26 Apr Creating A Successful Geographically Dispersed Team
Teams working remotely is nothing new, but in today’s ever-changing world where businesses work across time zones and more individuals are choosing to work from home; creating a successful, coherent, highly functioning team is not without its challenges.
Every team goes through the development stages from forming to performing. True success, however, comes from bringing new members into a successful team without derailing it and taking it back to the storming stage. Doing this once is admirable but could be luck. Doing this repeatedly cannot be left to chance, it must be thought through thoroughly, planned carefully and executed consistently well, to ensure the team and business continue to grow and remain successful.
So how do we turn a one-off success into a well-oiled approach which can work consistently, even when operating in different locations and on different time zones? When face-to-face meetings are a rarity not the norm!
Having a shared culture and beliefs. This is the starting point and back bone to success. Knowing what works within your company culture and being honest about it, makes it much easier to set out on the journey of selecting the right individuals. Using common language which sets clear and consistent expectations, particularly around hiring, is invaluable. Knowing all the key stakeholders are talking about and mean the same thing when they use the common company language, ensures they are aligned and saves disputes and misunderstanding during the hiring process or worse after the individual has joined.
This shared belief system, often contained in living the company values, shows the respect and trust in the way people work, particularly when separated by time and distance. It is the little things, punctuality for meetings, being flexible when others are joining from different time zones, and trust that when you sign off from the zoom call to head to bed, others who are starting their day, will pick up the mantle and will follow through to keep the process moving in the interests of the candidate.
You need a clear vision and strategy. It needs to be articulated and communicated externally, as well as understood and valued internally. Having this and being able to turn it into an easily explainable purpose and ambition for the organisation, is a magnet to attract the right people. Businesses which can project a clear, attractive brand vision into the marketplace have a larger and more willing talent pool to choose from, particularly where people will work away from the office or in a different country.
As part of the strategy development, it is imperative that there are common companywide goals and aims, which are prioritised to know where the needs in the organisation truly lie. In turn, this means the organisation knows where resources need to be deployed and therefore where gaps are that need to be filled. A well-thought-out strategy with milestones will help predict future needs in the organisational structure and indicate where external recruitment will be needed because internal succession planning won’t fill the gap.
Have rigorous processes. Start with clear selection criteria, well defined role descriptions which have clear objectives aligned with the company goals. This ensures that every role being recruited is needed and truly adds value. This may feel obvious but so often organisations fall at this first hurdle and start down the road of recruitment not clear on what it is they are looking for, or the role the new hire will play in improving the team. Adjusting the brief on the hoof is fatal nine out of ten times, and as a minimum is a waste of time and effort but more importantly can disrupt a successfully functioning team.
As part of the process, ensure there are role-specific behaviours and attributes you are looking for which can be methodically and objectively assessed. It is not just about what needs to get done but how it gets done which is important. New members joining a team might deliver on the objectives set but if they go about it in the wrong way it can cause turmoil.
The next key stage is to follow through with well-structured induction and on-boarding processes. These need to be designed to ensure new colleagues’ success, but at the same time monitor and assesses their progress along a predefined program with well-defined criteria. A feedback loop also needs to form part of it, to assess what’s worked and what hasn’t and to constantly improve the recruitment and induction process end to end.
Strive for clear and constant communication and engagement. Share helpful hints, tips and observations around the team which help to select and grow the right people. There can be no internal competition which promotes holding onto useful information, the only measure of success is that the whole team owns recruitment and celebrates the success of an individual passing probation.
Have clear policies, procedures and templates set up and widely circulated to make the recruitment process easy, responsive and engaging for the recruiting managers and the candidates. Knowing up front what to expect and when, is reassuring for a candidate looking to join the organisation, particularly when it could be over zoom or at an unusual time because someone is abroad. A smooth, professional, engaging process creates a great first impression and gets even unsuccessful candidates singing the praises of your business and telling everyone they wish they had been successful.
Working across continents, with teams who are spread far and wide can work and does work extremely well. Creating the team through the selection of the right candidates can’t be left to luck or smoothed over and moulded in water cooler discussions, because they don’t happen in the same way in remote working environments.
Creating and sustaining a successful dispersed team, is about being very clear on the gaps you have in your organisation, not just now but what you can see coming down the track. It is about seeing that gap clearly as a ‘round hole’, not square or a bit hexagonal, but round, and going out and selecting the best ‘round peg’ you can find to fill it. Not just any old round peg, but the right size, right substance, and right consistency of round peg you know will fit your organisation’s particular needs. If you have a vison, have the right processes, and communicate clearly and consistently, then you will select the right individuals to join your business and fit within its culture no matter where they are located.
