First timers are often difficult, whatever the scope you apply it. Today we’re going to explore what it’s like to manage a remote team for the first time, which some of you have already experienced, while others may face it in the near future.
In the past, new managers often had the good luck of being able to train on “traditional” work teams: groups of people, sitting in close proximity to each other, who met in conference rooms to figure out what they were trying to achieve and how to get there.
World changed a lot from that time: today’s work environment doesn’t always guarantee that luxury. Many first-time managers find themselves assigned to a team of people located in different places with the double trouble of having a new team and not having it physically there.
Having a distributed team is not an easy task since can feel overwhelming as it requires dealing with many different types of distances: geographic, temporal, cultural, linguistic, and “configuration” (the relative number of members in each location). Each of these dimensions affects team dynamics and, therefore, have an impact on effectiveness and performance.
The good news is that not all aspects of team dynamic are dependent on distance.
So where does distance kick in?
Perceiving people is priority. Distance affects how you feel about people. Dealing with it triggers a sense of “social distance”, an unshared sense of identity, or an “us versus them” feeling. A lack of shared identity has a very strong impact on teams and their handling.
Knowing people is priority as well. Distance creates asymmetries in knowledge and behaviour: simply you don’t know what they know — and vice versa. Why does this matter? Because a shared sense of context, is a key element of your ability to coordinate and collaborate. The more you create it and maintain it, the easier will be to handle the team.
While it may come as a bit of a surprise, distance doesn’t change the fundamental rules of the game. A global virtual team is any case a team, and just because your group is distributed doesn’t mean that most of the management techniques would not work at all.
Managing the team remotely.
First things first: don’t panic. You will work it out in a way or another. Remember that distributed teams are made up of people like any other team. As a manager, encourage everyone to engage in one perspective.
Second, remember the basics. Equip yourself with a well-tested model of team effectiveness and use it to help structure your thinking.
Finally, reinforce what is shared: your team purpose. All teams are designed to achieve something and if the team is designed well, team members depend on each other to achieve their goal.
