Friday, 1:45pm, Continental Ballroom
Not only do we work with people across the hall, across town, and across the country, but we also work with people we never meet from countries we know about only through Wikipedia or the Travel Channel.
Despite current financial upheavals, global work continues. The globalization genie is firmly out of the bottle.
Technology has provided us the ability to work in many ways, telecommute to save fuel and frustration, reduce travel costs , and use various forms of communication. The promise is there, yet the reality sometimes eludes us.
I’ve worked in situations where I reported to managers who were located miles away. Many times I felt as though they’d forgotten about me, and I was forced to Beg for contact through email and invitations to conference calls, remind them that, “Hey! I’m still here! Over here! On the phone!” I’ve even been on conference calls where the folks in the conference room began writing on their whiteboard, saying, “Joe, imagine there’s a pyramid . . . with layers. . . . ” It was not the most connected way to work.
Principles to Live By
Being remote doesn’t mean you have to be disconnected, yet it takes extra work to achieve a modicum of true connection, rather than perfunctory compliance. Understanding cultural ways of working has a profound effect on your ability to manage global teams.
Communication
Yes, I know it’s a cliché, but communication is critical to global collaboration.
Communication with remote team members is even more critical than communication with your team in the office. If you are in an office with multiple people, but only a few of your team members are remote, you run the risk of unintentionally ignoring them. And if, like me, you manage the team remotely, then you need to be explicit and frequent with your communication.
I like to have a one-on-one conversation each week with each team member. I also try to have a weekly roundtable discussion as a team. On projects, having short, daily meetings can provide critical touch points and feedback you might not think of if you’re in the same office.
Yet communication is more than simply hosting meetings or sending out emails. It’s also about your overall approach and your commitment to keeping your team engaged and informed.
Flexibility
As a manager, your dispersed, diverse team counts on you. You need to engender trust. So
consider adjusting your schedule.
Too often, local teams hold meetings convenient to them, disregarding remote team members.
I’ve seen US managers hold meetings at 2:00 PM Eastern Standard Time, forcing fellow Indian
employees to come to work at 12:30 AM India Standard Time.
When I managed a team of 25 people in three locations in India, I never met them. However, I
knew that they were looking to me for guidance. With a ten-and-a-half-hour time difference
separating us, I knew that holding meetings in the afternoon in Eastern Standard Time would
make it extremely difficult for them to participate. I knew they would; their work ethic was
nonpareil. Yet by adjusting my schedule a little, getting up earlier or staying awake a bit later, I
garnered respect because I showed them respect.
A meeting at 11:00 PM my time was a welcoming 9:30 AM in Chennai, Bangalore, or Noida. So
what if I stayed up until midnight? By changing my schedule, I allowed my team to have as
normal a life as possible.
Sensitivity
All managers need to be sensitive to the needs and the variegated lives of their team members.
As a manager of remote technical communicators, user experience analysts, and other creative
people, you must commit yourself to understanding their needs. Because you rarely (if ever)
meet with remote team members in person, you need to get to know them and their culture.
If you live in Chicago but your team member works out of her house in the French Quarter of
New Orleans, don’t set up meetings on the Monday before Mardi Gras. Even if she wants to
attend the meeting, she won’t be able to hear you. Or if you have team members in China, know
their holidays, such as the Spring Festival, so that you can respect their ability to participate in
them.
Courage
Above all, you should show courageous behavior and attitude. Be fearless in watching out for
your remote team members. We know the adage, “Out of sight, out of mind.” As a person who
manages out-of-sight employees, you need to be their watchdog, their filter, and their advocate.
To be these things, you need the courage to stand up for your employees when other teams and
management forget about them or marginalize them.
In addition, by being courageous, you engender yourself to the team as well as binding remote
employees to each other.
Tools
I’ll discuss how these and other tools help support the principles of management:
Telephone
Videoconferencing & Webcasting
Web-based Collaboration Tools
Microblogging
Final Thoughts
Tools, techniques, and principles help you connect with team members, no matter where you or
they are located. Yet above all, your best tool is empathy. Being empathetic with your team
enables you to reach across borders and boundaries to connect, inspire, and lead.
INSTRUCTOR
Joe Sokohl
Joe Sokohl has concentrated on crafting excellent user experiences, using technical
communication, information architecture, interaction design, and user research for the
past 17 years.
As UX Lead for PracticeWorks LLC, he leads a team in effective integration of user
experience into product development. Previously Joe held UX-oriented positions based in
Boston, MA; Hamburg, Germany; Richmond, VA; Chicago, IL; and Durham, NC. He
has also been a soldier, cook, radio DJ, and reporter once upon a time.