Remote Team Working - READY OR NOT
The impact of the COVID-19 outbreak is forcing many teams into working away from their usual locations and becoming physically isolated from one-another.
This presents a range of unique challenges to not only physical performance, but also the psychology of maintaining good team dynamics and morale.
Whilst some teams may have already been exposed to virtual team working, as it is becoming an established norm for some organisations, for many this will definitely be a potential shock to team performance and cohesion.
Team managers and leaders will therefore need to understand that these challenging times, and the nature of remote working, will impact their team members in differing ways.
Just as people’s contributions and attitudes will vary when face to face with one another, so too reactions to remote working will be equally varied. Managers seeking to better understand people’s behavioural preferences can influence how best to manage them remotely and also how successful a remote stint will be for the team.
We feel that the two approaches referenced in the links below will provide food for thought and potential enablers for better quality remote working.
For those familiar with the Belbin Model (an established model and tool for measuring and working with people’s workplace behavioural preferences) this article provides valuable insights into how to work and communicate with different people remotely….
Regular check ins, people sharing a coffee remotely, video conferencing and a few ‘make a short intro to your cat or dog’ scenarios or gimmicks might be ways to break the isolation, but at depth teams new to virtual / remote working will need good leadership to stay on task.
Team bonding remotely can still be done to some extent using technology and some simple tools we have that managers and leaders can deploy themselves using a bit of pre-reading, and any available online meeting platforms (e.g. Zoom or Webex).