Face-to-Face and One-on-One
And 11 Other Tools to Bring Together a Disconnected Team
“A number of persons associated together in work or activity.”
Definition of Team by Merriam-Webster
In my opinion, building and leading a global sales team is the highest art of leadership.
Because “global” is the epitome of a disconnected team, not only are they geographically dispersed, but they are also separated by language, culture, experiences, political systems, and so much more.
Here is a list of tools to bring them together. While I focus on a sales team, those tools and the supporting principles apply to any disconnected team.
Schedule a kickoff meeting where people describe what they’re working on and identify projects ripe for collaboration. Choose interesting projects that everyone has a stake in. (Translation: Passing off grunt work won’t build any bridges.) Share the time commitment, goals, and expected business impact. Remember to highlight what’s in it for the team.
Define responsibilities. Organizations run best when everyone clearly understands their responsibilities. Provide each team member with a distinct definition of his or her own responsibilities, both individually and as it relates to the team. This eliminates confusion over who is accountable for what and allows everyone to relate without struggling over responsibilities.
Provide equal training. Make sure that each member of your team is trained and equipped to complete the tasks at hand; divisions surface when one member is unable to perform necessary duties. Provide ongoing training — if additional time is needed, pair two employees to learn from each other. Make sure, though, that it’s an equal teaching relationship, where both employees are gaining new skills.
Identifying with the global organization rather than a local office. If you feel a sense of belonging with the larger organization, you’re more likely to share its values and goals. A genuinely global sales leader needs to create reasons for an individual salesperson to have this global organizational identification, i.e., as the result of the leader’s particular vision, positivity, or trust.
Seeking interactions with other, geographically distant subsidiaries. This behavior is important to global work orientation because when interactions are high, there is a greater ability to develop trust and shared vision among international coworkers. Interactions are also vital for sharing knowledge and learning from one another’s common experiences can accelerate the spread of business efficiencies across the global organization. Offer tools that make this interaction easy and a natural part of the workflow.
Create face-to-face and one-on-one communication away from HQ; ideally, in a place, a team member feels comfortable and safe: their home turf; Either their office, their home, or their town. And while you are there, meet the family. Knowing the environment a person operates and spends most of their time in becomes invaluable when maintaining a long-distance relationship.
And in reverse, fly your remote team members to headquarters at least once each year. Make their trip worthwhile in terms of business goals and company meetings (it should go without saying that the best time to host an offsite is when everyone is present) but allow time for teambuilding as well. Organize a happy hour, take them out to lunch and invite them to take part in other company activities while on site.
Reward. Provide rewards to the team as a whole. Whether it’s an award, a luncheon, or some other treat, providing the whole team with an encouraging reward for hard work will build team spirit and bring team members back in with renewed enthusiasm for their jobs.
As a leader, you can also create a connection opportunity by working yourself remotely. Don’t make a trip to connect with a remote team member a 3.5-hour inspection. Allow two days of working side by side, with ample opportunity to connect socially. Great questions and topics will inevitably come up while you are together.
Empower. Give decision-making power to the people working on the project. Give them the authority necessary to get their jobs done. Trusted employees can make decisions without fearing consequences, and good employees will value that trust and seek to make the best decisions.
Whenever the team gets together as a whole, during a sales meeting, a conference, or a trade show, make sure to set time aside. Not for reading emails or taking part in conference calls, but for the team to be together in a social setting. I found the dinners after a day on the trade show floor to be the most energizing. Granted, you are tired and worn out from the day. But being together in a memorable space over a good meal, as a team after a day of shared experiences, carries on for a long time.
During the time the team is together, schedule a distinct teambuilding activity. Do something unusual that puts people outside their comfort zone; Make it playful, challenging, and mildly competitive. It has the desired short-term effect of bringing the team together. And it also creates lasting memories.
Don’t expect a silver bullet. Bringing a disconnected team together is a marathon, not a sprint.
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Photo by Anne Gosewehr