When you have team members dispersed all over the world, you must generate the glue to keep them – and the project – together. Soren Schoennemann, managing director – Australia/New Zealand at Jabra, shares his top tips.
Soren Schoennemann, managing director – Australia/New Zealand at Jabra, shares his tips for managing a remote team.
Your best people are dispersed all over the world, and you have a complicated challenge to solve in a very short time. So, what do you do? Fly your worldwide team in at an immense cost? Use whatever (mediocre) local resources are available? Or do you take a leap of faith and create a “remote team” with your top people working from various locations around the world?
Logically, the latter solution is the best. You’ll be able to draw talent for your team from a larger, more qualified pool of candidates and break down geographical boundaries. It’s cost-efficient beyond compare, and you’ll be able to increase team member retention.
Seeing is believing
According to a survey done by Wrinkle software, 65% of all employees expect their company to go fully virtual by the end of 2016. The remote team is no longer an option but an everyday reality. All it takes are a few tricks of the trade from someone who’s been there, done that, and ended up with the T-shirt that says, "I love remote teams".
But how do you make up for the disadvantages of the remote team model - the lack of face-to-face interaction?
It’s what you call it
It’s time to kill the idea of “the remote team.” Team members aren’t necessarily remote just because they don’t rub shoulders. They are actually closer than ever before –always available for a face-to-face meeting on your smartphone, tablet, or PC.
So let’s skip the old terms and not call it anything but a “team” going forward. This type of working will be the norm or “business as usual” in the future. There’s nothing remote about that!
* Soren Schonnemann is the managing director – Australia/New Zealand, for Danish-based company Jabra. He holds a Master of Science in Sales and Marketing from Aarhus Business School and a Bachelor degree in Business and Administration.
Your best people are dispersed all over the world, and you have a complicated challenge to solve in a very short time. So, what do you do? Fly your worldwide team in at an immense cost? Use whatever (mediocre) local resources are available? Or do you take a leap of faith and create a “remote team” with your top people working from various locations around the world?
Logically, the latter solution is the best. You’ll be able to draw talent for your team from a larger, more qualified pool of candidates and break down geographical boundaries. It’s cost-efficient beyond compare, and you’ll be able to increase team member retention.
Seeing is believing
According to a survey done by Wrinkle software, 65% of all employees expect their company to go fully virtual by the end of 2016. The remote team is no longer an option but an everyday reality. All it takes are a few tricks of the trade from someone who’s been there, done that, and ended up with the T-shirt that says, "I love remote teams".
But how do you make up for the disadvantages of the remote team model - the lack of face-to-face interaction?
- Make it personal
- Make it virtual
- Make it social
It’s what you call it
It’s time to kill the idea of “the remote team.” Team members aren’t necessarily remote just because they don’t rub shoulders. They are actually closer than ever before –always available for a face-to-face meeting on your smartphone, tablet, or PC.
So let’s skip the old terms and not call it anything but a “team” going forward. This type of working will be the norm or “business as usual” in the future. There’s nothing remote about that!
* Soren Schonnemann is the managing director – Australia/New Zealand, for Danish-based company Jabra. He holds a Master of Science in Sales and Marketing from Aarhus Business School and a Bachelor degree in Business and Administration.
