the other week i had to put together an operational plan for my department. as i was in the middle of a massive project and already overworked, i did it the evening before i had to present it. and i knew a powerpoint was kind of expected.

i put together a pack of photos. headings, yes. relevant images, yes. other words, no. bullet point lists, no (unless you count the TOC). it was definitely a first draft (and something i need to go back to) but i’m struggling with the visuals communicating all i spoke about. especially if someone else needs to talk about the plan.

tonite i stumbled upon garr reynolds slidepack on john media’s book brain rules. slides below. i think ill have to go back to that pack based on the excellent tips w/in the pack (ie the content) and the ideas i’ve gotten from just watching the slides.

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you can always rely on a list apart for great articles. this time the long hallway – which is defined as ‘the distance between the physical working spaces of the individuals that comprise virtual companies’.

in the past (and very much the present), lots of virtual teams comprised of a hub of individuals in one location (like a head office) with a smattering of individuals in different offices or telecommuting. the long hallway is about companies who are more virtual than physical and have turned our HQ reality on it’s head. the internet, wireless connectivity & the focus on collaboration & productivity of ‘web2.0′ have made it a lot easier for organisations not to have a headquarters.

from a virtual working perspective, this is very exciting. when there’s no hub, no head office, no concentration of people in one singular office, EVERYONE has to think about communication. it’s those little conversations we have in offices that get things moving, that solve problems and if you can’t bump into someone on the way out the door to lunch or chat with them about project A while you’re waiting for a meeting concerning project B to begin, you begin to think about how you can recreate that online. When virtual teams are a mix of HQ & satellite folks, this situation doesn’t get the same front of mind priority.

the article also touches on process, how important scheduled play is, writing skills & setting boundaries (time zones folks!).

article on how different cultures respond to different forms of persuasion.

employees at 4 locations of citibank participated in research concerning how they decided to handle a request from a colleague. the thought process varied based on their location (usa, hong kong, germany and spain) and illustrates how people working in cross cultural environments need to work differently depending on their audience. the research blurb does not specify if these were f2f or virtual teams but i’m guessing f2f (had it been virtual i think they would mention it).

the research found americans were more concerned with what was in it for them & if they owed the person asking a favor. germans wanted to know if the request conformed to the rules & regulations. the spanish looked at friendship & your connections and the chinese at rank & group affiliation. if you were a project manager of a team that consisted of members in the states, hk, germany & spain, you’d have to work all of these angles. it’s a fantastic illustration for people who are in those situations.

ref:
Morris, M., Podolny, J., & Ariel, S. (2001). Culture, norms, and obligations: Cross-national differences in patterns of interpersonal norms and felt obligations toward coworkers.” In The Practice of Social Influence in Multiple Cultures, edited by W. Wosinska, D. Barrett, R. Cialdini, and J. Reykowski, 97-123. Mahwah, N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum.

web worker daily has some fantastic tips for starting a virtual project team (or as they say, a remote team).

while it is a short piece it includes some very smart tips!!! they talk about preparation a lot! deciding on a tool to use (basecamp, mindmapping, etc), making sure both the client and team members know how to use the tool, buying webcams & getting everyone setup and comfortable with them, plus making sure everyone is on IM. this is something i feel isn’t done enough. how often do we say ‘oh yeah, we have email. that will work’ and that’s the extent of the planning. in my thesis research, barely anyone used progressive technology such as blogging, wikis, mindmapping, etc. the bulk of communication was via phone and email.

they also mention being alert to people’s different communication styles – some people will love the video cam while others will hate IM (those that type slow might not be the biggest IM fan, especially when paired with someone who does type fast!) – and setting expectations around when communication will occur.

i think these are all very important tips. frequently not enough time is allocated to get people up to speed on their required toolkit and it will negatively impact the group. taking these early steps, making mistakes together (oops, i guess i do have to plug in the camera’s usb!) will assist in fostering trust amongst the group.

business week has several articles about working virtually (as part of their special report: virtual life) the virtual meeting room touches on companies who let their employees and partners meet as avatars in virtual worlds. companies like qwaq provide second life style avatars & spaces where you can share documents while getting the visual aspects virtual teams are missing out on (the bulk of the way we communicate) . (disclaimer: i haven’t tried qwaq) this is an exciting new area i will probably get addicted to.

fyi, biz week also has some screen shots of leo burnett’s SL area and how it’s being used in house with players in 3d collaboration such as qwaq & tixeo.

research on telecommuting is out by a swedish company who relocated offices and allowed people to telecommute for 3 days each week. the company was particularily interested in the work/life balance of its new teleworking employees.

turns out there wasn’t much difference on work/life balance between those telecommuting and those who always worked in the office. BUT they discovered a gender difference. guys who worked at home part of the time reported LESS work/personal life overlap than guys who worked at the office. i wonder if this could be contributed to less ‘social’ activities since they were out of the office (ie no pressure to have a beer after work by co-workers). women who telecommuted reported MORE work/personal life overlap (insert women multi task better joke here). article (subscription needed) and summary

cite:
Hartig, T. Kylin, C. & Johansson, G. (2007). The telework tradeoff: Stress mitigation vs. constrained restoration. Applied Psychology: An International Review, 56, 231-253.