Improving Remote Team Collaboration

Improving Remote Team collaboration ?

When we look into the team collaboration during a pandemic, three things look like need to strengthen the team context and it is showing the better result for most of the teams, 

What are those? 

Building Trust

Creating a shared purpose

Building relationship among team members

First and foremost is, how the Trust factors are in place.

One Harvard study showed at just how effectively employees at high-trust organizations function and feel compared to employees at low-trust organizations, and the results are incredible. High Trust Organization employee contribution is higher!

Some of the factors which promote trust and need to concentrate on remote team members.

1. How well reliability factors are in place among team members? Can they depend on each other on various challenging times? Are they supporting each other to fulfill the common objective?

One of the fundamental ingredients to building trust among team members is to uphold each other at various up and down of the team members Journey. Let us focus on this.

Let us make this a number one rule

2. Accountability: Every team member should be accountable for whatever portion they are performing on. Nobody should be overloaded and nobody should feel that they are merely holding the maximum load. Every team member should put their finest effort to assure they are contributing to their highest level based on their capability.

3. Transparency: Share information openly with the team members. Work schedules, project growth, and task status should be accessible to all members at any stage. Everyone knows why we are selecting on what explanation? There should not be anything hidden.

4. Social activities: There should be an occasion, where every team member is discussing other than work. some moment where team members are exchanging their favorite topics, which promote the team to know each other better. A dedicated session or part of the session to be spent on an informal conversation.

5. Commitment: Commitment leads to trust. Plainly stated, if a team member guarantees to work out or demonstrate something, that individual should deliver on that promise. Gain commitment to taking care of the goals established by the team leader. Team members require to be committed to meeting deadlines because they have an understanding of the underlying strategy and how their individual tasks map into it.

6. Open communication: Apply many channels to associate with the team members. One-to-one to the conversation, group discussion, group chat, one-to-one chat, etc means. Ensure all the ambiguity clarifies and we are on the same page. Set the intention clear and establish team members to understand all these

7. Manage conflict, One of the critical to assure to enhance trust is to handle conflict productively. As a Leader or team members, we require to take care of our conflicts in an effective way. Handle any type of disagreement in a stronger manner so that all team members understand what we are accomplishing and why we are doing so.

Building shared purpose:

Success starts with an explicit and shared purpose, a vision of how that purpose will look when attained, and determining outcomes to accomplish that purpose. A competent team achieves concrete, complete results.

Without a shared purpose, virtual team members could simply concentrate on local tasks and interests while excluding joint endeavors to obtain organizational objectives.

One of the powerful steps for a remote team to establish is to build the team's shared purpose. We all require to recognize the impact of what we are creating because of our deliverables.

for that, we have to

1. Finding meaning for our work. How our contribution is leading to produce an impact? How the numerous end user’s life will be impacted due to our job! how it will produce end user’s life make pleasant. Discussing this all simultaneously as a team and capture those points for subsequent reference.

2. The outcome and Impact, all the teamwork and collaboration result in the impact we as a company we are producing. When we realize the stronger end product, we choose to feel joy, we prefer to find out the significant picture and impact we are establishing in this full picture.

3. Link personal goals with an organizational goal and align. Let us ask questions about our personal goal and analyze how much those are aligned with the organizational goal. Whatever the differences are their let us work it out by reviewing it with the supervisors.

4. Inspire and influence each other, at a different juncture. Let us look for the opportunity to inspire each other, influence each other for the performance and journey we are passing through. We create an ecosystem which is inspiring and energetic to continue on.

Building a better relationship among team members working in a remote system:

The stronger relationship among team members facilitates the team to assist with a better outcome

1) Deep listening: Are we using 2 ears and one mouth! are we really listening. The better approach to connect with others is to listen and understand what others are trying to convey. Be vigilant, Paraphrasing, and summarizing whatever we have figured out. Let us inquire if we are not clear or need accuracy. The purpose of listening to understand better the others.

2) Empathesize with others: It is a prerequisite in the relationship that we understand how others feel and be compassionate toward them. Accept other’s thoughts and acknowledge their message. During conversations, concentrate your entire attention and time on listening then doing whatever you can so the individual feels understood. To accurately perceive his feelings, you can propose questions: “It rings like you’re feeling discouraged. Is that true?” Or, “Is it reasonable to tell that you’re feeling optimistic?”

3) Ask questions, Asking questions is a wonderful way for you to listen and let the other person share. They will feel closer to you when they have shared about themselves and you demonstrate you’re engrossed in what they have to respond. Then share something about yourself so the relationship develops into a two-way interaction that can help establish a bond.

4) Share stories, in the conversation, please share stories related to work or other than work. sometimes the stories help the person who is listening or it could be interesting to know. It helps the conversation to go further and in a process, many things will come up for consideration which helps the people to connect better.

5) Helps other whatever possible ways when as a team member we always exhibited these traits, members will become more related to you in a stronger way. Think from that viewpoint that whatever may be big and small, we desire to support others always.

6) Keep commitment: Whenever team members say, something it is essential they should fulfill their commitment. The part of building a better relationship is to keep the promise and commitment.

7) Build rapport., Rapport forms the basis of purposeful, warming, and amicable relationships between individuals. According to researchers Linda Tickle-Degnen and Robert Rosenthal, when you have a rapport with someone, you share:

Mutual attentiveness: you’re both concentrated on, and engaged in, what the other individual is responding

Positivity: you’re both amiable and happy, and you demonstrate care and interest for one another.

Coordination: you understand “in sync” with one another so that you experience an accepted awareness. Your energy levels, tone, and body language are also identical.

When we take care of all these 3 conditions, remote collaboration among team members will considerably improve.

Giving P A U S E in your Conversation!

I pause for a moment by reflecting on Pause!

I have been using Pause for some time but unconsciously in our coaching conversation and training.

When I have come to know about the use of Pause, I feel wow! Now I have to use the same Pause Consciously!

In coaching, it is essential to give Pause! Why?

Silence is Golden!

Alan Alda says, “It is the space between the lines that make it a great performance.”

Why Pause?

Pauses can enhance delivery or be filled needlessly and perplex the audience. I had a mixed approach with Pause!

The pause permits the speaker to pick up thoughts before presenting the ultimate proposal: pause just before the assertion, figure out about what you choose to convey, and thus pass your final proposal with renewed power.

Pause prepares the audience to obtain your theme: pause and address the attention powers of your audience a rest. The thought that follows a pause is considerable higher influential than if no pause had followed.

Pause creates effective suspense: suspense can generate better engagement, curiosity in our coaching conversation. The crowd will choose to discover the resolution or what took place if you pause before the conclusion.

Pause after an essential thought: pausing gives the audience space to transform what you have just said before you advance with your transmission.

Pausing after proposing a query is again an excellent technique because it forces them to realize and mentally involves them in your conversation.

Silence is the sleep that nourishes wisdom. Francis Bacon

What are the types of Pause?

Use the sense pause to grant individuals to understand the original message and catch up with you.

Use the dramatic pause to establish a point that sticks in the audience’s minds.

Use an emphatic pause to highlight a significant objective.

Use the sentence-completion pause to establish a statement or quote a line in which everybody is conversant, thus let the audience answer it for you.

If there were a little more silence, if we all kept quiet…maybe we could understand something. Federico Fellini

Try it, it is tough!

But with practice Pause will become natural in our flow of conversation!

Strengthening Self-Organizing Cross-Functional Scrum Team

A cross-functional team is a group of individuals with diverse functional expertise working toward a shared objective.

According to the Scrum Guide, a cross-functional team is a team that is organized around a product, a defined portion of a product, a service, or a customer value stream, and must include all competencies needed to accomplish their work without depending on others that are not part of the team.

What are the challenges of establishing such a self-organized cross-functional scrum team?

a) Silos mentality( BA, dev, test, Support )

b) Communication issue( BA, dev, test, Support )

c) Competency issue( BA, dev, test, Support )

d) Alignment issues( BA, dev, test, Support )

e) Conflicts are very high ( BA, dev, test, Support )

f) Ownership and commitment challenges( BA, dev, test, Support )

g) Mindset issue ( BA, dev, test, Support )

h) Collaboration issues ( BA, dev, test, Support )

i) Blame each other

j) Trust deficit, etc

How do we minimize these? Any structural approach we have to consider?

Look at any team and we will see a mixture of behaviors and personalities. Sometimes the individuals in a team can be complete opposites of each other and there will be conflicts; Other times there will be synergy in the team.

The ‘process’ part of the team will be very dependent on the behavior preferences that team members display.

The management psychologist Dr. Meredith Belbin was one of the first people formally to identify the different roles that people play in teams.

He recognized that in teams there are individuals who take action-oriented roles.

Some team members are more people-focused and others more cerebral.

Effective teams are made up of different types of people and they consist of different types of roles.


The mix of role types that play in a team determines their effectiveness.

These roles are

Shaper, Coordinator, Plant, Resource Investigator, Monitor Evaluator, Specialist, teamworker, Implementer, Completer Finisher

Although there are nine team roles, this doesn’t mean that a team needs nine individuals in it to be effective. Individuals will tend to have more than one preferred team role, so will generally occupy more than one role in the team.

When we look for a cross-functional self-organized high-performance scrum team, which evolves after a long cycle of the experiential exploration, we require to look at these 3 factors how effectively it has been matured.

When we recruit team members, if we can balance with these 3 factors, it would be advantageous for them to grow into a high-performance team, as the team will be apt to resolve any challenges they come across.

When I encounter the best scrum teams, I could certainly locate the traces of all these roles in a team.

I could able to trace who is Plant? who is matching the role of coordinator? etc. I start improving if these roles are missing.

When we start coaching, we also nurture these roles, based on what are the gaps, and what can be done to minimize those gaps.

This is a very good structure provided to structurally do team coaching and look for an opportunity.

All the challenges listed initially will slowly resolve when we have all these 9 roles developed and depicted with the scrum team.

We mostly look for a Scrum Master who is having a mixture of all these roles

[ A ‘teamworker’ is generally co-operative, easy to get along with, perceptive, and diplomatic. They are good listeners and are able to smooth over areas of friction within the team. They help keep the team together, particularly during times of stress or pressure.

A ‘shaper’ likes to challenge and drive things forward, enjoying the pressure and the reward of overcoming obstacles. They are able to identify patterns in discussions and in work undertaken and use this to push for change.

A ‘resource investigator’ is likely to be enthusiastic and charismatic, communicating well with others. They are able to explore opportunities, develop contacts, and instigate relationships.

The ‘implementer’ is reliable and well-disciplined, often conservative, and efficient at getting the job done. The implementer is able to reliably turn ideas into practical actions, and strategies into defined and manageable tasks.

People who fulfill the co-ordinator role are generally confident and responsible. They functionwell as a chairperson, helping to clarify goals and establish priorities. They encourage others to make decisions by delegating appropriately. ]

Measuring the High-Performance team?

How do we start measuring the team performance “as-is” state before commencing the team coaching journey?

We require to start from somewhere which points out to us, what are numerous considerations which should start concentrating on during coaching to strengthening.

We may look into the below aspects highlighted here to strengthen. Do you recognize those?

Team members are passionate and unguarded in their discussion of issues? On a 1-5 scale, 5 being the highest, How do we want to rate ourselves.

Team members call out one another’s deficiencies or unproductive behaviors? on a 1-5 scale, 5 being the highest, How do we want to rate ourselves

Team members know what their peers are working on and how they contribute to the collective good of the team.? on a 1-5 scale, 5 being the highest, How do we want to rate ourselves

Team members quickly and genuinely apologize to one another when they say or do something inappropriate or possibly damaging to the team.? on a 1-5 scale, 5 being the highest, How do we want to rate ourselves.

Team members willingly make sacrifices (in their departments or areas of expertise for the good of the team? On a 1-5 scale, 5 being the highest, How do we want to rate ourselves.

Do team members openly admit their weaknesses and mistakes? On a 1-5 scale, 5 being the highest, How do we want to rate ourselves.

Team meetings are compelling, not boring? On a 1-5 scale, 5 being the highest, How do we want to rate ourselves.

Team members leave meetings confident that their peers are completely committed to the decisions that were agreed on, even if they were in initial disagreement? on a 1-5 scale, 5 being the highest, How do we want to rate ourselves

During team meetings, the most important—and difficult—issues are put on the table to be resolved? on a 1-5 scale, 5 being the highest, How do we want to rate ourselves

Team members are deeply concerned about the prospect of letting down their peers? on a 1-5 scale, 5 being the highest, How do we want to rate ourselves

Team members know about one another’s personal lives and are comfortable discussing them? on a 1-5 scale, 5 being the highest, How do we want to rate ourselves

Do team members end discussions with clear and specific resolutions and action plans? on a 1-5 scale, 5 being the highest, How do we want to rate ourselves

Do team members challenge one another about their plans and approaches? on a 1-5 scale, 5 being the highest, How do we want to rate ourselves.

Team members are slow to seek credit for their own contributions, but quick to point out those of others? on a 1-5 scale, 5 being the highest, How do we want to rate ourselves

Team members are taking a stand whenever it is required? on a 1-5 scale, 5 being the highest, How do we want to rate ourselves.

Team members are able to speak up when it is essential? on a 1-5 scale, 5 being the highest, How do we want to rate ourselves.

Team members are able to say NO when it is essential? on a 1-5 scale, 5 being the highest, How do we want to rate ourselves.

Team members do not hide any information and express what is relevant? on a 1-5 scale, 5 being the highest, How do we want to rate ourselves.

Team members express if they do not like anything ? on a 1-5 scale, 5 being the highest, How do we want to rate ourselves.

Team members respect each other opinions? on a 1-5 scale, 5 being the highest, How do we want to rate ourselves.

team members are always contributed to their shared goal? on a 1-5 scale, 5 being the highest, How do we want to rate ourselves.

Team members are measuring team performance and course correct? on a 1-5 scale, 5 being the highest, How do we want to rate ourselves.

Team members are able to finish their own assignments? on a 1-5 scale, 5 being the highest, How do we want to rate ourselves

Team members are able to fix the issues if any surprise unplanned issues come up? on a 1-5 scale, 5 being the highest, How do we want to rate ourselves

Team members have established a set of ground rules and guidelines for team performance and behaviors? on a 1-5 scale, 5 being the highest, How do we want to rate ourselves

Team members express disagreements constructively? on a 1-5 scale, 5 being the highest, How do we want to rate ourselves

Team members follow through on decisions and action items? on a 1-5 scale, 5 being the highest, How do we want to rate ourselves

The team leader has a process for sharing information with all team members? on a 1-5 scale, 5 being the highest, How do we want to rate ourselves.

Ref: Lencioni’s 5 Dysfunctions of a Team

How do I Improve my Emotional Maturity?

This is one of the core competencies as a coach everyone is looking for - Emotional Maturity.

As a coach, we should have better emotional control.

Research at the National Institute of Mental Health by Candace Pert has demonstrated that emotions are particularly intimately related with neuropeptides, long-chain protein molecules that circulate throughout the organs of the body and act like “messenger molecules,” conveying information about what is happening in one part of the body throughout the entire system.

In her book, Molecules of Emotion (1997), Pert considers emotions to be a transformative link between mind and body, the mysterious quantum mechanical interface where information turns into matter and our bodies synthesize the chemicals of consciousness.

Emotional states such as anger, sorrow, depression, and joy can be influenced and even directed by us. Controlling the same is not easy. They do not work like switch! On or off!

In 1972, psychologist Paul Eckman suggested that there are six basic emotions that are universal throughout human cultures: fear, disgust, anger, surprise, happiness, and sadness.

In the 1980s, Robert Plutchik introduced another emotion classification system known as the “wheel of emotions.” This model demonstrated how different emotions can be combined or mixed together, much the way an artist mixes primary colors to create other colors.

In 1999, Eckman expanded his list to include a number of other basic emotions, including embarrassment, excitement, contempt, shame, pride, satisfaction, and amusement.

As a coach, we have to have better control of our Emotion.

What should we do to control our emotions better way? Same we can share with team members when we find the need improvement in emotional control.
For news of the heart, ask the face. -West African saying

Some of the things that I ampursuingg to control my emotions.

a) Avoid the trigger: Iinvariablys write down andobservee what triggers the emotional hijack. I actively watch out for all these trigger points. I consciously visualize later that how well I have to perform to avoid such triggers.

b) Express the emotion to someone: I have a few trusted companions whom I express my emotional expression whatever it is. After that, I feel Great. I have to vent out all these emotions, I do not bottle those up.

c) I tried not to react but this is something I am practicing to respond. Sometimes situations trigger me to react to others. I am practicing hard consciously to improve.

d) When I felt I am not able to control my emotions, I tried to think something else, keep quiet for some time! even in the middle of the discussion. I change the thoughts, think something different esp ocean, cute animals, etc.

e) Write a note about my emotional experience: A good retrospect on a notebook about an emotional journey help me to discover the emotional strengthening exercise.

f) Breathing, I do deep breathing exercises during the emotional high or low state,. It helps to divert attention to the breathing and control the emotions.

g) I am a believer in supernatural power. Sometimes it helps me as I have faith in place there. I ask for support, and I get the same.

h) Few quick physical exercises to change of blood flow in body! Exercise helps to better emotion control.

As all of us know it is not so easy, it is a life long endeavor to mature our emotional state. People say we will be happier when we have better emotional control.
“A man who is master of himself can end a sorrow as easily as he can invent a pleasure. I don’t want to be at the mercy of my emotions. I want to use them, to enjoy them, and to dominate them.” - Oscar Wilde (1992, 88)