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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- Telephone conference calls
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|
|
|
|
|
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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 »
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 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 »
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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