Leading Virtual Teams (HBR 20-Minute Manager Series)

Cope with Common Problems

Missed deadlines. Sloppy work. Infighting. These problems plague all teams, but when you supervise remote workers, too often you don’t know that something is wrong until it’s really wrong. So much of what’s happening—such as poor time management and passive-aggressive e-mails between colleagues—is invisible to you. And because your view into how your people work is so limited, your team members may feel more pressure to appear in control. They might hide problems because they don’t want you to see how the sausage gets made or because they think something is their fault when it’s truly a larger issue affecting the whole team, such as a software malfunction.

To push past the virtual veil, you’ll need to develop proactive ...