What do you do if your remote team struggles to collaborate on virtual projects?

When managing a remote team, collaboration can indeed be challenging due to the lack of face-to-face interactions. Here are some tips to overcome: 1. Communication Barriers: -Remote team members may feel disconnected due to physical separation. Establish clear communication channels. -Foster an open environment where members feel comfortable sharing ideas and concerns. 2. Time Zone Differences: -Working across different time zones can strain virtual employees. Use time zone converters to schedule meetings. -Set clear expectations regarding availability and response times. 3. Building Trust: -Trust is crucial for collaboration. Regular video meetings, team-building activities. -Encourage open communication and celebrate team achievements.

Cuando se tienen diferencias en horarios, se deben buscar espacios en donde los miembros del equipo coincidan, se pueden ajustar los horarios de tal manera no surjan obstáculos para el desarrollo del proyecto...

Before tackling the struggles it is essential to establish the root cause: Is it leadership or accountability? Are tasks per team member clearly defined & communicated, with an understanding of how they impact the project? Do they have necessary tools & knowledge to effectively collaborate? Determine an appropriate solution to the identified issue(s). It may follow that you have to focus on enhancing communication channels, scheduling regular check-ins, or fostering a culture of trust and accountability; provide access to the necessary tools, facilitate team bonding activities, address conflicts promptly, and consider offering training sessions on virtual collaboration techniques to empower the team further.

Para melhorar a colaboração da equipe em cenários obrigatoriamente remoto, além de check-ins e software de gerenciamento de projetos, sugiro, reuniões periódicas para discutir o progresso, resolver problemas e compreender as dores do dia a dia. Avaliar plataformas de compartilhamento de documentos para colaboração em tempo real contribui na organização comum. Criar grupos de mensagens instantâneas para comunicação e alinhamento rápido. Sugiro também construir uma agenda evolutiva e de apoio a adaptação, via treinamento em habilidades de comunicação, como escuta ativa, trabalho em grupo, metodologia de comunidades. E estabelecimento de uma cultura de feedback regulares e abertos entre todos. Observando o que mais gera e destrói valor.

Quando a equipe remota está com dificuldades de colaborar em projetos virtuais, podem existir várias causas: 1. As expectativas de colaboração estão claras a equipe? Frequência, itens, qualidade, pontos focais; 2. Existe o alinhamento dos envolvidos? Quais as dependências existentes? Plataformas e frameworks; Diante dessas e mais algumas perguntas o líder do projeto, scrum, agile coach ou o papel de facilitar precisa ser exercido, reunindo essa equipe de trabalho e realizando o alinhamento de todas esses pontos que possam não estar claros, analisando principalmente se essas contribuições são válidas, produtivas e se não chocam com nenhuma outra cerimônia já existente.

When teams face challenges working remotely, consider these strategies: Leverage Existing Meetings: Use regular meetings to brainstorm, align roles, and make decisions. Set agendas and assign facilitators to keep discussions focused. Asynchronous Communication: Utilize shared documents for updates and reviews. Set clear deadlines to maintain progress. Virtual Collaboration Tools: Encourage video calls for collaborative work. Tools like virtual backgrounds and chat apps foster teamwork and reduce isolation. Build Trust: Foster a culture of trust within the team to enhance remote control

Ao alinhar as expectativas com o time, vc gera accountability, ou seja o comprometimento de todos com relação as entregas. O famoso jargão do combinado não sai caro!

Las expectativas son cruciales ya sea para el armado de un equipo como para la concesión y alcance de metas. No tener expectativas claras, precisas y estipuladas dificulta la tarea, y sobre todo desmotiva si las mismas no se cumplen por ser irreales o demasiado inalcanzables.

En mi experiencia hay que dejar claro el plan de trabajo con los entregables mínimos requeridos, con el seguimiento adecuado y retroalimentación respectiva. El liderazgo allí debe tener suficientemente clara la visión de lo que se quiere lograr.

Estabeleça diretrizes para a comunicação: defina em equipe as diretrizes sobre as ferramentas que serão usadas para determinados tipos de comunicação. Por exemplo, na Asana usamos o Slack para conversas informais, a Asana para colaboração e projetos importantes e os e-mails para a comunicação com fornecedores ou parceiros externos. Use um plano de comunicação para documentar o que for decidido em equipe e disponibilize as diretrizes em um local fácil de ser encontrado por todos.

Desde la practica, la gamificación debe ser una de las metodologías a aplicar, el internet posee varias herramientas que ayudan el trabajo en equipo, que permite cumplir con los entregables mínimos requeridos.

Ao escolher as ferramentas digitais certas para a sua equipe, certifique-se de considerar as necessidades específicas do seu projeto, a preferência dos membros da equipe e a facilidade de integração entre as diferentes plataformas. Essas ferramentas podem realmente facilitar a colaboração remota e melhorar a eficiência do seu trabalho em equipe. Comunicação: Slack; Microsoft Teams. Compartilhamento de Arquivos: Google Drive; Dropbox. Gestão de Projetos: Trello; Asana. Videoconferência: Zoom; Microsoft Teams (novamente); Edição Colaborativa de Documentos: Google Docs; Microsoft Office 365.

Use project management tools like Trello, Azure or Jira to track progress and assign tasks. These tools are easy to use, train and track progress. Using project management tools instead of emails helps mitigate risks.

Las herramientas, en cualquier ámbito, son clave para un desarrollo óptimo del trabajo. Si bien, al igual que con los canales de comunicación, no se debe caer en el error de pensar que con las herramientas: "cuantas más, mejor" e ir al peso. Las herramientas deben implementarse si, y solo si, se percibe un valor real por parte de los empleados ya que de ello dependerá el grado de adopción que tenga y, por ende, el éxito en su implementación. Al igual que no se deben implementar herramientas porque sí, creo que se deberían desestimar aquellas que, bien por obsolescencia, bien por falta de uso, no estén aportando un valor real a un equipo. Además, es clave realizar onboardings y formaciones apropiados, en el que el valor de estas sea tangible

Not only choose tools, engage your team to assess current tools and if they are taking the best of it, only go to the market if you really have the budget or the authority to use a non oficial tool in your organization. If you do not have, engage it, seek for other areas with the same problem, because buying a new tool, most of the time is not a simple task.

It’s often surprising how little team members actually know about each other, even if they’ve worked together for years. Help your team deepen their connection and share a bit more about who they are outside of work: their interests, their family set up, what they’re experiencing right now, how that feels for them etc. We are all juggling different challenges at home and understanding each others ‘lot’ can create much more connection and team spirit. Remember to create a safe space for this - some people will happily share and others may need time to open up - and that’s fine.

Remote work can sometimes feel isolating, so it's essential to foster a sense of camaraderie among team members. Organize virtual team building activities and team challenges to foster positive engagement. Also, ensure roles are clearly defined to avoid confusion and duplication of efforts. Make sure that each team member understands how their work contributes to the overall objectives of the team.

Understand individuals through an empathetic lens including their communication styles, preferences, timings, mode of communicating and personality types. Be respectful. Don't just listen, truly "hear" them, and be inclusive of everyone, not just the majority (that's a shortcut!). Also, "listen" for the silence voices!

If your remote team are not engaging … switch your communication style. This is more likely to occur if you preference email communication. More face to face needed that might be in person, virtual meetings for small group and 1:1 connect.

It’s important to not lose the human element by overdoing it with tech solutions. Nothing drives collaboration more than open dialogue and psychological safety so make time for live conversation, pauses for people to think and formulate their ideas and simply share what’s going on with them as a human. Outputs are hindered by all sorts of challenges not just the obvious ones directly related to the task in hand

It is key to encourage feedback in remote teams, regularly hold individual check-ins and emphasize that it is a safe, judgment-free environment for sharing. Utilize anonymous feedback tools for honest insights and frame feedback as essential for growth, ensuring everyone feels valued and heard.

Creio muito nisso, vejo como poderoso. Além disso, ao estabelecer um ambiente onde o feedback é bem recebido e utilizado de maneira construtiva, cria-se uma cultura de aprendizado contínuo e desenvolvimento pessoal e profissional. Isso não apenas fortalece os laços dentro da equipe, mas também promove um ambiente de confiança e respeito mútuo. Ao priorizar a troca aberta de ideias e perspectivas, estamos posicionando nossa equipe para alcançar novos patamares de sucesso e excelência colaborativa. Juntos, sempre pode moldar o futuro do projeto e alcançar resultados ainda mais significativos.

Uno de los aspectos clave de la comunicación es poder hacerlo de manera abierta y sincera. Solo así, y estableciendo relaciones de confianza, podrá tener lugar un feedback honesto y que busque aportar valor y mejorar las cosas. A todos nos encanta escuchar lo que va bien, pero la única forma de mejorar es escuchando lo que no va bien. Por ello, y con mayor motivo en los equipos remotos, es imprescindible que se pueda comunicar de manera abierta y transparente, siempre intentando ser constructivo y sumar, aquellas cosas que no están funcionando todo lo bien que deberían y proponer soluciones o alternativas.

Encourage collaboration by fostering a culture of sharing ideas and feedback. Use collaborative tools like share point, Dropbox to share documents and consider implementing virtual brainstorming sessions or workshops.

Create a psychologically safe space where everyone's voice is respected, even if one voice varies from the majority. Encourage those who don't speak up to voice their thoughts. Also allow for folks to pass on providing feedback if they choose to, or help create a more comfortable forum where they can express their feedback.

Using tools like Monday.com and ClickUp are a great way of keeping track of progress. However, employees need live feedback on the work they are delivering. Call, text, email or Teams the employee with praise when they do things well and have a private call (don't text) when they are failing to achieve their objectives. Always be constructive and coach through the issue where possible. Ask questions what they think about the quality of work, or why they believe the deadline was missed. Explore the underlying issues as that could determine the solution. Where possible, through coaching, allow the employee to suggest the most appropriate solution to the problem (you can steer them in the right direction) as they will own the solution better.

Focus first on building followership. If the team believe in the vision and they know how they contribute to it, it helps immensely. Define roles within the team and check in on capacity vs demand regularly to ensure work is evenly distributed. Communicate milestones and successes often. Work on the team dynamics, ensuring trust is strong, encouraging quick resolution of conflicts, and seeking out root causes to issues. Lack of collaboration in teams is usually a symptom of poor leadership rather than poor teamwork.

"Überwachung" sounds like micro management. I believe not "you" should do it, but the project manager should build an environment of trust and a platform that progress and hurdles are uncovered as a standard. Besides that "Verbessern sich die Bemühungen um die Zusammenarbeit" sounds like the people were not motivated in the first place. If this is the case, it usually is not the problem of the people but a leadership problem - uncover those hurdles so the intrinsic motivation can thrive.

As a coach, I've found virtual Open Space Technology Sessions to be transformative for my teams. We've strengthened our bonds through one-on-one connections and improved team dynamics, even in virtual environments. Plus, team members get to share their passions and seek support. Limited characters prevent further details, but feel free to reach out for further details!

Address conflicts promptly. Address any conflicts or issues that arise among team members promptly and respectfully. Encourage open communication and mediation to resolve conflicts and prevent them from escalating.

Run virtual meetings around your chosen tool and share it live in the meeting. At the start, add time to your agenda for live collaboration and ask your team to add to or update the document in real time at the meeting. Then go around the team and ask everyone to share their points. As people become more comfortable and better understand the use and expectation of remote tools and their effectiveness in meetings, you can start to ask them to come prepared with their notes in the live document. Use the document as part of performance discussions. Link it to demonstrated values and outcomes to make it meaningful for your team and as an evidence point for assessment. Help your team to see the proven value of their voices through reward.

The best relationships are built by initiating face-to-face collaborations first, before moving the communication over virtually. This builds trust and rapport with both those who already know each other and especially when making new connections. It's more helpful for physical meetings to occur before the start of a virtual implementation than during it. It still helps to arrange face-to-face forums and events periodically to help virtual collaboration though.

People have different ways or working, especially when it comes to technology. Be mindful of this and establish with the team which tools work best for the team as a whole. Where a team member struggles to incorporate certain technology in their workflow, ensure to provide additional support and training and make them understand the importance of using that technology.