5 Expert tips for building a successful distributed team
Distributed teams are the latest workplace phenomena. Technology is enabling modern-day workers to work from different locations and for that matter, different time zones. These days offices are no bigger than what we carry in our bags or even pockets.
It is exciting to see that companies and workers are breaking stereotypes ditching the conventional workplace practices.The urge to be exceptional and work with the best talents has led them to acknowledge and accept the concept of distributed or remote teams.
“Effortlessly manage your remote teams and clients from one place. Start using ProofHub.”
What are distributed teams?
With all the hullabaloo around the distributed teams, let us define what does a distributed team actually means.
According to Wikipedia, a distributed team usually refers to a group of individuals who work together from different geographic locations and rely on technology to communicate and collaborate. They are also called virtual teams or remote teams.
Why work with distributed teams? (benefits)
The bottom line is if you want to work with the best people in the industry, you have to find them where they live. Many CEOs and business leaders are adapting to this new change in order to hire the right person for the job.
This being said, let us see why workers choose to be a part of a distributed team leaving the traditional office culture aside.
- Flexible working hours
- Promotes accountability and responsibility
- Improves productivity
- Fewer overheads
- Reduced employee turnover
- Reduce stress levels and boosts morale
- Better work-life balance
You might be wondering this whole concept of working remotely is easier said than done. You might have questions such as how can a person build a team where team members are scattered across different cities? What should be the hiring criteria? Where will everyone gather for team discussions?
All these questions seem genuine but like everything, there’s a way to go about it. So, here we are discussing some tips on how to build successful distributed teams.
1. Hire the right people
The real potential of a team lies in its team members. To make a team full of dedicated professionals, it is important to hire the right people for the job. Right team members are the secret ingredients to make a successful distributed team. Hire team members who are prepared or experienced in working remotely so that they don’t get distracted by household chores or other disturbances.
A distributed team will only be a success if team members are dedicated and accountable for their work. Hire employees who are self-motivated, good communicators, flexible and honest.
When you pool the right talents together, it is more likely the outcome to be a success. It is also important to give employees some space and autonomy. Once you have hired remote team members, show trust and confidence in their abilities.
2. Set clear roles and responsibilities
It is advisable to define roles and responsibilities as clearly as possible to the remote team members. This helps in setting expectations straight from the day one and team members will be well aware of what is expected out of them.
For example, you can decide how team members report their everyday work or how the team logs in their working hours or when to have weekly meetings. Team members are likely to perform better if there are certain rules and regulations because this will make them accountable for their work.
By setting and sticking to the same rules, you can minimize the risk of something important slipping through the cracks. Establishing a set of ground rules will help your remote team members to be on the same page.
3. Maintain regular Communication
One of the crucial factors that distributed teams thrive upon is communication. Communication is essential to keep everyone well-aware and up-to-date about any developments on the work front. Thus, for every remote team, it is important to set up the right channels of communication. And what’s more important is to keep those channels open for everyone.
Don’t forget to set up guidelines around how to use each channel. Experts say that in a remote setup, it is better to over-communicate than under-communicate.
Effective and frequent communication helps to establish a positive team atmosphere. You can also encourage your team members to share personal news, funny memes or articles apart from discussing work-related queries. This will help team members to get to know their remote co-workers in a personal space.
4. Find right tools for the job
Whether it’s a remote team or in-house team at a office, workers need to collaborate with each other. The major roadblock that comes in their way to collaborate is the absence or lack right collaboration tools.
With the advancement in technology, it’s much easier for distributed teams to use technology to their advantage to collaborate remotely. With a plethora of cloud-based software, team members scattered at different geographical locations can now collaborate at a virtually centralized place. According to a study conducted by Harvard Business Review, 87 percent of remote workers feel more connected through the use of various collaboration tools.
With the right collaboration software, team members can remotely manage their work, create task lists and can have online discussions to discuss various ideas. ProofHub is one such collaboration tool that can bring your remote teams together, help you allocate tasks and make everyone accountable for their work.Thus, ProofHub is a perfect collaboration software that helps team members to collaborate seamlessly despite being geographically dispersed.
5. Rewards and appreciation
No can deny the fact that employees — remote or in-house — crave acknowledgment and appreciation. All of us want to work for an organization that values our contribution as employees. A place that appreciates and rewards our efforts. That is why these days companies go an extra mile to make employees feel special and valued.
Even if employees are thousand miles away, don’t be shy to say ‘Keep it up’ for a job well done. Send them little gifts to boost their morale. Encouraging words can have a powerful effect on boosting employee’s self-confidence and can motivate them to work harder for future as well.
When we talk about rewards, we don’t mean sponsoring an all-expenses-paid trip to overseas, it implies to something as simple as giving them a day-off or sending them vouchers to pamper themselves. The main purpose is to show that you genuinely care and value their efforts despite being miles away.
In conclusion, building and managing distributed teams may take more effort in the beginning but it will be worth the effort. We hope your apprehensions and doubts about distributed teams are over after reading this blog.
If you have any questions, feel free to drop a comment right below.
“Still running your business and teams on emails? Switch to ProofHub.”
