Our Virtual Team: How You Can Do It Too

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Peter Wallman, the Founder and CEO of Passion Maps, is sharing his thoughts on the pandemic we are now facing due to the new coronavirus (COVID-2019), how this has impacted work, and how those transitioning to remote work can thrive as a virtual team.

The internal team of Passion Maps has been globally distributed for a couple of years now, which means that everyone on the team works remotely. There are many tools readily available, but the key to effectively working together as a team, in our experience, is having a strong sense of collective identity.

Who are we as a team, even though distributed in different countries, or different places?

Tips from Peter

Undergo an effective collective process with your group.

We did a Team Passion Mapping program. There are other ways, but this is what we have found to be most effective for us.

Give your team a name.

However you may want to call yourselves, use a name that you all resonate with. Everytime you meet, you can create a space to recollect and check in with it, for your collective identity. In our particular case, we have an image for who we are which effectively guides us into how we are together. Our team has a collective image through our Team Passion Map, which was generated through a collective Passion Mapping process. All our projects work within that framework.

Regular meetings

We have regular meetings, twice a week, to touch base with each other. What we do is we take turns in running the meeting, so every meeting has a different meeting host or leader. Everyone on the team will get a chance to lead and direct each online gathering, giving everyone a sense of collaboration and unity.

We are all in this together.

In our meetings, we all take turns in sharing our Passion element of the day or of the week, which will be what guides and drives us.

Knowledge Sharing

In our team, we have a regular session called “Tech Tuesdays” where a member of the team shares knowledge about a particular topic to the rest of the team, no matter what your current role is. This is a way for everyone to learn something new and explore different aspects of business and life. This builds a sense of collective capability.

 

Shifting to  a new work arrangement in a such a short amount of time is challenging. However, if your team is well-integrated and members have a collective sense of identity, then transition will be smoother for you as you are able to communicate at the same level.

We wish everyone who is transitioning to remote work all the best.

You may also be interested in: Articles on Leadership  |  Passion Maps Programs
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