Working with distributed teams: How I learned to stop worrying and love WebEx
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Describes differences between the office of yesterday, where everyone was located together and usually shared values, backgrounds, and institutional memory - and today's distributed work teams, where people never meet in person and come from a wide variety of backgrounds and expectations.
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Working with distributed teams: How I learned to stop worrying and love WebEx
- 1. Working with distributed teams or How I learned to stop worrying and love WebEx Larry Kunz October 29, 2014 #writersua #techcomm
- 2. What we’ll cover today • The workplace of yesterday vs. the workplace of today Oct 29, 2014 @larry_kunz • What’s a manager (or anyone) to do? • Corporate culture
- 3. The workplace of Oct 29, 2014 @larry_kunz yesterday Gathering around the water cooler Image: Really, really bad clip art
- 4. Oct 29, 2014 @larry_kunz …and today Gathering around the water cooler Gathering around the WebEx… …maybe at 6:00 am Image: ivci.com
- 5. So what’s a manager to Oct 29, 2014 @larry_kunz do? • Make plenty of opportunities for the team to meet in real time (at least weekly) • Have everyone contribute • Ensure easy access to software builds • Create a team directory
- 6. The workplace of Oct 29, 2014 @larry_kunz yesterday Communication channels are obvious and well understood
- 7. Oct 29, 2014 @larry_kunz …and today Communication channels are obvious and well understood Team members prefer different styles No common understanding of tools and expectations
- 8. So what’s a manager to Oct 29, 2014 @larry_kunz do? • Don’t assume that everyone communicates in the same way • Explicitly set up communication channels • Reinforce messages • Monitor to make sure everyone is taking part • One size doesn’t fit all… …do what’s right for your team
- 9. The workplace of Oct 29, 2014 @larry_kunz yesterday Everyone (or nearly) everyone shares a common background: Cultural mores Work experiences Goals and expectations
- 10. Oct 29, 2014 @larry_kunz …and today Everyone (or nearly) everyone shares a common background Heterogeneous Cultures Skill sets Expectations
- 11. So what’s a manager to Oct 29, 2014 @larry_kunz do? • Respect differences in style • Understand cultural differences • Ensure that everyone has a chance to be heard
- 12. The workplace of Oct 29, 2014 @larry_kunz yesterday Everyone works for The Company® Image: Apple “1984” commercial
- 13. Oct 29, 2014 @larry_kunz …and today Everyone works for The Company The team is likely to include Full-time employees Part-time employees Independent contractors Employees of one or more contract agencies
- 14. So what’s a manager to Oct 29, 2014 @larry_kunz do? • Don’t expect the same things from everybody • Provide an easy repository for policies, style guides, etc.
- 15. The workplace of Oct 29, 2014 @larry_kunz yesterday There are lots of “old hands” Mentoring is natural and common
- 16. Oct 29, 2014 @larry_kunz …and today There are lots of “old hands” Mentoring is natural and common Institutional memory is hard to come by Mentoring is harder when the team is geographically dispersed
- 17. So what’s a manager to Oct 29, 2014 @larry_kunz do? • Encourage mentoring when specific needs arise • Make mentoring short-term and focused • Make expectations clear to all (mentors and protégés)
- 18. Oct 29, 2014 @larry_kunz Case study The corporate culture at Automattic From Scott Berkun’s The Year without Pants: • There was a corporate office; hardly anyone ever went there • Little use of email; strong reliance on discussion lists • Great value placed on peers helping each other • Scott’s team met 3 or 4 times a year for a few days of intensive work (and fun) • Corporate culture: – We all work hard. – We’ve all got each other’s back. – If you're good with that, come join me. – If you’re not, don't. http://scottberkun.com/yearwithoutpants/
- 19. Oct 29, 2014 @larry_kunz Case study The corporate culture at Automattic • Scott insists that you can establish a corporate culture if you really want • Whether people work remotely or not, is immaterial Scott’s tweets: When the boss reads and writes carefully, everyone else follows. When they read and write thoughtlessly, everyone follows. Culture is grown, not built. Leader has to defend cultural values in their behavior, & hire people who match them. That's it.
- 20. Corporate culture Oct 29, 2014 @larry_kunz • Provides a framework for – Employee interaction – Collaboration – Connecting with clients, customers • Is not outmoded • Just might be more vital than ever
- 21. Oct 29, 2014 @larry_kunz Your Turn
- 22. Oct 29, 2014 @larry_kunz Stay in Touch! Larry Kunz Twitter: @larry_kunz larrykunz.wordpress.com
Editor's Notes
- Today we’ll cover: The workplace of yesterday vs. the workplace of today What’s a manager to do? And BTW – what’s an employee to do? If you’re not the manager, you can still follow these best practices A few words about corporate culture Feel free to ask questions at any time
- I intentionally picked an outmoded piece of clip art To illustrate how outmoded the Workplace of Yesterday has become Gathering around the water cooler …and bumping into people in the break room, or in the hallway… Meant that everyone got to know each other as individuals Interaction was more informal, usually more comfortable You felt like you were part of a team, because the team was all around you Built camaraderie, trust Also, everyone had easy access to the software as it was being developed… “Step into the lab; look at this”
- Today – no water cooler No office in common Instead, we “meet” by phone conference or Web conference Often at unconventional times of the day, because team members are located in places like India, China, and Japan
- Regular phone (or web) meetings At least weekly Call on everyone in turn – don’t wait for them to speak, or some will monopolize & others will stay silent Make sure everyone has easy access to software builds Distribute regular updates, or grant access to a shared server Create a team contacts directory – even with hobbies, interests, etc., if appropriate Include photos – anything so that team members see each other as people Forums/wikis for exchanging info Ideally in a less formal, more “human” way This will build a team identity Pick the things that will work with your team Every team is different
- Communication channels are obvious and well understood Everyone’s in the same place Everyone knows how the communication process works
- Team members prefer different communication styles Some like voice conversation, others prefer written IM vs email Etc. There’s no consensus on the best communication methods
- Don’t assume that everyone communicates in the same way Some people communicate loudly; some softly For some, silence is assent – for others it’s disagreement Some won’t speak up in a group meeting, only one-on-one Some might not speak verbally at all (especially if they’re ESL) but prefer to communicate in writing Assume that in every conversation, the risk of misunderstanding is at least doubled Reinforce messages: Validate a phone call with an email, for example, saying “here’s what we agreed on” Don’t assume that everyone came away with the same message Monitor communication to ensure that all are taking part; no one’s being left behind
- Homogeneous work teams Same cultural values Similar work experience Many members have worked their entire careers for the same company If not for the same company, then similar training and similar backgrounds Similar goals, expectations Similar ideas about work/life balance Similar work ethic
- Now everything has pretty much turned on its head Maybe I’m a UI designer Someone else is a technical writer …or a programmer …or something else Maybe you have people from several different countries (more on that later)
- Respect differences in style Ask additional questions to draw out someone who’s reluctant Understand and respect cultural differences Ensure that everyone has a chance to be heard [recognizing that communication styles differ, as above]
- They knew the corporate culture Their loyalties lay in the same place They were more likely to know – and more motivated to know…. ….Corporate style guides, policies, standards, etc.
- Now you can’t count on people knowing the “culture” The good news is: People bring several different perspectives No one assumes that there’s only one right way to do things
- Don’t expect the same things from everybody Provide an easy repository for policies, style guides, etc. And provide training Even if it’s informal training, a one-on-one briefing when a new person joins the team
- There are lots of “old hands” Plenty of institutional knowledge Processes and requirements were well understood Even if not by everyone, there was always “Joe down the hall” who you could ask ….Often there were several “Joes” Mentoring is natural and common With close, in-person interaction, mentors and protégés often took to each other
- Now you can’t count on people knowing the basic “how to” things “Joe down the hall” might no longer exist because of downsizing, spinning off of business units, offshoring, etc. If he does exist, he’s not someone I know personally – so I’m less likely to approach him Many times no one knows policies & procedures On a team I recently joined, I often find that this is often the case I have to search for the P&Ps on the web And then I find other team members seeking me out, because suddenly I’m the expert Even if people do know the processes…. ….The lack of physical proximity makes casual mentoring relationships difficult Mentoring doesn’t just happen – someone has a need, someone sees the need and offers to help
- Encourage team members to mentor each other when specific needs arise By this I mean: Ask someone specifically to mentor another person Don’t just say “mentoring is good,” sit back, and wait for it to happen When you set up a mentoring relationship, make it short-term and focused on a specific thing Example: Sally, teach Bob how to prepare the project files for translation If it blossoms into a full-blown mentoring relationship, great If it doesn’t, don’t force it Make sure expectations are clear to all (mentors and protégés) Mentors don’t feel caught by surprise Protégés don’t feel shortchanged
- Automattic is the company responsible for wordpress.com Its name is a play on the first name of its founder, Matt Mullenweg Small company (Scott was something like employee #50) People worked from all around the world Matt was definitely the focal point He projected a culture of openness, hard work Key observation: Matt projected a corporate culture, and people bought in
- The staff will follow the boss’s example – for good or for bad If you focus on establishing a corporate culture, you can build one Larry’s corollary: If you don’t focus on establishing a corporate culture, you might build one anyway – by default But it’s probably not going to be the one you want Scott’s tweets (posted on Twitter by @berkun in October 2014) These reflect the way Matt Mullenweg ran his company
- Let me say a word about corporate culture Obviously it was important to Scott Berkun I’m a fan of it too With the move toward distributed teams, it might seem that corporate culture is becoming a thing of the past But I’d argue that corporate culture is more important than ever, since communication and collaboration must be more intentional than in the past (I think Scott Berkun would agree with me)
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