By Reese Ramos, Director - University Ombuds

Working in a team can be challenging enough. You have to balance your needs and views with those of other team members. Roles, responsibilities, projects, and tasks are constantly being defined. You throw business needs into the mix, and the challenge gets even bigger. And then, you add yet another layer that has become commonplace in today’s workplace: the virtual or hybrid work team.

On higher-education campuses, approximately 54% of non-academic staff work in a virtual or hybrid environment. There are undoubtedly benefits such as improved retention, increased recruitment, greater time flexibility, better work-life balance and a decrease in wasted time spent commuting. At the same time, there are downsides. Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m not advocating for the elimination of virtual or hybrid teams, but simply saying that we have to be mindful of managing conflict that naturally arises in virtual or hybrid teams.

Here’s a (not all-inclusive) list of some conflicts that constantly come up in virtual/hybrid teams:

  1. The digital divide. Emails, chat messages, and texts can lack tone or context, leading to misunderstandings. Think of that last email you got where you thought, “Oh wow. They didn’t just say that, did they?”
  2. Unequal access to information. Remote employees may miss hallway conversations, informal decisions, or spontaneous updates. It’s a lot easier to ask your colleague a question when they are sitting a few feet away versus sending an email (or text) and waiting for a reply.
  3. Perceived unfairness. In-office employees may receive more face time, visibility, mentoring, or desirable assignments than remote colleagues. Out of sight, out of mind.
  4. Scheduling and time-zone conflicts. Different work hours can make meetings, collaboration, and timely decision-making challenging. Ever attended a meeting virtually and realized it’s 6:am for a colleague?
  5. Unclear roles and responsibilities. Distributed teams may misunderstand who owns a task, approves decisions, or communicates with stakeholders. “Wait, no one ordered lunch for the symposium?”
  6. Technology failures. Poor internet connections, audio problems, or outages can create frustration. “Can you see and hear me now?”
  7. Different expectations about availability. Team members may disagree about response times, work hours, camera use, meeting attendance, or when employees should be online. “You’re just waking up? I’ve been up for 4 hours.”

What other problems have you seen come up that aren’t reflected in the list above? At the Ombuds Office, we’ve seen these situations come up time and time again for teams. Unaddressed, the initial oversight becomes a pattern, and then the norm, and finally, dysfunction.

There’s one thing, though, that any team can (should, really) do to minimize some of these challenges: Set standards.

Standards are the rules we set for ourselves and others. And standards are not hopes, or guidelines, or suggestions. Standards reflect a high standard of quality in our behavior. They are a step beyond mere expectations because standards reflect a commitment to excellence. They are not commitments that we “could” or “should” do something. Standards are commitments to behaviors that we “must” (or never) do.

Take the list above. Miscommunications and conflict can never be fully eliminated, but is it possible that conflict could be better managed if specific standards were set? For example, if the standard in a team were, “We don’t handle conflict via email or texts. We always address issues face to face,” would that help manage conflicts better? I’ve seen many situations where, unfortunately, the opposite happens. Imagine some kind of conflict that originates via email; say, a colleague failed to deliver their part of a task, and then that frustration is communicated via email instead of addressing it in person. Next thing you know, emails are going back and forth as they escalate in intensity and length. By the way, in this scenario, you might be thinking that it might feel confrontational or uncomfortable having such a conversation with a colleague, and you’d be right. But if the standard were that it be perfectly okay, expected, actually, to handle conflict in such a way, might the interaction end up feeling different? And face to face doesn’t mean you do it by yourself. Maybe you have a trusted friend, manager, or Ombuds helping with the conversation.

The following are some suggested standards to manage problem in virtual and hybrid teams but tailor them to what works for you and makes better sense:

When the Digital Divide Creates Conflict

  • Use email, chat, and text for straightforward information, not sensitive feedback, conflict resolution, or messages that require nuance.

Unequal access to information

  • Document decisions, announcements, and updates in a shared, accessible location.
  • Share meeting notes, recordings, and action items with everyone who needs them.

Perceived unfairness

  • Distribute assignments, opportunities, mentoring, and recognition using clear and consistent criteria.
  • Evaluate performance based on results and contributions, not physical presence or online visibility.

Scheduling and time-zone conflicts

  • Identify each team member’s working hours and time zone, and make them visible to the team.
  • Rotate meeting times when a meeting must occur outside someone’s normal workday.

Unclear roles and responsibilities

  • Establish who is responsible, who approves the work, and who needs to be consulted or informed.
  • Document assignments, deadlines, and decision-makers in a shared location

Technology failures

  • Test technology before important meetings and provide a backup method for joining.
  •  Establish a plan for continuing work when internet, audio, video, or other systems fail.

Different expectations about availability

  • Agree on standard work hours, response times, and methods for communicating urgent issues.
  • Define when cameras are expected, optional, or unnecessary.
  • Do not assume that a delayed response means someone is unavailable, disengaged, or not working.

Explore what some new standards could be for you and your virtual team, and you might just harvest some new results.