The key to success for virtual teams is not adding another weekly conference call<\/a>. It\u2019s helping them prevent these challenges altogether by developing the following traits:<\/p>\n It\u2019s easy to remember – ACE.<\/p>\n In this post, we\u2019ll go over why these traits are essential for virtual teams and how to cultivate them with a Work OS<\/a>. But first, let\u2019s talk about the challenges virtual teams face.<\/p>\n Get started<\/a><\/p>\n While traditional leadership hierarchies remain largely intact, organizational structures have evolved from top-down formations to more decentralized and distributed systems.<\/p>\n This shift is driven by the need to accelerate the pace of work and more effectively cater to customer needs. Unlike traditional structures, distributed systems have fewer tiers of leadership.<\/p>\n Instead, they have smaller, mission-oriented teams to better enable decision-making, agility, and individual contribution. For example, as start-up companies grow, many adopt distributed systems to facilitate faster execution and individual contribution.<\/p>\n Distributed systems also make it possible for individuals, teams and entire departments to function remotely.<\/p>\n But the advent of this new age of work comes with its own challenges<\/a>: lack of coordination, redundant tasks, overlapping tools, inefficient processes, communication breakdowns<\/a>, and information silos.<\/p>\n No one feels this harder than virtual teams, where lack of physical proximity intensifies these obstacles.<\/p>\n When teams are spread around the country or the world, how can they keep processes and tasks aligned? How can they manage effective communication<\/a> across continents and time zones? How can they keep physical silos from worsening information silos?<\/p>\n Solid leadership<\/a>, feedback, and talent will always be important. But to thrive in today\u2019s fast-paced work environment, virtual teams must have these core traits:<\/p>\n When owning their role, responsibilities, and deliverables, employees will be more motivated to produce their highest-quality work. In virtual teams, where greater autonomy is common, having a strong sense of accountability is key to high performance<\/a>.<\/p>\n Collaboration is at the heart of modern work. As organizations continually add new tools to their digital arsenal, teamwork, coordination<\/a>, and information sharing have become more important. For virtual teams, collaboration forges crucial ties and helps disparate stakeholders stay aligned on goals and initiatives.<\/p>\n Highly engaged employees produce better business outcomes than those who aren\u2019t engaged, according to Gallup<\/a>. In fast-paced work environments, engagement is a prerequisite for speed, teamwork, and execution.<\/p>\nEngagement also breeds feelings of positivity and helps teams become more unified. For virtual teams, a culture of cohesion and mutual support can make a significant positive impact on the quality of work.<\/span><\/a>\n Get started<\/a><\/p>\n How can organizations help their virtual teams cultivate these traits and take on the challenges of today\u2019s dispersed, fast-paced work environment?<\/p>\n The solution is having a system that serves as a single source of truth<\/a>. By sharing one central work system, organizations can facilitate greater alignment, teamwork, and efficiency<\/a>.<\/p>\n A Work Operating System (Work OS)<\/a> serves as the nerve center in a distributed system of work.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n A Work OS is a cloud-based software platform where users can create custom workflow apps that manage all teams and functions across the organization. When virtual teams can seamlessly view, plan, run, and track processes and projects with others throughout the organization, they are more aligned \u2014 and can work faster to achieve their goals.<\/p>\n Using a Work OS will automatically raise accountability, engagement, and collaboration in virtual teams. Here\u2019s how:<\/p>\n Get started<\/a><\/p>\n In 2019, Owl Labs surveyed full-time workers in their\u00a0State of Remote Work<\/a> and found that 30% of their respondents worked remotely full-time. Seven percent worked remotely at least three times per week. And as more and more teams shift to remote work, those numbers will grow exponentially.<\/p>\n Distributed systems of work both within and beyond the office walls are here to stay. To succeed, virtual teams need tools that help them increase speed and agility.<\/p>\n With a Work OS, accountability, collaboration, and engagement become second nature \u2014 and everything else falls into place.<\/p>\n Get started<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false,"raw":"You have Slack. You have email. You have Zoom meetings, FaceTime, and WhatsApp. Today\u2019s technology offers unprecedented connectivity. But for virtual teams, physical disconnectedness still creates major challenges.\r\n\r\nFor many virtual teams<\/a>, communication mishaps, incongruent tasks, overlapping work processes, and lack of transparency are the norm.\u00a0 And that makes delivering high-quality work fast nearly impossible.\r\n\r\nThe key to success for virtual teams is not adding another weekly conference call<\/a>. It\u2019s helping them prevent these challenges altogether by developing the following traits:\r\n [cta-button url=\"https:\/\/auth.monday.com\/users\/sign_up_new\" target=\"_blank\"]Get started[\/cta-button]<\/p>\r\n\r\n [cta-button url=\"https:\/\/auth.monday.com\/users\/sign_up_new\" target=\"_blank\"]Get started[\/cta-button]<\/p>\r\n\r\n [cta-button url=\"https:\/\/auth.monday.com\/users\/sign_up_new\" target=\"_blank\"]Get started[\/cta-button]<\/p>\r\n [cta-button url=\"https:\/\/auth.monday.com\/users\/sign_up_new\" target=\"_blank\"]Get started[\/cta-button]<\/p>"},"excerpt":{"rendered":" You have Slack. You have email. You have Zoom meetings, FaceTime, and WhatsApp. Today\u2019s technology offers unprecedented connectivity. But for virtual teams, physical disconnectedness still creates major challenges. For many virtual teams, communication mishaps, incongruent tasks, overlapping work processes, and lack of transparency are the norm.\u00a0 And that makes delivering …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"monday_item_id":12065976282,"monday_board_id":0,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[13902],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10371","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-remote-work"],"acf":{"lobby_image":false,"post_thumbnail_title":"","hide_post_info":false,"banner_url":"","main_text_banner":"","sub_title_banner":"","sub_title_banner_second":"","banner_button_text":"","below_banner_line":"","hide_bottom_cta":false,"hide_from_blog":false,"cluster":"","display_dates":"default"},"yoast_head":"\n\n
Evolved systems of work breed new obstacles<\/h2>\n
Overcoming the inevitable challenges of virtual teams<\/h2>\n
Accountability<\/h3>\n
Collaboration<\/h3>\n
Engagement<\/h3>\n
Bridging virtual teams with the rest of the organization<\/h2>\n
![\"Organizations](\"https:\/\/www.monday.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Organizations-with-Distributed-Nervous-System-1.png\")
<\/p>\nWork OS: The platform that has accountability, engagement, and collaboration built-in<\/h2>\n
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![\"Work](\"https:\/\/www.monday.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Work-OS-CTA.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nGear up for the future of work<\/h2>\n
\r\n \t
Evolved systems of work breed new obstacles<\/h2>\r\nWhile traditional leadership hierarchies remain largely intact, organizational structures have evolved from top-down formations to more decentralized and distributed systems.\r\n\r\nThis shift is driven by the need to accelerate the pace of work and more effectively cater to customer needs. Unlike traditional structures, distributed systems have fewer tiers of leadership.\r\n\r\nInstead, they have smaller, mission-oriented teams to better enable decision-making, agility, and individual contribution. For example, as start-up companies grow, many adopt distributed systems to facilitate faster execution and individual contribution.\r\n\r\nDistributed systems also make it possible for individuals, teams and entire departments to function remotely.\r\n\r\nBut the advent of this new age of work comes with its own challenges<\/a>: lack of coordination, redundant tasks, overlapping tools, inefficient processes, communication breakdowns<\/a>, and information silos.\r\n\r\nNo one feels this harder than virtual teams, where lack of physical proximity intensifies these obstacles.\r\n
Overcoming the inevitable challenges of virtual teams<\/h2>\r\nWhen teams are spread around the country or the world, how can they keep processes and tasks aligned? How can they manage effective communication<\/a> across continents and time zones? How can they keep physical silos from worsening information silos?\r\n\r\nSolid leadership<\/a>, feedback, and talent will always be important. But to thrive in today\u2019s fast-paced work environment, virtual teams must have these core traits:\r\n
Accountability<\/h3>\r\nWhen owning their role, responsibilities, and deliverables, employees will be more motivated to produce their highest-quality work. In virtual teams, where greater autonomy is common, having a strong sense of accountability is key to high performance<\/a>.\r\n
Collaboration<\/h3>\r\nCollaboration is at the heart of modern work. As organizations continually add new tools to their digital arsenal, teamwork, coordination<\/a>, and information sharing have become more important. For virtual teams, collaboration forges crucial ties and helps disparate stakeholders stay aligned on goals and initiatives.\r\n
Engagement<\/h3>\r\nHighly engaged employees produce better business outcomes than those who aren\u2019t engaged, according to Gallup<\/a>. In fast-paced work environments, engagement is a prerequisite for speed, teamwork, and execution.\r\n\r\n[twitter]Engagement also breeds feelings of positivity and helps teams become more unified. For virtual teams, a culture of cohesion and mutual support can make a significant positive impact on the quality of work.[\/twitter]\r\n
Bridging virtual teams with the rest of the organization<\/h2>\r\nHow can organizations help their virtual teams cultivate these traits and take on the challenges of today\u2019s dispersed, fast-paced work environment?\r\n\r\nThe solution is having a system that serves as a single source of truth<\/a>. By sharing one central work system, organizations can facilitate greater alignment, teamwork, and efficiency<\/a>.\r\n
A Work Operating System (Work OS)<\/a> serves as the nerve center in a distributed system of work.<\/blockquote>\r\n
\r\n\r\nA Work OS is a cloud-based software platform where users can create custom workflow apps that manage all teams and functions across the organization. When virtual teams can seamlessly view, plan, run, and track processes and projects with others throughout the organization, they are more aligned \u2014 and can work faster to achieve their goals.\r\nWork OS: The platform that has accountability, engagement, and collaboration built-in<\/h2>\r\nUsing a Work OS will automatically raise accountability, engagement, and collaboration in virtual teams. Here\u2019s how:\r\n
\r\n \t
\r\n \t
<\/a>\r\nGear up for the future of work<\/h2>\r\nIn 2019, Owl Labs surveyed full-time workers in their\u00a0State of Remote Work<\/a> and found that 30% of their respondents worked remotely full-time. Seven percent worked remotely at least three times per week. And as more and more teams shift to remote work, those numbers will grow exponentially.\r\n\r\nDistributed systems of work both within and beyond the office walls are here to stay. To succeed, virtual teams need tools that help them increase speed and agility.\r\n\r\nWith a Work OS, accountability, collaboration, and engagement become second nature \u2014 and everything else falls into place.\r\n