How To: 5 Tips to Manage an Online Team

One of the most challenging tasks of my job is to manage some of my remote/online teams. Team-building and management are already difficult tasks when everyone is at the same place during any given number of hours, but the paradigm of what a team is has changed dramatically in recent years. New business models give new ways of operation: We are not bound any longer to any given physical space, ubiquitous access to an internet connection has made every household a potential working place and, in this connected world, a project/team manager is able to work with those who are the right people for a specific task, no matter where in the world they are. Managing these remote teams requires extra effort and attention should be given since one thing remains certain: Without a team around you pushing toward the same goal you are nothing.

The following is a list of five tips that, in my opinion, are the cornerstone of team-building and management applied to remote/online teams. They aren’t in any particular order of importance since all of them are basal to build and manage a team.

1. Connect: Know that place where everyone hangs out in the office, drinking coffee or outside smoking a cigarette? You don’t have that when all of your team is scattered around the world, in different time zones but you do have things like Skype, MSN, GTalk or IChat (my favorite for a variety of reasons is Skype without a doubt). Make sure that you create virtual coffee breaks with the members of your team just to chat without it being related to work. This is imperative for relationship-building.

2. Communicate: This should come without saying, but I have to stress the importance that communication has in managing teams, especially when they aren’t in the same space. E-mail and Google Wave can play a great role in keeping everyone in the loop of what is happening around a project. It is far better to send more information than you should than to fall short. Team members might hint that you are sending way too much information, but the first day you fail to update them on something THEY think is vital—you’re in trouble.

3. Engage: Today’s structures do not allow for a hierarchy similar to that of big corporations where you have a so called chain-of-command and information is shared on a need-to-know basis. If you are working with a talented team scattered around the world with different backgrounds and cultures it’s a shame if you don’t ask them to contribute with their opinion. Mind you, we are not talking about decision-making, someone has to make a final decision and that should be the project manager but, if you engage your team on the pre-decision process, you will create a team spirit where every opinion counts and it’s taken into consideration.

4. Listen: Really. Listen and listen carefully. The most important percentage of being a great team leader is to be able to listen to the people that are working with you. Get to know them and who they are and how they react in different scenarios. By listening, you are creating a powerful communication channel, one that will enable your voice to be heard when necessary.

5. Delegate: No man is an island and no one can do everything alone. Remember the old saying, “It’s lonely at the top?” Forget it! It’s only lonely at the top if you want to be lonely! Notice where specific abilities lie within your team and make them responsible for certain tasks. That will spread ownership and increase team building, team management and take the decision process to a macro level.

What strategies do you use for online team management? Anything you would add to this list? Please, let me know in the comments.