Goal setting. E-leadership goals are designed to provide employees with directions that are implemented electronically. E-leader uses information technology (IT) to change the attitudes, behavior, and performance of an organization and its virtual teams (Van Wart et al., 2019). In the digital workplace, the focus of the decision-making shifts from individual to collective leadership, so the e-leader should set the goals according to the feedback received from the team members.
Inspiring teams. E-leader may not physically meet the members of the virtual team, but he/she is responsible for the productivity of the qualified staff. The traditional notions of rapport, trust, and cohesion are essential for the success of our virtual team and our company (O’Connell et al., 2018). To inspire the employees, e-leader should treat them as equal collaborators, rather than subordinates, while respecting their cultural or social backgrounds.
Communication skills. E-leader must be fluent in written and oral communication to efficiently present project details, goals, and achievements to the team members. E-leadership involves shared information pools and cooperative generation of ideas, so e-leader should possess adequate persuasion and negotiation skills to support valuable proposals and partnerships.
Competences. E-leader should be competent in self-learning to use past experiences for self-improvement or the company’s successful change management. Cultural competence is vital for e-leader to understand diverse employees and establish appropriate and effective interaction with virtual team members.
Technical skills. The computer is the main communication medium for e-leadership and the proper functioning of virtual teams. The e-leader should be able to effectively use the Internet, social media, digital platforms, Artificial Intelligence, and Machine Learning (Cortellazzo et al., 2019). E-leadership is supported by technology, so the knowledge of information and communication technologies (ICTs) is essential for the successful candidate.
Leadership skills. E-leader is required to have mentoring skills to identify employee potential and influence the team via ICTs. The candidate needs to be able to combine electronic and traditional leadership methods and ensure their effective use for resource acquisition and strategic planning (Van Wart et al., 2019). E-leader should have critical thinking skills to assess the productivity of the team members, provide constructive feedback, and promote progress and innovation via ICT tools and change management strategies.
References
Cortellazzo, L., Bruni, E., & Zampieri, R. (2019). The role of leadership in a digitalized world: A review. Front. Psychol, 10(1938).
O’Connell, T., Cuthbertson, B., & Goins, T. J. (2018). Leadership in recreation and leisure services. Human Kinetics.
Van Wart, M., Roman, A., Wang, X., & Liu, C. (2019). Operationalizing the definition of e-leadership: Identifying the elements of e-leadership. International Review of Administrative Sciences, 85(1), 80–97.