MAP in the virtual world
by Miki SaxonImage credit: clix CC license
Your MAP (mindset, attitude, philosophy™) follows you everywhere, even into cyberspace, and affects everything you do.
No matter the online persona you create it’s still flavored by your MAP.
This is especially true for managers who are working with virtual teams. In fact, I’ve noticed that managing virtual employees, whether temporary or permanent, local or off-shore, tends to magnify both the positive and negative in a manager’s MAP.
The idea that your mindset, attitude, philosophy and preconceived notions all change or go away because the interaction is virtual is ridiculous—almost all the same issues come into play.
Attitude, good, bad or indifferent, on either side will show up just as much in email, instant messages and phone conversations as they do face-to-face; if you avoid certain types you aren’t likely to change because they’re on another continent; age (whether younger or older) is almost as obvious in language usage as it is visually; etc. This is especially true when working with a contractor’s team on an outsourced project, since you have no input into hiring.
Typically, MAP affects a virtual workforce just as it does the in-house organization if you won’t hire a candidate on-site because of a personal attitude, then how in the world can you manage similar people virtually, since the same attitudes that create barriers when hiring create problems in managing?
What do you do when your MAP isn’t cooperating?
