Can Small teams be managed from afar?

Often, we wrestle with managing small remote teams. I have been managing teams for over a decade – mostly local and rarely remote. During my recent India visit, I was twelve and half hour ahead of California where all of my team was. Managing such a team is a challenge especially if most of the members are new and you have a mix of legacy and new projects. Situations quickly go from bad to worse if you have to manage customer expectations as well.

Here are some pearls of wisdom on how you can manage such teams without much tears and blood. First, define personal expectations. Second, utilize good low cost communication tools and lastly delegate to the right people.

Define personal expectations – This is critical in becoming a successful long distance manager (and a long distance employee at the same time.) The key word here is “personal”. By extension you also need to be clear about what is expected of different members of your team. This definition of roles and responsibilities is important in ensuring things get done.

Acquire optimal communication tools – Before I left, I setup Skype to enable me to call people in the US , UK and Mexico . I made sure my team members also had Skype so we can talk without the burden of exorbitant long-distance costs. As soon as I landed, I identified places where I could get network access. I also ensured that I had Yahoo!Messenger as a backup. In addition, I borrowed a local mobile phone for local communication and had my US mobile phone if someone wanted to get in touch with me in an emergency.

Delegate to the right person – I am assuming that you have identified the right people as you team members. Not all members are capable of understanding priorities and executing them. There will be many demands made of your team in your absence - people will ask for “simple” help without realizing the required effort. Your designated team leader needs to be able to say “No” without the fear of being rude. Delegation is not about passing your responsibilities – it is as much helping them succeed as well.

Over the last four weeks I have successfully followed these simple tenets and come back to a stress-less environment.

Ram.