Challenges of Virtual Leadership

Mutual trust is always relevant in successful international alliances (Uber Crosse et al. 2002), and is crucial in virtual teams that are often subject to conditions such as general uncertainty and an incomplete knowledge of its members (Child et al. 2001). Consequently, trust is seen as more critical in virtual environments than in a traditional team setting (Cascio & Shurygailo, 2003). 

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Trust, inherently, is based on the belief that the members of a given group will fulfil their responsibilities and meet the expectations. Highly important in virtual teams, this iterative approach to trust building is based on the setting of expectations, followed by their deliverance (Cascio & Shurygailo et al. 2003). Empirical analyses have displayed positive results in this regard, with teams with the best trust circuits having shown early signs of prompt communication, assignment of clear goals and action orientation. 

 
Effective teams go through stages of developing high levels of cohesion and trust, and the members learn effectual ways of interacting and creating jointly standard operating procedures, which facilitate trust building within the team (Zaccaro & Bader, 2003).

 

Proposition: A proposition directed at leaders who wish to build better trust within working virtual teams is to encourage them to set expectations, enhance coherence and motivate team members by means of their behaviour and attitude. 

It is no mean feat to communicate effectively despite the barriers of distance and time, ergo, different time zones. Virtual leaders ought to be able to address physical, contextual and cultural distances tactfully and by enlisting the help of diversified information and communication technologies. 

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The same logical structure applies to time-related issues. It has been observed that the most successful virtual teams are led by leaders who actively mitigate stressed caused by time zone shifts, in order to harness the full potential and competence of their teams. 

Researchers state that in-person interactions are more effective than virtual ones, on account of various different reasons. Face-to-face interactions enable the people involved to pick up on non-verbal and para verbal cues, diminishes chances of information loss, maximizes social presence and is also an excellent conveyor of social standing and context. 

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This is all the more reason for virtual leaders to be well-versed in helpful communication techniques. 

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As a result of missing physical context, it is important that virtual teams are allowed to be part of various socializing activities that simulate real-life interactions. Hence, one of the key leadership challenges is to ensure that in and out-groups, which may be produced by certain employees’ proximity to e-leaders, will not be formed (Cascio & Shurygailo, 2003).  

The main challenge for E-leaders is to encourage and induce mutual, active communication and effectively prevent the creation of subgroups. 

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Proposition: Leaders are encouraged to use cohesive social activities on an intercultural basis in order to establish mutual, active communication that fosters a spirit of togetherness and kinship. 

Addressing and acknowledging the diversity of a virtual team is critical to its success. E-leaders may address diversity by promoting a sense of belonging that engages the workers (Leonard et al. 2011), promoting specific activities that support team building and by adaptation of the different nuances of intercultural communication. 

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The right leadership approach can turn varied working practices and cultural connotations into an effective and cohesive work attitude that induces maximum results. 

Empirical analyses (Snellman et al. 2014) has shown that E-leaders who take into account cultural diversity by adopting user-friendly technology, different cultural practices and by catering to specific needs, have reported better performance from their respective teams.