Creating resilient virtual teams for greater productivity

Creating resilient virtual teams for greater productivity

The digital age and the COVID-19 pandemic have accelerated the use of remote work arrangements and virtual teams. However, the rise of this trend has led to some challenges for organisational leaders in Vietnam.

The challenge for leaders: building resilient virtual teams

Dr Nguyen Ngoc Cau, RMIT Lecturer in Management said: “Remote work and virtual teams have numerous advantages. According to several metrics, remote workers are happier, have less intention of leaving the company, and are frequently more productive than on-site workers.”

“Firms can also benefit from more productive employees, lower office rental costs, lower employee turnover, and access to a larger talent pool because they can recruit and hire talent from all over the world,” Dr Cau added.

Remote work has become a social norm. According to Owl Labs, 16% of organisations worldwide now offer fully remote work, 56% use virtual teams or offer remote work in some capacity. A Gallup study estimated that 80% of workers work exclusively remotely or in a hybrid capacity (at least partly remote). Notably, Global Workplace Analytics also found that the number of people working remotely globally has increased by more than 150% since 2015.

However, the rise of remote work and virtual teams has resulted in some challenges, said Dr Hoang Truong Giang, RMIT Lecturer in Management.

“Communication is one of the most difficult aspects of digital work. Miscommunication and the feeling of being disconnected among virtual team members can occur due to a lack of physical, in-person interaction.”

Dr Nguyen Ngoc Cau (pictured left) and Dr Hoang Truong Giang (pictured right) Dr Nguyen Ngoc Cau (pictured left) and Dr Hoang Truong Giang (pictured right)

Working in global teams across different time zones is the second challenge. Global teams can help foster creativity by allowing members to explore cultural differences and share ideas.

“Collaboration, however, may be complex because team members will be working in different time zones. This could lead to communication delays and decreased team engagement,” Dr Giang pointed out.

“Technical failures are the third challenge. When on-site workers encounter technical issues, they usually have an IT team on hand to assist them in resolving the issues. Remote workers, on the other hand, must rely more on themselves to resolve technical issues. If the virtual team member is not technologically savvy, this may result in frustration and decreased productivity.”

Remote workers must rely more on themselves to resolve technical issues (Source: Unplash). Remote workers must rely more on themselves to resolve technical issues (Source: Unplash).

Therefore, developing virtual teams' resiliency is critical to overcoming the challenges that remote workers frequently face.

How can Vietnamese organisational leaders foster virtual teams' resiliency?

Dr Cau shared: “As a leader, empowering your employees shows your belief in their abilities, emphasises the significance of their work, allows them to contribute to decision-making, and removes bureaucratic constraints. Empowering your employees can improve virtual teams' resiliency in a variety of ways.”

To begin, by empowering employees, leaders can increase their confidence in themselves and their work, resulting in greater team potency.

“Second, by removing bureaucratic constraints from virtual team's members, they are more likely to innovate to find solutions, thereby improving the virtual team's capacity to improvise”, Dr Cau said.

Third, empowering employees can psychologically impact their competence and determination, potentially leading to higher team engagement. 

Empowering your employees can improve virtual teams' resiliency in a variety of ways (Source: Pexels). Empowering your employees can improve virtual teams' resiliency in a variety of ways (Source: Pexels).

Dr Giang elaborated: “When virtual team members are more engaged in their activities, they become more familiar with one another, resulting in a better mental model of teamwork and improved transactive memory, both of which increase virtual teams’ capacity.”

Finally, employee empowerment communicates to employees that they can be relied on to make critical decisions. This autonomy at work fosters learning and provides employees with a psychological safety net.

According to Dr Giang: “One of the challenges for Vietnamese businesses is how organisational leaders should guide their organisations in this digital transformation age.”

Virtual teams' resiliency can help overcome many challenges that virtual workers face. By being proactive in digital leadership, organisational leaders in Vietnam have the potential to grow their organisations, contribute to Vietnam’s economy, and bear the fruits of the digital transformation movement.

References: Kim & Beehr (2020), Mai, Welsh, Wang, Bush, & Jiang (2022), O'Donoghue & van der Werff (2021), Frazier, Fainshmidt, Klinger, Pezeshkan, & Vracheva (2017).

Story: Dung Pham

12 April 2023

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