Efficient distributed teams, a perfect mix of flexibility, scalability, and ability.
by Sergei Kizyan, CTO, Intetics.
The technological breakthroughs seen thus far in the 21st century has removed the barriers towards cooperation, communication and business creation between companies. Along with this tech boost, the 21st century has brought its own distinctive feature — virtual or distributed teams.
Though we all know and see how effective distributed teams are, this phenomenon still has its opponents. Most of them retain some prejudices that have few aspects in common with real life.
In this article, we review the most common points regarding distributed teams: the most popular fears about distributed teams, practical tips for the successful management of distributed teams, and benefits of cooperation with distributed teams.
The Fears and Complaints About Distributed Teams
· Communication problems
This is quite a common prejudice. Though it might seem that people working from different locations lack means of communication, but this is an incorrect assumption. The 21st century has seen a proliferation of messengers and online communication. Both co-located and distributed teams have moved online, and use the same tools. This has made face-to-face communication less necessary than several years ago.
Besides, many people often work from home these days, and visit the office several times per week. Some software engineers regard the atmosphere at home more productive for development tasks. The days of slow internet connection, disastrous web calls and expensive international calls are far behind us. Numerous communication tools have helped to eliminated these problems. Additionally, the dozens of augmented and virtual reality tools allow teams to meet and run discussions in one place. With all these technologies, the concerns about poor communication with, and inside distributed teams, are just a myth.
· Quiet participants and sense of being on an island
Another fear about distributed teams is connected with quiet and unmotivated employees. The main point here is that managers do not connect with them as often as with the in-house team members. Interpersonal communication in the workspace may suffer greatly. Along with that, the members of the distributed team may sometimes feel poorly informed about statuses, workflows, and processes.
However, the solution is rather obvious. First of all, it concerns the project manager. The person should continually develop soft skills, since interaction with remote employees may initially seem to be a complicated task. These team members need more attention, while collaboration with them requires additional efforts.
Though the first steps may seem to be complicated, in general, all the manager should do is to push them to talk, give feedback and provide motivation. The project manager should check if the remote employees correctly understand their tasks, duties, responsibilities and are aware of the project status. Miscommunication may ruin distributed teamwork. A simple one-on-one status check with every team member once a week will help a manager to make sure the team members are aligned. As you see, the approach is very similar to the one used with the local team members. Usually, the manager knows these quiet individuals and knows how to interact with them. Therefore, the fears that someone will fall out of the process or appear isolated are mostly groundless.
· Geographical distance and different time zones
Geographical distance and different time zone is another fear that has little to do with reality. Today, to complete all the software development tasks correctly, an engineer does not need to be at the office all the time or on a nine to five basis.
In the age of international partnerships, contracts and projects, working using the conventional methods may not be the most intelligent way to work efficiently. In the software development industry, we adapt to the customer requirements and schedule. Quite often, co-located engineers may spend days or even weeks without seeing each other. Moreover, they may communicate via emails, collaboration tools, chats, and complete tasks successfully. Given this, the distance and time differences cannot be regarded as critical obstacles.
Though the working style in software development companies is much different from other firms, there still should be some rules that prevent risks. The rules like
o Key team members should visit the office daily;
o Open and clear communication in the team is imperative;
o Status updates should not be neglected;
o Public reporting and demos provide the team with the big picture;
o Agile methodologies and continuous integration are highly recommended.
· Socio-cultural difference
A distributed team may include members of different cultures, nations, and political opinions. They may also have different business skills, different communication practices and speak different languages. A project manager should be ready for that and should know how to work with such teams. The risk of possible miscommunication can be mitigated by simple rules. Moreover, sticking to them can turn a cross-cultural and cross-national team into a strong advantage for a project manager. To decrease the probability of conflicts, and to avoid the downturn of product quality, which can lean to reducing the business value and bad team relationships, there are simple truths to hold the team together:
o Use common language;
o Establish a liaison;
o Encourage team building activities;
o Document requirements for the unbiased resolution of potential disagreements;
o Promote the socialization of team members from the start of the project;
o Run workshops focused on newly implemented systems, expectations and organization’s culture.
Building a Distributed Team
Creating a project team requires a lot of effort. Distributed teams require even more, though the processes for co-located and distributed teams are very similar. These processes include the search for a team leader, team members, and the development of the processes and procedures. While the basic elements are clear, those that relate to the distributed teams should be covered in detail.
Ramping up a distributed team
Quite often candidates for distributed teams pass interviews remotely. These interviews require twice the attention from the interviewer relative to conventional candidates. Besides the technical skills, the team leader should also learn about soft skills, the interviewee’s personality, collaboration, and communication skills. Let us turn to the points that should be considered during such interviews:
o Ask for assistance from a colleague who has experience with remote employees. Even if you also have such experience yourself, assistance is always an advantage. A fellow HR manager or a PM will notice things that you may miss.
o Focus on the soft skills of a remote candidate, making sure the person demonstrates technical and non-technical skills equally well. Try to also learn about the person, rather than only talking about the project.
o Check the writing skills of the candidate. The remote job requires a lot of writing, and if the candidate cannot write down thoughts, there may be issues in the future.
o Reporting skills are one of the most important skills that a remote candidate can possess. Focus on them during the interview. Check if a candidate knows how to demonstrate the executed work in a proper and concise format (written and orally).
o Try to get more information about the candidate’s working environment. The project manager needs to be if sure a candidate has a good internet connection, and that nothing will distract the person during working hours. It is not a good thing to catch the sounds of a washing machine, a TV or a crying baby during a call.
Communication solutions for a distributed team
The correct tool-set is necessary for effective teamwork. Fundamentally, the team needs tools for one-to-one and one-to-many meetings , as well as tools for task assignment and performance tracking.
The solution we use for distributed teams includes communication technologies such as:
o Email
o Group chat
o Messenger
o IP telephony
o Tools for screen and voice sharing
o Virtual reality or Augmented reality tools — this is our recommendation for the future, keep your eye on it.
Along with the tool-set, the team will need documentation explaining the processes and how to use tools. The documentation usually answers most of the questions newcomers have, and reminds the current team members the details they may forget.
Usually, the tool-set depends on the project and covers all the necessary functions. The tools may vary.
Leadership in distributed teams
The process of management in distributed teams is very similar to the one in co-located teams. The major difference is that communication and conflict resolution requires more effort.
In distributed teams, members are looking for a leader who provides direction and acts as a driving force for the project. The manager sets up the processes for the very beginning, eliminating possible risks related to communication, discipline or anything else.
Along with the facilitator’s role, the team leader also takes on the role of an HR manager. The person has to deal with the interpersonal aspects of a team’s life, builds trust within a team, and deals with numerous personnel management matters. This is a difficult, work that must be managed on a daily basis, thus a manager of a distributed team should be prepared.
Rewarding and resolving conflicts
The rewarding process is one of the most essential elements in team management. The options for the co-located teams are more varied than for distributed teams. Team building, for example, is the easiest way for a co-located team to build relationships. However, for a distributed one, it is not always a possible option. Regardless, this does not mean that a team cannot have fun together, or that a manager is unable to reward a person. This is not only about physical rewards, which should also be available (if possible), but also about highlighting the accomplishments of the entire team and specific team members.
This is important for a distributed team since they need to know how they perform and be notified of their success. Therefore, it is worth beginning a meeting with some good news, it contributes to the team’s good mood. Any good things happening on the project should be highlighted.
Distributed teams need to learn how to celebrate online if a team has achieved such relationships, it means a manager can brag about having a real squad of professionals who know how to collaborate in any scenario.
Though team building for the distributed teams are quite rare, we would recommend pushing the company to arrange them.
As for physical incentives, the managers of the distributed team have more flexibility than managers of the co-located ones. Quite often, the distributed teams include members from different countries. Therefore, making small gifts for national or cultural holidays can motivate workers immensely.
Benefits of Distributed Teams
· Fast and efficient hiring. When a co-located team loses an employee, the search for a replacement can last several months. For example, in the case of one of our customers, it took almost a year to find a replacement employee. Moreover, it may end without a replacement being found.
Things run faster and more efficiently with a distributed team. IAltough, it can take several weeks, the distributed team has fewer limitations.
· Price. Most customers mentioned that hiring a distributed team is less expensive than creating an in-house team. The reasons are quite obvious: a different employee market, remoteness of work from home, no expenses for office and facilities, and so on.
· Better discipline. Distributed teams are better disciplined. Engineers use calendars, schedules, follow strict processes and rules, and do more reporting. This makes a distributed team more methodical than a co-located one.
· Better match. Geographical flexibility becomes an advantage for a company. Having decided on the creation of a distributed team, it looks for candidates based on the skills and experience requirements. It is not limited by the employee location, nationality or time zone, unless there are specific requirements for this. Instead, the companies look at the candidatesprofessional and personal skills, and whether the person matchs the team.
· 24/7 availability. A distributed team can provide support services on 24/7 basis, while it is quite unlikely for local teams.
· More freedom. A remote engineer is not obliged to be in the office and is free to choose any location for work. Disciplined engineers can do traveling and work in parallel. In fact, many talented and experienced engineers act this way.
· Better work ethics. Being a part of a distributed team makes people more polite, tolerant, professional and respectful to each other. People deal with different cultures, languages and working styles. All of that helps employees develop valuable soft skills necessary for multiple projects. Being a part of a distributed team means seeing the world in a different way than members of in-house teams.
· Office expenses. A company does not need extra office space to hire a distributed team. This dramatically reduces office expenses.
