The Case Of the Picture-Perfect Team

… And How It Fell Apart

All we read about these days is remote teams this, remote teams that. And for those of us who have been in the trenches for absolutely ages, it is a bit of a study in human behaviour. I recently commented on a post where the topic was about the tagline “Location is irrelevant.” This is something I feel very passionately about - as long as the location in question has the capacity to provide the necessary tools and technology for the job at hand.

In my comment, the interesting thing for many people was this team I mentioned. Their manager had proclaimed to me that it was on the brink of collapse, thanks to this “stupid virus and the requirement to work from home.”

She was really unsure about the future for this group, as things seemed to be combusting on a daily basis. The next thing she said was that if it hadn’t been for the virus, everything would have been fine; because this team had no problem “talking to each other and getting work done when they were in the office.”

For those of you who know me or follow my writings and teachings; you can probably guess that what I said next wasn’t expected or popular with this manager. I had the gall to suggest that, just possibly, the team was not as much of a cohesive unit as she imagined - and that changing the status quo exposed an unfortunate reality.

After much huffing and puffing (and well, quite frankly, the house had already blown down), she calmed down enough to let me further explain, and for us to unpack what was happening. The team presented what I call an Instagram view of the world. To everyone looking in (or walking past), it looked like all was well with the world. However, what was really happening was: forced conversations, unintentional collaboration, and a side of micro-management to push everyone to the finish line.

STRIKE ONE

When everyone went home or was “out of sight out of mind”, suddenly the cracks in the veneer started to show. The start of the downhill slide began when the company just said “Well due to the virus, you will all just start working from home next week.” 

Anyone who has taken one of my classes knows that this is the first foul I call. There must be a corporate policy on remote work, and corporate education on what it looks like to be location-independent. 

STRIKEOUT

To make matters worse, this team didn’t have a team working agreement or communication plan (the next two steps in my training). It was the perfect storm.

People felt such an overwhelming sense of freedom from what, to them, felt like a chore rather than a job they enjoyed; that they hid behind their work-from-home status. They used it as a way to not talk to people - to withdraw inside themselves, and as one person said “work in peace and quiet.”

THE GAME ISN’T OVER YET

Needless to say, it is early days yet and we are still unpacking everything that is happening with this team. However, we are slowly but surely addressing the work culture, and establishing a place where everyone is involved in the decision-making process of how the team is going to work. The goal is to make sure that everyone in the team will play a role in determining what working together looks like, with regards to communication, schedules, tools, and collaboration.

Sadly, I feel like this situation will look familiar to many of you who are reading this. All is not lost. Now, you have the opportunity to take a long, hard look at the reality of your team; and start solving the real problem. Spoiler alert: It’s not the virus. 

Learn more about the work that we do and the programs that we offer. Set up a call to start planning how you want to change the culture of your organization.

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About the Author:

INDRA A. BOOKS

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