Now in today’s world, networking is mostly done online. And this is a great way to make new connections. Professional offline places such as offices traditionally provide us with relationships with people of our community, but it was very limited. The Internet offers us a chance to make connections virtually and globally. We can make connections with anyone who shares the same passion and interest as we have.
The importance of these virtual connections is most important after the global pandemic of COVID-19 and everyone is working from home. This will become a trend; employees will to virtual meetings and work even after the pandemic.
WHAT’S IN IT
How to get trust in virtual connections?
We can enlarge our network via social media and other web platforms.
But there is one big drawback. It is not possible to maintain relations at the human level via the screen.
We have to make extra efforts to interact in a way that it seems like a meaningful and genuine relationship.
Everyone wants to work with such people whom they can trust and. But when it comes to online, it is hard to build trust. There is a need to be fully transparent from both sides.
Give the best Social Introduction
When someone comes first time to your social media profile, he reads first read your bio/about section. You have to make this most impressive because the first impression is the last. And your Bio makes your first impression on other beings. You need to work hard on it to get a real connection. Make it transparent, direct, and authentic. To make it interesting write about your passions and things which make you different.
Among all social media pay most attention to LinkedIn’s profile Bio. Make the starting of your Bio so magnetic so that people have to click on ‘read more’ option. If there is an option of video bio, then make it, because it helps in making deeper connections.
Become virtually active
In the offline world, best results come when people do live meetings, where all are present in front of each other. The same is true in the virtual world, and Video calls are the solution. But to get in such discussions first, you need to identify the people and know them correctly.
Read about their online posts and get updated. Best way to get the same interests people are Facebook groups and Linkedin groups where you can find like-minded professionals.
When you join a group, you get connected to people who may have an interest in you.
Always interact with the content uploaded by liking and commenting. Also, provide help and suggestions to people.
While posting on Social media, choose your words that encourage people to comment and interact with content. The more magnetic your content will be, the more people will connect to you.
Always acknowledge and thanks to your audience for viewing your content. This increases trust.
Make your social presence strong.
This is important to convince people that you are worth getting connected, and it will help in making people speak on your behalf.
On Linkedin get recommended by people of your profession to make others trust you. It will open new opportunities to get connected with great people in your field.
Give time to virtual connections because it also needs time to nurture just like real-life relations.
Get the best Virtual Team
One of the advantages of doing work virtually is the freedom of choosing space and time. But Virtual work has its’ own disadvantages. You cannot meet your coworkers in personally and cannot develop deep relations. You cant know their habits and how they behave in different situations.
Many people find video conferencing for working better in online space rather than messages and phone calls. The new generation of today can get better results with a dispersed virtual team more than a collocated team.
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How to manage a virtual team?
1. When team members are from the same location, it is natural for them to talk about their local problems or politics during meetings.
Advantage- during a virtual meeting, people directly talk about the topic rather than talking about local chat.
Disadvantage- Humans are very social beings. To work together, they need to feel connected. Personal connections are not common in virtual teams.
Talking about a little bit of personal life during the virtual meeting can make people away from isolation and make them feel like a part of the team.
2.Multitasking– Research shows that the majority of people perform multiple tasks while in a conference meeting. People admit to attending these calls while cooking food, reading books, in the bathroom, etc. At first sight, this seems like an advantage for the people.
But the disadvantage is that it does not allow active and engaged discussion.
Being a leader, you should encourage them to focus. Ask people to switch off mute when possible.
3. Many leaders believe that motivating employees to tell them about business goals, but it is not so. The more closely you can meld their personal and professional purpose, the more they will be committed and engaged. For example,- Tell your employee how completing a project can help him professionally and mentally. What could be his future possibilities?
4. Adapt the team to act comfortably. Nowadays, people are more comfortable than ever to talk about personal life blend during virtual meetings. Now people do not make comments when background noises of crying baby, barking dog come. People do meetings in pyjamas.
5. Achieving real conversation is a difficult job in the face to face meetings. It becomes more challenging in virtual meetings. Create an influence so that everyone can express his views and respect the naysayers.
Advantages of virtual teams
1. Working virtually from your house can reduce the high costs of office space. It also helps some people to work with fewer distractions, reduce commuting time, saving fuel costs, getting more autonomous.
2. Building a virtual team gives access to the best employees worldwide. Instead of limiting employee recruitment based on local geography, we can have an employee from a wider talent pool. Working with better workers will help in reducing the time load.
3. We can Diversify our team by hiring people from different countries and regions. This will help in getting multiple viewpoints.
4. Team members can have a better private-professional life balance.
5. Team members will be more productive. They will not be forced to follow a 9-5 job routine. They can work whenever they feel to do.
6. Because of diverse team members, we can provide 24*7 support to customers.
Disadvantages of Virtual teams
1. Virtual teams are dependent on the Internet and other technological devices. Therefore, technical problems may put work on hold.
2. It is not easy to convey non- verbal communication on screens or chats. This may cause misjudgment.
3. Usually, proper human bonding is not possible in virtual meetings. This may cause discomfort between team members which will lead to the poor performance of the team.
CONCLUSION
Making deep relations with people in virtual space is difficult but not impossible. The more difficult it is, the more fruitful it is. You just have to be regular and put your heart in it. Although it takes time to develop virtual connections with a person or with a team, they are worth it.
The importance of these virtual connections is way more necessary after 2019. Because of Coronavirus disease, people will get out of home very less.
Also you read our blog on How to develop a Competitive leader for the future