My oldest brother and I live 5,000* miles apart

Earlier this year we had the good fortune of being able to spend several days together in Miami. When we met he told me one of this goals was to use the trip as a starting point to getting back into a healthier lifestyle. So, we made working out every day a priority.?

Since that trip, we’ve started a new tradition to help each other stay accountable to our goals, and celebrate our wins. When one of us finishes a workout, we send each other a simple ?

This had me thinking about accountability, motivation, and communication for distributed teams.

Our little tradition helps add some motivation, and external accountability to my own fitness practice. No one is going to force me into the gym, and if I needed that, I’d probably give up working out altogether. The same is true for members of an engineering team. No one should have to force someone else into getting things done, and if that’s needed, it’s a sign that something isn’t right.?

When I receive his ? or I send mine, I can imagine a conversation where we are telling each other “I reached my goal today, I know you can too. We can reach our team goal together.”?

Is this how your team reacts when someone celebrates their own accomplishments??

In a dysfunctional team you may notice peers that see it as bragging (and it very well could be, but let’s discuss that some other time) and it will have the exact opposite effect. Team members may feel demotivated because they can’t share their wins, they will lose steam because they won’t be aware of others’ accomplishments, and overall the team culture will be detrimental to achieving team goals.?

Lastly, the communication part. There’s a strong impulse to over communicate in distributed teams. More meetings, more ways to stay connected, more, more, more. For my brother and I all it takes is one emoji, and a lot of self-accountability to make sure we achieve our own goals, and the goals of the team.?

Hire motivated team members, foster a culture of sharing accomplishments, set clear goals, and communicate efficiently and concisely. You will be well on your way to developing a winning culture.?

*The distance between Atlanta and Buenos Aires is 5,011 miles to be exact.