MANAGING REMOTE TEAMSNATALIE SEMCZUK

@TALKANATALKA

DPM SUMMIT 2015

#DPM2015

HELLO!I am a project manager and operations director. I’ve worked at agencies, in house, at large companies, at tiny companies.

I used to be a designer but turned to project management to stay sane ~5 years ago.

I’VE WORKED REMOTELY FOR 2 YEARS AND HAVE NOTICED SOME THINGS….

4 FOUNDATIONS OF MANAGING REMOTELY

COMMUNICATION RELATIONSHIPS

ISSUES TOOLS

COMMUNICATION

COMMUNICATING AMONGST A PHYSICAL, IN-

OFFICE, OR MIXED TEAM, IS COMPLETELY

DIFFERENT FROM COMMUNICATING WITH FULLY

REMOTE/DISTRIBUTED TEAMS.

TWO COMMUNICATION HURDLES

1. ASYNCHRONOUS

2.BLACK & WHITE

ASYNCHRONOUS

= inconsistent communication across time zones/countries/schedules/etc

NO PHYSICAL CHECK IN OVER THESE COMMUNICATIONS

NO CONSISTENT QUESTION AND ANSWER SESSIONS

HARD TO COMMUNICATE MORE DIFFICULT IDEAS

CAN’T FORCE SOMEONE TO READ THROUGH AS CAREFULLY AS YOU MIGHT NEED

TWO COMMUNICATION HURDLES

1. ASYNCHRONOUS

2.BLACK & WHITE

BLACK & WHITE

= text communication, more definitive language

PERSONALITIES CAN BE PORTRAYED DIFFERENTLY IN TEXT

ALWAYS ASSUME PEOPLE MEAN THE BEST FIRST

SOMETIMES TEXT HAS TO BE USED WHEN IT’S NOT IDEAL

WE MUST ADAPT IN ALL WAYS

IT’S REALLY HARD TO DO THAT!

MAKE USE OF QUALITY COMMUNICATION IN OTHER WAYS

LEAVE NOTES WHERE ALL CAN FIND THEM

BE A COMMUNICATION FACILITATOR

USE SIMPLE, CLEAR LANGUAGE WHENEVER POSSIBLE

BE WILLING TO ALWAYS DO MORE

RELATIONSHIP BUILDING

THIS IS GOING TO BE SO UNNATURAL! BUT SOME IDEAS..

TWO JUMP STARTS IN BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS1. Regular voice calls

2. Enforcing non-work talk

EVERYDAY MEETINGS IN VOICE AND VIDEO CHATS

HELPS TRANSLATE PERSONALITIES AND QUIRKS

(PERSONAL NOTE: HELPS WITH CONTRACTS, TOO!)

1. Regular voice calls

2. Enforcing non-work talk

CHAT ABOUT WEEKEND, OUTSIDE INTERESTS, EVENTS, HOW THEY ARE DOING

ASK ABOUT WORKLOAD

CHAT SOCIALLY AND PUBLICLY

A SIDE NOTE: MEETUPS

CULTIVATING RELATIONSHIPS IS IN OUR BEST INTERESTS!

WE DON’T WORK IN A VACUUM

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THIS STUFF DOESN’T WORK?

WORK OVERLOAD / DEADLINE ISSUES CAUSES A TEAM MEMBER TO DISAPPEAR

ISSUE:

FAILURE TO COMMUNICATE PROJECT ISSUES TO THE TEAM

ISSUE:

TRYING TO MIMIC A PHYSICAL SETUP

ISSUE:

POOR FILE AND DOCUMENTATION MAINTENANCE

ISSUE:

SURPRISE: CLIENT INTERACTIONS AREN’T THAT CHALLENGING!

NON-ISSUE:

TOOLS ARE FUN

CHAT PROGRAMS!

EASY SCREEN SHARE!

MANY FORMS OF COMMUNICATION!

COMMUNICATION RELATIONSHIPS

ISSUES TOOLS