What do you do if your temporary and contract teams are not effectively communicating and collaborating?

If temporary and contract teams are not effectively communicating and collaborating, take proactive steps to address the issue. Start by identifying communication barriers and areas of misalignment. Encourage open dialogue and establish clear channels for communication. Foster a collaborative environment by setting common goals and promoting teamwork. Provide training or resources to enhance communication skills and facilitate cross-team collaboration. Regularly assess progress and address any challenges promptly to ensure effective communication and collaboration among all team members.

The initial step entails clearly delineating the project's scope and objectives, effectively communicating them to temporary and contract teams. Ensure comprehension of the project's vision, value proposition, user needs, and success criteria. Utilize tools like user stories, personas, roadmaps, and prototypes to articulate requirements and expectations. Establishing a common language and terminology mitigates confusion and ambiguity, fostering seamless collaboration.

As a product owner, I've often found that getting people together in the same room to align on a team charter can get everyone on the same page about what's expected, and how everybody likes to work and communicate. Using tools like Miro or Figjam, I would devise a workshop to get to know everybody's unique skillset, personality and professional background. This tends to flatten the divisions between in-house and external teams by reminding everyone that they are people with their own individual likes and dislikes, working towards a shared goal.

Se as equipes temporárias e contratadas n?o estiverem colaborando de forma efetiva, é necessário chamá-lo para uma conversa franca. Apresente de forma clara e objetivo o escopo do projeto bem como o que é esperado deles como resultado. Pe?a que apresentem as dificuldades, necessidades e qual o entendimento deles sobre o que lhes é esperado. De forma rotineira, vejo pessoas que entregam menos por falta de entendimento da tarefa ou dos critérios de aceite. Use ferramentas como historias de usuários, protótipos e padr?es de entrega / sistema / boas praticas para direcioná-los. Acompanhe os resultados e se mantenha aberto e disponível para ajudá-los ou nomeie pessoas que possam ajudá-los (uma espécie de padrinhos).

Begin by articulately defining the project's scope and overarching goals. Ensuring that all team members, whether temporary or contracted, understand the project's vision, value proposition, and user requirements is fundamental. Tools like user stories, personas, roadmaps, and prototypes can be instrumental in bridging understanding gaps. Adopting a unified language across the board minimizes misinterpretation, setting a solid foundation for collaborative efforts.

Establishing clear roles and responsibilities using RACI matrices or org charts helps in delineating who is responsible, accountable, consulted, and informed for every task and decision. This clarity not only enhances accountability but also streamlines communication pathways. Assigning dedicated points of contact for each team, equipped with decision-making authority, further centralizes communication and decision-making processes, ensuring smoother project progression.

The subsequent step involves defining and making visible the roles and responsibilities of each team member while ensuring accountability. Employ tools such as RACI matrices, org charts, and team contracts to delineate responsibilities for tasks and decisions—clarifying who is responsible, accountable, consulted, and informed. Establish clear reporting lines, escalation paths, and feedback mechanisms. Designate a dedicated point of contact for each team, empowering them with the authority and autonomy to make decisions.

As I mentioned before, here on the team, everyone is part of the TEAM. Whether external or internal, they have the same responsibilities, participate in the same rituals, and have a voice in the same way. That's why each team member knows their role, the function of the technical leader, the role of the designer, and the role of the account manager. And having open communication between these people helps minimize conflicts and discrepancies. What I sometimes notice is the internal team performing below the third-party team, rather than the other way around. Therefore, making it clear to the team that everyone is part of the team, following the same rules, same objectives.

Definir fun??es e compartilhar as diferentes metas da equipe temporária e da contratada é fundamental para que o trabalho em equipe flua de forma a estarem alinhados e focados no objetivo em comum de concluir o projeto.

Clearly outline who is responsible for what tasks and deliverables. This reduces confusion and duplication of effort, allowing everyone to focus on their area of expertise.

Selecting effective communication and collaboration tools is critical. Platforms like Slack for messaging, Zoom for video calls, Trello for task management, and Google Docs for document sharing, when uniformly adopted, can foster a more connected team environment. It’s vital to ensure tool compatibility across the team and establish a clear communication protocol, including meeting etiquettes and update schedules, to maintain regular and structured team interactions.

Na minha vis?o o desafio é que manter a recorrência para que todos mantenham a comunica??o de forma consistente. Trazendo para o universo das metodologias ágeis, a daily será o principal momento para medir a evolu??o e identifica??o/ remo??o de impedimentos. Para que n?o ocorra um estouro do timebox da daily, quest?es pontuais podem ser tratadas na sequencia desse rito logo após sua finaliza??o. Utilize ferramentas colaborativas para as reuni?es, compartilhamento de informa??es e grava??o da explica??o caso seja algo mais complexo e seja necessário rever posteriormente

The third step entails selecting appropriate tools and platforms to enhance communication and collaboration among temporary and contract teams. Leverage tools such as Slack, Zoom, Trello, Jira, and Google Docs for instant messaging, video conferencing, task management, issue tracking, and document sharing. Ensure universal access and compatibility across all platforms while integrating them seamlessly. Establish communication protocols and etiquette, and mutually agree on the frequency, format, and agenda of meetings and updates.

Choosing the right tools for cross collaboration is such an important part of being a Product Manager who managing team members in different global time zones, different companies, and consultants. Having central repositories of shared information and resources fosters effective knowledge transfer. I host standups for our team during the times that work for all members, we make sure to accommodate the offshore teams for effective team synergy and cross collaboration.

In my experience, the main challenge with tooling is consistency. While there are some tools which outperform others for remote working, with Slack being a firm favourite of my teams' in recent years, the real problems come when there is misalignment - one team using Teams while another uses Slack is a recipe for disaster. At times, it's worth sacrificing a better user experience for a more consistent tool that everyone will use.

Conscientizar que as equipes ter?o que atuar com sinergia, de forma colaborativa, com todos focados na meta é fundamental. Traga a cultura que ninguém faz nada sozinho. Uma dinamica simples de quebra gelo que gosto bastante: utilize uma ferramenta eletr?nica (esse quadros de retrospectiva) pe?a para cada um colocar um card com 2 verdades e 1 mentira sobre si mesmo. Os demais membros dever?o adivinhar o que é verdade e o que é mentira. A partir do terceiro card, você notará a mudan?a de comportamento do time, de tímidos passam a compartilhar suas análises, cooperar com a avalia??o do outro, independente de ser temporário ou contratado. O primeiro passo foi dado. Valorize e comemore as conquistas por menor que possam parecer.

Dedicating time to create rapport and build trust is essential in any relationship, professional or personal. It's crucial to recognize that every individual is unique, and the timing for developing relationships varies. As Brené Brown beautifully articulates in her book "The Gifts of Imperfection," embracing vulnerability and imperfection is the cornerstone of building genuine connections. Taking the time to understand each person's pace and being patient in the process fosters authentic relationships grounded in trust and mutual respect.

In my experience, it is important not only to track the goals in hindsight but also to set KPIs ahead and communicate the current status and expected progress. A good method to follow is to set SMART goals - Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound. The achievable component is super important and should be agreeable with the team rather than by a top-down approach. What helps me get good results is to communicate the current state of these goals every fortnight to allow course-corrections.

Todo projeto precisa de métricas e indicadores de desempenho para avalia??o da eficácia do planejamento e as mudan?as que venham se apresentar necessárias. Trabalho em equipe n?o é diferente, a avalia??o do que funciona e do que precisa ser ajustado é de extrema importancia.

Seja empático, promova feedbacks ou conversas informais focadas nas entregas, no crescimento do profissional, em necessidades de melhorias pontuais. Capacite-os a serem mais independentes, a tomarem decis?es, a analisar os problemas e criar hipóteses, promova um ambiente seguro onde cada um pode ser ele mesmo, apresentando dificuldades e fraquezas para que possam ser trabalhadas / sanadas, sempre visando a melhoria do individuo em quest?es profissionais ou mesmo pessoais.

Outro fator importante para a gest?o de qualquer projeto é escolher ferramentas que ajudem no processo como um todo, facilitando os ajustes com cronograma, plano de a??o e reconhecimento das etapas concluídas.

Identify where communication or expectation setting is breaking down. Is it language, semantics, tools, timezones, culture, or personalities. The symptoms will often lead you to the root cause, and in turn inform the prescriptive approach to improving your collaboration.