I have had the opportunity to work on virtual assistant teams with clients and I have engaged with other virtual assistants heading up their own teams.

And although a gathering of the minds at a physical table setting is an ideal arrangement; permitting the participants to interpret each other’s facial expressions and body language, leading a virtual team via a conference call is much more complex simply because the participants cannot see each other.

We are social beings. When meeting someone new, we receive cues and make judgments using our five senses to assess individual attributes. When using only our ears to assess one another, our minds pass judgement with considerable limitations. So it is important that rules and code of conduct are stated ahead of time by the leader of the teleconference.

Rules allow us to view each other on the same playing field.  Rules also creates boundaries for behavior and protocol.

When we know the rules, and what is expected of our behavior, we can respect each other and not be so quick to judge.

The success of any virtual team requires a strong, diplomatic leader. Without these personal qualities the group will not be cohesive.

Here are my suggestions for a successful team leader:

Dial-in early on the virtual or teleconference call before everyone else appears. This will give the leader time to chit-chat before the event occurs. A little round of social activity helps participants to ease into becoming more comfortable with people who cannot be seen and who may be complete strangers.

Create rules and announce these to the group before the teleconference begins. Such as:  No private conversations between members on the group call.

Specify a timeframe for the call (one hour, half hour, etc.) and stick to that time. Watch the clock. If you run over the time, say so and ask if anyone wants to stay on to finish up. This shows the group that the leader respects the participants’ time.

Introduce the participants to each other preferably with a little blurb about each other. For example, “This is Janine Gregor of Your Virtual Wizard. She is a marketing virtual assistant and I welcome her to the group.”  This action also sets the tone for the call and clearly states who is leading the call.

Ask the participants to briefly say ‘hello’ and announce where they are from. Introductions help break the ice.

Have someone take notes and send out a ‘minutes of the meeting’ when the call has commenced. Provide a recording link after the meeting and send that within 24 hours thanking everyone for their participation.

If you want to initiate a Q & A after the topic is discussed, say so. If you want to elicit questions during the call, then advise participants how comments can be made.

If a question is asked during the call which is not relevant to the topic, tell the participants to send you an email and you will be glad to respond to that question.

If an individual’s work is to be reviewed during the call, ensure that the comments are constructive and not critical. There is nothing worse than having a team member publicly criticized by a peer.

Create an outline of the teleconference topics to be discussed and distribute this before the teleconference so that everyone has a copy. If you assign a particular topic to a participant, include their name on the outline so that they can prepare ahead of time and not be caught ‘cold’ on the call.

The most important aspect to running a successful team call is to make it clear who is the leader on that call. I once worked with a coach who assigned the conference calls leadership aspect to an online business manager (OBM). The problem with this set-up was that the work that I did was for the coach so when I contributed my thoughts to the group call, the OBM actually acted as the interpreter between myself and the coach. That made for a very uncomfortable and odd arrangement.

My rule of thumb…if the team is working for you and you pay their wages, you are the leader and therefore, you run the virtual group call.

Janine Gregor

“That’s so 80′s, Janine!” was the retort I received from a long-term client during a discussion about the importance of encouraging employee and customer feedback to improve business processes. I cited one of my favorite business books written in 1982 by Tom Peters entitled, In Search of Excellence to back-up my claim that employee and customer feedback is an enormously useful business tool.

Peters believes that companies could make vast improvements in their products, services and public image simply by ASKING employees and customers for feedback.

Who better to know the inside operations of a business than the employees and customers who work directly with the company’s processes?

Employee and customer feedback and suggestions are one of the most economical resources to make improvements in any business. It costs nearly nothing to ask and often the improvements can be low-cost to implement.

I rarely see any suggestion boxes in company store fronts nor do I see any suggestions on any online business sites.

I am reminded of former NYC mayor, Ed Koch (1978-1989) who would often say to his constituents, “How’m I doin”?  This was his self-check. He encouraged citizens to voice their opinions about the work he was elected to perform. It became his mantra and opened up communication with folks who might not have ever uttered a word about this great city.

So, why aren’t feedback requests used more often?

It is my contention that business owners may be afraid to learn what it is that their customers really think. Or, perhaps they do not want to spend the time dealing with negative comments.

But feedback should be viewed as a positive source of information. Microsoft’s Bill Gates is quoted, “Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning.”

So why don’t businesses ask the unhappy customers and employees what can be done to make improvements?

As a young manager in my 20′s working at a large (blue) health insurance company, we were given copies of Peters’ book and asked to implement the varying steps leading each department ‘toward excellence’. It was my responsibility to eek out the problems in my department and then ask the staff for suggestions.

My assignment staff consisted of 30 union employees who processed employee health insurance enrollment forms.

I asked the staff to list difficulties within the department which affected their productivity. We then brainstormed for ANY idea which could improve upon a particular problem. No suggestion went unnoticed. I could not write down the ideas fast enough! The results were astounding.

One problem in the department was that the telephone would ring endlessly and no one knew if the receptionist was too busy to pick it up. (She was not visible from the department floor and the phone system was not terribly sophisticated. This was the 80′s, you know!)  It was suggested that if the phone rang 3 times, that this would be our clue to pick up the phone. Simple.

Another problem was that the door to the lunchroom, which swung in an out, meant that folks often were hit with the swinging door hurting a hand or an arm. Employees then had to visit the medical department for treatment and in some cases were sent home to heal. This meant down-time in the department and lost productivity. So we brainstormed about making the door swing only one way or even just eliminating the door all together. But in the end, just adding a small window to the door to make it easier to see to the other side became the obvious result.

From this task-solution exercise, productivity increased, customer service response time improved, employees felt empowered and people felt valued.

And, when people feel valued, they work harder.

This concept can be applied to my own virtual assistant business. As a result I placed a Google Voice number on my site that anyone can call and leave an anonymous suggestion. I want to know how I am doing. Am I meeting expectations? What can I do better?

Let me know.

I am rather disturbed by the news of the shooting of  killing six people and injuring 12 others, including U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords in Arizona this weekend. I’ve had a tough time concentrating on my work today.

I dislike discussing politics outside of my own circle because it just brings out such viciousness in people. Although I’m a long way from Arizona this horrific political event felt so close to my heart.  Ever since 9/11, terroristic activities within our own country just seem so personal now.

I am ashamed at how volatile the political language in this country has developed.

During this past Florida state election, I was nauseated with the way politicians beat on each other; spewing venomous names and telling lies or half-truths about their opponent’s personal lives.

For the first time since coming of age to vote, I thought about not casting my ballot in the state election.

When someone commits a terrible act, such as the case in Arizona our media gives these evil individuals major press time personifying the glory that the perpetrators typically desire. TV and radio commentators fight with each other on-air while all of this is captured on YouTube and played continuously in a loop on the internet.

And this same venue plays out in the virtual business world as well.

When business owners have been ‘burned’ by a virtual assistant, many of the comments I read are cruel. These shafted business owners, although entitled to their opinion, certainly cannot justify similar political name calling in their business posts.

I have had my share of clients who have ‘burned’ me but I have not gone on record publicly chastising their businesses or marring their name.

The premise seems to be that if you don’t like someone, it’s OK to publicly reprimand an individual in any way possible.

As a virtual assistant, I write something every day. I think about what I write and I give great thought about who will be the recipient of what I say. I do not want to offend anyone.  My presentation is all that I can regulate.

I cannot control what people say about me but I can control what I say about others.

The old adage, ‘sticks and stones….’ is wrong! Names do hurt and they fire-up those who do not think rationally. The Arizona terrorist is an angry, mentally deficient young man. His own posts give us reason to believe he was heavily influenced by the vicious diatribe between our elected officials.

Our current, dark political atmosphere is not to blame for this man’s behavior just as playing violent video games cannot be blamed for the Columbine massacre. But these influences help mold behavior; particularly for those with a sick mind.

In business and in politics, NOW is the time to reflect on how we communicate with each other. Gone are the days when it took a full day for news to reach us in today’s newspaper when we had time to reflect and discuss events with each other. Editorial comments were, well, edited…and for good reason.

The unedited internet has brought us all closer together but in many ways it has also created a divide.

There is no time to wipe-up a messy blog written in a tirade about someone who might have offended us. With a push of the ‘send’ button, these often insensitive comments have already gone out to be posted on someone’s site, somewhere in the world to be read on someone else’s computer screen.

They cannot be taken back.

Words create moods. They also affect behavior. Think about what we say and write about each other. Someone just may misinterpret and act in ways which may shock us.

Janine Gregor