Top Challenges of Managing a Virtual Team

Top Challenges of Managing a Virtual Team

Global virtual teams add plenty of value to projects, but the challenges of managing a group of global professionals are unique.

Survey respondents say that 85% of their organization’s employees serve on global virtual teams, and nearly 20% of these employees spend more than half of their day interacting with team members.

22% of survey respondents participate on at least four global, virtual teams.

85% said virtual teamwork is critical to their productivity, with 54% indicating it is “extremely” critical.

79% said their virtual team capitalizes on its cultural diversity, with 21% indicating this statement is “extremely” true.

Only 28% said their virtual teams have a charter for high performance.

Just 22% have received training to increase productivity while serving on a virtual team.

Regular face-to-face meetings: 51%, Video-conferencing: 37%, Conference calls: 34%

37% of survey respondents use online meeting platforms at least half of the time.

41% said they never meet their virtual team members in person, and 28% said they do so only once a year.

51% said a lack of face-to-face contact with team members makes it challenging to understand the full context of what people are communicating, and 48% said it can make it difficult to manage conflict.

45% said a lack of face-to-face contact with team members makes it challenging to establish trust and build relationships, while 39% said it makes it hard to have an effective dialogue.