Is this virtual team building or the remote building of the virtual team? Is the process of the build virtual or is the team virtual, or both. Maybe none? This is a fundamental reflection to start to be successful.
Let’s have an analogy, better or worst but good enough. If your relative is in the other country or city, is this a virtual or real family member? Is then family real or virtual?
Probably this is a real membership of real family as long as relationships in this family have been developed properly. Did on-site presence helped to develop the relationship? I don’t want to go further with this, anyone can have the own judgment.
And with this fundamental conclusion, we can start the team building journey of the real virtual team. Probably a.i. better to think as not virtual, but:
- remote,
- distributed
- and limited (constrained) with direct (onsite) interactions.
I am not saying then I am not a supporter of virtual teams term, all I am saying this term is risky as long as is read in a too direct way. Too easy interpretation implicates a virtual reality of virtual entity. And this is the beginning of the end, how not to be successful about a remote team management.
Virtual team building:
- team is real, but distributed, diverse and remote
- team falls into all team building aspects has to be managed ? (read: inspired, self organized and focused and engaged)
- team is a collection of individuals, talents, different personalities (types), different cultures or ways of behaviors. But now they (we) are the team. The idea would be to provide a space for each of the talent to act as a talent
- still needs a direction. Probably better an objective(s) or the purpose of the existence. Not just a team objective, but greater context: program, department or company business strategy short, mid and long term.
- Non of the virtual team building principle is really different then any team, except sometimes an extremely high level of the distancing: geographically, time and frequency of the meetings.
Successful (virtual) team building:
- team is a team (friends will be friends). No matter onsite, remote or hybrid. Team and you deserve to get maximum of this relationship and teaming together. Does it need to be sweet and nice? Not really, can be extremely formal and objectives led. Team is about what to do, then how to do. Anybody who believes or applies team building in the other sequence, is creating a challenge for team and him(her)self from start.
- team has to have a purpose or objective. No purpose, no strategy, no nothing – it’s probably a tea club (one of my mentors used to say ‘it’s not a tea club’ – to my great disappointment – as I’ve never belonged to any) (no tea?)
- team needs a leader. Organizer, manager, coach, moderator, coordinator, etc. Doesn’t really matter. Formal or informal, on an org chart or not. Coming from here or elsewhere. But needs a leader. Hello? Have you ever heard about self-organizing teams, flat structure and no leader? Yes. I am coming to this point, too. Is leader’s presence required all of the time? No. What %, 20/50/80? Don’t know – it depends, sometimes 0%, sometimes 100%, sometimes more sometimes less. That’s the beauty of the team and leader if they’re both developed properly – they know how and when to adjust. Can team have 2 or 3 leaders. Probably (have you ever hear 2 in The Box – 2IB – or 3 in the Box – 3IB idea?). But when the crisis or milestone moment comes, the leader (read: decision maker or better risk taker) probably is the one. It’s then all about the magical word of the –
- accountability. A team has an accountability and a leader has an accountability. Accountability of the team, of their development and eventually of the team results. No results, something goes wrong. Is this a team fault or the leader’s fault. Sometimes yes, sometimes no (organization under deep change – rings a bell?). It even it’s a poor performance and no results, the real team and team leader take the full accountability for the situation and come up with the recovery or crisis management plan. Probably is good to use a good weather to build a team before crisis or deep changes happens.
- Lifecycle. First is to determine what moment of time lifecycle this is (Tucman’s): forming, storming, norming or performing? Or bit of variation of above: norming with frequent rotation of team members? Or constant disruption. Team volatility is something I will come back to in this blog later on. That’s even more a challenge then remote ways of working.
- Frequency of the interactions. I don’t even now if the frequency is more important, or the interaction (quality of this one). Probably both and they are looping back. Every good team interaction is steadily building a high team performance and team belonging. It creates a engagement, fun and commitment to the goals taken. As long as they are SMART or simply logical.
Now let’s talk finally virtual (remote) ways of working. Is this no a priority and why coming so late in this article? It’s a priority but only after a classical teaming principles (some of those mentioned above). Even the greatest remote toolset won’t be successful if team is not a team and isn’t build methodologically.
(Some of the) effective tools and methods of remote team interactions:
- DSU – daily standup meetings – preferably daily, or every second day with a core team (probably anything between 5-10 people is productive, but if group is well used to can be even more) to align:
- team’s objectives and strategy long mid short term
- team’s issues and risks under way or just popped up
- individual objectives and strategies mid and short term
- individual issues and risks under way or just popped up
- any other business or what’s up questions (just to provide some margin for team building)
Few takeaways for a good enough DSU: - Align means highlight, briefly discuss (detailed discussion always off line with target group capable to solve) and prioritize.
- Prioritize means DSU has to be faciliated by moderator (PM, Scrum Master, Product Owner, whoever) and priorities have to be set.
- To be successful (read: teams meets their objectives) sequence is important. Team before individual.
Team resistance to DSU versus 1/week status updates? This a change management topic, but probably it’s enough as always to explain the benefits and ask the team for credit of trust when trying. Eventually let the team to shape the meetings. Successful DSU (=successful moderator)? This one might be opposite then popular sources are referring, but require always a few bullet point of DSU minutes of the meeting: - what’s been discussed
- what’s agreed (prioritized or sequenced)
- what’s the next milestones
- who’s on what action.
- RACI responsibilities assignment matrix and RAM responsibility assignment matrix. Both matrices are printable deliverables of the bit longer but very inspiring exercise of shaping the team resources and setting up team for success. Content and result can be facilitated with management (as given) or with a team (as shaped). Details of shaping will be described potentially later in this blog, what’s essential – i am preferably the supported of the hybrid approach, so having either management (resource and program management) either team members (in a team-discussions, sometimes individually) being shaping the matrices. Rule of thumb is simple – team member volunteering and shaping own tasks (Responsibilities and Accountabilities) executes them better (with passion and engagements). It’s in the end team or team member responsibility not mine. They need to feel good (also trained, prepared and equipped) to be successful in their roles so to meet the –
- Expectations and expectations management. That’s probably the most undisovered and most cutting edge concept of any team or program management. It’s was fully absorbed by me, only during the PMI Program Management studies, where the Program Management standard clearly outlined a simple but critical aspect of the Stakeholders: stakeholders can’t be managed, but what can be managed are their expectations. Having this principle applied to the team (and any program stakeholders) we are already half way successful: team needs to get presented the expectations for them to be met, and those expectations need to be managed. Expectation is an area of discussion, conflict or facilitation, not the team or team member itself. It’s a fundamental shift from the persona-oriented view to the deliverable-oriented view.
4. Communication. Verbal and non verbal, email versus networking tools, video over voice. PMI says 90% of work of the PM is the communication. Is this a true statement? Regardless the real figure, it’s a lot. Virtual communication is somehow different (difficult?), but without getting too much into details (only) emails do not work. There has to be interaction over video or minimum voice. Why? Again PMBoK or any other sources provide an answers: +70% of the message content is provided non-verbally (tone of voice, facial reactions, body language, etc.). Can those all be seen over email? How about then formal and informal communication? Topic at its own, but successful virtual management requires successful communication strategy.
5. Deliverables. Vide above, one of those would be Communication Strategy (Communication Cadence). Team needs to know what and how often who meets whom to be part of the program (and same way still have a time to work). And all the others:
- project/program plan, change management plan
- milestones management plan (plan on the page, program roadmap)
- RACI, RAM matrices
- Budget and Financial management documents
- RAID log (risk, actions, issues ,decision)
- Process deliverables (design, testing, build or dev, etc.)
- cutover plan, transition plans
- reporting and KPIs
Virtual meetings have to be focused to produce eventually a deliverable and maintain this over the program life cycle. Those PMs and teams who will develop this ability will be successful. No deliverables, not outcomes, no record of track. All the question is how to produce those with remote teams?
3F rule would help:
- framework (template + way how to get this filled or enhanced)
- facilitation (moderated session from time to time to check-in and discuss the content – virtual workshops)
- frequency (activity has to have a great level of frequency to have the deliverable up to date and as the living entity. It helps to revisit if this stays on track with the changing environment of the program).
Thoughts?
pmasaservice 