Virtual teams may be shaking up organizational dynamics, but the fundamentals of how to lead a team are the same whether its members are all based in the same building as you or scattered across four continents.
Organizations are wedded to teamwork. It is just the way things are done. So managers rarely stop and question whether the way that teams operate is as effective as it might be. But are our conventional ideas about teamwork all a bit 'last century'?
Don't take this the wrong way, but how do you feel about the members of your team? Do you like them? All of them? Now, let's take it further. Do you love them?
Maybe I'm getting a little obsessed, but I can't help noticing the similarities between corporate politics and 'Game of Thrones '. I even came up with a name for it. So how well do you play the 'Game of Cubicles'?
Technology is often used as an excuse for the poor management of remote teams. While it can certainly be a barrier, understanding team dynamics and offering training and resources can eliminate most of these. That just leaves the excuses.
The reasons people become disengaged are numerous and infuriatingly complex. But there are some simple ways to pre-empt this that are particularly useful when you're team isn't in the same place at the same time.
There's a serious disease that seems to affect every workplace I have ever come across. I have called it 'Adult Syndrome' because it affects almost every person much over the age of 18. Luckily, there is a cure: it comes in the form of a large, thick slice of humble pie.
If you try to hide what you know from your colleagues, you're shooting yourself in the foot. Because according to new research, knowledge-hoarding is counter-productive, damaging both trust and creativity.
The dynamics of working remotely are not the same as working face-to-face. So if you deal with a remote team in the same way as a co-located one, don't be surprised when the same leadership behaviors elicit different results.
With today's fluid working environment, team members often don't know the strengths and weaknesses of the people they work with. And paradoxically, the fact that we are all tethered together electronically can make it even harder to get to know them.
Social interaction makes us happier and more productive. But that's a real issue when you're working remotely. So what can remote teams do to enhance interaction and create a good psychological environment to foster interaction and creativity?
There are three factors that make up a successful remote team. Each is equally important. And while a remote team won't function without technology, that's only one piece of the jigsaw.
Sanjay is being driven to distraction by his boss who he feels has perfected the art of 'harassment by procrastination'. But as Dawna Jones suggests, perhaps Sanjay should view this difficult relationship as an opportunity to learn and grow rather than a source of frustration.
Once a year, most of us head to the doctor for an annual physical. Your team needs a regular examination, too, and for the same reasons. That's even more true if you have team members who work remotely, where problems can arise unnoticed.
How engaged in their work are the people in your team? How do you know? These questions are critical to all managers, whether they manage a team directly or have people spread across the planet over whom they don't have direct control.
We don't hear much about negative team behavior in remote teams because it seldom takes the form of overt bullying. Sure, people may berate each other on conference calls, but often the most pervasive and insidious behavior is aggressive, purposeful and destructive silence.
A dog-eat-dog culture and the cult of the individual appears to be undermining the ability of Americans to work with one another, with a new survey revealing that eight out of 10 adults find working with other people a challenge.
Far from pushing their organizations to greater levels of achievement, strong leaders who equate leadership with power actively undermine performance, new research has found.
If you're a project manager with a virtual team scattered all over the place, you don't just need the right tools to communicate, access and share information, you also need a project workflow that brings clarity and transparency to the whole process.
Having a manager who is also a personal friend is one thing. Having a manager who is personal friend but who isn't doing her job properly is quite another. This month, Ian Day has some advice for someone caught up in just such an awkward position.
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