What are the best ways to ensure your team follows industry standards during global delivery projects?

1 Define and communicate standards

One of the first steps to ensure your team follows industry standards is to define and communicate them clearly. Industry standards are the norms, guidelines, and best practices that are widely accepted and followed by professionals in a specific field or domain. They help to ensure quality, compatibility, safety, and efficiency of products and services. For example, in IT services, some common industry standards are ISO/IEC 27001 for information security management, IEEE 829 for software testing, and ITIL for IT service management. You should identify the relevant standards for your project scope, objectives, and deliverables, and make sure your team understands them and agrees to follow them. You should also document the standards in your project plan, contracts, and quality assurance processes.

2 Use tools and platforms

Another way to ensure your team follows industry standards is to use tools and platforms that support and facilitate them. Tools and platforms are the software and hardware that enable your team to perform tasks, communicate, collaborate, and manage the project. For example, in IT services, some common tools and platforms are GitHub for code hosting and version control, Jira for project management and issue tracking, Slack for team communication, and Zoom for video conferencing. You should choose tools and platforms that are compatible with the industry standards you want to follow, and that offer features and functionalities that help you to adhere to them. For example, GitHub allows you to enforce code review policies, Jira allows you to create workflows and reports based on industry standards, Slack allows you to create channels and threads for different topics and teams, and Zoom allows you to record and share meetings.

3 Train and coach your team

A third way to ensure your team follows industry standards is to train and coach your team on them. Training and coaching are the activities that help your team to acquire and improve the knowledge, skills, and abilities that are required to follow industry standards. For example, in IT services, some common training and coaching topics are security awareness, testing methodologies, service management principles, and cultural sensitivity. You should provide your team with adequate and timely training and coaching on the industry standards that apply to your project, and that suit their roles and responsibilities. You should also monitor and evaluate their performance and feedback, and provide them with guidance and support as needed.

4 Monitor and audit your project

A fourth way to ensure your team follows industry standards is to monitor and audit your project regularly. Monitoring and auditing are the processes that help you to measure and verify the compliance and quality of your project against the industry standards you have defined and communicated. For example, in IT services, some common monitoring and auditing methods are status reports, quality reviews, risk assessments, and audits. You should conduct monitoring and auditing activities throughout the project lifecycle, and involve your team, clients, and stakeholders as appropriate. You should also use the results of the monitoring and auditing activities to identify and resolve any issues, gaps, or deviations from the industry standards, and to implement corrective and preventive actions.

5 Learn and improve continuously

A fifth way to ensure your team follows industry standards is to learn and improve continuously. Learning and improving are the practices that help you to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of your project and team, and to adapt to changing needs and expectations. For example, in IT services, some common learning and improving techniques are feedback surveys, lessons learned, best practices, and benchmarks. You should collect and analyze feedback from your team, clients, and stakeholders on how well you followed the industry standards, and what challenges or opportunities you faced. You should also document and share the lessons learned, best practices, and benchmarks that you derived from your project experience, and use them to improve your future projects and teams.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?