How to Manage a Virtual Team

Outsourcing is not new ground in the Philippines. More than 1 million Filipinos work at call centers and in related outsourcing businesses, mostly serving American companies. The BPO industry has been a strong source of economic income for the country even before most Filipinos have been pushed to work from home due to the pandemic in 2020. Because of this, a lot were encouraged to leave the corporate setting and opt for a more virtual office set-up. With this, we can learn a few tips from virtual team managers on how they are able to establish remote work training, and what are the best practices when enforcing work policies online.

Some offshore employers have a different way of enforcing work, many of which are either performance based while others require a minimum number of hours for the employee to work in a week. Regardless of which one of these, improving engagement and productivity in a remote set-up can be managed.

If you are a manager, team leader or simply handling a group, here are a few tips to manage common challenges.

1. Make sure to check on your team
   
   The importance of being a Leader is making sure that your team is okay. Being in a virtual set-up means that there is either little to no chance for face-to-face encounters with your team, and/or boss. Make sure that the tasks for the day are properly lined-up for your team, and you are posted on any updates or problems that would be encountered by your members. Making sure that you are available for them to contact and communicate. Camaraderie and online accessibility as a manager is a priority, and you letting them know that you can be contacted during work hours is necessary.
   
2.  Communication is imperative
   
   Aside from doing daily check-ins with your team’s tasks, build a professional relationship with them. The difficulty of online work is social isolation and lack of face-to-face supervision. Making them comfortable with you in terms of work-related problems, and/or difficulties will make sure that you can openly coordinate and communicate to them and vice versa.
   
3. Capitalize on Technology and use it to your advantage
   
   Technology has vastly improved in the two years that we have been confined in our homes to cater to the urgency of work from home set-ups. Video conferences have been used daily and simple platforms to tick off tasks are available. Engagement through these can be uncomfortable and awkward at first, but you’ll get stuff done and adapt soon enough.
   
4. Manage your expectations
   
   Make sure that you are aligned with your team and the tasks that are required. Some tasks may seem easy, but are difficult to execute, so setbacks must be communicated when you have expectations of deliverables within a given time frame. Make sure to set clear expectations for each task and output, and don’t assume that the team is completely in tune with your requests. Communication is key, and developing it through coordination, alignment and feedback must be paramount in managing a team.
   
5. Let your team know the importance of the task
   
   What makes tasks tedious and longer to do is when you are not familiar with its importance. Letting your team know what activities are going to result from the outcome that you have tasked them to do means that they have a clear picture of what is expected from them, and how they can also improve on their output and productivity.