To conclude our series of blogs on Managing the Agile Workforce, it seems appropriate to summarise the skills, attributes and practices of effective virtual / agile leaders and teams, based on the research we carried out in this area, against each of the topics we looked at.
This chapter summarises the Manager/leader skills and attributes – next time we will turn to those of the Team. As you review these – think of your own situation and ask yourself how you measure up to these aspects.
- Adopt a transformational management style, combining diplomacy, coaching, facilitation and team defence
- Encourage participation and empower the team to take decisions, but ensuring visibility and availability to the team
- Recognise the importance of protecting the psychological contract
- Manage by outcomes, not presence; recognise effort and accomplishment; avoid micromanaging
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- Listen – seek and interpret the context affecting virtual team members to facilitate openness and trust
- Care about people as people and seek inputs when apart – don’t allow distance to become a barrier
- Set people challenges and support their pursuit of them, using a mix of techniques (not just observation) to monitor performance
- Coach and develop team colleagues, using face-to-face and remote methods to do so
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- Lead by example – role model effective virtual working behaviours
- Use inclusive style – encourage participation
- Include as many members in the “in group” as possible – take responsibility for building relationships
- Select the right people for the team – based on knowledge of the task and skills / personalities of team members
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- Recognise the potential for bias to affect judgement, particularly when team members aren’t seen regularly
- Strive to re-set any biases when in a 1:1 situation
- Seek other views & input from team members and others when reaching conclusions about performance
- Remain wary of who to choose for an alternate view (the choice may be biased – choose someone least like yourself)
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- Willing to adapt to the preferences of the team regarding communication styles – but be alert to the potential for:
- misunderstandings
- lack of clarity
- some people being unable to adapt to the needs of others
- people’s needs being overlooked
- new team members’ needs
- Ensure team members receive training in appropriate communication media
- Monitor the quality of all forms of communication to ensure team cohesion maintained
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- Have or develop a propensity to trust others
- Demonstrate trustworthy behaviour and trust in others to encourage reciprocal behaviour
- Demonstrate adherence to procedural justice when dealing with individual team members and situations
- Ensure team members share their competence and skills with others – to build trust
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- Work with team to establish clarity of vision and how team goals contribute to the vision
- Work to ensure precision in what is expected from team members – agree expectations with members
- Encourage team to celebrate successes even when apart
- Understand the nature of tasks and assign the best people to complete them
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Next time we will conclude our blog series on Managing the Agile Workforce by looking at the skills and attributes of Agile Teams.
