Work Together Anywhere

PART IVSUCCESSFUL REMOTE TEAMS 201

Managing Remote Workersand Teams

“A lot of managers are asked to manage remote teams with a sink-or-swim mentality. We need to train managers how to work with remote teams. How will you collaborate? How will you build trust? You have to become more of a leader and less of a manager. There's a big difference between those two things. Instead of micromanaging, you have to set up your team for success.”

—PHIL MONTERO, systems engineer, The Garam Group, LLC²

Not surprisingly, the remote team manager's to-do list is rather extensive. Namely: ensure team members have (access to) all the knowledge, tools, training, processes, and cohesion they need to fulfill their agreed-to roles and obligations. As it happens, it's difficult to separate such a complex agenda into distinct sections organized by topic. Instead, the material is organized into the two stages of the development process.

The next two chapters cover what's called for in the planning stage:

• CHAPTER 7: Commit to providing strong, empathic, flexible leadership from a mind set of both trust in team members and belief that remote teams can succeed. Ensure team members have (access to) high-quality tools and equipment.
• CHAPTER 8: Facilitate that success, which calls for alignment throughout. First up, explore what solutions might be best for your particular personnel, objectives, and circumstances.

The last two chapters cover what's called for in the acting stage:

• CHAPTER 9: Engage ...