Tips for Managing a Dispersed and Diverse Team
Do you run a sports organization? Managing a team, whether they consist of players only or a mix of staff and employees, can be challenging. It can be even harder when you add multiple geographical locations to the mix.
As your sports organization grows, you may find that you have staff and players distributed in different geographical locations. You may even grow to the point that you have staff in international locations. It can be challenging managing a team that’s dispersed and diverse. This, however, is possible especially thanks to improvements in communication technology. If you expect to expand, or are lucky enough to have already experienced growth as an organization, you will find the following management tips useful.
- Hire the right people
First and foremost, ensure that you’re working with the right people. You won’t be there to oversee their every action. You should therefore ensure that you choose team members that are self-motivated. They should be able to work well independently without the need for attention and encouragement to get even the smallest job done.
Ensure that they are driven by results. They should understand that they’ll be assessed by their performance and be comfortable with that. They should also be open and honest about their progress, successes and any constraints they’re facing.
- Establish effective communication processes
Once you have the right team in place, you need to ensure that there is a well-defined communication plan in place. In the traditional office setting, it would be easy to simply call meetings as often as need arises. However, working with a dispersed team means that they may not be able to attend meetings in person. You therefore need to find a communication plan that allows you to stay in touch.
A University of Illinois study showed that telecommunication is one of the best ways to foster collaboration amongst a dispersed workforce. However, many organizations complain that this can be expensive, especially where international calls have to be made often.
Consider taking advantage of VoIP services. You can make calls over the internet and save a lot of money while staying in touch with your whole team. Consider the different deals available at Vonage deals to start.
- Provide the right tools and tech
Ensure that the entire team has the right technology to get the job done including mobile phones, faxes, internet connections, printers and computers. This ensures that the team can effectively communicate. It also ensures that they have the right tools to carry out their tasks.
It’s also important to consider having a documented system. This ensures that the dispersed team has the right guidelines. Everyone in the team will know what they need to do.
- Make use of collaborative technology
The internet enables us to share information almost instantaneously. Take advantage of technology that allows you to collaborate with your dispersed team. This technology may include discussion boards, document editing on a common platform or remote document storage and many others.
Technology today has made it possible to collaborate with people in different locations. Take advantage of advances in technology to expand the reach of your sports organization.
