Team Building Strategies: Top 7 Tips For Building Trust in Distant Teams

In the past, we developed teams by putting people together and letting them spend time learning about each other before we charged them with completing assignments. In spite of all our best effort, some teams were more successful than others.

In order to be honest and forthcoming with others, a level of trust must exist. The less we trust, the more guarded and self-protective we become. That’s one of many reasons it’s a challenge to work effectively in teams. The challenge increases tremendously when the people involved haven’t been given the opportunity to get to know each other personally.

Today’s workplace consists of people who have never met each other working on projects. Indeed many of them live in other countries. Those that might live close to their corporate headquarters often telecommute and are rarely available for face-to-face meetings.

In addition, the team is frequently led by a project manager – who has a dotted line relationship to the others and thus very little authoritative leverage. The project manager can only manage through persuasion and negotiation – two methods requiring a high level of trust.

Trust is not easy to develop in the best of circumstances – when working with distant teams the problems increase tremendously.

Professor Larry Leifer at Stanford University discovered that when he had students working in teams from different locations members, complained that they were doing more work than other teammates. When camcorders were placed in their cubicles so that they could see each other at work, the complaints diminished considerably. Apparently, the very act of seeing someone situated at their keyboard increased the belief that they were working hard.

Visual clues are critically important. The more contact we have with another human being (assuming that they are basically trustworthy), the easier it is to trust them. One could even hypothesize that at some unconscious level, our sense of smell plays a part in what has to be seen as primarily an emotionally (psychologically) based decision.

Sound or voice quality is less effective than visual clues. When we know someone only due to our telephone interaction with them, we develop less personal or positive feelings than when we actually sit across the table from them.

We also have the variable of "low-context" and "high-context" cultures. Low context cultures are those in which business is conducted without developing personal relationships. This is akin to our decision to buy something from a discount or big box store. High context cultures are those in which relationships are developed long before the business discussions commence. You might relate this to your decision to work with a consultant, or a decorator, or even shopping regularly in a small private boutique store. This adds another dimension to the problems of building trust between people here in the states and their counterparts in Asia or other parts of the world.

Given these problems, here are my top seven tips to developing trust in distant teams:

1. Allow members of the team to take the time to get to know each other on a somewhat personal level.

2. Have in-house discussions, at all locations, about what is proper to ask and discuss and what crosses the line into intrusive or inappropriate.

3. Share pictures – not only of the staff, but also of their families. Most people are family-oriented and grow to like (and trust) each other when they start to see pictures of their children and to hear stories about them.

4. Send your managers to the locations of their team members whenever possible. Although this is an expense, the potential value in developing trust, respect, and therefore greater levels of understanding and productivity is immeasurable.

5. Teach cultural diversity. Let the people in the various locations around the world learn as much as possible about the behaviors, customs, and expectations of those in other areas with whom they work.

6. If you have telecommuters who can be brought into the office once or twice a month, be sure to have as many face-to-face meetings as possible with them.

7. Use videoconferences and video-cams where feasible.

In other words, break some of the old rules that demand full focus on work related conversations only. Take the time and create the structure that enables people to develop relationships that lead to trust. This leads to cooperation, understanding, and higher productivity and creativity.

With 30+ years experience in specializing in people and processes in the workplace, Organizational Development and Human Resource Consultant, ArLyne Diamond, Ph.D can help you create an organizational structure that enables cooperation, understanding, and higher productivity and creativity. For more free teambuilding tips that will help you build trust in distant teams, please click here.

By ArLyne Diamond

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Are You a Professional?

Are You a Professional?

Source : Tipsforsuccess. org

How you look, talk, write, act and work determines whether you are a professional or an amateur. Society does not emphasize the importance of professionalism, so people tend to believe that amateur work is normal. Many businesses accept less-than-good results.

Schools graduate students who cannot read. You can miss 15% of the driving-test answers and still get a driver license. "Just getting by" is an attitude many people accept. But it is the attitude of amateurs.

"Don't ever do anything as though you were an amateur.

"Anything you do, do it as a Professional to Professional standards.

"If you have the idea about anything you do that you just dabble in it, you will wind up with a dabble life. There'll be no satisfaction in it because there will be no real production you can be proud of.

"Develop the frame of mind that whatever you do, you are doing it as a professional and move up to professional standards in it.

"Never let it be said of you that you lived an amateur life.

"Professionals see situations and they handle what they see. They are not amateur dabblers.

"So learn this as a first lesson about life. The only successful beings in any field, including living itself, are those who have a professional viewpoint and make themselves and ARE professionals" — L. Ron Hubbard

A professional learns every aspect of the job. An amateur skips the learning process whenever possible.

A professional carefully discovers what is needed and wanted. An amateur assumes what others need and want.

A professional looks, speaks and dresses like a professional. An amateur is sloppy in appearance and speech.

A professional keeps his or her work area clean and orderly. An amateur has a messy, confused or dirty work area.

A professional is focused and clear-headed. An amateur is confused and distracted.

A professional does not let mistakes slide by. An amateur ignores or hides mistakes.

A professional jumps into difficult assignments. An amateur tries to get out of difficult work.

A professional completes projects as soon as possible. An amateur is surrounded by unfinished work piled on top of unfinished work.

A professional remains level-headed and optimistic. An amateur gets upset and assumes the worst.

A professional handles money and accounts very carefully. An amateur is sloppy with money or accounts.

A professional faces up to other people’s upsets and problems. An amateur avoids others’ problems.

A professional uses higher emotional tones: Enthusiasm, cheerfulness, interest, contentment. An amateur uses lower emotional tones: anger, hostility, resentment, fear, victim.

A professional persists until the objective is achieved. An amateur gives up at the first opportunity.

A professional produces more than expected. An amateur produces just enough to get by.

A professional produces a high-quality product or service. An amateur produces a medium-to-low quality product or service.

A professional earns high pay. An amateur earns low pay and feels it’s unfair.

A professional has a promising future. An amateur has an uncertain future.

The first step to making yourself a professional is to decide you ARE a professional.

Are you a professional?

Job Info , Jobs , Career

Marketing You 101: Tips for the Job Seeker

Does any product really succeed in the marketplace without a marketing plan? Is there any successful widget or gadget or service that gets by under the "if we build it, they will come" theory? No! Just look around you and observe what sells. How do you hear about it? What is the pitch? The truth is, whether it is subtle or loud, every successful product in the modern American marketplace has a marketing plan built around it.

What is the one product you know better than anyone else? What product can you most persuasively describe the benefits leading to a "buy" decision? That product, of course, is YOU and the valuable service that you bring to an organization lucky enough to hire you. Think of your career search efforts not simply as "looking for a job" but rather as an integrated marketing campaign using multiple synergistic channels to get the word out about you and how you will bring value to an organization. This article will describe some practical steps you can take as a job seeker to plan and launch a marketing campaign with YOU as the product.

Any successful marketing campaign will have four phases which you should incorporate into your larger job search campaign: Research, strategic planning, implementation, and assessment. I will describe the crucial elements to each phase.

Research. The first part of any marketing campaign is to understand the various marketing channels that are available. What is a "marketing channel"? It is simply the path you will use to communicate your message to those who should hear it. Some important channels for the job seeker are:

Your extended network. Arguably the most important channel because it is estimated that 60% of all positions are landed through one’s network. Your task here is to discover and marshal the people in your network so that they can help you land a position that you want.

My book,Get the Job You Want: Practical Strategies for Your Job Search Campaign (Signalman, 2008) discusses in much greater detail a successful approach to do this.

Social networking. This has really come to the forefront in the last two years as being an effective channel to get your message out. Sites like LinkedIn and Facebook are the most well known but there are others out there as well.

Traditional internet job search sites. It is important to have a presence on Monster and CareerBuilder and others that may tailor to your specific targeted industry(ies).

Recruiters. There are a lot of them who would love to place you with a happy client and collect a nice fat fee. Find out which recruiting firms may specialize in your area of expertise and then approach them first.

Organizations, associations, and networking groups. Are you a Rotarian or a member of another community organization? Or perhaps you get your college alumni association newsletter and indeed can claim membership? These groups will typically have some career help available. My college alumni association actually holds a career fair twice a year. Leverage these organizations to help you get the word out about what you can offer a prospective employer.

Strategic Planning. Now that you have identified targeted marketing channels, the next step is to develop a strategic plan that will tailor your message in an appropriate way for each marketing channel. And by the way, it is not effective to only employ one channel or one way to communicate your message. It is critical that you use every tool at your disposal while at the same time ensuring you have a consistent message. In strategic planning you should actually write down your plan so that you can refer back to it often and also note which aspect was successful and which was not (which you will be doing in the assessment phase).

Implementation. Often, it is not what you do but how you do it that is a key determinant in success. In this phase you need to be disciplined about carrying out the plan that you developed with enthusiasm. As you get down into the details of implementation, you may find that you need to make some adjustments to your message along the way. That is perfectly fine. That means you are observant and open to feedback. Just ensure that you have a consistent message across the different channels. For example, I have seen a case where a candidate’s resume came across my desk as a Business Analyst looking for the same type of position and have also seen this same person looking for a Quality Assurance position. This may not be inconsistent if this person has the relevant experience in each field, but one needs to be careful if the various messages are not consistent because it may cause "confusion in the marketplace".

Assessment. In this phase you want to take some time to assess the effectiveness of your marketing efforts within each channel. One way to do this is to measure the number of inquiries that you are getting and their source. If you are getting some great inquiries through one of your channels, you may want to consider putting more of your time into working that channel since it apparently is reaching the right folks. Part of this phase is to see what works and what doesn’t and to go back to your plan and make adjustments accordingly.

Remember, you are your own best advocate. You, more than anyone else, knows how to articulate your own value proposition. Approach your job search like you are developing a marketing campaign using the phased approach I have outlined and you will clearly stand out from your competition.

Get the Job You Want

careers, Jobs Indonesia, Indonesia Vacancy

 

Job Search Tips - Top 3 Mistakes That Will Keep You Unemployed

Everyone makes mistakes. That's a given and excusable part of being human. But if you're embarking on a job search, you can ill afford too many of them. One mistake here or there, and your job search can be set back weeks if not months. So, what are some of the common mistakes that are made in a job search? Here are my top three...

Fuzzy Goals

If you're stumbling out of the house in the morning with the goal of "getting a job," good luck with that. This is the kind of economy, in the aftermath of the worst recession in 50 years, that will chew up and spit out those job seekers without a clear career goal and a plan to achieve it. Why? Largely, it's the shear number of applicants for available positions; they're simply overwhelming recruiters and hiring officials. Weeding out those applicants who "just want a job" is the first order of priority for those overtaxed employers.

Take some time to identify the position you want, and the company or companies that are capable of offering that opportunity. It's a new world order out there, and those who know what they want and focus their job search like a laser are more likely to get what they want.

A Resume That's Too General

Forget the illusion that a general resume allows you to apply to a variety of job opportunities. In reality, a general resume simply facilitates you getting rejected from a number of job opportunities. As mention above in "fuzzy goals," recruiters and hiring officials are overwhelmed by the shear number of resumes coming in daily. When they've got an opening, it's a title with a real specific set of duties and responsibilities. If your resume doesn't demonstrate job goals and qualifications in keeping with that title, you're out.

Employers today don't have the time or inclination to wonder if your stated objective, "A challenging position with a progressive corporation..." really means, "Senior Buyer with a national apparel retailer that could benefit from an impressive, 10-year history of contribution to comparable store sales and gross margin improvement." If the employer needs to fill a position for a buyer and is left staring the above two objective statements, guess which resume gets the call and which one gets the boot?

Target your resume to a specific job opening or a narrow range of potential openings. While that might mean tweaking the document seemingly every time you turn around, it beats the alternative: a single "general" resume generating zero phone calls.

Wasting Your Time On Internet Job Boards

Yes, there are jobs listed on job boards. And there's the siren call. The problem is, some of those jobs are out of date, and many others are increasingly ‘generic' jobs (that don't necessarily exist) posted by employment agencies or recruiters trolling for candidates to represent. While the latter isn't necessarily a bad thing (assuming you don't mind being deceived), the end result is one more person standing between you and a hiring official. Finally, even when the listings are legitimate and timely, there are thousands of candidates responding to every job listing. It's a crap shoot at best, with success rates of landing jobs running at about 2-4%. Compare that to a success rate of over 60% for ‘word-of-mouth' referrals.

Post your resume to a couple of job boards if you must, or schedule a very limited time every few days to peruse the latest listings. If you see an interesting job pop up on a job board, use the listing information as a springboard to pursue the opening directly through the company's website, or via your growing contacts in the industry.

Personal, one-on-one contact with decision makers, movers and shakers is time better spent that will improve your odds the most in landing your next job. Limit your time on the internet in general, and on job boards in particular, or run the risk of being consumed day and night with nothing to show for your job search but bloodshot eyes.

It goes without saying that your resume needs to be "top shelf" in this tough job market. If you're considering a professional resume service, make sure their writers are certified, have experience with your industry, and are prepared to conduct a consultative interview over the phone. Former recruiter David Alan Carter has put together Resume Service Reviews of 10 of the Web's most popular writers, reviewing quality of workmanship, spelling out their pricing, and giving each a star ranking. (Note: David's "Top Pick" actually guarantees interviews.)

By David Alan Carter

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10 Interview Tips

Read this interview tips carefully. They may seem like common sense but they may be the difference in you getting a job.

1. Remember, an interview is not an oral exam. This is your opportunity to find out about the company as well as their opportunity to find out about you. Asking questions not only will help you decide if you want the job if they offer it to you, it also shows that you’re really interested in the company.

2. Take the time to do some research about the company—check out their website for their mission, leadership, etc. You’ll be able to ask informed questions and show that you’ve done your homework.

3. Make sure you’re at your best for the interview. Get a good night’s sleep but don’t sleep too late, and eat a good breakfast and (if your interview is in the afternoon) lunch. Then brush your teeth.

4. Keep in mind the importance of a first impression. Make sure you’re dressed appropriately.

5. Arrive ten to fifteen minutes early. Don’t show up half an hour in advance, but don’t come rushing in at the last minute. And coming in late is the kiss of death for any interview—if you’re two minutes late for one critical meeting, how does the interviewer know you won’t be fifteen minutes late to work every day?

6. Bring an extra copy of your resume, and your references. Find something neat to carry them in (don’t carry your backpack!).

7. Use your best business manners—give a firm handshake and wait to be asked to take a seat. Once you’re seated, sit up straight and don’t fidget or wiggle (if you have an opportunity, a Mock or Practice Interview could be a lot of help). AVOID: scratching, pulling up your socks or hose, adjusting any part of your clothing (do that before you come in), touching your face or mouth, playing with your hair or anything remotely like that.

8. Make lots of eye contact to convey honesty and confidence—but remember it’s not a staring contest.

9. Exude professionalism. Pay attention to the interviewer, be self-confident (if you don’t toot your own horn, there’s no brass section behind you to fill in), polite, and articulate.

10. Follow up is critical. Send a thank you note to the interviewer by a means appropriate to the job (if it’s computer-centered, e-mail may be acceptable; for other kinds of job, go with nice stationary or notecards).

These 10 interview tips are just a guide. Be smart, use your head, and as your mother may have said when you were having guests over -be on your best behavior! Feel free to pass this interview tips on to a friend.

careers, Jobs Indonesia, Indonesia Vacancy

 

Cover Letter Tips: A Winning Formula

This causes all cover letters from all job seekers to look the more or less the same and the phrases in the letters to sound repetitive. This repetition simply destroys the entire letter. Imagine 100 job seekers using the same cover letter template and send their letters to the same recipient. After reading some letters the recipient is frustrated and there's no point at reading any more..

Here are some tips to make your cover letters stand out from the crowd and look inspiring and fresh:

Make A Good Start

It's true that the beginning of a cover letter is the hardest part. Most writers get stuck and cannot come up with an inspiring first sentence or paragraph. So, write down a list of good "first phrases" and use them accordingly. Here are some examples:

- I am writing to you to introduce myself and to apply for the current opening in your company for a skillful ...

- Does your department look for a talented ...

- I've heard a lot of people talking about a potential opening in your company for a ...

- Please accept this letter and my attached resume as an interest in the position of...

- I am a ... with ... years of experience in ... and I hope to utilize my skills at your department...

- I have just completed my ... studies at ... university and I am looking for a position that will capitalize my experience as a ...

- During the last ... years I have held complex positions within the ... industry. My areas of expertise are ...

- There's nothing that would please me more than to join your team of talented ...

These are some examples of interesting and eye-catching first sentences that could help you.

Add Your Contact Details At The Top

On the top of every page write your name, address, phone number and email address. You can create a simple letterhead with this information on your computer. You can use smaller fonts. It will save you a lot of time from writing the same information for every recipient.

Decide What You Want

Before writing a cover letter be realistic and decide why you want to be part of a specific company. What is so different about that company that makes you want to work for them? What specific parts of your work do you like the most? Do not just write a cover letter just because you need a job. Everybody needs a job. So sit down and write the things you like the most about the specific company. Then carefully add this list of things to your cover letter template. It's also a good practice to use bulleted lists of abilities and skill areas. You could make a grid that matches your skills with the company's needs.

Professionalize Your Cover Letter

Do not use sentences like "To whom it may concern" or "Dear Human Resources Manager", it really looks nonprofessional and boring for the reader. Instead try to find the actual name of the recipient.

Closing Is Important

Make a smart close. Do not use begging sentences like "I really hope to talk to you soon". Be brief and straightforward. Show your intentions. Here are some examples:

- I would be interested in an opportunity to interview for this position and will look forward to scheduling a meeting with you.

- Thank you for your consideration. I will call you next week to talk further or schedule an appointment.

These examples are a bit direct and if this is not you then you can use the good old "..I look forward to hearing from you..".

Remember that the length of your cover letter doesn't really matter. Timing and follow-up is what matters the most. Send your letters and make calls a few days later to schedule appointments.

By Maria Markella

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