I am leading a project with a virtual team, the truth has been very difficult for me to manage the information and maintain a regularity in the progress of the project, meeting the time and delivery dates has become impossible. Saving Changes...
Colaboration tools are key, however knowing each team member and understand their communications needs will help you to manage them.
My recommendation is to schedule a virtual coffee - break, and try to have an informal conversation with them, so you will understand how they are doing working from home, if they need more flexibility with the meetings... Saving Changes...
Sergio Luis ConteHelping to create solutions for everyone| Worldwide based OrganizationsBuenos Aires, Argentina
Sep 24, 2017 12:24 PM
Replying to Eduin Fernando Valdes Alvarado
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Thank you for your great contribution
Gracias a vos. Abrazo desde Argentina. Saving Changes...
Larry MinerFounder and Sr. Project Management of Decision Memory Systems| Decision Memory SystemsBath, Oh, United States
Sep 24, 2017 10:51 AM
Replying to Sergio Luis Conte
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I am working in this type of environments from more than 20 years ago. I am saying that because at those times some technological tools that exist today did not exist. It is the same if you are working inside an organization where people is distributed between multiple buildings or offices in the same location. It demands a change of mind mainly in the project manager mind. That is the critical thing. At least for me that have to train and coach my teams because at this time not many people had the practical expertisse than me. So, the first thing to do is to review the project manager style itself. After that, @Peter listed useful tools above. In our case we use Microsoft based products like Outlook, Skype for business, etc. But tools are tools, not more than that. In my personal opinion there will not possibility to find a job as program/project/portfolio manager if you are not able to work in this type of envionments.
I couldn't agree more with Sergio. It doesn't matter whether they're on a different floors, another building, the next room or 3000 miles away. I could argue that most of us are virtual, setting in the same room now given current technology. Find a process that works for you. As an aside one of the largest insurance companies in the world has decided, given the virus, that none of their thousands and thousands of resources are coming back inside their buildings from this point forward. Same goes for Twitter. Saving Changes...
Anton OosthuizenSenior Business Analyst / Project Manager| Self EmployedPretoria, Gauteng, South Africa
Apr 22, 2018 12:48 AM
Replying to Kevin Drake
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F2F meeting to break the ice and build trust is essential
I found the best way to do it virtually is to have everything based on tasks and time frame of delivery. A bit challenging but it worked with me.
Agree. In these times it might be difficult but for this reason, I always request that people switch on their video, at least on the first meeting or first few minutes of a meeting, so that people can see who they are talking to.
Using enablers that are integrated is also important. Using M$ Teams is a great platform because it provides many of the tools we need to collaborate remotely but also makes it easy to integrate with 3rd party platforms that your team might already be invested in. Also, the ability to implement automated workflows makes sure that you mimic Mary walking past you and asking if you have approved that document yet. Saving Changes...
Peter RapinSubject Matter Expect; Project Delivery| Independent ConsultantOntario, Canada
All great suggestions. I can only add one: do not assume everything will work out all by itself. Have a detailed strategy, identify and analyze the risks and benefits, maintain flexibility, get input from your team, adjust the strategy to meet the demands.
Keep in mind that you are competing for your teams time and effort, even more so when in a virtual environment. Saving Changes...
