Five ways to become a good virtual leader
When I first worked as a consultant for global businesses back in 2002, looking to find better ways to get their international teams to work together, the issue was all about technology. It wasn’t always practical to run video conferencing or online meetings without time lags and some people being left out and confused.
The problem now is that this kind thinking hasn’t really changed. We have all the tech and slick speeds we need — but senior teams continue to believe that as long as employees and their managers are linked up, they can see and hear each other, that’s virtual working done.
Leaders have just the same challenges in a virtual and hybrid work setting. They need to be able to engage with people and create rapport, set out a clear vision and maintain levels of engagement and motivation, as well as listen and understand. But when it comes to actually putting these behaviours into practice, traditional forms of leadership practice are mostly redundant.
So what makes a good virtual leader? Some basic principles:
- They need to be clear about the impact of virtual and hybrid working on their organisation and how it effects people, their relationships and workplace culture; what roles can successfully be carried out virtually; which roles and people need a hybrid offering. They need to understand both the full range of benefits and the challenges — and find ways to keep to commitments offered to staff. Recent research from the US suggests a third of staff would quit their job if they weren’t given the option of carrying on with some remote work .
- Have the skills to make best use of virtual technology as a tool, not as a solution in itself. That means being able to create and develop relationships at a distance; know how to use video and other platforms creatively, fit different uses to different situations and personalities. Not just talking through Powerpoint slides, but thinking in detail about how the different platform changes needs and the impression being made. In a McKinsey Quarterly paper, consultants said: “Many employers we talk to spend far too little time acknowledging that building the muscles for a truly effective hybrid operating model could take years, not least because they are still learning what actually works in such environments.”
- There’s an even greater need for a visible and reassuring leadership presence for employees. People are feeling more disconnected from their organisation and its mission after long periods away from the office and more concerned about how they really fit into new virtual teams. Virtual leaders demonstrate they are listening.
- Share best practice across the organisation. Good virtual leaders are critical across the top of organisations, but their way of doing things needs to be understood and replicated by managers in order to create a supportive culture for virtual and hybrid working — and ensuring that people generally don’t just slip back into old habits and expectations.
- Importantly, they know why they are a virtual leader. They have a bigger sense of purpose — because if businesses don’t go down the virtual working route than missing huge opportunity to improve carbon footprint of operations and improve sustainability. Evidence from Covid-19 lockdowns showed how less worker travel drastically improved air quality. Virtual work is also the chance to improve diversity and inclusion in workforces and be a basis for improved employee wellbeing for the future.
Dr Ghislaine Caulat, Founder, VLA.
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