My relationship with my employees does not matter - does it?
Effective virtual leadership is essential to virtual team engagement, good communication, better problem solving and higher productivity. Building a relationship of mutual trust and respect will help your virtual team to work efficiently and effectively.
So how do you build a relationship of mutual trust and respect? There are a few relationship building practices you can implement to improve the relationship within your virtual team.
Have an open door policy. Let your team know that their opinion matters.
Lead by example. You can't expect your employee's to act one-way while you act another. This will only set you and your team further apart and can lead to resentment.
Be consistent in what you say you will do and what gets done. If you are vague and flip flop decisions there will be nothing but confusion, frustration and disconnection.
Know your team's strengths and encourage them to go beyond their reach. Knowing what your team members want to accomplish now and the future is key to helping them grow within the company.
Create one on one time. Set up a day or two in your schedule to meet with your team members.
If you apply these practices it will help you build a stronger relationship with your virtual team.
Don't miss this week's podcast where we will go into these practices more in-depth. Next week we will discuss how to help employees recognize their true potential and how this can help them be more engaged.