The Virtual Work Skills You Need For Working Remotely
Maintaining strong, productive relationships with clients and
co-workers can be challenging when you never see the person you’re working
with. Yet, it is common to have ongoing work relationships – sometimes lasting
years — with people you’ve never met in person.
We often think of “virtual work” as working with someone located
outside an office, or in another city or country. This type of work is on the
rise: a 2017 Gallup report found 43% of American employees work remotely; in
another survey, 48% of respondents reported that a majority of their virtual
teamwork involved members from other cultures.
However, virtual work also encompasses how we are turning to
technology to conduct business with nearby colleagues, sometimes within the
same building or campus. At a large consumer-products firm where we’ve been
conducting research, an HR director recounted the changes she witnessed in
employees located in two buildings a few miles apart. “Ten years ago, we would
regularly drive between buildings to meet each other, but today, we almost
never do; meetings are conducted by videoconference and everything else is
handled on e-mail and IM.”
In our interview and survey research, we find that people tend
to significantly underestimate the proportion of their work that is virtual,
largely because they believe virtual work occurs outside the office. But it’s
important for us to recognize the true extent of virtual work, because
successful virtual work demands a different set of social and interpersonal
skills and behaviors than face-to-face work.
Research consistently indicates that virtual work skills – such
as the ability to proactively manage media-based interactions, to establish
communication norms, to build social rapport with colleagues, and to
demonstrate cooperation – enhance trust within teams and increase performance.
Our surveys indicate that only about 30% of companies train employees in
virtual work skills, but when they do, the training is more likely to focus on
software skills and company policies than on social and interpersonal skills.
Our findings are similar to those of a 2006 survey of HR leaders on training of
virtual teams, suggesting that while technology and virtual work itself has
advanced dramatically in recent years, our preparation to work virtually has
not.
Our recent review of 30 years of virtual work research shows
that the most effective workers engage in a set of strategies and behaviors
that we call “virtual intelligence.” Some people tend to be naturally more
adept at working virtually than others; yet, everyone can increase their
virtual intelligence. Two specific skill sets contributing to virtual
intelligence are 1) establishing “rules of engagement” for virtual
interactions, and 2) building and maintaining trust. These skill sets are
relevant to all individuals who conduct virtual work, including coworkers in
the same office who interact virtually.
Establishing “rules of
engagement”
When working with someone face-to-face, the “rules of
engagement” for your work together most likely evolve naturally, as you learn
the best times of day to connect, where to hold productive meetings, and the
most effective meeting format. In virtual work, however, these “rules of
engagement” typically require a dedicated conversation. At a minimum, virtual
colleagues should discuss the following rules around:
Communication technology. Once you know you’ll be working virtually with someone on a regular basis, initiate a short conversation about their available technology, and agree on the best means of communication (e.g., “We’ll e-mail for simple, non-urgent matters, but get on Skype when there is something complex that might require us to share screens. Texting is fine if we need to get in touch urgently, but shouldn’t be used day-to-day.”)
Best times to connect. You might ask your virtual co-worker, “What times of day are
typically better to call or text? Are there particular days of the week (or
month) that I should avoid?” Establishing this rule early in a virtual work
relationship both establishes respect for each other’s time, and saves time, by
avoiding fruitless contact attempts.
How best to share information. If you’re collaborating on documents or other electronic files,
establish a process to ensure you don’t inadvertently delete updates or create
conflicting versions. File-sharing services such as Dropbox can help monitor
revisions to jointly-owned documents (often called “version control”), but it
is still wise to establish a simple protocol to avoid lost or duplicated work.
Building and
maintaining trust
Two types of trust matter in virtual work: relational trust
(trust that your colleague is looking out for your best interests), and
competence-based trust (trust that your colleague is both capable and
reliable).
To build relational trust:
Bring a social element into the virtual work relationship. Some people do this by starting conversations with non-work-related questions, such as “How are things going where you are?” or “How was your weekend?” Avoid making questions too personal, and don’t overwhelm your colleague with extensive details of your life. Keep it simple and sincere, and the conversation will develop naturally over time.
Let your enthusiasm and personality show in your virtual
communications. Keep it professional, but try adding a little of your own
‘voice’ to give your virtual colleague a sense of who you are, just as they
would have in a face-to-face meeting.
To build competence-based trust:
Share your relevant background and experiences, indicating how these will help you support the current project. For example, on a new-product development project, you might say, “I’m really looking forward to contributing to the market analysis, as it focuses on a market that I researched last year on another project.”
Take initiative in completing tasks whenever possible and
communicate that you’re doing so with periodic update e-mails. Doing this shows
commitment to the shared task.
Respond to e-mail quickly and appropriately. We risk obviousness
in making this point, but many virtual work relationships fail due to
inconsistent e-mail communication. Silence works quickly to destroy trust in a
virtual colleague. We recommend replying to non-urgent e-mails within one
business day (sooner if it’s urgent). If you need more time, send a quick
acknowledgement of the e-mail, letting your colleague know when you will reply.
As the use of technology for all types of communication has
become ubiquitous, the need for virtual work skills is no longer limited to
telecommuters and global teams; it now extends to those of us whose work never
takes us out of the office. Making a concerted effort to develop these skills
by setting up rules of engagement and establishing trust early can feel
uncomfortable, especially for people new to the idea of virtual work. Most of
us are used to letting these dynamics evolve naturally in face-to-face relationships,
with little or no discussion. Yet, workers with higher virtual intelligence
know that these skills are unlikely to develop without explicit attention, and
that making a short-term investment in developing the virtual relationship will
yield long-term benefits.
