Virtual Teamwork Skills Gap: Overcoming Challenges and Building Effective Virtual Teams, Study notes of Communication

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Closing the

Virtual Teamwork

Skills Gap

Uncover the challenges faced by virtual teams and learn three strategies for developing an effective virtual team culture.

Organisations had been inching closer to an embrace of remote and flexible work arrangements—that is, until the COVID- pandemic forced an overnight conversion to virtual work. Remote work is highly prevalent now, with nearly 42% of workers in the U.S. fully remote i^. And it’s here to stay: 90% of human resources leaders expect work to remain semi-flexible beyond the pandemic ii^.

This sudden upheaval has demanded a tremendous shift in the way we work, and especially the way we “team.” Effective teamwork will be one significant factor in determining which organisations thrive in the new normal and which struggle to survive.

To understand how teams have adapted to the remote workforce, Wiley Workplace Learning Solutions surveyed over 4,000 individuals iii^ between December 2020 and January 2021. Our results reveal a widespread gap in teamwork skills plaguing virtual teams across the country. That gap—between the teamwork skills employees have and what they need to be effective—

accounts for some of the key challenges they face. And those challenges strike at the core of what it means to be an effective team.

Employees that lack effective virtual teamwork skills threaten both the trajectory of their organisation’s recovery and the success of long- term remote and flexible work. Already, half of respondents tell us they’re concerned about the prospect of continuing to work virtually. And as we know, teams are comprised of individuals, each of whom needs the skills to make effective teamwork a success. That’s why it’s so critical for everyone to have a clear picture of what individuals and teams are experiencing—and why every leader must foster a culture of effective teamwork in their organisation.

In what follows, you’ll discover the challenges affecting teams in the remote workplace and learn three strategies to close the virtual teamwork skills gap in your organisation.

The virtual workplace

has upended the way

teams work together.

To thrive in the new

normal, organisations

need to assess what

they are doing to

build a culture of

effective teamwork.

Working remotely is taking its toll on our feelings of team cohesion and connection. Nearly 7 in 10 survey respondents (69%) tell us they’re struggling to maintain a sense of comradery with their team, and 62% say that doing so has become more challenging since the pandemic began.

It’s no wonder—we can’t gather our colleagues for group lunches anymore, go on coffee runs with coworkers, or even catch up over happy hour. But missing that comradery means people are struggling to stay connected with their colleagues. In fact, two-thirds (67%) report feeling isolated from their team, so it’s clear that these challenges are pervasive across organisations right now.

Feeling disconnected or isolated from our colleagues not only affects our sense of team togetherness, but it also impacts how well and how easily we communicate with each other—which can be tough even under normal

circumstances. 36% of survey respondents are finding it harder to effectively communicate with colleagues. That’s understandable when there can be so much lost in translation across email, text, or chat—especially when nearly half (49%) feel out of the loop with what’s happening on their team or in their organisation.

Not feeling fully included makes other aspects of communicating more strenuous: 62% of respondents find having productive debates and discussions now at least somewhat difficult. And roughly 40% tell us that having those debates and difficult conversations (whether that’s holding someone accountable or sharing that you don’t feel heard) have become more challenging since before the pandemic began.

Compounding these challenges is a lack of confidence in our own teamwork skills and those of our peers. Less than half of respondents consider themselves effective team members when collaborating virtually, and only 49% feel their coworkers have the right teamwork skills to do the same. That number is even less (42%) for managers and leaders, who are most attuned to—and affected by—employees’ ineffective teamwork skills. As a result, they’re experiencing more trepidation about the prospect of long- term virtual teamwork than their direct reports.

7 in 10 respondents tell us they’re struggling to maintain a sense of comradery with their team

of respondents report feeling isolated from their team

of respondents said having productive debates and discussions is now at least somewhat difficult

Challenges connecting

and communicating hinder

effective teamwork and carry

significant implications for

teams and organisations.

Those interpersonal interactions, of course, once unfolded more easily in-person and encompassed a wider swath of employees across an organisation (just think of how many people you’d run into in the staff room or at lunch). Now, with little to no basis of in-person interactions on which to build and develop relationships, new employees and members of the new teams that emerge continuously across organsations face considerable difficulty generating trust in one another.

When we lack that interpersonal foundation of trust to stand on, we find it more difficult to do the hard, but necessary, work of being an effective team member. And this starts with each of us embracing the behaviours that foster effective communication and collaboration. These behaviours don’t necessarily already exist in every one of us— especially when we’ve been working alone at our kitchen tables for over a year!—but they are skills we can learn.

Fundamentally, effective teamwork requires us to be vulnerable—sharing our opinions, freely debating ideas with colleagues, holding one another accountable, and knowing when to ask for help and when to say we’re sorry. But avoiding tension, conflict, and difficult conversations can stunt a team’s growth, especially when the groundwork of trust—where mistakes can be made, forgiveness is granted, and our vulnerabilities aren’t used against us—has eroded or, worse, never existed from the start.

Adopting effective teamwork skills is of utmost importance for individuals and organisations, not just because we will ultimately “team” better, but because there’s a multiplier effect of any one person’s ineffective teamwork skills. The vast majority of respondents we surveyed (83%) occupy roles on two or more teams, so each

employee doesn’t only affect a single team (and a handful of people), but two, three, four, or even five teams. That is a significant number of people for whom effective teamwork in a virtual setting matters—and, by the same token, who are negatively impacted by ineffective teamwork.

Though a potential liability, this multiplier effect can be a tremendous advantage in closing the virtual teamwork skills gap if and when employees are equipped with effective teamwork skills to benefit each team they’re on.

Understanding the virtual teamwork skills gap is the first step to overcoming it. Creating a culture of effective teamwork requires a set of skills and a common language for all employees, and these are 100% learnable— no matter where employees are located.

Building effective

teamwork skills requires

self-discovery.

Each of us approaches teamwork in a unique way, and those differences in perspective and personality, after all, are part of what helps teams thrive. They allow us to debate and discuss concepts and ideas and to uncover one another’s blind spots. So when each employee develops their self-awareness around their own personalities and behaviours, they become empowered to “team” in a way that feels meaningful—and thus memorable—to them. As each team member becomes more self-aware, they can share these learnings and develop a deeper understanding of others as well, which unlocks greater appreciation for how their teammates like to work. This shared understanding is a foundational element to building stronger teams.

Like any skill, practice

makes perfect (or

close to it!)

Employees are empowered to apply their skills on a day- to-day basis when tied to a simple, memorable, and actionable framework and through a common language. When employees at all levels are equipped with the essential skills of effective teamwork, they can move seamlessly from team to team—knowing what it takes to build an effective one—and immediately begin contributing to collective results. And if they face challenges—say, not everyone has committed to an idea—they have a framework for working through it. By asking certain questions arising from the model (“Why is that so?” “Did we not fully listen to and debate each other’s ideas?”), the team can quickly get back on track.

The bottom line is that remote

and flexible workplaces

are here to stay, and so too

are the negative impacts of

ineffective teamwork—unless

leaders invest in equipping

employees across their

organisation with the skills

to “team” most effectively.

The Five Behaviors

® can change

the way you team.

The Five Behaviors ®^ is the result of a partnership between Wiley and best-selling author Patrick Lencioni’s groundbreaking model for developing high-performing teams through five key behaviours: Trust, Conflict, Commitment, Accountability, and Results. This powerful training teaches participants the critical behaviours and interpersonal skills needed to work together effectively by combining Lencioni’s teamwork model with personalised insights. The result is a unique and impactful team development solution that empowers team members to rethink their approach to teamwork, shape new, more productive behaviours to increase productivity, and create a common language that completely redefines what it means to work together to drive results.

To learn more about how The Five Behaviors can help your teams, connect with a Five Behaviors Authorized Partner.