Shawnee Love   •  
September 21, 2011

Building a good virtual team has all the same challenges as a regular team plus a few unique obstacles of its own. Awhile back, I shared the 10 keys to building great teams and those all apply in virtual teams as well, so start there.  One of my “favourite” exercises for new teams is Building a Team Charter.  A Team Charter once completed should outline a team’s:

• Leader(s)
• Goals or expected outcomes (i.e., vision),
• Reason for existing (i.e., mission),
• The ways they will work together (i.e., values, roles, and protocols such as those for conducting meetings, resolving conflict, etc.)

The activity works best if you pull everyone together face to face (yes, I realize that defeats the purpose of being virtual, but one thing I have noticed is that people adjust to working virtually with others more quickly and with less bumps along the way, if they have built a relationship at the start.  The quickest way to build a relationship is to get in a room together and get to know each other better.) As they are in the same room and discussing the aspects of a team charter, they are also getting to know each other and their respective backgrounds, experiences, skills, styles, strengths and weaknesses.  Leaders will materialize and step up naturally and all team members will be figuring out the role they will play in the team, beginning to care about each other, as well as establishing common language, communication paths, and the ground rules  for how to interact successfully (which in my book means respectfully, proactively, supportively, and honestly).

My experience tells me that starting out with a team “retreat” when a Team Charter is established is a great way to leapfrog through the forming stage and get well through the storming stage so that when everyone disburses and goes to their respective virtual locations, the relationships are already fused enough to withstand the challenges that time zones, distance, and imperfect communication media offer.

Even if you are parachuted into an established team, a leader should always take the time to ensure everyone is on the same page and completely buys in to the Charter. I firmly believe virtual teams need to get together regularly (how often depends on the project, the amount of change in the team members and the environment) to reconnect in order to be most effective.

That’s my take on the needs of a virtual team, what do you think?