ezTalks: Challenges of Distributed Teams and How to Solve

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• 7 Challenges of Distributed Teams and How to
  Solve
• In this technological age, many individuals work
  with people from various locations. More often
  than not, challenges arise when the people that
  you are working with are not located in the same
  office. Distribute d teams pose a major challenge
  to organizations as they rely on good
  communication to thrive. (https//www.eztalks.com/
  )
• What Is a Distributed Team?
• A distributed team can be defined as people who
  are working in one group but are separated by
  their geographical locations. It can be in a
  different time zones, a neighboring city or even
  in a different building. The links of a
  distributed team are strengthened by reliable
  webs of communication
• technology.
• The Chanllenges That Distributed Team Faces
• There are several challenges that distributed
  teams on a global scale face on a daily basis,
  the notable ones include the following
• Lack of In-person Intera ction
• Distributed teams make it extremely difficult to
  judge the body language, have one-on-one
  conversations or even stop by a colleague's desk.
  In addition, it is not possible to read emotions,
  pick up clues or even feel the energy inside a
  room beyond the scope of a colleague's webcam.
  Generally, effective onl ine commun icatio n and
  the development of authentic relationships with
  other people becomes increasingly difficult.

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• The Black Box
• Remote team members are normally far away and
  people do not see what they are up to or who is
• working on what project. They simply operate by
  requirements being sent in and an output is
  expected.
• Non-native Speakers
• Distributed teams that comprise of non-native
  English speakers normally experience challenges.
  This is because some members of the team will be
  shy to speak up. This might lead to lack of
  effective communication that might be costly to
  the team in the long run.
• Us Versus Them
• This is normally a big problem for geographically
  distributed teams. It develops underneath the
• surface with people unawares. People become
  friends with those at the office and sideline
  those are not around. It is a mindset that
  deteriorates collaboration over the course of
  time.
• Product Delivery Issues
• When the design/requirements team is distributed,
  the process of requirements delivery can be
  challenging. This is because teams are left with
  large design specifications that are difficult to
  read. When the functionality and features are
  distributed via piecemeal, the members of a
  distributed team risk losing track of the designs
  and context.
• Solutions to the Challenges that Virtual Team
  Faces

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• Employee Rotations
• Members of a distributed team should be rotated
  between different locations. Moreover, the entire
• team should meet in a single location for
  quarterly/annual meetings, rallies and retreats.
  This allows them to know each other far from the
  work environment. This eliminates any existing
  barrier between members.
• Expose Distributed Team to Clients
• Most distributed teams suffer from a low exposure
  to clients and the market. This greatly improves
  the productivity of distributed teams.
• Alliances between Teams
• Animosity between members of a team usually
  results from a lack of understanding. This is why
  it is
• important to forge alliances between different
  distributed teams so that they learn to respect
  and support each other.
• Common Vision
• Having a common vision for all members of a
  distributed team will unite and align them. This
  works well against the us vs them mentality that
  was earlier mentioned.

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• Connect People in a Creative Manner
• When people are connected in a creative manner
  outside a typical video confere nce call, the
  culture
• barrier can be easily overcome with little
  difficulty. This can be over a social event where
  people can talk.
• Story Sized Sections
• Parsing the requirements into convenient
  story-sized sections and consequently sending
  them out as storyboards can solve the problem of
  requirements delivery process for distributed
  teams.
• Conclusion
• Globally distribute d teams can easily overcome
  some of the challenges that they face, especially
  with effective and robust tools for distrubuted
  team for remote colla bo ration and communication
  like ezTalks Cloud Meeting.
• From https //www.e zta lks .com/tele
  commuting/challe nges -of-distribute d-tea ms -a
  nd-how-to-solve .html