I can’t answer the questions about shaking hands or hugging – check your local public health guidelines for that. However, I can give you some tips on keeping your team happy and motivated.

Start with a Team Tune Up.

Just as you need to tune up your car every so often, it’s important to take some time periodically to tune up your team. Especially when that team has been disassembled and in the garage (metaphorically speaking) for more than a year.

Here’s how.

Begin by listening. Make your first in-person meeting an extended team check in. Go around the room and give each team member the opportunity to express what’s on their mind and how they feel about being back. You might ask questions like: What did you miss the most? What did you learn about yourself? How have you changed? What are you most looking forward to now that we’re back? Encourage them to ask questions and share their concerns. Listen and respond. And be sure to engage remote team members in the conversation as well.

Communicate. Cover any state or county public health guidelines that team members need to be aware of, such as reporting COVID symptoms or vaccination status.

Re-establish Rules of Engagement. In a subsequent meeting, allocate some time – as a team – to review/amend/establish your team Rules of Engagement. Consider what guidelines you need to change or add to reflect the current work situation (e.g., a hybrid team) and to avoid issues or misunderstandings.

Here are some topics your rules should address:

• Communication. What is the preferred method – text, email, Slack, phone, in person – for sharing information vs. decision making vs. resolving conflict?
• Meetings. Is there a limit on length? How will you handle chronic late comers? How will you ensure that everyone is heard (at the meeting rather than post-meeting in a hallway discussion)?
• Decisions. How will you make them? A vote? Who’s the tie breaker?
• Conflict. What’s your process for managing it? What will you do when it escalates?

Other potential topics are prioritization, accountability, coordinating task hand off, reviewing each other’s work. And don’t forget to include a general rule about good behavior – kindness, respect, integrity.

Review/reset team and organizational goals.  Be sure everyone clearly understands team and organizational goals and expectations for meeting those goals. Work with your team to create an environment where they hold themselves – and each other – accountable for results.  Include regular progress reports, open sharing of mistakes and lessons learned, and team discussions on how to move through roadblocks.

Encourage open communication and constructive feedback. Perhaps the most important team tune up tip is reminding them about the importance of open communication. You to the team, the team to you, the team among themselves. It is the overarching element of all these tips. Communicate the purpose and goals. Communicate to individuals and the team how they contribute. Communicate the value of diversity. Communicate expectations to create mutual accountability. Talk about things. Even the hard things.  And provide consistent and constructive feedback.

Also, be sure to spend some time with each team member for a more personal check in and to acknowledge their contribution to the team.

Till next time, keep it real.

Karen

The post Heading Back to the Office? Start with a Team Tune Up appeared first on PeopleThink.

A 2016 study by RW3, LLC, a cultural training service, Trends in Global Virtual Teams, found that some of the biggest challenges for global teams were: colleagues who do not participate, pace of decision making, and different role expectations held by team members. The study also found that the biggest challenge to productivity was the lack of face-to-face communication, which respondents said impacted managing conflict, establishing trust and building relationships. All important components for team success.

Leading virtual teams, especially global teams, requires an additional set of leadership skills. Yet few leaders receive training that specifically prepares them for this role. According to the RW3 study, while 74% of respondents had received formal leadership training, only 34% had received global leadership training. Likewise, although 85% of respondents said they work on virtual teams, only 22% said they had received training to increase their productivity on virtual teams. Clearly, there’s a development opportunity here.

In the meantime, here are some tips for leading virtual teams effectively.

Be engaged and available. Team members working from a distance, whether it’s in a home office in the US or from a global location, can feel isolated. Engage with individual team members on a regular basis to ask how things are going and to provide support. Be available to them when they have concerns, ideas, or just need to talk.

Leverage video technology. Use videoconferencing, Skype or any other tools available to you to allow team members to see each other. This is especially important when the team is forming, and when critical issues and/or decisions need to be discussed. Also consider having a team site where members names, locations, role and images are posted.

Create ground rules for virtual meetings. In our ever-connected, multi-tasking world it’s hard to keep people focused on one task, especially if they’re out of sight. Agree on ground rules up front, such as “cell phones off,” “one person speaks at a time,” etc. Distribute the agenda prior to the meeting and send out a recap afterward. Factor some time into each meeting for team members to have open discussion and to get to know each other better.

Establish communication guidelines. Create a process for regular communication, expected response time, and how issues will be prioritized. Encourage team members to use video or phone calls to work out issues or when information may need clarification. Remember, email is one-way communication. Picking up the phone (or Skype!) can go a long way in building trust and developing relationships.

Respect and rotate time zones. Be sure that everyone knows where their team members are located and their respective time zones. Establish a “best time to call” list for intra-team communications. Rotate time zones for team meetings so one person isn’t always the early-riser or later-worker.

Practice cultural sensitivity. Minimize misunderstandings by providing cultural training to all team members. Create a team environment that welcomes diversity of thought, backgrounds, experience and communication style. Provide opportunities for team members to educate each other about cultural nuances.

“Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success.” – Henry Ford

Till next time,
Karen

The post Leading Virtual Teams – Tips for Success appeared first on PeopleThink.