Virtual trust? Virtual performance?

• Conflicts and trust issues

• Motivation and control

• Performance measuring

• Hiring and firing

Client case: A global company that holds regular performance reviews to motivate people, align goals, and address performance problems. Annual performance contracts are set in these discussions. Managers had difficulties in scheduling reviews as most people work in distributed teams and there were very few opportunities for face-to-face meetings. Reviews were delayed and some important discussions did never take place.

I feared that I would not be able to interpret body language or other non-verbal clues in a virtual meeting. I had no clue how I would deal with emotional reactions virtually, and I postponed discussions until we met face-to-face… which led to motivation issues. Now we have a virtual processes that tackles daily challenges and then there is a set virtual procedure for performance reviews. We see less conflicts and I am more confident.

Radical Inclusion introduced and implemented a virtual performance review system with soft (review skills) and hard skill (use of virtual tools) components. Firstly, client organization received coaching on the art of having constructive conversations and the skills of giving and receiving feedback. Secondly, two new tools were adopted to support virtual leadership processes and client organization was trained to use those tools. The new processes allow for virtual performance tracking and attending to difficult issues effectively when they are still current.