How to successfully manage virtual PR teams

By Michele Don Durbin, SVP of Marketing, Evernote.

Many PR and communications professionals are now working remotely due to Covid-19. But evidence shows most managers fail at their first attempt to manage virtual teams, as communication and productivity breakdown. Here are some ways you can ace virtual team management.

PR and communications teams are now more dispersed than ever due to the Covid-19 lockdown.

This sudden explosion in the number of virtual or remote teams means managers are facing a completely new challenge: managing virtual teams. This needs a different approach when you can no longer communicate face to face.

But research shows that virtual team management failure nearly always happens because managers apply the same practices as they use for the traditional team structure.

They don’t think about what’s different – this leads to teams failing to deliver for their organisations due to misunderstandings and poor communication.

Here’s a breakdown of four of the key issues with tips on how to overcome them and help your team to flourish whilst working remotely.

Help your team adapt to working from home

Working from home isn’t everyone’s preferred choice and it may be a new and challenging experience for some of your colleagues. This makes it crucial for managers to help team members adapt to this new way of working.

Encourage your team members to think carefully about their workspace. There are big benefits of having a separate office space – it lets you ‘go to work’, then close the door and go back to your living space at the end of the working day.

At a time when some people may be struggling to cope with the reality of working from during Covid-19, a quiet space to work is essential.

Workers who haven’t got the option of a separate work space/office can set one up mentally:

•     Use noise cancelling headphones that block out the outside world.
•     Try to create a view that means you’re not distracted by domestic tasks
•     Make sure everyone in the home knows that you’re working and leaves you alone

You should also encourage your team members to avoid distractions at all costs. It can be tempting to pop a load of washing on, call a mate or scroll through Instagram, but workers have to treat the day as they would in the office. Use breaks for these tasks, as per normal, and instead focus on completing the jobs in hand.

Understand each team member’s unique situation 

No two team members are the same. You need to embrace and understand the difference in your team to get the best out of them.

Think about the unique situation of each team member and understand that each person’s situation is completely different. Each person will have a different set of challenges working from home during the Covid-19 lockdown.

Think about the factors that impact each team member’s ability to work virtually from home, and how you can negate them.

For instance, your team members may have issues with unreliable Wi-Fi connections at home (don’t we all!). Or they may be looking after their children whilst working.

You need to take a flexible approach and think in detail about how to limit the impact of these challenges and get the best out of each team member.

You may also want to change working hours, where possible, to help some colleagues work more productively.

Avoid poor communication 

If you’re not physically visible you run the risk of being perceived as being unavailable. You and your team members need to make sure you’re communicating what you’re working on and send regular updates.

Scheduling a morning video call is a great way to plan the day and let each other know you’re online and ready to get on with your tasks. It also gives you the opportunity to update on your progress from the previous day.

You should also think about how remote communication differs from face to face communication in offices.

People often can’t see each other face to face (e.g. when talking on the phone) and feed off non-verbal clues like facial expression and body language. This makes it easy for misunderstandings to occur.

You should take care to ensure all team communications are understood, especially when teammates can’t see each other’s face and body language.

That’s why you should encourage all team members to never be afraid to seek clarification or ask a question if something isn’t clear to them.

Use the right communication channels 

If you saw your car being stolen, would you email the police? No. You’d call them straight away. The same goes for work communication – you and your team need to pick the right channel for the right type of communication.

But virtual teams don’t always pick the best channel for the communication and this can harm trust and lead to a breakdown of teamwork.

So you and your team members should decide as a collective which communications should happen via which channels. This will help your team meet deadlines and build the trust that’s crucial to succeed.

Remember the hierarchy of communication channels (face to face is best, followed by video call, then call, then email, then text message) and choose the right channel.

Also make sure all communication is clear about the three W’s: WHO, does WHAT, by WHEN. Once you have this clarity, meeting requests and commitments will be much easier.

Ultimately, the ability to get the most out of virtual teams has never been more important as it is right now. Taking the right approach to virtual team management will help your team adapt and flourish.

As Senior Vice President of Marketing for Evernote, Michele Don Durbin is tasked with empowering Evernote’s more than 250 million customers to stay in control of their lives, at work and home.

Photo by Djurdjica Boskovic on Unsplash