By Glenn Boylan
The October PMI Atlanta Technology Forum reached out across geography and time zones. A timely and relevant subject for many PMs – working effectively with remote teams.
Steve Kruger and Nancy Berlin opened the meeting talking about PMI Atlanta. The Atlanta chapter can always use volunteer help in many capacities, including speakers. If you have an interesting job or project to discuss, please consider volunteering to be a speaker. Not only will you help build the chapter’s body of knowledge, but you’ll get 3 PDUs towards your PMI certification as well.
There are certification and education classes being offered in November and December, but with the holiday season coming up, many regular events, especially those in the middle or end of the month, will not be held. Be sure to check the Events page on the chapter web site, at www.pmiatlanta.org, for the latest news and schedule of events.
Just before the keynote presentation, we were introduced to Sam Abdelaziz, PMP, who is a 2014 candidate for the Director 4 position. Sam laid out his plans to make PMI Atlanta the first place companies go when they want to hire project managers.
The 2014 Executive Board of Directors elections are being held from November 10th through November 21st. Keep an eye out in your email and on the chapter web site for details on how to vote.
Nancy then introduced our keynote speaker for the evening, Cori L. Lawton, RHIA, PMP. Ms. Lawton’s presentation was titled “Leading & Facilitating Inclusion with A Remote Team".
Cori explained three key aspects of effective remote teams – Relationships, Roles, and Rewards. Relationships are established through trust and engagement. Roles need to be clearly defined and understood. Rewards allow the team to celebrate both team and individual accomplishments.
Some of the ways Cori builds relationships within the team are through team member introductions that include some personal information about the member, such as hobbies or outside interests, and “spotlight” sessions, where one person’s role with some personal facts are highlighted. One version of these introductions is Pecha Jucha (“chit chat”), where a team member is given 20 seconds to show 20 images of themselves and talk about their interests.
The official roles of every team member should be explained, documented, and shared. Tools like a team directory and a SME list can be used to communicate roles. Effective use of collaboration tools such as SharePoint, WebEx, and Dropbox is a great way to keep the team informed and up to date.
It’s also important to know the “unofficial” roles on every team, and who is filling those roles. These roles include: Leader, Trainer, Technician, Journalist, and Cheerleader.
Cori concluded by talking about the importance of rewards for the team. Rewards can, but don’t have to be, monetary in value. Just celebrating things like project milestones, birthdays, holidays, and individual accomplishments goes a long way in improving team morale.
Ms. Lawton’s presentation was very interesting and provided great ideas for working with virtual teams. This is already a reality for many project mangers, and will become even more prevalent in the future.