Virtual Teamwork - Long Distance Collaboration

Paula Williams

The Opportunity

Many of the teams I’ve worked with have never been together in the same room. It is now possible, and sometimes much more efficient, to take advantage of new technology. Rather than having everyone work in the same office, you can use teleconferencing, e-mail, internet-based workflows and remote access to networks to exchange documents and get things done.

• A financial institution I work with has project managers in Minneapolis, developers and database managers in San Francisco, equipment in Tempe, and people a lot of scattered people working from home in various remote corners of the U.S.
• Another company outsources technical work to a company in India.
• An import startup we’re working with has a developer in Pakistan working on servers in Utah, USA.

This article explores how we can take advantage of new technology to get work done across vast distances, without losing some of the valuable parts of face-to-face human collaboration.

The Solution

Recognize that “virtual teamwork”- interacting using technology; has its advantages and disadvantages over “actual teamwork” – interacting in person. As a manager, you have to decide how to leverage the good parts and mitigate the bad parts. First, to recognize the issues.

What’s Good About Virtual Teamwork

• You may be able to do your job, or at least parts of your job, from your cabin in the mountains, or home on a farm in Iowa, or even onboard a cruise ship in the Pacific Ocean.
• You can reduce travel time and costs.
• It is possible to meet and talk with some of the most talented and most interesting people in the world, whom you would never otherwise meet. You can swap “been there, done that” stories with people who are continents away from you.
• As a manager, you can recruit from a broader base of talent – people who are not willing to relocate but may be more qualified or less expensive than local talent.
• By the same token, you can retain key employees whose a spouse’s job, an educational pursuit, or another interest might take them out of your company.

What’s Bad About Virtual Teamwork

• You lose some of the “human element” of working with people – the “How was your weekend” non-work-related conversation that helps people get to know one another better. This is important because when we know and care about each other, we work together better and tend to be more knowledgeable about each others’ strengths, weaknesses, personalities and traits. This helps us work together better, as well as adding more satisfaction to the work day.
• You miss out on some of the “water cooler” conversations where you might learn really valuable information that you didn’t know you were looking for. Some of the best discoveries and information about the company, the market, clients, etc. come when you’re not expecting it or actively seeking it.
• If you’re crossing a wide geographical area, time zones will differ. This makes for less time available to collaborate “real-time.” If you’re in the U.S. working with someone in Asia and want to ask them a question, you may have to either wake them up or wait until tomorrow for an answer.

Making it Effective

• Use the best tools you can find. Keep on top of new developments with collaborative whiteboards, instant messaging, document retrieval systems, etc. that will help you work better. Many times better tools are not any more expensive than less effective ones, (many of the best tools are “freeware!” You simply need to be aware of them and make use of them.
• Plan around “peak times.” These are times when everyone, in every time zone, considers it to be part of their workday. Plan team meetings and group activities during this time, and use all of the time management tricks you know of to keep meetings on schedule and make the best use of that time. Plan more individual, concentrated efforts for “off peak” times that are non-working hours for part of your team.
• Use geographical groupings for some functions. Put local managers in charge of certain functions like technical support, time management, and certain human resource functions that need to be handled in person, even if the functional reporting relationships are geographically diverse, some of the administrative functions are easier when they’re closer to home. You don’t want to have to call someone oceans away for technical support when your equipment breaks.
• Be sensitive to cultural differences. Not everyone takes Christmas off. Not everyone works through Ramadan. Be flexible with work schedules.
• If language is an issue, use simple language and lots of pictures or diagrams in communication intended for the whole team. Encourage questions. Many times people with language or dialect differences find telephone conversations difficult to follow. It may be easier to communicate in writing (e-mail, instant messaging, etc.) Ask for (and respect, when you can) differences in communication style.

Making it Human

• Recognize the importance of human interaction – don’t let the distance keep you from being “human.”
• Send birthday cards. (Real ones, not virtual ones.)
• Encourage some personal “news sharing” via teleconference or e-mail- share photos of children, etc.
• One team spends the first five minutes of every meeting going through “roll call” and having each team member share some piece of news about his or her hometown or family. (This doesn’t have to be anything terribly private, but it does help people get to know each other better.)
• If language is an issue, use simple language and lots of pictures or diagrams in communication intended for the whole team. Encourage questions. Many times people with language or dialect differences find telephone conversations difficult to follow. It may be easier to communicate in writing (e-mail, instant messaging, etc.) Ask for (and respect, when you can) differences in communication style.
• Encourage humor. “Emoticons,” which are available on several instant-messaging or e-mail packages, can be very expressive. (They also cross language barriers very effectively – Everyone recognizes a smile.)

Making the Most of “Face Time”

Travel is expensive, and it’s inconvenient, and it takes everyone away from their interests and families. But getting together periodically when it’s possible (three or four times a year may be a good target for a diverse team) gives you some opportunities to really progress. Pack as much value as you can into “together time.” Times that it’s good to get together:

• New project kickoffs
• Brainstorming sessions
• Problem solving/conflict resolution sessions
• Orientations for new team members (you may want to wait until you have several new employees to do a “welcome session,” or combine it with other objectives.)
• Milestone or completion celebrations

Whenever you have the opportunity to get together, make sure you do introductions and make everyone feel welcome. Plan a dinner or evening activity and take pictures of the team together. Distribute the pictures afterward.

Conclusion

Staying ahead of the changing economy is getting more and more difficult to do by working harder. Adapting to changes and working smarter requires specific focus. Focusing on the core competencies of your company is the means to develop that focus. More specifically, you need to determine what core competencies are needed to meet your companies specific goals and objectives. Once this “wish list” of core competencies is developed, you need to identify gaps and overlaps, and resolve the gaps by developing or augmenting your current staff. Continued effort is needed to make sure those competencies and skills are being leveraged by everyone in your company.