Staying Ahead of the Talent Development Curve: Managing and Developing Remote Teams in a Green, Global Economy (Part 1 of 2)

For years, large businesses have been adapting to the realities of a global economy. Within the past two decades, however, businesses of all sizes have come to grips with globalization by working to nurture international trade and looking for innovative and productive ways to off-shore various business functions. Initially, off-shoring activities were primarily centered on manufacturing functions. More recently, the picture has changed.

Today’s workforce dynamics include a host of approaches, such as off-shoring high-level professional functions and in some cases out or in-sourcing such roles. A changing workforce demographic, regionalization brought about through mergers and acquisitions, and the need for team approaches to solve problems have all contributed to new challenges in human resource management – especially when the key talent on your team is located across the country or around the globe.

On top of globalization, many companies are “going green” and are experimenting more and more with flex workplace arrangements to save money in office space, utilities and lower the carbon footprint by minimizing employee commutes. Along with globalization, the greening of the economy has further bolstered a strong business case for remote teaming.

For the manager, the remote team concept can be overwhelming, even when it comes to what used to seem to be simple day-to-day activities like regular communication, team meetings, providing coaching and feedback or building team cohesion.

The good news is that technology advances in recent years for both work and non-work applications provide a rich set of tools to help you and your remote team members effectively communicate, learn, collaborate and interact with each other on a daily basis.

While leading a remote team can present several unique challenges, the fact remains that fundamentally a remote team is still a team experiencing the same stages of growth and development as a co-located team. As a result, most team leadership basics apply whether you are working with a group of team members across the hall or across the globe. As a matter of fact, some say that with remote teams, these team leadership principles should be practiced with even more rigor and discipline.

So, before planning which new cutting edge technologies you will use to connect your dispersed team, it will be helpful to first step back and revisit some team leadership basics.

The Basics

Part two of this article will focus on some of the logistical challenges involved staying connected and in particular sharing knowledge and conducting learning sessions. It is important to remember, however, that most concerns that typically arise with remote teams will not center on technology, but on people issues. The fact remains that a remote team is still a team.