Working with virtual teams is very common in an outsourced environment. A virtual team is one where the team members are based in a number of different locations spread across multiple geographies and they communicate through communication tools and over the phone. It can be harder to manage conflict in virtual teams because you can’t see people when they are speaking and therefore you can’t pick up on their body language. As a result, conflicts can be quite far advanced before you even realize that there is a problem.

When your team all works in the same building it is easy to bring them together for meetings and discussions to help resolve conflict. But when they are scattered all over the country and beyond, it can be much harder to spot issues and deal with them.

Here are 5 tips to help you manage conflict on your virtual team.

1. Respect diversity

Everyone is different – you know that already! It really helps to have in mind the basic principle of respecting diversity. Don’t expect everyone to have the same approach, dealing with risk or even reporting status as you do. The more you learn about the culture of the people on your team, the easier you will find it to recognize that how they do things is down to their individual traits and working styles, and not a desire to create conflict in the team.

2. Learn a few words in their language

When you work with international teams, it can be a good icebreaker to learn a few words in their language. How about Ciao, ‘Hello’, ‘Goodbye’ and ‘Thank you?’ You can include these in emails or instant messages too.

This shows that you are willing to learn about their country and language, and that you are trying to make an effort. If you show that you are prepared to learn and try to understand their culture, they will hopefully be more willing to understand yours. This can also help stop conflicts before they start because it builds a better team environment and a more friendly, trusting team.

3. Deal with conflict early

As soon as you spot a conflict situation, deal with it. Because virtual teams don’t have the opportunity to chat informally over lunch or in the elevator, they miss out on many of the small social interactions that help build strong, trusting teams.

This can mean that by the time you hear about a potential conflict, it is already much further advanced than it would be if your team members were all working in the same building. So you need to act quickly to stop the situation getting worse. Call up the people involved or ask for clarification of the issue. Convene a meeting or send out a bulletin stating what is being done about the problem. You can use the same conflict management techniques that you would use on a team where the team members all work in the same office, but the key is to get in there as soon as you can and get the conflict sorted out before it escalates into something more serious. Look for conflict that could potentially be swept under the carpet. This happens more so on the remote locations.

4. Know when to stop using online tools

Online collaboration tools are great. They allow you to communicate in real-time, and they help team members who don’t have English as their first language understand the issues more effectively, because they rely on written communication (which is often easier for non-native speakers to understand) instead of verbal communication (as non-native speakers can get lost in a fast-moving conversation with a number of different accents).

They let you use instant messaging, wikis, discussion groups and other features that promote collaboration within the team. In fact, they can minimize the risk of conflict because everyone has access to the same data and a single version of everything. But there is a time to stop using online tools and start talking to people over the phone or in person – and that time is when there is a severe conflict situation.

However good you are at getting your message across in writing, nothing beats a face-to-face meeting, and sometimes you need one to sort out the problem once and for all. So if you can, get the relevant parties together to discuss what the issue is, how to resolve it and the next steps for moving forward. Although this may seem expensive, sometimes it is the only way.

Consider using web video conferencing if you can’t stretch to bringing people together in person, as that is a suitable alternative. The important thing is that you are speaking to each other and that you can see each other.

5. Try different communication styles

Online tools give you the chance to use a variety of communication techniques. You can produce formal reports, send emails and instant messages, or start discussion threads. You can share presentations, videos and documents, like minutes from team meetings. Try each of these and see which ones work best with different team members. You may find that one team member prefers instant messaging and another prefers emails – try to tailor the way you communicate with them to their preferences.

Good communication is one of the ways to prevent conflict arising in the first place and to deal with it when it does arise, so knowing how your team members communicate and how best to get your message across is an important skill in building a successful team.

Conflict on virtual teams, like conflict on any team, is inevitable. You can do what you can to minimize the risk, for example by using good communication skills and being respectful of language and cultural differences in the team, but it isn’t something that you can avoid completely. You can guarantee that it is going to happen at some point, but the skill is in identifying the situation as soon as possible and dealing with it using appropriate techniques. If you are professional, respectful and courteous, and recognize and deal with conflict early, you’ll be well on your way to managing disagreements in the team effectively.

6. Have an ambassador : Sometimes it helps to send someone either as decoy or on purpose to deal with the conflict. Someone who has dealt with conflicts before and has a knack of dealing with all parties. Listening skills are important. Knowing the old age adage of praising in public and criticizing in private is a clue as well.