stay in sync.
• Be responsive and supportive.
• Be open and inclusive.

I encourage you to read the full article for more on each of these five tips. We’re all in this together, so let’s make sure we all take care of each other — even and perhaps especially when we’re physically apart.