How to Make Remote Teams Work

Researches show that majority of the workforce globally work in virtual work teams in some way or another; such as working from home, customer site, offices across the town, offices across the country or offices across the world. 

Although co-located teams usually show better engagement and productivity trails, distribution of workforce is no longer optional for the businesses today. Providing effective leadership to a distributed team is always challenging yet interesting and may require extra tactical care. Such challenges could be cultural, technical, personal or efficiency related. 

Key Success Factors of  Remote Management

To The Point
To maximize the efficiency of a distributed team, it is essential that they are given a set of common goals. Such  goals doesn't have to be precise but closer to the targeted outcome. A team with a clear idea on what to do, where to go, when to do and anticipate change are likely to be more productive and healthy. In addition it is important that team members are given clearly defined roles and responsibilities.

Trust
In a team setting we rely on team members on their integrity and strengths. Trust is integral to make an effective team and it helps to boost innovation, collaboration, creativity and productivity among the team members.The leadership team has a vital role in building trust by leading by example, communicating openly, and trusting the team members. When there is trust, the team members feel safe in the team setting which leads to being open and innovative.


Team
It's a dream of any leader to build a high flying team. On this, it is very important to hire the right talent with the fine blend of personality mix. For a team to make a successful journey every individual should feel accepted and accomplished. Sense of  belonging is important in terms of social psychological level in the team. Such a team with a pride of being one group will make the team win battles continuously and consistently.

Technology
Over the years technology has advanced exponentially to help the distributed teams immensely in communication and coordination. There are many important tools such as Email, instant messaging, Wiki, blogs, RSS fields, Video conferencing etc. at the disposal of today’s distributed teams. Use of technology also can reduce the unnecessary time spent on meetings and synchronization by helping to bridge communication gaps. 

In my experience, distributed teams can be successful only if they cooperatively manage the coordination required in the team context. Other than points discussed above, proactive communication, clear escalation, avoiding sudden conclusions and maintaining sense of humor and joy can also help make distributed teams work smoothly.

For All the Women in Heels

Today I was seated at an event organized for women, celebrating international women's day. Seeing the crowd of gorgeous ladies in high heels, confident and passionate made me proud for I am sure they would have encountered and still encounter many a challenge in their professional careers

It is amazing to see how the role of women has changed over time and the new enthusiasm to move up the career ladder, despite the challenges faced by women in our society. On a more specific note, I personally have seen many of my friends (girls) fighting hard battles on several fronts to pursue their personal dreams and a successful career.

Unfortunately I have also seen some falling behind during this heavy battle.. may be it is high time we ladies get together and have a good conversation about conquering the challenges we face. This I believe would help to face the biggest barrier of our time, which is maintaining a balance between a dream career and a life meant for women.

Workplace: Humans are born multi-taskers, and may be women are better at it ;).. just recall how our mothers used to run our homes cheerfully still fighting multiple battles. We ladies can surely do the same at our offices, just that we need to be given more opportunities, combined with the courage and confidence of the new world we can surely do wonders at our workplaces. Needless to say it is a win-win for the organization, the diverse set of thinking and abilities of women can create synergy in teams at any type of work. Now that many women take up in jobs and contribute, the organizations should initiate best practices to discourage workplace discrimination on gender.

Family: The more the females are educated and engaged with the society the more they can add value to their families in comparison to a traditional role of housewives, The knowledge we gain can be used to educate children, understand the needs of the family members better.. Also rather than letting the whole family to depend on a primary breadwinner in Sri Lankan context we can take a step up to support families for economic stability in families.

This post is dedicated to all the lovely ladies whom I know. 

Wishing you a Happy International Women's Day!!!

Employee Appreciation Day

Do you feel great when you hear good things about you? Hearing good things about me has always been a key for me to perform better and better to excel. 

Simple appreciation plays a big effect on us humans and makes us feel good about ourselves. In our day to day lives we get compliments from our managers, which are expected for the work we do, so it's more like we work for appreciation :). 

On 07th March 2014, a day dedicated to appreciate employees, "Employee Appreciation Day" our team came up with an idea to enhance the culture of appreciation by facilitating employees to write anonymous appreciation notes to their peers on a wall which was later named as "Wall of appreciation". 

The "Wall of appreciation" filled with colorful notes in no time, and it was amazing to see how simple and great to appreciate each other. 

It was even amazing to see how employees enjoyed reading the compliments written about them.

In the meantime, something interesting took place in the work stations and it was our own management team including our CEO walking the floors serving cup cakes to each and every employee, thanking them personally for their dedication and being our pillars of strength. Well this wasn't a surprise (except for serving cup cakes :) ) as our management team members are always known to be the coolest of all :).

This simple act gave me immense happiness to see the high level of engagement of our employees, which I believe is a key factor in a Great Place to Work. And been able to bring a smile on everyone's face.

Compliments should come within our hearts as it's precious by the receiving end. The more the compliment is simple the more it remains permanent in one's heart.

Keep in Touch...

Are we losing the human touch because of our busy schedules? Fortunately the innovations of communication technology let us counter the tiring rush and be in touch year-around with the ones we care. Throughout at 99X Technology we have been embracing such innovations to stay connected.

In our business it is important for us to keep constant contacts with our stakeholders. And the benefits are immense in using the available communication channels shown in the info-graphic. We learn about the people we deal with for example their interests, likes, life events, etc. and that helps to build mutual trust and relationships with one another.

At present Social Media is part of our lives. Xians are given the freedom to use Social Media anytime without restrictions, as we work based on mutual trust. Thanks to communication technology we are able to keep ourselves up to date through knowledge sharing without much effort.

While the technology has helped us in improving communication in the organization, our culture keeps us personally in touch with each other through team work, fun activities, recreation, daily chit chats, etc.

At 99X Technology, we are connected. Are you? 

A Warm Welcome...

For a new employee, the first day means the first impression! It is common for a person to experience first day jitters at a new setting. Therefore it is important the organization has planned programs to welcome the new comer regardless of his/her position.

As a great place to work, we at 99X Technology always ensure our new employees are warmly welcomed to make them feel belonging, we have lined up many welcoming programs where we make the new employees feel at home from day one and there are many avenues for them to get adapted to the culture.

The gift pack given to the joiner contains 99XT merchandise and a welcome-booklet with important information on processes, policies and contacts to get started.

A welcome email is sent across the company with a self-described profile of the individual.

A pre induction is conducted on the day of joining and the new recruits are introduced to the staff members. A thorough secondary induction is conducted in batches which covers broader aspects.

New Employees are taken around the office to familiarize with the staff and facilities. Warm smiles and wishes of our staff always help them to forget their jitters.

A “Buddy” with whom they carryout activities to familiarize themselves to our culture.

Is that all?? very unlikely at 99X Technology... Warm welcome is a part of our culture. We always come up with unique and custom ways of welcoming our new members.. Want to know what they are? Why not take a first-hand experience? Come and join us!