The pandemic led to a huge upsurge in remote work and remote communications technology. Even though the crisis has passed, the opportunities opened up by those new developments remain. Among other changes, CEOs are no longer restricted to a workforce within commuting distance of their offices. Instead, they can pick the very best talent from around the world and work with these people no matter where they are. Managing a global team does present some challenges, though. Following some key best practices can help leaders mitigate cultural differences, communication problems, and other factors that might get in the way of a great global team.
Use the same platforms
Clear, coherent communication is essential in any team project. But it’s even more crucial when the team is largely remote. With people spread across countries and time zones, there is more potential than usual for messaging to fall through the cracks or get lost in translation. Therefore, managers need to be sure that their communications systems are optimized for total clarity. The single most important way to achieve that is to ensure that everyone is using the same platforms and tools.
There are hundreds of remote working platforms and tools out there (and everyone has their favorite). But they aren’t always compatible. When people use different online calendars or different file-sharing services, for example, those applications don’t always play nicely together. To avoid confusion and inefficiency, leaders should pick a set of tools and platforms, make sure everyone knows how to use them, and stick with those solutions!
Communicate regularly
Scheduling communications can be a problem with global teams that are remote from their managers (and from each other). It is hard to find a meeting time that works for everyone when team members are scattered across multiple time zones. Also, many people who work remotely choose to do so because they like being left alone to quietly get on with their work.
In this situation, managers may need to do a lot of coaxing and cajoling to get even the bare minimum of communication, let alone to increase those communications! However, regular communications—even just weekly ten-minute team catch-ups—can make a tremendous difference. Not only do most projects live or die on the quality of their communications, but regular meetings can also be very grounding. They are an opportunity for team members to strengthen their bond and dynamic by keeping everyone connected and reminding them who the people behind the e-mail signatures are.
That being said, it’s important to consider which type of communication suits each purpose. Video meetings may be great for team building, but is it really necessary to call a team meeting just to make a couple of simple task requests? Scheduling a video meeting that could have been an e-mail (or even a Slack message) could be perceived as a frustrating waste of everyone’s time. Managers need to be careful to tailor the type of communication to its aim.
Stay human
With team members flung far and wide across the world, it’s easy to lose sight of the fact that everyone on the team is an individual human being. Team members who regularly see each other in person are constantly reminded of their humanity in numerous small ways: they hear each other laugh, pick up on each other’s moods, see each other’s mannerisms, etc. This type of humanizing is possible through remote communications (video chat is a particularly great medium for getting to know people), but an in-person working environment offers unmatched possibilities for immersion in shared humanity.
Managers must never lose sight of the fact that their remote employees are all individuals who have complex lives and needs. Keeping this in mind and building connections are key for fostering the compassion needed to support team members who are struggling with their work or dealing with personal issues (such as family emergencies or illnesses). Managers should set aside time to get to know team members on a personal level. This doesn’t have to be the focus of an entire team-building exercise (though doing this can’t hurt!) but can take the form of something as simple as starting interactions by asking them how they are doing, maintaining a friendly tone in communications, and expressing thanks for their hard work.
It also helps to build flexibility in the system so that people can take time off for unexpected emergencies at short notice without damaging workflows. This reduces other team members’ frustration and makes it easier for everyone to handle these events with the compassion that they deserve.
Be sensitive to cultural differences
Managers of global teams must also be aware of cultural differences. For example, some team members may need certain days off for religious or cultural festivals. Communication styles, too, can vary across cultures, with people from some cultures communicating in ways that come off as blunt or even rude to people from other cultures. Someone whose culture values being very direct and to the point might say, “This task needs to be done today,” whereas someone whose native language uses a lot of polite qualifiers might say, “Please, could you complete this task by the end of the day?” Both sentences have exactly the same message and intention behind them, but their significant differences in phrasing could cause upset and confusion.
Have a good project management system
It’s very tempting to rely on one good meeting and a decent brief to get a team through a project. But savvy managers know that a successful project needs a project management system to keep everything on track. It ensures that everyone knows what they are responsible for, when tasks are due, what the project’s overall goals are, to whom each person reports, how to raise issues, and more. It also helps the team to organize important project documents and make them easily accessible to those who need them. For a small team and a small project, something as simple as a shared calendar with task dates and deadlines could suffice. More complicated projects and larger teams likely need more sophisticated options, though, such as highly specialized program management platforms or applications.
Building the best team the world can offer
There’s a lot of great talent out there, and thanks to remote technology managers no longer need to entice that talent to work from specific locations. They can work with the best talent the world has to offer—and no one will ever have to commute. Managing a global remote team does have some challenges, though, and managers should take deliberate steps to ensure that their teams stay happy and productive, with nothing lost in translation.