Today at work, I attended a forum given by Wayne Turmel called "How to Create and Manage Remote Project Teams. The forum tied into what we're covering in SE511. Wayne is a speaker and author that focuses on his work on managing teams and communicating online. He has a podcast called the "Cranky Middle Manager Show" and his blog on BNET.com is covers topics related to managing remove functional project teams.
I found the forum to be interesting. Wayne focused on being a human and having interaction with people. One example he gave was about a project where part of a team was in New York and another was in India and it wasn't working very well. On one Friday, a team member posted on a blog that they were done for the day and was leaving to go have grandma's famous chili. This spun into a whole discussion and trading of recipes where eventually team members were even asking "by the way, how is your grandmother".
The point of this was to reduce the spoke of one-on-one only communication and getting team members to communicate with one another. Likewise, communication shouldn't only occur when people needs things. This helps break down the barriers of us vs. them.
I didn't expect that this 1.5 hr. forum would be about this and I think it was good for everyone to hear this and step back and think for a minute. With focus on reducing costs, faster schedules, etc., people start to throw out being nice to one another to get the job done.
From my own experience, I work with people in Mexico, Tiawan, and China. After I travel to these locations, meet the people (so that they aren't just an email or voice that I hear on the phone), share a meal with them, and perhaps share a beer with them, I find that trust is built and we're able to work a lot better together.
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