Navigating the Virtual Team Landscape for Project Management

Before 2020, the idea of managing a global project team was pretty fair fetched for many organizations. The pandemic showed that it is possible — and even that there are certain benefits — to having distributed teams working on projects.

Photo by Chris Montgomery on Unsplash

Virtial teams are different than traditional teams. With virtual teams, you can’t walk down the hall and check in on your team members. As Project Managers, we’re left to rely on a patchwork of video calls, instant messages, and the occasional silence that makes you wonder if anyone is actually still there. Hello? Oh, Shaun, you’re on mute ….

One of the biggest hurdles to overcome is the loss of that organic, in-person interaction. When you’re all physically present in the same space, it’s easier to pick up on the subtle cues and energy that help build camaraderie and trust. But through the cold, flat medium of a screen, those interpersonal connections can feel stilted and forced.

Take the classic “team building” exercises, for example. Remember those cringe-worthy trust falls and spaghetti tower challenges? Well, just imagine trying to recreate that same sense of forced fun over Zoom.

And there is the dreaded “coffee badging” phenomenon — when employees show up to the virtual office just long enough to log in and then disappear…