1. Define Your Teams and Then Invest in Trust

Now that you have established communication protocols within your virtual environment, you can use your communication to define the virtual teams and invest in their trust. Building and maintaining trust within virtual teams is a struggle; not only do they lack the physical cohesiveness felt in an in-office environment, but virtual employees may also lack a sense of empowerment in their career due to isolation and seclusion. Here are some steps you can take to ensure your virtual teams are working efficiently and trusts you as their leader:

• Develop a mission statement for your virtual workers. This only needs to be a few sentences, yet establishing a reason the business is doing what they are doing helps virtual workers feel their time outside of the office is valued. State this mission clearly and then don’t just “walk the walk”; demonstrate this mission by including your virtual workers in their support of the mission as well (and give them incentives for doing so).
• Encourage collaboration and team building. It can be difficult to collaborate when employees are across a city, country, or even the globe. This is why both collaboration and team building are so important to foster trust. As a leader, it is your job to formally establish your teams and then encourage collaboration and team building by scheduling specific events that bring your virtual group together to build on each other’s strengths.
• Make sure resources are available. Your virtual team will not trust you if they don’t think you are there to support them. Support is two-fold: you want to support them through technology and personal growth, and also support their mental well-being. First, this means they need the resources and tools to do their job effectively from home. Make sure they have access to the right technology, as well as the training and growth opportunities to keep them engaged and skilled in their jobs. Then you also want to encourage a work-life balance; for example, if you find an employee who is continuously contacting you on the weekends, tell them it can wait until Monday and to enjoy their time with their family and friends. They will appreciate the thoughtfulness!

Building trust will empower your virtual team members, leading to greater accountability and visibility. By establishing a mission, encouraging the team to work together towards that mission, and then rewarding them for meeting their goals, leaders will build a foundation of trust over time.

2. Set Clear Roles and Expectations for Your Teams

Once you have agreed on your team’s mission and purpose, you can set clear goals and expectations for your team. By establishing shared goals and expectations, your teams will know how they will achieve these goals in their virtual environment.

• Define a Shared Goal for the Teams. Once you have the teams in place, you can establish a shared goal and a plan on how they will achieve that goal in their virtual world. You could also have the team itself weigh in on what goals are the most important to work on at that moment. Either way, make sure you also establish how the progress towards these goals is measured so that everyone is working together. And don’t forget to acknowledge their achievements and even recognize them publicly.
• Establish clear procedures. Your virtual workers are now in agreement on their mission and goals, but they need a game plan on how to get them done virtually. We have found that a top procedure that needs established for virtual workers is time management. This is because many virtual employees work longer hours to accommodate different schedules and time zones. These accommodations could lead to burnout, so you should stress that virtual employees do the bulk of their work during their normal working hours, Monday through Friday. Procedures should also be established for meetings so that you minimize communication in the early mornings or late nights. Team leaders can be in charge of providing clear procedures on how and when to communicate, the use of technologies, and decision-making processes.
• Set clear expectations and rewards. Last but certainly not least, you need a clear outline of roles, responsibilities, and expectations on how to meet goals, objectives, and milestones. Remember that mission statement you established? These expectations should align fully with your company’s mission statement to ensure there’s a clear direction towards success. Once these expectations have been met, be sure to recognize these successes and even reward them through incentives.

Recognizing your virtual team’s successes will not only boost employee engagement, but also continue to build the trust and happiness you established with your virtual employees. This recognition will also lead to greater productivity, higher retention, and even a stronger company loyalty. Many leaders have found that a little recognition goes a long way – sometimes just saying “thank you” more often can show your virtual teams they are recognized.