Breaking down the distance barrier in leadership

ShayneTilley

I come from a background of leading large teams in fairly difficult environments and have realized that some best people and staff development skills I have developed over the years don't translate well into an exclusive web based environment. I've looked at this from two main perspectives, how do I adapt the way in which I lead to deal with my circumstance and how to I remove some of the communication restraints of a web environment but introducing things like voice communication.

I'm interested to hear anyones ele's experiences with this sort of thing.

Triumvirate · Posted: 5/1/2008, 6:11 am Post subject:

Well, as far as voice communication goes, that is fairly simple as there are a number of options available to you.

Using Skype you can have (at least) 1-on-1 voice chat with other people, and that is at no cost to you. But, if you are looking for managing a larger team it may be worth it to see about renting a VOIP server with Ventrilo or Teamspeak installed. All you would need for that is to download the Ventrilo or teamspeak client to your computer (and also everyone on your team would have to download it too, obviously) and then connect to your server through the details the host gives you. If that was the option you went with I know some really great hosts.

Leading in a web environment though shouldn't really be all that different from leading in anything else under any situation. All the skills necessary are the same, and the attitudes and problems are all similar, the only big difference is that it is often harder to collaborate effectively because of the distance.

With that in mind, take extra time to explain things in text or in voice, because it is not as easy as just walking to someone's office for clarification if a person doesn't "get" something you want them to do. Teach yourself to give extra detail and break things down into lists.

Most people, when given instructions in person are really just doing that in their head anyway. They listen to all that is said and get the "gist" of it to break it down into a list of items that need done in their mind. Since that luxury may not be available via the web, do the work for them and break it down into an easy to follow list, it will save everyone time.

That's what I've always found to be effective for myself.
_________________
MMO Gaming

Truestar · Moderator

The best part of Teamspeak is that it's designed to run in your computers background, so you can do multiple things while still chatting with your friends. It doesn't use really any memory at all, and for just a chat based purpose works very well with lots of features. Smile

_________________
Truestar
Xbox Live: xTruestarx
Visit phpBBhacks.com for your phpBB templates, graphics, and modifications
Visit ManagingCommunities.com for tips on running a forum. Get advice from site management to the politics of running a forum.