Italian Remote Conference 24/25 06

Davide Mezzetti Malta

English version

Remote Team Building

Some experiences

• Team sports• Martial Arts• Research communities• Startups• Worked for a big company• Experiential trainer• A lot of travel• Live and work

Some experiences

• I worked with Italians, French, Spanish, Colombian, American, Maltese, Swiss, Indian, German and Turkish ..

• Nice? Yes• Tough? Yes

Organization of the slides

• Target• Forming a team – Ideal case• Forming a team – Usually• Forming a team – By remote• Problems = Solutions

TargetTo carry general life experience in order to

manage & maintain a team in a remote context !

Why?• Adapt to a growing market• Increase performance • Complete projects • Respect deadlines • Have fun

Forming a team• Definition by wikipedia:A team “is a group of people linked in a common

purpose.”

Having a SHARED GOALGives us direction

Basic of project management

• All team members must have a clear objective to achieve..

• The goal is made clear on a roadmap.• The roadmap is divided into milestones.• Each milestone is achieved by the team.• Each destination is celebrated as a success!

Yes, but how do I create a team?

• “It is something that happens naturally , it just takes time”

• Natural is the word that is used to explain something that happens without understanding the reasons.

How do I create a team? Dynamics and concepts

• Common goal• Common and individual motivation• Management and enforcement of roles• Shared culture • Shared values• Methods• Leadership

Team building.. what is it?

Team building – really is..

• Bonding activities organised in order to bring the group together after analysis of the group dynamics.

• Sharing experience and internalization It leads to a real growth and therefore to a change in performance and harmony.

Team building: the Italian case

• Beer with colleagues• Cigarette break• Football matches• Business dinners• ...

Team building: the italian case

• The inclusion of human resources is not managed

• The responsibility is entrusted to the individual and to his soft- skill

• The creation and optimization team takes time and resources because there is a practical methodology to be applied

• Often it creates unmotivated employees

Remote team building

Or

Work remotely in a distributed team

Remote team building

Typical approach: to gain personal experience in companies .. remotely.

Does it work??It does not work as efficiently as it does when not working remotely.

Why?

• We should deal with the different problems to those we are used to

DIFFERENT

• In reality, the problems are the same and are much more amplified!

But we never stopped to observe them!

Some examples?

• Cultural Diversity• Different timing• Different language • Hard to find things in common• No method• Lack of human contact

• No coffee break and cigarettes

More..• We do not know. (never seen in person , what about emotional affinity?)• We do not trust it (because of the past history: wars, conflicts, tensions,

bad experiences)• You do not have the usual cultural phenomena in common (words, food,

approach to friendship, approach to life, approach to work, emotional openness)

• We have different schedules.• We have different interests (the national sport is different , the climate is

different , the smells are different, ..)• We have different backgrounds (universities are all different)• We have different specialization (graphics , database)• We have different goals (we'll see how this is a key factor )

More..

How to solve these problems??

Basically:• Be open-minded • Be curious to learn• Suspend judgement (judgement creates

separation)more:• Be aware of the dynamics and processes

Process?

Process of creation of the team: fundamentals

• Common goal (roadmap , milestone)• Role definitions• Creating a team culture• Focus on communication• First integrating the person, then his skill • Members’ enthusiasm (Do you like your job?)• Do not take anything for granted .. ask

questions

First the person, then practice!

• Hangouts group led by leader.• Each participant must participate actively.• Hangout in pairs.• Continuous feedback.• It is necessary to maintain and monitor the

relationship with each team member.

First the person, then practice 2!

• Definition of an alliance based on value• Definition of team’s value (transparency,

sincerity, trust, ..)

• Individual motivations (personal interest to use technology, personal interest to cover a role)

And now…the project

• Requirements, technical choices, difficulty, etc.• Shared Vision.• Individual Vision –defines boundaries–• Role in the project.• Skill and experience (levels and compensation)• Integration technologies: Slack, Trello, git,

Atlassian, jira, dropbox , gmail etc.

Team’s culture

Which means:• Having shared memories• Having shared words• Having a similar vision of the team

Team’s culture

Teams culture: the a-team

• Defined roles: shared and respected• Shared culture: Vietnam War• Shared culture: military culture• Shared mission: have fun and help others

Keyword: sharing

The problem : coordinating a group

• Typically: two-way chat.

• Ideally: everything about the team must be shared among every one. A defined space should be created to share and maintain this information.

Solution : Coordination of a Group

• Keeping a group chat where people exchange personal information ONLY: daily life, personal activities, hobbies, music, resources.

• Keep a chat group technique , possibly with a hashtag system and log so you can easily manage the direct recipients of the message and the history.

• Slack and Trello.

Solution: Coordination Group

• #frontend• #mockup• #testing• #meeting

The Problem: I do not feel part of the team

The Problem: I don’t feel part of the team

Analysis:• The individual is not participating emotionally to the live

group -> declining productivity• This happens because: a) the goal of the team project is not defined clearly or it

is not made explicit b) An individual’s culture differs from the team culture

If unresolved, this leads to separation/exclusion of individuals.

The Solution: I do not feel part of the team

• Regular analysis of reports• Daily and weekly meetings• Professionalism• Compliance of the team rhythm

Not all instruments play at the same time...But they all follow the same rhythm.

The problem: I do not trust you

The problem: I do not trust

The farther away the individual is culturally=

The less they tend to trustSolution• Small projects• Neighboring cultures• Initially should share/accept/test workflow

Workflow?

• It is the passing of the ball between team members.• It is the fun part. If you do not like it, team work is

not for you!

Examples:• Designers prepare psd for the front-end• Back-end prepares endpoint for front-end• Commit and merge

The problem: there is always someone missing at meetings!

Solution:• The meetings are planned systematically

beforehand .• We are aware of the extra commitments of all

the team members by keeping a shared calendar.

• The meetings can not be missed!

The problem: there is always someone missing at meetings!

The planning itself is a group activity in which the whole group can participate!

• It keeps the team in line.• Weekly.• Start week/end week.

The problem: The team is under stress

The problem: The team is under stress

The problem: The team is under stress

The problem: The team under stress

Typical indicators:

• Conflict• Performance in sharp decline

Solution: The team is under stress

• Bring the group together with meetings, accept clashes as a growth process, understand the issues of all (by listening).

• We can do this because we have created an ethical pact, a kind of alliance which defines the conduct to be followed during the clash.

Solution: The team is under stress

Growth continues: tips

• Team meetings should be held after reaching every milestone in order to get feedback and try to figure out what went well and what can be improved.

• Evaluate themselves constructively.• Evaluate others constructively.• Evaluate the model constructively.

Organizing group events

Yes by remote!

In brief

Focus on:• The person, first and foremost• Sharing and communicating• Task alignment• Feedback and monitoring

All for one..

“I love it when a plan comes together!”

{{Happy coding}}

Personal contacts

Davide.mezzetti@hotmail.it

Skype davide.mezzetti

staff@balloonsteam.com

Thanks bros!!