A quick search shows hundreds of tips for working with remote and blended teams, even before the pandemic hit and WFH became mainstream.
In truth, the location of your team members is not the biggest concern. If your team is dispersed in any way, the challenge is the same. That includes if they are in separate offices in the same building.
The key factors that help teams adapt and thrive have not changed in this new environment, but the tools we use to support them have.
Teaming Success Factors
Feeling energised by the work and committed to the team’s purpose
Operating with confidence, knowing that team members are appreciated and supported by their organisation and fellow team members
Welcome challenges, balance risks, and relish the continuous learning their work brings
Demonstrate team resilience in the face of the instability
Sounds like nirvana right? An impossible aspiration in the face of all the instability? What's the alternative?
Based on our experience of working with teams, adding what we've learnt through the pandemic, the most effective way to generate this optimum team state, whether your remote, blended, or face to face is to inject collaborative energy into a live project or piece of work. When this approach is taken, the behaviours, delegation, and understanding can more easily be replicated across all aspects of the team’s work.
Whatever your circumstances, teams navigating change need support to be at their best. This may in fact be the best time for your team to rethink how they are working together to achieve results.
Our 3 Day Sprint offers teams the skills and methods they need. It helps teams align their goals and values, creating a productive space for challenging assumptions, co-designing solutions, and clarifying team members’ responsibilities.
Contact us if you have a team you know has it in them to do better, with a little support. We are happy to share client examples and discuss your team's needs.
By Peter McDermott and Dayna Caceres