In Focus Commercial Credit


Managing virtual teams by using credit technology


Virtual credit teams are a reality for many, and can be successful if you have access to the proper skills and technologies


Gary Brooks Director, Shorepark Consulting gjbrooks57@gmail.com


I am sure that every one of us has managed, or been part of, a virtual team. They are becoming more and more commonplace, if not the norm. What I want to discuss is how a virtual


credit team comes about, what the challenges are, and how these can be overcome. What I would like to show is that, with


technology, especially credit technology, we can now manage complex organisational structures better than ever.


So, how do they come about? Firstly, due to organic growth, or business complexity, team members may be in different locations, where a business has expanded to different regions or countries. As organisations grow, so does functional


management, where the credit manager is not necessarily the direct line manager, so the team may be organisationally dispersed. Different parts of the function may be


dispersed or under different lines, so there is a requirement for the credit manager to manage indirectly, or through influence.


There is also a growing trend towards


teleworking or flexible working arrangements, allowing companies to reduce office costs. Mergers and acquisitions are another


factor, where a company takes on new credit employees, but in different locations, some overseas. Next, many companies have built shared


services and the credit team may be remote from the manager. Outsourcing presents a different dimension, where colleagues belong to a different company. Similarly, if a third-party collections agency is used.


So, what are the challenges? Firstly, communication: the ability to easily talk to, and motivate, a team that is spread, and to understand their concerns. Face to face is easier and enables interpretation of non-verbal signals that cannot always be conveyed by e-mail or a telephone call. This makes performance difficult to manage, impacting team identity or brand. Colleagues can also feel isolated and


unsupported. Hiring, on-boarding, and training new employees is complex when done remotely and can require travel. Performance can suffer. The team welded by merger may also have


On a day-to-day basis, have the team use an instant-messenger service to convey messages and needs quickly, backed up by video and calls for complex matters


16


different processes, and use different ERPs, not always in a consistent, best practice way. This makes it difficult to provide the best and most consistent results. As such, it can, at times, be difficult to


set consistent objectives, reducing the ability to judge and reward performance in a consistent, comparable way, with joined-up cascaded goals.


www.CCRMagazine.co.uk Moreover, the ability to measure and


report can be limited, hampering the manager’s ability to drive and monitor individual and team performance and, therefore, improve deliverables. An impaired ability to report to key stakeholders may also have reputational impact.


So, what are the solutions? Leadership and decision-making need to be more formal, with detailed definition of roles, accountabilities and responsibilities. This is to ensure that everyone understands and follows consistent best practice, and can be targeted, measured and rewarded fairly. There needs to be clear, standardised processes that bind everyone, supported by a clear and understood mission. This enables consistent interlocking goals to be set, binding team members together. Communications technology is a great


enabler and can help to support the brand, and the team identity. Agreement on a common language is


essential for communications and for notes in systems, to enable continuity and flexibility. On a day-to-day basis, have the team use


an instant-messenger service to convey messages and needs quickly, backed up by video and calls for complex matters. There should be a communications


rhythm. Regular and scheduled virtual team meetings, using video technology, with the whole team visible. These may need to be broken down depending on the size of the team. Regular, scheduled one to ones should also be held, again by video, if not face to face.


December 2017


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