Are composed of members that are dispersed in different areas but still able work together
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Achieving Your Goals Together, While Apart
© iStockphoto You may never meet some of your team face-to-face. Many of us regularly work with colleagues based in different buildings, cities, countries, and even continents. Our team members may be in different time zones, speak different languages, and be part of different cultures – but they're still our team. A team can come in many shapes. Some members may work in groups of two, three, or more in the same office, while others may work individually in separate offices or at home. You may see some team members every day, but you may rarely see others – or perhaps you've never even met them! Regardless of how people are organized, managing a team that's spread out in many locations can present huge challenges, even for the most experienced bosses. How do you ensure that everyone feels they're treated fairly, if you see some team members much more than others? How can you prevent remote team members from feeling isolated? And how do you get all members to buy into the team's objectives and stay on track? This article will help you answer these questions, and we'll give you the specific knowledge and tools necessary to keep a dispersed team unified and motivated. Choose the Right Team PlayersWhen selecting people to work in a geographically dispersed team, choose individuals with the right qualities for this situation. Look for the following qualities:
Define Your Team PurposeWith a geographically dispersed team, it's essential for members to unite around a common purpose. Everyone must agree to the team's goals. Creating a team charter is an excellent way to achieve this. A team charter is a "roadmap" for your team. It ensures that all workers are focused on the right thing from the start. You can use a team charter to state your team's mission, clearly define everyone's roles and responsibilities, identify key resources, and decide how the team operates. Team charters often use the SMART framework (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Time-bound) to set goals and objectives. Team charters can also be useful when an established team is in trouble. For example, the difficulties of working across several continents may create stress for your team, and members may lose their focus or work toward conflicting goals. A team charter can help get everyone back on track. Tip:Have a strong communications strategy. This is especially important if your team members are in different time zones and speak different languages. But make sure that the technologies you use – such as instant messaging and file sharing – are reliable. Frequent technology failures are frustrating for remote workers. Read our article on Working in Virtual Teams for more guidance on this. Develop Strong Team DynamicsWhether you're creating a new geographically dispersed team or integrating workers into an existing team, you need to be aware of team dynamics. Managing relationships between team members can be difficult enough within a shared office space, but it's even more challenging when workers are all over the country – or the world. With remote workers, you don't have the advantage of watching body language for signs of trouble between team members. The same is true for managing the morale of individuals. How can you tell if remote workers are unhappy if you can't see them? Watch closely for warning signs such as these:
Most teams follow a "forming, storming, norming, performing" path from the time they're first created. Identify which stage your team is in, and apply some of our suggested tools to move your workers toward the performing stage. Get the Free Newsletter!Learn new career skills every week, plus get a bonus Be a Successful Manager Checklist, free! Read our Privacy Policy Give Feedback and Reward PerformanceFeedback is essential for team performance and morale, and it's particularly important in a geographically dispersed context.
Promote Team BondingMost people who work in an office environment enjoy occasional lunches or drinks with co-workers. Unfortunately, this isn't really possible with geographically dispersed teams! As a manager, be creative about ways to achieve team bonding if workers are physically separated. Depending on budget, you may want to get your team together once a year – or more, if possible. How about a weekend away to do some team-building activities? If budgets are tight, however, you need alternatives. Here are some ideas:
Key PointsGeographically dispersed teams can offer huge benefits – efficiency, cost savings, and the ability to choose team members with the best skills, regardless of their location. To make the team work well, choose the right team players, and ensure that you have strong communication technologies. Unite your team around a team charter, and communicate objectives clearly and frequently. Give frequent, fair, and appropriate feedback to everyone, and make sure you're always available to your team members. Even if your team can't meet in person frequently, try to occasionally visit all of your remote team members so they know that they're valued. What are composed of a number of individuals working together collectively in teams to attain organizational objectives?A team is defined as a group of people who perform interdependent tasks to work toward accomplishing a common mission or specific objective. Some teams have a limited life: for example, a design team developing a new product, or a continuous process improvement team organized to solve a particular problem.
What is group and team?A group is a collection of individuals who coordinate their efforts, while a team is a group of people who share a common goal. While similar, the two are different when it comes to decision-making and teamwork. In a work group, group members are independent from one another and have individual accountability.
What are the classification of team?Teams can be divided into four main groups: project teams, self-managed teams, virtual teams, and operational teams. What type of team you have depends on its purpose, location, and organizational structure. Each type of team comes with its unique set of strengths and weaknesses.
What type of team is formed by management to resolve a major problem immediately?Task Force - Such teams are formed for a special purpose of working on any specific project or finding a solution to a very critical problem.
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