Effective Collaboration for Distributed Teams

The 21st century workforce looks much different than its 20th century counterpart. Today, workers can pretty much work from anywhere depending upon the job. In our industry; interactive marketing, it has been common place. Thanks to the Internet, laptops, wireless connections, iPhones, etc., real work can be done from practically any location. This trend will only continue to grow as new advances in technology enter the marketplace. However, when trying to work in a collaborative team model, the distributed team members can experience a breakdown in efficiencies if a solid process is not in place. Following the right process and  utilizing  effective tools can make all the difference in facilitating productive collaboration for 21st century distributed teams.

Let’s discuss defining a process that leads to success in the distributed team model. First of all, expectations have to be set and agreed upon with all team members. What may seem like common sense takes a little extra effort when people are separated. For example, when are periodic team meetings held? Are there time zone differences among team members? Are all team members available any time, including after hours?  What about core principles and business goals for the team? What is each person’s role and responsibilities? How will success be measured? Have Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) been defined? The project approach and timeline need to be clearly articulated using a common language among all team members.

Throughout a project, all team members, regardless of location need to be aware of commit points. These are times when promises are made and team members need to be unified in meeting these commitments. To keep distributed team members on track, a variety of tools are available. Standard tools that everyone should use are email and instant messaging. Both are essential. An online project management system can not only facilitate work among disparate team members but also clients. A good system can store documents, send email communications, maintain discussion threads, assign people tasks, and track time. Some tools that we at Rhythm Interactive utilize are:

Harvest
Co-Op
BaseCamp
Instant Messaging

Regardless of the toolset, another critical aspect is to appoint a single person as the lead or primary point of contact. This person interacts with the client and bridges communication between the client and team. Having more than one person opens the door to problems. In my years of experience, it is always best to have a point person on both the internal team and on the client side. It is good to have a backup person assigned as well but having a primary point of contact is essential to a good process.

The distributed team model is not going away. If you’re experiencing problems implementing it now, it’s time to create a solid process that everyone understands and follows diligently. Back it up with the proper tools and assigned roles, and you have a formula for success. At Rhythm Interactive, we have our internal teams and a team of freelancers that integrate with our process framework. Not only does it help us scale and manage growth, it helps us get things done.