How leaders can be better communicators in the virtual era

The Covid-19 pandemic profoundly changed business communication, and there is no going back to pre-pandemic, strictly-in-person interaction. Virtual Communication Intelligence (VCQ) is the ability to communicate and navigate relationships and achieve business goals when engaging with others who are not physically co-present. Leaders, as well as members of virtual teams face several challenges and many of these obstacles are not obvious. Merely possessing state-of-the-art technology does not ipso facto ensure that managers are virtually intelligent. We examine the research on how virtual communication affects trust, perception, and subjective well-being in teams. We focus on the key disadvantages of virtual communication, including: virtual distance (perceived lack of connection and rapport with others), absence of collisions (reduction in face to face interactions), the online disinhibition effect, zoom fatigue, facial appearance dissatisfaction, and virtual deadbeats. We outline some key advantages of virtual communication, including: enhanced task and goal focus, greater potential for diversity, positive impact of task conflict on performance, reduction of status differences, equalization of participation, and creative idea generation. Virtually-intelligent leaders adapt their behaviors and proactively establish norms to overcome some of the disadvantages of virtual communication and leverage some of the opportunities. The virtually-intelligent leader considers five key elements when preparing for virtual teamwork and meetings: communication media, clarifying meeting purpose, proactively establishing camera and microphone norms, clarifying speaking turns, and building trust.