Nigel,

As with any project communication is key. However in this case the virtual aspect will become a bit more challenging. Here are some things that were key when I was faced with managing a software implementation that required virtual staffing.

Weekly status meetings. I would let them provide input on frequency.
Let them provide input and feel accountable
Set up collaboration Sites for ease of sharing info. A good Example would be Sharepoint and/or Project Server
GROUND RULES. I capitalize this as this is very important with the virtual culture.
Keep them in loop of changes, thoughts, and feedback from stakeholders.

This will be a good start for you.

posted August 22, 2007

Hi Nigel;

Here are some guidelines we use that have helped us manage team members in diverse locations.

1. Define clear rules, processes and expectations. The more documentation you can define for business processes the better.

2. Be in a position so that you can always monitor assigned projects. Depending on the organization this could be establishing a VPN networking environment.

3. Use an online project collaboration tool to share information and maintain visibility. We use a web based tool called Joint Contact to manage everything from getting started documentation, to timesheets, project notes, discussions and contact lists.

Links:

• http://www.jointcontact.com
• http://www.jointcontact.com/examples

posted August 22, 2007

I concur with Paul's suggestion of using SharePoint for your collaborative needs. It can be used via a 'pay as you use' scenario used a hosted service with an ISP. This will allow you to create collaborative team sites per area or topic. You can also create team or personal blogs to aid communication also.

In addition to instand messaging, voip systems like Skype and white boarding applications like Live Communications Server (also available as a hosted pay as you use service) can allow you great collaborative tools to view and work on documents in a collaborative manner with your dispersed collegues - increasing productivity.

Contacts, Tasks and issues can also be tracked within your sharepoint site as well as manage all your documents using version control, aletrts, etc.

Discipline in terms of work ethic will be key. As will I would suggest task management and awareness of each others workload and deliverables.

Suggest weekly conference calls to run though the weeks activities and deliverables and try and foster an open/proactive culture of working/sharing from day 1.

Regards,
Andrew

Links:

• http://www.workshares.co.uk

posted August 22, 2007

“I am answering from the position of the "virtual follower". I've never met my boss. I've never seen our office. I think the success of my relationship with the company comes from a lot of contact in any way that can reasonably be done. We TeleConference the whole team twice a day in morning and evening. Most of the team is in Chicago, but I am in Ohio and another member is in California. I am connected to the office network on a VPN and of course email is a lifesaver, and WebConferences are an invaluable tool for collaboration. Makes it easy we are a TeleConference and WebConference company of course.

A large part of the success goes to character I think. I can take 3 hours and goof off I guess but that is just not how I work. I have full trust in my boss and he went on a limb for me to be working remotely, and I refuse to let him down, so I work as hard as I can. Having a remote team really depends on the team wanting it to work and doing what it takes when not under the direct scrutiny of superiors. I value integrity, and that to me means doing what is right when you can get away with doing what is wrong. If your remote workers hold that true, then it will be successful.”

Good Luck,

Anthony Russo
Great America Networks Conferencing
arusso@ganconference.com
www.ganconference.com
312-432-5377

Links:

• http://www.ganconference.com

posted August 22, 2007

Nigel

I'd agree with the advice that others have given you.

I've been working on a virtual programme for over three years. My personal team is also a virtual team.

My advice would be to plan hard at the outset and start how you mean to go on. Successful teams know what they are responsible for and what their goals are (both as an individual and as a group). If at all possible try to get everyone together in the same location when you kick off your project. There's a lot that can be done through regular tele and video conferencing but there's no substitute to doing your introductions in person. It helps the team to bond and I think you learn far more about the make up of your team in a shorter period of time. If you get the 'Forming' stage of building your team right, then it makes the road ahead much easier.

Regardless of whether you manage to get your team together in one location at kick off, you should ensure that you implement robust governance arrangements and clear relationship owners, means of information sharing (a shared server works well for us), working arrangements and standards, clear roles and responsibilities for each team member, definitive scope for each team, communication plans, project/work plans and methods to capture risks, issues and assumptions. Ensure that everyone has a common understanding of these arrangements and support one another where needed.

In terms of keeping in touch make firm arrangements and stick to them. It's easy to let things slip when deadlines are looming. It may help to nominate someone to ensure that appropriate engagement is taking place on a regular basis. This works for us. Regardless of geographical location, we also ensure that we get together once in a while. Complex workshops always work better in person and it helps to maintain closer working relationships.

One final thing. Not everyone takes to managing at or being managed from a distance, especially if an individual is new to the concept. A friendly working environment, encouragement of open team communications and feedback and genuine support arrangements will help.

All the best with your venture.

Jill

posted August 22, 2007

Hi Nigel,

There are lots of ways to organize the minutiae (some good ones suggested here). However, the core issue is one of trust. Mangers are suspicious that workers may not be working. Therefore, in addition to ground rules, you need to have metrics so that you can tell if the employee is achieving what is required.

Once you have these worked out, trust the employee and verify with the metrics. Let go. For example: If you have a remote sales person who is expected to book between $500k and $750k and keep all customer contact happy, do you care if he does that in two days a week and goes to the rest of the time?

One important thing that is overlooked is providing training and support for the remote employees. Remember that they are probably learning how to do this just as much as you. Many people can't handle not being able to socialize with colleagues or bounce ideas off them at the coffee machine.

One resource (bit old now but good) is "The Underground Guide to Telecommuting" by Woody Leonhard (Addison Wesley).

Goods luck,

Brian MacLeod

posted August 22, 2007

We are a virtual company and a key to our success is communication. Yes we use technology (SharePoint etc...), but having a watercooler concall each week where people share what is going on brings people closer together. This along with an annual all hands meeting keeps the culture alive and channels open.

posted August 23, 2007

Nigel,

I've done quite a bit with global projects where we not only had dispersed people, they were also often in completely different timezones. While other people have mentioned some of them, I'll go through some of the tools that were most helpful to us. What is good about all these tools is that they foster frequent communications that don't have to be planned. Start with an attitude that people can be reached and every effort should be made to do so prior to "assuming" what someone thinks or sees. That being said, these are some of the tools we used and our experiences with them:

For communication, Skype was absolutely fabulous. Not only for instant messaging, knowing when people are available/have info to broadcast but also for voice and video calls. And the price is unbeatable.

Skype also has a fabulous feature where you can send someone a message, and even if they aren't online, as soon as they come online, the message will go through. Skype doesn't advertise that feature, but they should.

There is tool, Unyte (www.unyte.net) which allows you to share computer desktops and work jointly on documents. There are other tools (WebEx and WebPresent) that do the same thing, but Unyte has two features that caused us to dump the other two tool.

One, Unyte links into Skype, so you can share a desktop and do a skype call at the same time. Both other tools use the same resource as IM tools, so you can't do a call and I don't believe you can even send IM if you are using them.

The second reason we fell in love with Unyte, is that there's a yearly flat fee (I think it's $200) and then there's no usage fee. Both other products charge by the minute of use. Major pain and waste of money.

Another great connectivity tool we used was Free Conference Pro (http://freeconferencepro.com/). Essentially it is a free telephone conference call service. Calls can also be recorded.

We used Sharepoint and goove for document storage and distribution. Groove links in with Outlook which makes it even better. Just a fabulous tool to make sure everyone is on the same page and looking at the same information. We would have been crushed if we hadn't had a way to make sure everyone was looking at the same doco. There are other ways to do it and now that I have my own company I'm using the free ones, but I would suspect the links into Outlook and Sharepoint (or some other portal) will drive you towards tools that are compatible with your environment.

We used ARIS for business modeling. It's a good tool if you have a need for it. We kept all plans on one central server and then used Window's remote desktop feature to attach to that server.

We used all the basic project management tools (Project Schedule, Visio, PPT, Word, etc.

We had two Tablet PCs. If your team is doing design work, they are fantastic because you can sketch and draw on them with a pen. It's really just like you're looking at the same whiteboard. Especially if you are using a tool that lets you share their desktop. There were a number of times that we would project the screen on the wall and have it connected to other people through WebEx/Unyte to sketch out ideas. The value from being able to do that was tremendous. If you're going to have architects or designers on the project, I suggest getting them Tablet PCs. It's worth the investment.

Quite a few people had digital cameras, and we used them a lot. Both for capturing what was on white boards and to post pictures from meetings. They made the whole thing more fun. There were quite a few silly pictures and we started picking some that we used when we were giving updates. People sacrifice a lot for those types of global projects, it's good for everyone to see people not always serious.

We didn't use WebCams, but they might be helpful.

posted August 28, 2007