Virtual teams risk losing the human element of the workplace and so their leaders need to be highly skilled in building relationships and creating good rapport with their team members.

Make sure you allow time for the team to get to know a little more about each other’s personal lives and factor in a few minutes small talk at the start of meetings – and don’t be afraid to share a joke. Remember that your team are human beings so from time to time check in on how they are feeling as well as what they are doing and engage sensitively when a team member is experiencing personal or professional challenges.

A regular quarterly or even annual face-to-face meeting will help enormously to build positive team relationships. And do make sure you use any face-to-face time wisely and focus on team-building activities rather than on updates and reporting that can just as easily be done at a distance.