Leadership Development and Remote Teams Building teams with

Leadership Development and Remote Teams Building teams with purpose Remote Teams

Team Purpose One theme that continues to come up throughout these presentations is team purpose. If a team has a clear and articulated team purpose it makes it a lot easier to focus on the goals and the task at hand. A team purpose states clearly who the members of the team are, what work they will do, and why that teams work matters.

Building Remote Teams RECRUITMENT AND LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT IN GEOGRAPHICALLY DISTRIBUTED TEAMS

What is a Remote Team? A remote team is a group of people brought together for a unified purpose or project. While they all answer to the same organization and usually the same campaign lead, they may physically be in different cities, towns or even states, necessitating that most communication happen via phone or on the internet.

Why build a remote team? Access to different political targets The issue affects people across different geographic regions (i. e. climate change, immigration, women's health) Wide range of skillsets Has the opportunity to increase inclusivity within the team for those who can not travel Potential to offer different community perspectives to the team

Challenges with a remote team Can foster exclusivity because of a digital divide and adeptness Hard to build a social culture Flakiness or ghosting – lack of accountability Team members may have different communications styles It’s important to take time to learn about the different styles on your team

Principals of managing a remote team Have a well known and well-articulated team charge Create space for socializing. In a google hangout, on a conference call Tip: ask people about highlights from their weekends Develop systems for accountability – set up reporting systems, deadlines and process - and use them! Come together at least once within the first 2 months of starting your team (if possible) – facetime can never be replaced.

How to Recruit for a remote team within specific locations Research! The community Movers and shakers Read the local newspapers to figure out what’s happening locally Recruit within your own networks Think through who you know in the community that you’re looking to recruit in and who they might know Challenges: Often hinders diversity in perspective Talk with the local Sierra Club organizer to identify other organizations within the community that you might reach out to Tip: Ask for intros!

How to recruit for a remote team Nationally If it doesn’t matter where folks are based use the digital tools available Email, Facebook, idealist. org Add Up! Ask your local organizer for a list of people who have taken action on a specific issue for a prospect pool. Email Blasts through Sierra Club networks and lists

Diversity Equity and Inclusion in Remote Teams DEI work in remote teams can be more challenging in some ways than in teams that work together, it can also be easier because there are fewer geographic barriers For place-based remote teams (like a statewide or regional team) it is critical that your team reflect the community in which it serves Look from movers and shakers across different movements (i. e. Dreamers, Black Lives Matter, LGBTQ groups) Ask them for suggestions for outreach Tip: Research local climate and public health issues – this tends to be a good point of organizing for diverse teams as often, the most underrepresented people are the most effected by climate disruption.

Leadership Development in Remote teams In some ways leadership development amongst teams can be harder – you are not there to train people on the way you might do things In some ways it’s easier because it forces people to make decisions and come up with their own plan Recruit people that you can trust, trust the people that you recruit. Really the same principles exist although remote teams rely quite a bit on self starters

Tips Compensate for the fact that people are not bumping into each other and sharing space Use Google hangouts for team meetings so people can see each other (It also encourages people to pay attention!) Send out agendas at least 24 hours in advance and put names next to agenda items

Resources for Remote Teams Free software Trello for project management Join. me for Screen sharing Google drive Google hangouts The Grassroots Action Network

Questions? My Contact Info: Izzy Goodman Email: isabelle. goodman@ sierraclub. org Phone: 202. 548. 4593