Teamwork at a Distance
With the onset of COVID-19, companies such as Patagonia and Twitter have asked employees to work from home where possible. With so many people working at home for the first time, how effective are your teams?
Noted expert on team effectiveness, J. Richard Hackman, explained that teams require three things to be effective: a shared, compelling purpose, a productive dynamic, and a social structure, or mutually agreed upon ways to working together. In our experience assessing and coaching teams, too many are launched without setting up the structures and processes that they need to work at peak efficiency. When an entire team shifts to working remotely, it can become clear to what extent your team’s productivity depended on proximity – running into each other in the break room, or being able to just pop down the hall to brainstorm. With teams serving as the engine that powers your organization, here are some tips to help everyone adjust and get back on track:
· Name the challenge (dynamic). This is a time of extreme change for all of us. Acknowledge it and describe how you, personally, are responding. Ask your team leaders to take time with their teams addressing the changes, recognizing the imperfect working conditions (barking dogs, small children, household noises).
o Tip: Start with the human (dynamic): Reinforce the caring and support by starting every meeting by checking in, giving people a chance to connect and share what’s on their minds. A mere 5 minutes of time will grow a lot of relational capital/strengthen relationships and lift spirits/improve mutually supportive behaviors. (For more ideas, see our post on leading from a distance, here.)
· Refresh the goal (purpose): Remind people of the organization’s purpose, and what drives your shared work. Help them see how this is still valuable in today’s disrupted world. Ask teams to identify the positive or negative consequences of their efforts. What will happen because of their work?
· Make the work visible (structure). Help people see and communicate their impact. If you don’t have an organization-wide way to organize, report on and make your work visible, now is the time to develop it! Look for ways to map the big picture of the work happening across the organization, so that people can see how their work is contributing to the organization as a whole and its purpose.
· Reboot your teams (dynamic/structure). Invite teams to pause and consider how they’ll interact, work together and support each other. If you have a team self-assessment, now is the time to invite teams to use it. Teams can use the results to identify what their current challenges are, and how to address them. Encourage teams to upload their self-assessments and plans for improvement, and to repeat the self-assessment quarterly. Need a team self-assessment? We can help!
o Tip: Consider cross-team connections, inviting teams to share their strategies for strong remote teamwork, while building relationships and a sense of mutual support.
Above all, be understanding. There may be a dip in productivity while people adjust, but with team self-assessments, you will all be able to see the improvement. Most importantly, your caring, pragmatic leadership will help your teams feel supported during these difficult times, becoming more committed to the organization. And that’s a win, whether in the office or at home!
#team #teamwork #distance
References:
http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.501.4676&rep=rep1&type=pdf
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/10/technology/working-from-home.html
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2017/11/when-working-from-home-doesnt-work/540660/