How to Manage a Virtual Team - 7 Strategies for Online Business Owners
Have you just hired your dream team, but are overwhelmed with how to manage them? Managing virtual teams can be challenging. Whether you're new to business or a seasoned pro, it's important to have a system in place to keep your team organized and on track. In this post, I'm going to share 7 strategies for managing your virtual team for your online business.
You can either keep reading or watch the video below:
Systems, systems, systems!
Creating systems will streamline work within your team and make everything run so much smoother. This will benefit your team members and your business as a whole.
Pretty much every tip below either is a system itself or involves systems in some way.
Systems are the backbone of your business and should be a focus for you as the CEO.
This is my specialty and something I'm always helping my clients fine-tune in their businesses. I can help you with create and optimize your business systems too, as well as with any of the tips that are to follow when it comes to managing your team. Apply to work with me by clicking here.
Encourage open communication
Make sure that everyone knows what is expected and how to communicate with the rest of the team, how to they can expect to hear from you, how to get in touch with you, and what channels are preferred for different types of communication.
Having a centralized place for everyone to communicate is essential.
Encourage everyone to ask questions, be honest about mistakes and progress - and do these yourself as the leader as well.
Make sure to be able to communicate in all types of ways. Picture an office setting and the different ways people will communicate - in meetings, dropping into each other's offices, working together on a task, etc.
Try to include ways for all types of communication: group communication, task-specific communication, general communication, and one-on-one communication. Asana is perfect for this, because it covers all of these seamlessly!
This brings me to the next tip…
Use a work management tool
The right tools can make all the difference in managing remote teams. Asana is a great option for keeping your team organized and on track (and can be used for free!).
Watch this video for all the details of how to use Asana as a team.
Essentially, Asana makes it so easy to collaborate, work efficiently, and make sure everything stays on track.
Implement SOPs
Standard Operating Procedures help you train your team members and make sure everyone is on the same page and completing tasks the exact way you want them to be.
SOPs are the step-by-step instructions for every tasks or process in your business.
When done correctly, your team should be able to perform any task without any other training.
In this video, I go over them in more detail, if this is a new concept for you.
Embrace other ways of communicating that expands beyond text
Think: video & audio!
Sometimes you want to show something that you are talking about or walk someone through something. Loom, Descript, or Zoom can be good options for this.
Or sometimes it's more efficient to speak your message instead of typing it. Async is a great tool for this if you are working in a program that doesn't have this capability built in.
Show appreciation and gratitude
Make sure you are telling your team when they are doing a great job, that you appreciate them, and just giving as much positive affirmation as possible. This will keep your team happy and enthusiastic about working in your business.
Be genuine about it, though - you don't want to tell them they're doing a great job when you plan on replacing them next week - haha (seriously, though, I have witnessed this first hand and it is not kind). Always be upfront and honest with your team and you will create a great culture.
Asana makes this easy with appreciation stickers you can send on any task!
Remember if any of this feels overwhelming for you, you are not alone. You likely are at this point in your business because you are passionate about your work and helping your clients achieve their goals, not because you wanted to be a manager. If you're at a point where it makes sense, it might be best to hire someone to manage your team for you. This is what I do for my clients. If that interests you, l would be happy to discuss what this could look like in your business with you. Click here to get started!
Be flexible and understanding
Virtual work requires a certain level of flexibility, so be prepared to be flexible and adjust your approach as needed.
Lead with compassion - most people are trying their best but may need some understanding when they're not doing their best, when they're not feeling their best, or need some extra help.
Not everyone is good at everything and you shouldn't expect them to be. This is especially true if you are working with a general VA who you are throwing everything at - they are not going to excel at all of it.
Part of your job should be to discover which tasks they are best at and focus on giving them more of those. You can always hire more people down the road to take the other tasks.
Understand their capacity and how they are managing their time between you and their other clients. If you're working with part-time contractors, chances are they have other obligations from their other clients. They also have things in their personal life they may need to prioritize from time to time.
It's important to be understanding and recognize that they are not your employees, if this is the case, and you can't expect them to be available all of your office hours if that wasn't the agreement.
