Communication In Remote Teams: What Does Done Look Like?

 

This week in the Project Shrink question box ([email protected]):

“Dear Project Shrink. At the end of the summer I will start a project with a remote team (my first) and we will be using an online project management tool to communicate and collaborate. What should be my number one priority to make a remote team effective?”

Ah. Your first. I remember...

Your number one priority running virtual teams is the same as running co-located teams: communication. But this time you’ll have to focus your efforts around the online tool you are going to use. In my experience the hardest part will be to make sure everyone on the team is participating in the online conversations. Some people have a natural touch for digital small talk, while others will only drop you a mail to indicate their result is available for download.

If you are starting out in the world of remote team management I would focus on two areas of communication. “What does done look like?” and “How far are we?” This are two essential questions for Project Managers.

What does done look like?

Instead of just assigning your team members their own tasks, you should start your project with explaining what the project is about. What goal are we trying to satisfy? What is the business challenge? What does the result look like? Basically, and that is my favorite way of putting this question, what does done look like?

Your team members will be more effective in their own contributions when they have a sense of the overall goal. They know how their work fits into the whole. When something is unclear, or they need to make a decision or they need have a discussion, they need to know in which direction you should be heading. And there is no way you can answer that question when you are isolated from the rest of the team.

Two simple strategies to let people know what done looks like:

• A description of the goal or business case at a central location. Find an in-your-face-spot at your online collaboration system and put it there for everyone to see.
   
• Create a common understanding, a common view of the goals. One story. Preferably a visual one. Because pictures still say more than something else. Your team can create a multi-media representation of what in their opinion is the project story. They can use their mobile phones to take picture or record short movies, use magazines to create a visual collage or interview their coworkers and write a short story. Discuss the results with the group and create a collective story. It will be fun. And very useful.

Next time I talk about the "How far are we?"-question.