Creating and managing virtual teams
Chris Nigel created Wildbit , and for 8 years now they have been working as a virtual team on the Beanstalk . He lives in Philadelphia and his team around the world. He definitely has something to say about virtual teams, and he did it in this article.
People constantly ask me: “How do you manage a virtual team and, in fact, achieve your goals?”. In Wildbit, each of the ten team members works from home or from the coworking center. We are scattered in four countries and many time zones. Even with such conditions, we can do a lot and enjoy our work.
Before writing this article, I did not think too much about how we work in a virtual environment. My first answer was simple practice and a lot of mistakes. The knowledge gained from these mistakes can be reduced to three main areas: people in a team, team management processes and communication.
You can have a well-established work flow and excellent facilities, but it all starts with a team that can work well together. I run Wildbit for almost 8 years. During this time I learned not to hire people guided only by the level of their knowledge, it is necessary to take into account also what they are interested in, personality, motivation of constant growth. A virtual interview makes this process very difficult. You can not just sit down and feel the person or get to know him, you must define their personality and addiction in some other way. For example, we usually ask a person what books he reads, which blogs they follow, or the people they are like in the industry. This helps us learn something about their interests, and the answers show their zeal and dedication to their work. If people spend time writing their own blog, it tells me that they have their own ideas and want to work on them. The point is to find people who love what they do, and then create the conditions for them to show themselves.
If you plan to hire someone remotely, be prepared for an error. Most people want to work at home, but many are not ready for it. We were faced with situations where talented enough team members could not cope with the work. Not because they were hampered by a lack of knowledge or their interests, and then that they could not work at home without additional control. As soon as you understand this, attempts to control and correct the situation may further aggravate it. The manager tries to correct the situation, while the employee constantly feels that he is not doing the job. In such situations, it is important to trust your inner voice and move on). Always consider the possibility of such errors when working with a virtual team, consider them in the timing of the project and the costs of it.
')
There is a certain psychological difference between managing a virtual team and a real one. Instead of reading body language, we have to pay more attention to the habits of employees, to read between the lines. During a conversation on IM, I can quickly notice that someone is not motivated or loses interest. Even such trifles as smiles, punctuation and frequency of conversations mean a lot. The trick is to know each team member, his usual behavior, and to notice when he begins to change his behavior. For some, simply hiding their mistakes and low productivity. Encouraging open and honest communication is likely to allow such issues to surface much earlier.
If you hired the right people, people who enjoy what they are doing, then you have already done most of the challenging tasks of a manager. At the same time, you still need to create a good workflow in order to increase the productivity of your team members. Specific processes should always be tailored to the needs of your company, but I can give some universal tips that work for Wildbit.
We are a software company, so our workflow is quite specific. We work strictly according to the “weekly iterations” method. Every week, each team member is tied to one project. This allows you to make communication in a team transparent, sets certain expectations and works to maintain constant attention on the project. Each person in the team always knows what the other is working on, just as our customers know it.
Weekly iterations also allow us to avoid spying on the time of standing above the soul. The plan for each week is based on the desired result, and not on the number of hours that need to be worked out. This allows us to avoid taking into account the time worked and work on the result. At the end of the week, everyone in the team obviously achieved our expected results or not.
The main advantage of remote work is flexible planning. We do not have a clear daily schedule of working hours, but everyone should have their own consistent schedule - this is important. We try to have a range of time during which each person will be available. This sets clear expectations in the team (of course with some margin of error) - everyone can start working with a person when he is ready. As for the team leaders, the schedule makes it clear when someone leaves. As long as we do not use IM for communication, we can still use it to indicate status when someone comes or goes.
If a person does not have a separate working space at home, then working at home can be distracting. Sooner or later this question will arise, in which case having an office outside the home takes on meaning. My answer - it all depends on the individual. Over the years we have tried all the options. It is important that the person will work better where he is most comfortable. Given the number of people working remotely in our time, the concept of coworking is exactly what you should pay attention to. I work at the Independents Hall in Philadelphia, this place combines the advantages of working at home and working in an office. I’m sure that over time, the rest of the team members will also move to coworking offices.
We have a good staff and a well-organized workflow - a well-organized link will bring them together.
There are many tools to help in communication, but the real value of communication will be if it is subject to certain guidelines. Nothing distracts more than the Internet (I hate you on Twitter). Focusing on the means of communication in the first place, you only add fuel to the fire. Here are some of our principles.
The biggest disadvantage of the virtual team is the lack of opportunity to get together. Under the conditions of the usual existence of a team, a lot of great ideas arise during daily communication, or during lunch. To get closer to these opportunities, we introduced very short daily meetings with Campfire . It helps us to start the day, to communicate, while we are not focused on work.
IM greatly interfere focusing on the workflow. There is nothing worse than the tasks assigned to you through IM or someone distracting you in the middle of a thought. Over time, we learned how to minimize IM communication. Without using IM, we try to use tools that structure communication within the team. We use Basecamp to post ideas or questions to the team that can be answered at any time. We use Campfire to communicate in a group, the service records our communication, so that we can use it in the future. We also use FogBugz to assign and manage tasks. We use Twitter to inform each other about our status and situation with the task.
Life is not only business. Nothing makes the team more cohesive than an interest in the lives of their colleagues. It is much easier to be interested in others when you work in the same office, but even in a virtual team it is worth taking time to do this. We celebrate with the help of shots of vodka in Campfire . We send each other pictures of our jobs. We remember the birthdays and important events and remind them to the team members.
Not all of our communication is virtual. In spite of everything, it is almost always necessary to communicate face to face. There is nothing better than a team vacation, living together on vacation - we celebrate our success and focus on the future strategy. The last time we rested in Cyprus, and it was worth it! When planning a vacation, make sure that most of the time is convenient for your team and for your business. This is a time to relax and get to know each other better, and not a time to discuss projects. Do not hesitate, conversations that will further help the business will naturally arise.
Our remote experience is just one example. It is important to adjust it based on the needs and structure of your team. As I said, it all starts with the selection of the right people. With a good team that truly strives to do its job well, the rest will take shape on its own. The concept of interaction and the workflow existing in Wildbit have now been formed for many years, taking into account the ideas of each person in the team, and not just one manager or leader.
I really want to hear ideas or strategies working in other teams. If you have any thoughts or questions - write comments and I will answer. ( this is unlikely )
ps author of the translation - Zaido , asked to post the article on his own behalf, because he lacked karma.
People constantly ask me: “How do you manage a virtual team and, in fact, achieve your goals?”. In Wildbit, each of the ten team members works from home or from the coworking center. We are scattered in four countries and many time zones. Even with such conditions, we can do a lot and enjoy our work.
Before writing this article, I did not think too much about how we work in a virtual environment. My first answer was simple practice and a lot of mistakes. The knowledge gained from these mistakes can be reduced to three main areas: people in a team, team management processes and communication.
People
Do not pay much attention to the summary
You can have a well-established work flow and excellent facilities, but it all starts with a team that can work well together. I run Wildbit for almost 8 years. During this time I learned not to hire people guided only by the level of their knowledge, it is necessary to take into account also what they are interested in, personality, motivation of constant growth. A virtual interview makes this process very difficult. You can not just sit down and feel the person or get to know him, you must define their personality and addiction in some other way. For example, we usually ask a person what books he reads, which blogs they follow, or the people they are like in the industry. This helps us learn something about their interests, and the answers show their zeal and dedication to their work. If people spend time writing their own blog, it tells me that they have their own ideas and want to work on them. The point is to find people who love what they do, and then create the conditions for them to show themselves.
Plan for mistakes
If you plan to hire someone remotely, be prepared for an error. Most people want to work at home, but many are not ready for it. We were faced with situations where talented enough team members could not cope with the work. Not because they were hampered by a lack of knowledge or their interests, and then that they could not work at home without additional control. As soon as you understand this, attempts to control and correct the situation may further aggravate it. The manager tries to correct the situation, while the employee constantly feels that he is not doing the job. In such situations, it is important to trust your inner voice and move on). Always consider the possibility of such errors when working with a virtual team, consider them in the timing of the project and the costs of it.
')
Listen and learn
There is a certain psychological difference between managing a virtual team and a real one. Instead of reading body language, we have to pay more attention to the habits of employees, to read between the lines. During a conversation on IM, I can quickly notice that someone is not motivated or loses interest. Even such trifles as smiles, punctuation and frequency of conversations mean a lot. The trick is to know each team member, his usual behavior, and to notice when he begins to change his behavior. For some, simply hiding their mistakes and low productivity. Encouraging open and honest communication is likely to allow such issues to surface much earlier.
Process
If you hired the right people, people who enjoy what they are doing, then you have already done most of the challenging tasks of a manager. At the same time, you still need to create a good workflow in order to increase the productivity of your team members. Specific processes should always be tailored to the needs of your company, but I can give some universal tips that work for Wildbit.
Focus on the result, not on time
We are a software company, so our workflow is quite specific. We work strictly according to the “weekly iterations” method. Every week, each team member is tied to one project. This allows you to make communication in a team transparent, sets certain expectations and works to maintain constant attention on the project. Each person in the team always knows what the other is working on, just as our customers know it.
Weekly iterations also allow us to avoid spying on the time of standing above the soul. The plan for each week is based on the desired result, and not on the number of hours that need to be worked out. This allows us to avoid taking into account the time worked and work on the result. At the end of the week, everyone in the team obviously achieved our expected results or not.
Scheduling matters
The main advantage of remote work is flexible planning. We do not have a clear daily schedule of working hours, but everyone should have their own consistent schedule - this is important. We try to have a range of time during which each person will be available. This sets clear expectations in the team (of course with some margin of error) - everyone can start working with a person when he is ready. As for the team leaders, the schedule makes it clear when someone leaves. As long as we do not use IM for communication, we can still use it to indicate status when someone comes or goes.
Coworking: working alone, together
If a person does not have a separate working space at home, then working at home can be distracting. Sooner or later this question will arise, in which case having an office outside the home takes on meaning. My answer - it all depends on the individual. Over the years we have tried all the options. It is important that the person will work better where he is most comfortable. Given the number of people working remotely in our time, the concept of coworking is exactly what you should pay attention to. I work at the Independents Hall in Philadelphia, this place combines the advantages of working at home and working in an office. I’m sure that over time, the rest of the team members will also move to coworking offices.
Communication
We have a good staff and a well-organized workflow - a well-organized link will bring them together.
There are many tools to help in communication, but the real value of communication will be if it is subject to certain guidelines. Nothing distracts more than the Internet (I hate you on Twitter). Focusing on the means of communication in the first place, you only add fuel to the fire. Here are some of our principles.
Daily meetings
The biggest disadvantage of the virtual team is the lack of opportunity to get together. Under the conditions of the usual existence of a team, a lot of great ideas arise during daily communication, or during lunch. To get closer to these opportunities, we introduced very short daily meetings with Campfire . It helps us to start the day, to communicate, while we are not focused on work.
Destroy IM Distraction
IM greatly interfere focusing on the workflow. There is nothing worse than the tasks assigned to you through IM or someone distracting you in the middle of a thought. Over time, we learned how to minimize IM communication. Without using IM, we try to use tools that structure communication within the team. We use Basecamp to post ideas or questions to the team that can be answered at any time. We use Campfire to communicate in a group, the service records our communication, so that we can use it in the future. We also use FogBugz to assign and manage tasks. We use Twitter to inform each other about our status and situation with the task.
Get to know each other
Life is not only business. Nothing makes the team more cohesive than an interest in the lives of their colleagues. It is much easier to be interested in others when you work in the same office, but even in a virtual team it is worth taking time to do this. We celebrate with the help of shots of vodka in Campfire . We send each other pictures of our jobs. We remember the birthdays and important events and remind them to the team members.
Not all of our communication is virtual. In spite of everything, it is almost always necessary to communicate face to face. There is nothing better than a team vacation, living together on vacation - we celebrate our success and focus on the future strategy. The last time we rested in Cyprus, and it was worth it! When planning a vacation, make sure that most of the time is convenient for your team and for your business. This is a time to relax and get to know each other better, and not a time to discuss projects. Do not hesitate, conversations that will further help the business will naturally arise.
People, process, communication
Our remote experience is just one example. It is important to adjust it based on the needs and structure of your team. As I said, it all starts with the selection of the right people. With a good team that truly strives to do its job well, the rest will take shape on its own. The concept of interaction and the workflow existing in Wildbit have now been formed for many years, taking into account the ideas of each person in the team, and not just one manager or leader.
I really want to hear ideas or strategies working in other teams. If you have any thoughts or questions - write comments and I will answer. ( this is unlikely )
ps author of the translation - Zaido , asked to post the article on his own behalf, because he lacked karma.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/31654/
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