What I have learned from 6 years of ‘Distance Teaming’
What I have learned from 6 years of ‘distance teaming’
“What?! You haven’t seen your team in person in how long?! So, how do you work together and get things done?” These were common questions I got at the first ‘all hands’ (suggest changing to ‘all hearts’ for next time we can gather) meeting I attended in 2015. Back then these questions were asked with a sense of disbelief. Now they are asked with yearning and despair.
The answer to the first question was over a year. (Let’s hope that is not our current reality.) The answer to the second was by intentionally creating ohana. In other words, I used techniques that made our team feel and function like extended family. We aligned around a common mission, communicated respectfully and frequently, had high standards and helped one another achieve our business goals. Although we were spread across the US, in every time zone, and in Canada, we utilized technology to stay connected and get things done.
Since I am hearing from many individuals, teams and business leaders who are struggling to find a way to be productive from home with a completely remote team, I have recorded a series of short YouTube videos where I share techniques that once implemented increased our productivity by 20%, resulted in 0% turnover, and (the best compliment) people from other teams asked how they could be part of our team.
Are you ready to ‘get in the zone’ while working from home?