I am in the midst of writing an article about collaboration and teamwork. I have lots of experience working with global teams, so I thought that I would share some of my insight. I'd love to get feedback and suggestions, so I am putting a bit of my work in process out for comments, if you wish:
Global competition requires the use of web-based collaboration tools to coordinate the work of distributed teams. Because work gets done at different times, in different places, it needs to be coordinated via tools that easily facilitate the presentation of work in process and promotes the visibility of issues. Working virtually with a team that you rarely, if ever see, is becoming much more common in knowledge-based businesses. Even co-located teams find that shared document libraries, threaded discussions, shared calendars, task lists and archived company communications makes working together on a team more productive.
Despite the obstacles of distance and time, there are techniques that teams can use that make them more productive. There are five technologies that make teams more productive in today's information intensive, computer enabled environment.
- The telephone
- Email
- An electronic workspace designed for collaboration
- Instant Messaging
- Web conferencing
Here is the list of best practices that I have discovered for managing a virtual team. Technology is required for communication, but each the seven practices focuses more on people than on technology.
- Set clear objectives and communicate the objectives to the entire team. Communicate verbally, with powerpoint slides, let the team ask questions and push back on the assumptions and the objectives. Have a note taker record as much of the meeting as possible, noting objections and points that are not clear or require more research. Post all materials discussed in the meeting to a shared workspace. Prepare a list of assignments with a description of the problem that need to be solved. Set a specific date for a follow-up discussion.
- Agree on a set of group norms in a facilitated session. Everyone needs to express how they feel about working electronically. During each meeting there needs to be a process check about how the team is doing using this new mode of work. At the end of every meeting,make a point of asking each individual if they thought the time was productive and if they have any improvement ideas. Each person must respond with feedback.
- Be patient with people who don't speak English. Make sure that all points are understood. Ask people on the team to summarize what they think they have heard so that you can check for misunderstandings and clarify points immediately. Make it a norm that people can stop and ask for clarification.
- Communicate much more frequently to a virtual team than to a co-located team. At a minimum, schedule one long meeting each week, where each individual can talk about their work and can ask questions. Team members need to be prepared for meetings and submit their status reports or work summaries on time. This meeting happens no matter what. If one person can't attend they can send a proxy, but everyone is always represented. You must be very direct on this point. Do process checks to make sure that everyone is listening and onboard.
- Do fun things that help the team learn about each other. One time at the start of a virtual team project. Each location introduced themselves and their office mates via video. They also took pictures out their window and discussed their work life. One of the team members did a simple editing job to combine all the taped interviews. It was shown at each locations team meeting during a predetermined week. Everyone felt very good about meeting their team members around the world.
- Plan developmental activities. Invite a senior executive to the meeting to give their perspective on the business and allow your team to ask them questions. Work on a specific skill set, like negotiation, with the team, give a short presentation and ask for feedback.
- Relationships are so important that scheduling a one on one conversation with each team member once per week is important. It is very easy for people to disconnect from each other when they are physically distant. Communicate often with the team, communicate more frequently with individuals. If there is nothing to talk about, say hi, agree there is no need to talk today and confirm the time for the next scheduled talk.
These are some of my best practices, please comment.
In a perfect world your points make perfect sense.
The largest stumbling block to teamwork is management's tunnel vision.
Most companies during the department/more location growth phase have a tendency to create block fenced departments rather than shared communities.
Getting the bookeeper to understand the salesmans point of view and getting the salesman to structure the sale to lighten the load of the bookeeper is a natural synergy to reduce friction in the money for stuff process, yet the largest stumbling block is usually managment wanting to keep their departments in block fenced areas, as if creating the company gives managment divine rights in direction.
I see a lot of this. Most small business moves from one crisis to the next, as they started out with a simple idea, which is usually to do their money for stuff better that the folks they used to work for, and now that they are driving, will not ask for direction especially from the rest of the crew that they hired.
Most small business owners are technophobic, despite using technology to increase their business. It is a conundrum.
I find that people loose interest in collaboration quickly, so the best way to maintain enthusism is to make electronic workspaces ephemeral. Only use them for projects with specific deliverables. When the project is completed, shut the workspace down and transfer deliverables to a document library where they can be tagged with metadata and found via searches by others. Start a new collaborative workspace if the project shifts into another phase. A manager has to continuely work at if to make this mode of working valuable. Without real effort and lots of discussion, it can fail. Talking to everyone on the team as much as possible makes it work.