How to Communicate Efficiently in a Distributed Team?
ENBISYS experience on establishing efficient communication practices in Distributed Teams.
Imagine two groups of people located in different parts of the globe working on the same project. They’ve never met each other in person, but they are expected to communicate daily on solving a common challenge.
Imagine dropping a message over Slack to a person you don’t really know, saying: “Hey, could you finish task number 35 today”. This may sound a little rude unless these two people have previously met, joked, and went out for drinks together. This is the reason why ENBISYS practices Team Exchange visits.
Before pandemic, the first thing we did after launching a new project was flying to meet the Client’s team. Our engineers would spend up to two weeks getting to know their new teammates, learning about the project specifics, and meeting the stakeholders, sometimes including end-users.
For some projects, there were up to 2 team exchange visits per year. There would be a specific goal established each time, but the most important part is being in the same context.
We would also arrange visits of the Client’s team to our office in Tomsk. Such visits bring the Dedicated Team closer together and improve communication. There is also lots of knowledge sharing, with masterclasses on new approaches and technologies, like Machine Learning, Kubernetes or DevOps.
All this helped our business remain strong during lockdown times, when our close-knit Distributed Teams switched effortlessly to “work-from-home”, becoming even more productive. This experience also let us run an “online onboarding” for a new project with a U.S. Client after the borders were closed. We know how important it is to establish smooth communication and put ourselves in the context of the Client’s project. This helps us remain on the same page and eliminate misunderstanding.
Want some help integrating a new team into your existing project? Drop me a line on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/dmitrybubnov/. I am always open to discussing new challenges.
