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Tip Sheet
Leading Dispersed Teams
üEstablish trust through face- to-face meetings.
üDon't expect technology to
replace face time.
üCreate protocols for decision
making and communication.
üDon't allow molehill problems
to grow into mountains.
üAct quickly to squash "us vs.
them" divisions. |
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Diana Brooks Associates helps people and organizations maximize their success through effective leadership and communication strategies.
A speaker, trainer and coach, Diana provides free initial consultations. She can be reached at 413.458.8263 or through her website at dianabrooksassociates.com.
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But is it valid? Well...
# I took the test (see article at right) and found it to support pretty much what other assess-ments had found: creator + teacher/influencer (yikes! a consultant!).
# Anecdotally, eight colleagues who took the test had plausible results, three did not.
# The assessment is not validat-ed by decades of research like MBTI, so don't expect it to be at the same level. Expect it only to be fun!
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Today's Quote
"If we do not have peace, it's because we have forgotten we belong to each other."
- Mother Teresa
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Tips, Tools & Tactics |
Working together, but not necessarily nearby
You've probably noticed how common dispersed teams are these days (people who are not "co-located" in the same office). Lately I have been working with a number of organizations on leading teams dispersed across towns, states, even countries, and I have been struck by the size of the challenges involved. Just because dispersed teams sometimes make economic and strategic sense, doesn't make leading them easy! 
Trust: Not Helped by Distance
Effective teams depend on open communication (Teambuilding 101, right?) Did you realize, though, that trust (based on communica-tion) is the very quality most difficult to build at a distance?
For this reason and others, I often suggest that if you can get your team together face-to-face only once during a project, do it at the beginning. You'll establish trust as you plan the project together, formulate guidelines for working, and create expectations for decision-making and communication.
Molehills become Mountains
When geography divides a team, team members occasionally separate into "us" and "them" and molehills can become mountains very quickly. In managing a dispersed team, never sit and wait for things to work out, as they are unlikely to. Regular check-ins and updates are even more essential than with the co-located team.
And since a dispersed team invariably experiences some type of interpersonal conflict, the leader needs to provide a process or training in managing conflicts well before they occur. Too many of us believe, "We're all grown-ups here; we'll talk things through," But when the tension rises, we may find we don't actually know how.
Technology vs. Face-to-Face
Face-to-face meetings are still essential. Bring the team together at regular intervals. Of course communication technologies are necessary for running a dispersed team-- they are just not as sufficient as most of us wish.
The team together can best decide which communication technologies will work for them: Email? Wiki? Video conferencing? Intranet I.M.? All have huge apeal and equally huge drawbacks. Many of my clients have told me they expected video conferencing meetings would be "just like face-to-face." What they found was that it is more complex: guite good for decision-making, not so good for more casual or iterative aspects of discussion, such as brainstorming.
Dispersed teams do present unique challenges. And although we sometimes underestimate the complications of working at a distance, in time we will--by necessity--become adept, helping dispersed teams to realize their full potential. |
Your Work Style--In Living Color Yet!
Five Minutes to Self-Awareness???
Are you an ENTJ or an ISFP? Maybe you're a High-D or a High-C.... If this jargon sounds familiar, you've probably taken a Myer-Briggs Type Indicator or a DISC work style profile. Now here's a new one. Just for fun, check out this work preference assessment from CareerPath:
http://www.careerpath.com/career-tests/colorcareercounselor.aspx.
It takes less than five minutes to respond to three requests, each of which involves arranging blocks of color in the order of your preference. You can do it for free--just provide a valid email address and ignore requests to become a member.
No one I've talked to yet knows how it works, but what is interesting is that the test is nonverbal, so there's no way to "game" the test, as with MBTI or DISC, where you can choose an answer that reflects a more outgoing or decisive "you" for example.
But if you want five minutes of fun that's all about YOU, click the link. Send me an email to let me know how it works out for you!
[For a comment on validity, see the box above left.] | |
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