December 2nd, 2009
| How to get the project done when the team is not all in one place is not a new theme. It is however becoming more and more normal, so it is worth re-visiting.A brainstorm of project managers came up with the following ideas, which are grouped into several themes. As with all checklists, these ideas are suggestions which you can use either directly or to stimulate other ideas.
Although these ideas are not new and which ones to use use depends on your situation, I hope you will find something useful here and add your comments to this post.
Establish & Maintain the Team
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- Start with face to face meeting.
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- Maintain regular formal and informal interaction.
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- Supplement face to face meetings with interaction, eg with video conferences, skype etc.
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- Support ongoing face to face interaction with business trips, eg of project manager to maintain relationship.
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Define Working Processes
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- Clarify agenda and document the meeting minutes.
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- Ensure meeting hygiene: no typing in background, on time participation etc.
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- Establish standard terminology.
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- Use preferred communications hierarchy, eg phone rather than mail.
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- Ensure clear roles and responsiblilities.
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- Agree which languages to use.
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Teambuilding Styles
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- Add time to meetings for chat.
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- Hold virtual coffee breaks.
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- Organise off site meetings.
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Information Sharing Tools
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Communications Tools
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- Telephone conference calls
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| How to get the project done when the team is not all in one place is not a new theme. It is however becoming more and more normal, so it is worth re-visiting.A brainstorm of project managers came up with the following ideas, which are grouped into several themes. As with all checklists, these ideas are suggestions which you can use either directly or to stimulate other ideas.
Although these ideas are not new and which ones to use use depends on your situation, I hope you will find something useful here and add your comments to this post.
Establish & Maintain the Team
|
- Start with face to face meeting.
|
- Maintain regular formal and informal interaction.
|
- Supplement face to face meetings with interaction, eg with video conferences, skype etc.
|
- Support ongoing face to face interaction with business trips, eg of project manager to maintain relationship.
|
|
Define Working Processes
|
|
|
- Clarify agenda and document the meeting minutes.
|
- Ensure meeting hygiene: no typing in background, on time participation etc.
|
- Establish standard terminology.
|
|
|
|
|
- Use preferred communications hierarchy, eg phone rather than mail.
|
- Ensure clear roles and responsiblilities.
|
|
|
- Agree which languages to use.
|
|
Teambuilding Styles
|
- Add time to meetings for chat.
|
- Hold virtual coffee breaks.
|
- Organise off site meetings.
|
|
Information Sharing Tools
|
|
|
|
|
|
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Communications Tools
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|
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- Telephone conference calls
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| How to get the project done when the team is not all in one place is not a new theme. It is however becoming more and more normal, so it is worth re-visiting.A brainstorm of project managers came up with the following ideas, which are grouped into several themes. As with all checklists, these ideas are suggestions which you can use either directly or to stimulate other ideas.
Although these ideas are not new and which ones to use use depends on your situation, I hope you will find something useful here and add your comments to this post.
Establish & Maintain the Team
|
- Start with face to face meeting.
|
- Maintain regular formal and informal interaction.
|
- Supplement face to face meetings with interaction, eg with video conferences, skype etc.
|
- Support ongoing face to face interaction with business trips, eg of project manager to maintain relationship.
|
|
Define Working Processes
|
|
|
- Clarify agenda and document the meeting minutes.
|
- Ensure meeting hygiene: no typing in background, on time participation etc.
|
- Establish standard terminology.
|
|
|
|
|
- Use preferred communications hierarchy, eg phone rather than mail.
|
- Ensure clear roles and responsiblilities.
|
|
|
- Agree which languages to use.
|
|
Teambuilding Styles
|
- Add time to meetings for chat.
|
- Hold virtual coffee breaks.
|
- Organise off site meetings.
|
|
Information Sharing Tools
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
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Communications Tools
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|
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- Telephone conference calls
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Posted in Project Management, Virtual Teamwork | No Comments »
October 30th, 2009
Everybody knows that trust is essential in every human transaction. This is most obvious when it is lacking, such as within the finance industry during the recession. The banks did not trust each other and this brought the whole system to a halt.
Autumn Colour
The same applies within teams. When trust is lacking, the capacity of the team drops significantly. Cooperation is limited by protective agendas and the result is less than optimal. Trust is also very delicate, is easily broken and very difficult to repair.
These considerations apply particularly to the relationships within virtual teams where the members rarely, if ever, meet. It therefore makes sense for managers of new projects which use virtual teams to be very active to assist the build up of trust. Traditionally a team has a kick-off meeting where people get to know each other, either in a business or informal setting, such as activity course. Virtual Teams need to find a way to compensate for the fact that such events are impossible.
This is the purpose of the new webinar from Scatterwork® entitled Teambuilding for Virtual Teams. This event is similar to a project kick-off meeting but focuses on inter-personal issues as a basis for the technical kick-off. It provides a structure for the participants to introduce each other and set ground rules for team communication. This is the foundation of all of the subsequent technical work.
This event can be integrated in a traditional project kick-off meeting instead of being held as a free standing event. Either way this event helps the build up of trust and reduces the risk of uninintention, but damaging, reduction of trust during the delicate team forming stage.
Posted in Virtual Teamwork | No Comments »
July 31st, 2009
Dr. Ó Conchúir PMP has coached and trained hundreds of PMP candidates from many countries to success. This Project Managment Professional accreditation is awarded by the Project Management Institute, “the leading global association for the project management profession” and is based on their PMBOK® Guide.
It is not surprising that Scatterwork GmbH where he is a Senior Virtual Teamwork Collaboration Consultant also uses this standard for implementing its client collaboration projects.
Nevertheless he finds that the PMBOK® Guide is too complex at first reading, particularly for those for whom English is a learned language. Even so the pressures of globalization and company guidelines mean that many prepare for the examination in English. Now he has written a book which demystifies and mirrors the PMBOK® Guide.
His book is particularly useful for applicants for the PMP and CAPM examinations. It can also be studied alone by anyone as a general introduction to Project Management. The style and language have also been selected to make it particularly suitable for readers who use English as a learned language.
Which of the following titles do you think is best for this publication?
- Understanding the PMBOK® Guide
- Deciphering the PMBOK® Guide
- PMP by Half-time
- PMP in less time but without stress
- Reduce the study time to PMP
- Short Guide to the PMBOK® Guide
Or do you have a better suggestion? Please add your comments as a reply below. Many thanks!
Posted in Project Management | 1 Comment »
April 23rd, 2009
When Employers want…
- To save office space and building costs. This is the most immediate benefit for many companies.
- To increase capability by reducing commuting dead time.
- An Environmentally friendly image. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Benefits | No Comments »
April 23rd, 2009
Here is a short check list to get you started. What can you add? Tell us your ideas by leaving a comment. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Virtual Teamwork | No Comments »
April 23rd, 2009
A basic requirement for teamwork is human skills, such as leadership, trust, motivation, mutual respect, motivation and so on. Of course it is possible to start a successful team with people who never meet but we would expect this to be more difficult than when people already know each other. I am not convinced that this is always true: existing teams may need a lot of effort to give up some of the excess “team building activities” such as long coffee breaks! Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Types of Work | No Comments »
April 3rd, 2009
Teambuilding is a great buzzword. Sometimes you get the feeling that if management wants “team players” this really means “employees who do what they are told”. This is a pity as teamwork is really much more useful than this and does increase what can be achieved.
Spring
Economists tell us that for greatest efficiency everybody should do what they are best at. For example if a good cook runs a restaurant but also gets involved in paying salaries, organising deliveries, making tablecloths and so on, then the result is less impressive than if s/he sticks to the cooking and delegates the rest. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Virtual Teamwork | No Comments »
March 18th, 2009
Traditionally business was “technology limited”, in the sense that we had to use what was available. A couple of examples to clarify:
Paddle Steamer Engine
Posted in Technologies | No Comments »
February 25th, 2009
It is all a matter of emphasis:
Telecommuting is about using telecommunications to avoid commuting. This implies that somewhere there is a workplace where much of the business is carried out which the telecommuter links into. If there are several telecommuters, the pattern can is like a star, with a central hub. The telecommunications are seen as a way of reducing the overhead, such as daily travel and the time it takes.
Virtual Teamwork is about the team being geographically distributed, whether there is a central workplace or not. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Benefits, Virtual Teamwork | No Comments »
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