There is no doubt that we will see a wider adoption of the use of freelancers and distributed teams, in fact, Deloitte called the freelance economy mainstream in their Human Capital Trends Report in 2019². At CanopyLAB, we have a team in Copenhagen, Denmark and in Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam. The six-hour time difference alone can be a challenge, then account for us having different mother tongues and being from enormously different cultures. The fact that we are only in the same physical locations a handful of times each year does not make that less complicated.
It can be incredibly challenging to work with remote teams, but the benefits are enormous. Simply put, it is statistically unlikely that the best people for your team happen to be located in the same geographical area. Furthermore, it has been widely documented that diverse teams deliver higher returns³.
To manage this new way of working, a number of companies are beginning to use their Learning Experience Platform (LXP) for more than just onboarding and pre-boarding but as a tool designed to support distributed teams, their sense of belonging and impact.
Numerous studies refer to the importance of creating a “frequent touchpoint” culture when working with distributed teams
Build strong relationships and trust among team members
Numerous studies refer to the importance of creating a “frequent touchpoint” culture when working with distributed teams⁴. It is essential that you establish an organization where everyone knows each other, who they report to and how to best work together. And frequent but relevant touchpoints ensure everyone is aligned and working together towards a common goal.
At CanopyLAB, we built our platform as a happy marriage between a social network and a learning platform, which makes communication and collaboration easy, transparent and GDPR compliant. Trust and strong relationships will take time to materialize, but the social network structure helps speed up that process.
Humans are inherently social, although we have different needs in regards to how much social stimulation we enjoy. Members of distributed teams still need to belong to a well-defined unit.
Spaces of belonging: Smaller community groups for the like-minded
Humans are inherently social, although we have different needs in regards to how much social stimulation we enjoy. Members of distributed teams still need to belong to a well-defined unit.
At CanopyLAB we use forums and groups functions to foster a sense of community, and use designated spots for informal communication and the sharing of MEMES, jokes, and pictures to strengthen the team spirit.
How do you motivate your distributed team members? Feel free to reach out!
At CanopyLAB we designed a simple and social platform for digital learning experiences.
