Lesson 7: Global Virtual Team Leadership

Qualities of a Global Virtual Team Leader

One model of leadership uses the 3E approach to the qualities of a GV leader (Brake, 2008).

1. Energizes. A GV leader knows all of his/her team members in such a way that he/she can motivate them from a large or small distance. This would include understanding the team member's strengths and interests. The leader uses this knowledge of strengths and weaknesses for making assignments. On a GV team the leader is able to understand how each member offers insights on how the final product might be culturally diverse (or designed for a specific culture in mind). He is able to engage all of the team members using cultural contexts in such a way that they become enthused and excited about the possibilities of the project.


2. Enables. The GV leader creates and maintains the conditions where team members function autonomously and interdependently. Each team member needs to have the information and resources to work independently on the project. This is especially important if the members are alone in their location and not able to interact with any other team members except through virtual tools. This requires each team member to interact with one another as often as needed to share and gain information needed to work on their part of the project. The GV team leader needs to understand and communicate what each team member needs and ensure that members are communicating with each other. When needed he/she assists the team members with appropriate choices of virtual communication tools. He/She is aware of each members strengths and determines a way to keep up to date with team members. This may be through establishing a secure blog available only to team members. Here team members can check in daily with the team leader and update him on what they have done and what they will be doing that day. It also provides a medium for the team leader to communicate reminders and updates as needed.


3. Empowers. As the team leader helps members make connections and interact with each other, he/she facilitates the work they need to do. This means the GV leader may need to help one member understand the culture of another member and how this may affect work on the project. In some cases the leader will need to monitor team relations and intervene if a disagreement is escalating into a conflict. In short the leader needs to know who is doing what and when. He or she must coordinate activities across time zones and cultures. To facilitate this he or she may use a wiki, group site or web page for team members to indicate where they are and what they need. The leader also needs to keep an eye to the future to anticipate what needs to be done and shared. This will prevent bottlenecks from forming as information is passed between team members. Remember it is not as simple as walking to someone's office and getting the information.