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Flexility POV - Managing Virtual Teams

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Gail Kirby
Gail Kirby

The manager of a global IT support team faced several challenges: [1] ensuring business continuity across time zones, [2] maintaining a shared knowledge base to resolve issues quickly, and [3] building team cohesion across geographic distances. To address these, the manager standardized communication tools and processes, increased opportunities for in-person interaction, and balanced remote and on-site work. This improved information sharing and strengthened relationships within the virtual team.

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Points of View Managing international teams Virtual teams are often the first to adopt new collaboration technology but getting the most out of it may require a rethink of existing working practices. We explore the challenges of one virtual manager and the solutions that worked. A variety of communications tools were used, including The Situation one-to-one calls on fixed phones, teleconferencing, email, A major player in the inspection, certification and testing business IM, and web-conferencing. Team members used the business we are looking at employs more than 64,000 people communication technologies according to personal and operates a network of over 1,250 offices and laboratories preference rather than suitability to the content of around the world. The operations rely on the smooth running of a communication. The manager needed to simplify and global ERP system and its integration with external execution standardise team communication methods to ensure systems, which are local. critical knowledge and data was captured effectively. The ERP system is supported by an internal IT support team that The Solutions provides technical assistance and support across the business. This team comprises 15 members interacting with ¡°super users¡± who Communication processes and tools: centralise queries in their region. Team members are scattered in Central ticketing system for team members to self- various countries and locations across 3 time zones and report to a allocate tickets and update their status manager in Switzerland. IM for day to day communications regarding simple issues One-to-one calls with email summary for complex issues The Challenges Email to retain record of issue For the team to operate successfully the manager needed to Tele-conferencing and web-sharing of documents for overcome three main challenges: wider team communications and dealing with more complex issues Ensure business continuity across time zones when queries (or tickets) could not be resolved (closed) in the Team spirit and isolation: time zone where it originated Various frequencies and timings for the regular team calls Maintain a virtual pool of shared experience and across time zones were tested. Now a weekly call is knowledge to close tickets quickly and effectively attended by team members from alternate pairs of time Operate as one team across a wide geographical spread zones and a monthly or bi-monthly team call is joined by The team¡¯s communications and collaboration patterns needed to all team members across the 3 time zones be improved by embedding clear processes and simplifying the set Two team-building events are held to bring the team of communications tools used: together face-to-face. To ensure continuity of the team¡¯s operations, tickets are partly covered by those attending To operate effectively in a reactive environment the and the rest by remaining team members manager needed to have a standard system for fielding One-to-one project work is conducted ad-hoc in the same and dealing with tickets physical location by selected team members. To bring together a very diverse team with a great variety Site visits are carried out during projects to encourage of cultural, professional and personal backgrounds, the face-to-face interaction with colleagues and internal manager needed to create a strong team spirit. This was clients. particularly important as team members operated from a mixture of different offices and home environments. The manager working with his team ultimately recommended a mix Isolation was a problem. of remote and on-site work sessions for the team: ¡°The question ?1?
Points of View every manager has to ask is when (how often) it is appropriate to have an on-site work session and when a remote session is FLEXILITY IN ACTION ¨C CASE STUDY sufficient. All this depends on the structure of the team and especially on the working styles and the psychology of each team West Berkshire Council is implementing mobile and flexible working to deliver benefits for the organisation, its employees and its customers. The member. What helped me a lot to understand this was the team Head of HR wanted to provide managers with a training programme that event I organized with the help of an external facilitator.¡± would ready the teams for new ways of working. This manager summed up his experience as follows: ¡°In a reactive Flexility carried out a series of pre-workshop interviews with team leads, to environment like ours, there is little time to think strategically. identify a number of themes for consideration tailored to each team. Themes included: team cohesion, building a culture of trust, monitoring and Every manager is left to work out the solution and there is no motivating a dispersed workforce, and objective-setting and measurement. consistent approach in the organisation.¡± Source: Interview with the testing and inspection company Over 100 Managers attended a series of 1-day workshops to explore these themes and identify practical solutions that would work for the teams. They then developed action plans that each Service could take forward to Key Take Outs implementation. In addition to developing and facilitating the workshops, Flexility also delivered an online Resource Pack which provides ongoing In our experience, the kinds of challenges faced by this particular practical advice and team exercises for each of the core themes. manager affect teams in many types of organisations. One common ¡°The approach was highly practical and relevant for our Services¡±, says issue is the fact that team communications are becoming more Robert O¡¯Reilly, Head of HR. ¡°Our employees really valued the participative style, and the fact that it focused on what could be done straightaway to complex due to the fact that many tools are made available and prepare their teams for the change.¡± used without a consistent working approach and sufficient training. Interestingly, in the case of this company it was the manager and his team who worked out the solutions with some assistance from a The outputs facilitator. Methods of team communication are very much a product of individual teams, perhaps even the individuals in each At the end of Flexility facilitated sessions, teams own the issues team. So the expertise in defining the needs and processes usually they need to address and have agreed a specific team plan on how resides in the team. However making time to define their optimal they will address them. communication model is often hard, as day-to-day operations will There is no need to refer to a lengthy manual that, let¡¯s face it, always take precedence. This is particularly acute when a team is seems like a good idea but is never read afterwards. You will know spread across locations and time zones. Yet significant productivity there and then what the session delivers and your business will gains can be made and new technology will be adopted more benefit immediately from improved team spirit and cohesion. consistently when the teams are involved in actively defining their Our facilitated sessions deliver: communications processes and tools. A clearly defined and jointly agreed list of the issues a It is at the point of introducing new technology or shortly after team faces when implementing flexible/mobile working that this can be done most effectively. By investing a little time The team¡¯s agreed resolutions to tackle these issues upfront in a facilitated working session the manager and his team A specific action plan with clear tasks, owners and get to the solutions faster, adoption is more consistent, and team timeline cohesion is greater. An independent follow-up assessment of implementation to help embed the change, and on-call support for teams Our approach during the change We believe that true change can only come by involving those affected by the change in creating the solutions. We do not believe About Flexility that a quick fix PowerPoint deck based approach to training works. We are specialists in assessing and deploying successful mobile and It takes something more. Flexility provides facilitated training flexible working programmes. Our skills, tools and experience sessions that enable teams to embed flexible and mobile working provide insight into how to best enable teams to work when and practices, particularly team communications, in every day where it makes sense for them to do so, without compromising processes. security or service. We provide actionable recommendations and We work with organisations to define the management issues to help set and track achievable targets for successful implementation. tackle and provide the tools to include in the sessions. Participants do not walk out with a deck of ready-made one-size- Contact us now to find out how we can help you info@flexility.co.uk fits-all solutions. Instead our facilitators enable teams to explore Find out more about us at www.flexility.co.uk their challenges and agree the actions they will implement to a commonly agreed timeline. We back this up by being on call and revisiting the teams down the line to help them review progress and ? August 2011 Flexility Limited ? Other product and company names mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners. The information contained in this publication is correct at the time of going to print. Such information may be subject to change and services may be modified, supplemented or withdrawn by make adjustments as necessary. Flexility without prior notice. All services are subject to terms and conditions, copies of which may be obtained upon request ? www.flexility.co.uk ? Registered in England No. 6578126 ?2?

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Flexility POV - Managing Virtual Teams

  • 1. Points of View Managing international teams Virtual teams are often the first to adopt new collaboration technology but getting the most out of it may require a rethink of existing working practices. We explore the challenges of one virtual manager and the solutions that worked. A variety of communications tools were used, including The Situation one-to-one calls on fixed phones, teleconferencing, email, A major player in the inspection, certification and testing business IM, and web-conferencing. Team members used the business we are looking at employs more than 64,000 people communication technologies according to personal and operates a network of over 1,250 offices and laboratories preference rather than suitability to the content of around the world. The operations rely on the smooth running of a communication. The manager needed to simplify and global ERP system and its integration with external execution standardise team communication methods to ensure systems, which are local. critical knowledge and data was captured effectively. The ERP system is supported by an internal IT support team that The Solutions provides technical assistance and support across the business. This team comprises 15 members interacting with ¡°super users¡± who Communication processes and tools: centralise queries in their region. Team members are scattered in Central ticketing system for team members to self- various countries and locations across 3 time zones and report to a allocate tickets and update their status manager in Switzerland. IM for day to day communications regarding simple issues One-to-one calls with email summary for complex issues The Challenges Email to retain record of issue For the team to operate successfully the manager needed to Tele-conferencing and web-sharing of documents for overcome three main challenges: wider team communications and dealing with more complex issues Ensure business continuity across time zones when queries (or tickets) could not be resolved (closed) in the Team spirit and isolation: time zone where it originated Various frequencies and timings for the regular team calls Maintain a virtual pool of shared experience and across time zones were tested. Now a weekly call is knowledge to close tickets quickly and effectively attended by team members from alternate pairs of time Operate as one team across a wide geographical spread zones and a monthly or bi-monthly team call is joined by The team¡¯s communications and collaboration patterns needed to all team members across the 3 time zones be improved by embedding clear processes and simplifying the set Two team-building events are held to bring the team of communications tools used: together face-to-face. To ensure continuity of the team¡¯s operations, tickets are partly covered by those attending To operate effectively in a reactive environment the and the rest by remaining team members manager needed to have a standard system for fielding One-to-one project work is conducted ad-hoc in the same and dealing with tickets physical location by selected team members. To bring together a very diverse team with a great variety Site visits are carried out during projects to encourage of cultural, professional and personal backgrounds, the face-to-face interaction with colleagues and internal manager needed to create a strong team spirit. This was clients. particularly important as team members operated from a mixture of different offices and home environments. The manager working with his team ultimately recommended a mix Isolation was a problem. of remote and on-site work sessions for the team: ¡°The question ?1?
  • 2. Points of View every manager has to ask is when (how often) it is appropriate to have an on-site work session and when a remote session is FLEXILITY IN ACTION ¨C CASE STUDY sufficient. All this depends on the structure of the team and especially on the working styles and the psychology of each team West Berkshire Council is implementing mobile and flexible working to deliver benefits for the organisation, its employees and its customers. The member. What helped me a lot to understand this was the team Head of HR wanted to provide managers with a training programme that event I organized with the help of an external facilitator.¡± would ready the teams for new ways of working. This manager summed up his experience as follows: ¡°In a reactive Flexility carried out a series of pre-workshop interviews with team leads, to environment like ours, there is little time to think strategically. identify a number of themes for consideration tailored to each team. Themes included: team cohesion, building a culture of trust, monitoring and Every manager is left to work out the solution and there is no motivating a dispersed workforce, and objective-setting and measurement. consistent approach in the organisation.¡± Source: Interview with the testing and inspection company Over 100 Managers attended a series of 1-day workshops to explore these themes and identify practical solutions that would work for the teams. They then developed action plans that each Service could take forward to Key Take Outs implementation. In addition to developing and facilitating the workshops, Flexility also delivered an online Resource Pack which provides ongoing In our experience, the kinds of challenges faced by this particular practical advice and team exercises for each of the core themes. manager affect teams in many types of organisations. One common ¡°The approach was highly practical and relevant for our Services¡±, says issue is the fact that team communications are becoming more Robert O¡¯Reilly, Head of HR. ¡°Our employees really valued the participative style, and the fact that it focused on what could be done straightaway to complex due to the fact that many tools are made available and prepare their teams for the change.¡± used without a consistent working approach and sufficient training. Interestingly, in the case of this company it was the manager and his team who worked out the solutions with some assistance from a The outputs facilitator. Methods of team communication are very much a product of individual teams, perhaps even the individuals in each At the end of Flexility facilitated sessions, teams own the issues team. So the expertise in defining the needs and processes usually they need to address and have agreed a specific team plan on how resides in the team. However making time to define their optimal they will address them. communication model is often hard, as day-to-day operations will There is no need to refer to a lengthy manual that, let¡¯s face it, always take precedence. This is particularly acute when a team is seems like a good idea but is never read afterwards. You will know spread across locations and time zones. Yet significant productivity there and then what the session delivers and your business will gains can be made and new technology will be adopted more benefit immediately from improved team spirit and cohesion. consistently when the teams are involved in actively defining their Our facilitated sessions deliver: communications processes and tools. A clearly defined and jointly agreed list of the issues a It is at the point of introducing new technology or shortly after team faces when implementing flexible/mobile working that this can be done most effectively. By investing a little time The team¡¯s agreed resolutions to tackle these issues upfront in a facilitated working session the manager and his team A specific action plan with clear tasks, owners and get to the solutions faster, adoption is more consistent, and team timeline cohesion is greater. An independent follow-up assessment of implementation to help embed the change, and on-call support for teams Our approach during the change We believe that true change can only come by involving those affected by the change in creating the solutions. We do not believe About Flexility that a quick fix PowerPoint deck based approach to training works. We are specialists in assessing and deploying successful mobile and It takes something more. Flexility provides facilitated training flexible working programmes. Our skills, tools and experience sessions that enable teams to embed flexible and mobile working provide insight into how to best enable teams to work when and practices, particularly team communications, in every day where it makes sense for them to do so, without compromising processes. security or service. We provide actionable recommendations and We work with organisations to define the management issues to help set and track achievable targets for successful implementation. tackle and provide the tools to include in the sessions. Participants do not walk out with a deck of ready-made one-size- Contact us now to find out how we can help you info@flexility.co.uk fits-all solutions. Instead our facilitators enable teams to explore Find out more about us at www.flexility.co.uk their challenges and agree the actions they will implement to a commonly agreed timeline. We back this up by being on call and revisiting the teams down the line to help them review progress and ? August 2011 Flexility Limited ? Other product and company names mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners. The information contained in this publication is correct at the time of going to print. Such information may be subject to change and services may be modified, supplemented or withdrawn by make adjustments as necessary. Flexility without prior notice. All services are subject to terms and conditions, copies of which may be obtained upon request ? www.flexility.co.uk ? Registered in England No. 6578126 ?2?