Checklist for successful Virtual Teamwork

deasun99 — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 00:26:21 +0000

How to get the project done when the team is not all in one place is not a new theme. It is however becoming more and more normal, so it is worth re-visiting. A brainstorm of project managers came up with the following ideas, which are grouped into several themes. As with all checklists, these ideas are suggestions which you can use either directly or to stimulate other ideas.

Although these ideas are not new and which ones to use use depends on your situation, I hope you will find something useful here and add your comments to this post.

Establish & Maintain the Team

Start with face to face meeting.

Maintain regular formal and informal interaction.

Supplement face to face meetings with interaction, eg with video conferences, skype etc.

Support ongoing face to face interaction with business trips, eg of project manager to maintain relationship.

Define Working Processes

Hold regular meetings.

Clarify agenda and document the meeting minutes.

Ensure meeting hygiene: no typing in background, on time participation etc.

Establish standard terminology.

Speak often.

Set rules.

Use preferred communications hierarchy, eg phone rather than mail.

Ensure clear roles and responsiblilities.

Understand culture.

Agree which languages to use.

Teambuilding Styles

Add time to meetings for chat.

Hold virtual coffee breaks.

Organise off site meetings.

Information Sharing Tools

Internet groups

Forums

Blogs

Discussion groups

Wikis

Chat rooms

Communications Tools

e-mail

Video conferences

Telephone conference calls

Web meetings, Webex etc

Instant messengers

Skype

Sharepoint

Demystifying the PMBOK® Guide for PMP applicants

deasun99 — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 07:38:37 +0000

Dr. Ó Conchúir PMP has coached and trained hundreds of PMP candidates from many countries to success. This Project Managment Professional accreditation is awarded by the Project Management Institute, “the leading global association for the project management profession” and is based on their PMBOK^®Guide.

It is not surprising that Scatterwork GmbH where he is a Senior Virtual Teamwork Collaboration Consultant also uses this standard for implementing its client collaboration projects.

Nevertheless he finds that the PMBOK^® Guide is too complex at first reading, particularly for those for whom English is a learned language. Even so the pressures of globalization and company guidelines mean that many prepare for the examination in English. Now he has written a book which demystifies and mirrors the PMBOK^® Guide.

His book is particularly useful for applicants for the PMP and CAPM examinations. It can also be studied alone by anyone as a general introduction to Project Management. The style and language have also been selected to make it particularly suitable for readers who use English as a learned language.

Which of the following titles do you think is best for this publication?

Understanding the PMBOK^® Guide
Deciphering the PMBOK^® Guide
PMP by Half-time
PMP in less time but without stress
Reduce the study time to PMP
Short Guide to the PMBOK^® Guide

Or do you have a better suggestion? Please add your comments as a reply below. Many thanks!

Scatterwork » Project Management