Dispersed teams can be described as ‘teams
working together apart’.
Managing geographically-dispersed teams is not an easy issue. Probably the most difficult
task is to create a deep sense of belonging to the team among the different
members and at the same time keep a high productivity performance. For that
purpose it is mandatory to have a clear strategy, very solid values and a
strong leadership. The team members need to know and understand what they are doing together. If they understand only their own work, they will
always just be individual contributors. So it is necessary finding some time to
be together to share knowledge and experience and, of course, to socialize.
Team members located together have
opportunities to socialize throughout the day. Virtual teams don’t, so it is
more important for the manager to look for ways they can be together. This
might include getting time in a
face-to-face meetings.
According to some researches face-to-face meetings are best when occurring at
predictable times and intervals. This allows team members
to plan their time and interactions, reserving discussion of certain complex or
delicate issues for those in-person interactions.
Therefore it seems very clear that the key for dispersed team members
commitment is communication. You need to be extremely proactive in your
communications to make sure everyone understands what is expected. The communication lines on a this kind of team must be opened
up especially wide.
Communication is all about
conversations. So the first task for a team leader is listening
to the team and give all the members opportunities to express their opinions
and feelings. The leader must build a safe and confident atmosphere to be sure the conversations and feedback are sincere and honest.
It is also very recommended to conduct periodic employee satisfaction surveys
to truly understand the issues that concern people and to design an action plan
to deal with the improvement areas.
Some interesting articles on managing virtual and dispersed teams are:
