05 Nov Secrets to a Successful Virtual Team

I have an amazing team working alongside me in my business, but I have had my fair share of issues along the way and thought I would share a few of my experiences around how best to build and communicate with your team.

Firstly, don’t make the mistake of always going for the most skilled candidates when building your team.

Without a doubt, I will ALWAYS choose attitude and values over skill. I can teach skills but I will never be able to change someone’s attitude. You could have all the skills and experience under the sun, but if you don’t have the right personality for my biz it simply won’t work. Team culture is so important – even for an online business!

Do your research and due diligence.

There is nothing better than a personal recommendation when you are looking to hire someone. Where are you looking for your team? Are they members of any networking/industry specific groups? Are they active within those groups? Chances are that if they are investing time and money they are serious about their business.    

It may sound a bit cliche, but that saying ‘treat others how you would like to be treated’ really does have a lot going for it. You may be running the show, but treat your team as equals. Regardless of whether they are a contractor running their own business, or a direct employee – at the end of the day you are dealing with real life people, not just a faceless email address who completes tasks. You can still remain professional but show that you genuinely care. Take the time to talk to your team, find out what they are passionate about, what makes them tick. If something doesn’t feel right – check in! Don’t always assume the worst – we are all human, life happens and a simple ‘hey, is everything ok/can I do anything to help/I’m here if you need to chat?’ can go such a long way! One thing I can promise you is that if someone feels valued and supported they will always go that extra mile for you, whereas if you felt worthless and undervalued, why would you bother?

Finally – transparent communication is SO important and something I am very passionate about.

Don’t keep everything in emails or personal messages – utilise your communication and project management systems so everyone can access and see what is going on! I use and love Slack and myself and my team chat their daily within client specific channels. Anything task specific will go directly into Asana or similar. One of my pet hates is holding back and keeping task information privy to select people only. Knowledge is power and with a wealth of so many different skills and talents within a team, why would you not have all your cards on the table?!         

I get it – taking the step to build a team is scary! You have worked so hard to get to this point, and to have enough trust to delegate some of that responsibility is hard. At the end of the day, your business is your baby and it is imperative that your team are a reflection of the great reputation you have established. Take your time and find the right people for your business – the right people for YOU. It will be worth it, I promise!

If anything I have said here has resonated with you or raised any questions, don’t hesitate to reach out for a chat!  

PS: If you would like to check out my amazing team – head over to https://www.yourvirtualasset.com/about/ 😉