Getting the most out of a global team – 7 rules of distributed innovation

I have long experience of working for large global organizations and creating new products and services with a distributed team. In order to make the model work, there are several topics you need to get right. 

1.      Get the right people into your team

It all starts with people. You need to ensure that you have people who not just have the right skills for your project but also are willing and capable of working remotely. Your team needs to be able to get their work done without excessive oversight.

 2.      Build the trust first

If you have a new team, you need to build the trust between the team members. In my experience, nothing still beats the face-to-face physical meeting to ensure that the expectations are set right and team knows each other both as a person and as a contributor to the team. This session can be used to also define the team goals, roles / responsibilities, metrics etc.

 3.      Good communication skills, practices and tools are essential

Communication is essential in a distributed team scenario. Everybody in the team should put extra focus in ensuring clear communication, both verbal and written.

The ability to communicate is important, but so is willingness. Keeping co-workers up to date with progress, documenting findings etc. are needed to close the communication gap.

Good tools help. Online meetings using Skype for Business, Microsoft Teams / SharePoint for team collaboration and document management (even with their shortcomings) and Surface Hub for team brainstorming has been my selected set of tools for distributed teams.

Surface Hub is my personal favorite as video adds human feel to the otherwise potentially boring meetings. Sketching is also easier with the help of tools Surface Hub provides.

 4.      Patience and flexibility will be required

Working across multiple time zones requires adjusting. People, answers and solutions won’t necessarily be available exactly when you need them. You may need to adjust your working hours to accommodate other people′s availability – I am personally working late to accommodate European hours (myself working in Singapore).

5.      Bring together the fun

A great way to build collaborative trust is through mutually shared fun experiences. Distributed teams by default do not share a lot of time together — no informal drinks after work, team outings etc.

Another method many distributed working companies have adopted is to fly everyone together occasionally for an intense get together. These events should not be used just as a way for team-building exercises, but also as a way to bring more humanity and shared understanding.

6.      Establish A Culture Of Accountability

One of the hardest parts of managing a distributed team is the fact that by definition, you won’t be able to see your team physically in the office every day. It’s important to establish a strong culture of accountability among your team. That starts with involving the right people and is reinforced by cultural norms you establish around getting things done and holding people accountable for delivering.

On the other hand, you need to empower your remote team members to make critical decisions. A big benefit of global teams is the access to exceptional talent and the diversity of viewpoints. Empowering distributed teams to lead in their respective areas is the best way to take full advantage of those inherent advantages.

7.      Metrics matter

In a co-located environment, productivity is, in some ways, easier to measure. With a distributed approach, you have to carefully set the milestones and metrics to effectively follow-up the progress of your team.

Regular meetings can also help to keep people on-task and productive. Measurement requires creativity and a high degree of trust.

Make sure you have full transparency of the metrics and measurements to the team. Use the results to constantly learn and improve.

What are your thoughts? Please send your comments.

Additional reading:

Managing Distributed Innovation: Strategic Utilization of Open and User Innovation

How To Manage Distributed Teams For Success

How to create the next billion dollar business - 7 rules of enterprise innovation