Not having any experience of working with distributed or virtual teams I thought I would head along to this session to find out what some of the common problems and solutions are for dealing with building teams under such circumstances. The straw poll suggested that I was one of very few in the room that did not have direct experience of working in this way, although I think this did not greatly stop me from finding the discussion interesting.
There are several factors which contribute to a virtual team's success:
- Make sure you have a good team leader with an openness to share
- Try to meet people at least once in person if possible
- Inter-team communication is vital and important to build on - technology can be used to leverage this
- Try to help everyone overcome language and cultural differences early on
- Have a clear and shared vision
- Keep a clear meeting schedule so everyone is on the same page
- Reach out to those who may not speak so much in conference calls
- Speak to people outside of conference calls to address issues early - use the phone! This avoids broadsiding and potential embarrassing moments in group calls
- Draw others out by sharing something of yourself
- Remember to work the relationship before the issue - Work on relationship building above all
Communication over distances / conference calls:
- Make sure you clarify turn-taking in conference calls
- Remember to speak slowly to avoid any language or accent issues
- Allow pauses so that people have the chance to speak up
- Create signals that people can use when they have something to say or add
Interestingly all of these things hold true for collocated teams as well.
Ways to make sure technology supports teams:
- Leverage communication by using IM alongside conference calls
- Real-time collaboration allows everyone to be working on the same page, and generates a better shared understanding.
- Be aware that video conferencing isn't always the best method
- Remember to have bios and photos, so everyone has a mental image of each other
- Remember that there may be security issues with using more social media like Second Life or Facebook.
Time issues:
- Many of the larger companies allow for flexible working (time and location), this is especially useful for working mothers
- You should still make sure you know your boundaries
- You should accept that sometimes there will just not be a good time for everyone
It was mooted that a lot of the communication issues that arise from not being able to communicate face-to-face may not be such a problem for the next generation. The culture of how we interact with each other is changing, and lack of body language may not be such an issue in the future for those who have grown up with such technologies (cf. texting). This flashed my mind in fear to the Asimov book The Naked Sun where the culture was almost unable to deal with face-to-face relationships, and all communication was mediated by technology.
For me, the most interesting point was made right at the end. Listen to people's stories to understand team dynamics and potential issues (oh how true!). The example was given of a team who all shared stories about how they had learned to be self-reliant - an understanding that they were all lone cowboys would have been useful earlier on in the project!
The conversation was set to continue in the following session, which I am sad I was not able to follow.
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Johanna Hunt
Official GHC 2007 Blogger
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