Harvard Business Review - Virtual Collaboration (HBR 20-Minute Manager Series)

Virtual Collaboration

Get up to speed fast on essential business skills. Whether youre looking for a crash course or a brief refresher, youll find just what you need in HBRs 20-Minute Manager seriesfoundational reading for ambitious professionals and aspiring executives. Each book is a concise, practical primer, so youll have time to brush up on a variety of key management topics.

Advice you can quickly read and apply, from the most trusted source in business.

Titles include:

Creating Business Plans

Delegating Work

Difficult Conversations

Finance Basics

Getting Work Done

Giving Effective Feedback

Innovative Teams

Leading Virtual Teams

Managing Projects

Managing Time

Managing Up

Performance Reviews

Presentations

Running Meetings

Running Virtual Meetings

Virtual Collaboration

Virtual Collaboration

Work from anywhere
Overcommunicate
Avoid isolation

HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW PRESS

Boston, Massachusetts

Copyright 2016 Harvard Business School Publishing Corporation

All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without the prior permission of the publisher. Requests for permission should be directed to , or mailed to Permissions, Harvard Business School Publishing, 60 Harvard Way, Boston, Massachusetts 02163.

The web addresses referenced in this book were live and correct at the time of the books publication but may be subject to change.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data.

Names: Harvard Business Review Press, issuing body.

Title: Virtual collaboration : work from anywhere, overcommunicate, avoid isolation.

Other titles: 20 minute manager series.

Description: Boston, Massachusetts : Harvard Business Review Press, [2016] | Series: 20 minute manager series | Include index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2016012717 (print) | LCCN 2016016129 (ebook) | ISBN 9781633691476 (pbk. : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781633691483 ()

Subjects: LCSH: Virtual work teams. | Business communication. | Telecommuting.

Classification: LCC HD66. V556 2016 (print) LCC HD66 (ebook) | DDC 658.4/022202854678dc23

LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2016012717

ISBN: 9781633691476
eISBN: 9781633691483

HBR Press Quantity Sales Discounts

Harvard Business Review Press titles are available at significant quantity discounts when purchased in bulk for client gifts, sales promotions, and premiums. Special editions, including books with corporate logos, customized covers, and letters from the company or CEO printed in the front matter, as well as excerpts of existing books, can also be created in large quantities for special needs.

For details and discount information for both print and ebook formats, contact .

Preview

More of us are working more often in a location thats different from our colleagues and business partners. Maybe you log in from your home office daily or work every now and then in the quiet car of a train, or some combination of sites. Regardless of where you park your laptop, you need to work well with others to meet your professional and organizational goals. But how do you build relationships through a computer screen? What if your boss suspects that remote work really means no work? What do you do when your computer dies in the middle of a sensitive-feedback video chat? How do you cope with the isolation that can build when youre working on your own? This book will help you build productive relationships with colleagues while you foster your own sense of initiativeno matter where you are.

Virtual Collaboration walks you through these important basics:

Working productively from any location

Picking the right tools for wherever youre working, at home or on the road

Clarifying the roles, tasks, and processes that will govern your collaboration

Communicating effectively over a variety of media

Getting and keeping your colleagues attention when youre not in the same place

Settingand sticking toa schedule that works for both you and your dispersed collaborators

Keeping isolation at bay by connecting with your coworkers

Staying motivated when the only one to administer an in-person pep talk is you

Navigating common challenges, such as technology glitches and conflicts, over the ether

Contents

Virtual Collaboration

What Is Virtual Collaboration?

What Is Virtual Collaboration?

Few of us work every day, all day, in a traditional office anymore. We log in from clients offices. We participate in conference calls on our commutes. We work more and more frequently with people perched at faraway desks, whom weve never met.

Virtual collaboration is the new norm. For the purpose of this book, virtual collaboration means all the work we do with others when we dont see them face to face. Youre a virtual collaborator if you:

Work outside an office regularly, full or part time

Work from home in a pinch, because of bad weather or to wait for a contractor, care for a sick child, change your scenery, or get more done

Travel regularly, but need to stay in touch with your team back home

Are on a short-term assignment away from your usual workplace

The virtual part of these arrangements arises in how you interact with the people with whom you work. Brainstorming over video chat, updating each other on projects by text, sharing files over e-mail: In each scenario, the communication tool youre using functions as a simulated space where you meet to work together. Making this space work well poses a unique set of communication, scheduling, and motivational challenges.

Whats not virtual, of course, is the person on the other end. The pixelated, jerky figures on your screen are flesh and blood, and your interactions with them are subject to the same dynamics as any other professional encounter. You need to build rapport and trust, communicate effectively, and be productive. But these goals can be harder to achieve in a virtual setting, when communication becomes muddled, scheduling grows more complicated, and isolation and distractions prey on your ability to stay focused and motivated.

This book shows you how to solve the technological and administrative puzzles of virtual collaboration; it presents solutions such as finding and using the right tools, routinizing communication, and tracking progress. And it gives you tips for managing the social and emotional experience, too, as you strive to deepen professional connections while working in isolation.

The challenges of virtual collaboration

Just because were all working remotely at some point in our careers doesnt mean that were good at it. The habits that helped you in an office wont always make sense when youre working remotely. Which changes are hardest to adapt to?

You must set and manage expectations more proactively. One of the great things about virtual work is that each person can tailor the arrangement to their own needsand this means that everyone does it differently. Theres no standard workday, no common conventions for writing text messages. And no one knows when its their turn to speak on a conference call.