9 reasons why your business need “Extended Teams”
The concept of ETM is strategic advantage which has been lost in the chaos of offshoring. The concept of offshoring started in India more than 3 decades ago and already spread across many countries across the globe.
So what is ETM and why it is different?
I cite this article in Forbes talking about this concept without the branding in 2010. Now it is reality !
Imagine the team in your head office, spread throughout the globe. This gives the ability to extend your team to reach the human talent that is not available locally, but you can fine through a partner like BistecGlobal.
Having a remote team in an offshore context can be a strain to you mainly because of the lack of transparency. Most often offshore providers use the team on multiple projects and you may find working with different people than who was initially assigned to you just when you were just getting started.
ETM takes the best of offshoring minus the bad experience. It gives you the control you need while you retain better financial and logistical benefits. It provides you total integration with the remote teams and also to your business. With ETM you are able to synchronize all of your “well-tuned” processors, practices and values, in to your Extended Team making it a fully functional branch office with similar design and identity.
The advantages of an Extended Team Model
“At Bistec Global, we’ve had different experiences working with a verity of engagement models, including ETM and we thrive in this particular environment and here’s why”
- Constant control of time and effort of your team
- Growth opportunities without distracting the home team.
- Having an access to a wider knowledge base
- Cost-effectiveness
- Common contribution to success and equal responsibilities.
- Employee training throughout the enterprise
- Reduced staff fluctuations
- Increased global market reach
- The Time Zone advantage
1. Constant control of time and effort of your team
You have the flexibility where you can apply any time or task-driven mechanism/tool to your extended team. There by measuring performance with 100% transparency and synchronization..
2. Growth opportunities without distracting the home team
You might have a successful project that your in-house team is working on and you plan on them continuing to complete it. You can delegate all the new projects to your extended team. Or you can focus on moving some of the work you home team is doing to the ETM while the home team takes on high value customer centric work.
3. Having an access to a wider knowledge base
Not being tied down to a single location is a great thing. By using the ETM you can have a team in another location of the world, with a wider knowledge base of technologies, local markets, and other skills that your business can benefit from. Having different kinds of people working globally, using their knowledge, will lead to creating a startup environment that can take a solution or application on a global market easier than having a centralized local team.
4. Cost-effectiveness
An extended offshore team can save time and money and yet give the expertise that you need to make your application or solution work.
5. Common contribution to success and equal responsibilities
The extended team is involved in the complete cycle of a job/project, not just an isolated part of it which makes for better transition and continuity.
6. Employee training throughout the enterprise
Your corporate image should reflect through all your products and service. This can only be achieved by extensive and continuous team training throughout the company and your extend team..
7. Reduced staff fluctuations
Extended team is part of a bigger team and employees associate better to their job roles with larger companies which reduces the effect on turnover and dependencies . It leads to a steady work flow and become resilient to changes in the cooperates which otherwise would be difficult to manage.
8. Increased global market reach
A global team means that you can easily have a presence in more than one market. Of course in today’s world, you can have global reach just by having a great solution and great marketing, but to have people in different parts of the world, that know the local market and the local mentality can always help you build market reach faster.
9. The Time Zone advantage
Your business, generally requires extended hours of work which can result in overworked and demotivated employees. Overlap of work hours with your extended teams is important and the part that does not overlap will work to your advantage when planning your project delivery, especially at peak times.
The use of a global talent pool has gained popularity over the last decade. The Extended Team Model is the next stage of outsourcing. An affiliation of your business rather than a group of contractors. ETM offers more flexibility and a new level of dedication. Your extended team may extend according to the objectives set and the resources you require, while maintaining your core values and identity.
- Published in General
The Social Glue in business?
Think of the teams that you have worked with throughout your work life. Have you come across people who keep or who contribute more than others to keep you together making the them a cohesive part of the job at hand which helps to achieve the 1+1 > 2 phenomenon? this would be a type of social glue !
Thinking and reading more about the subject it is evident that this it is the same phenomenon that large cooperates try to mimic in the tools they use or on the other hand, collaboration products try very hard to build in to their systems.
These traits have been used in some of the tools out there that are marketed to cooperates for better communication in an enterprise. There by creating the social glue that can feed the enterprise in order to have better cohesiveness. The focus of this article is more on the human aspects of the “Social Glue” rather than the tools or products.
What is Social Glue in Business? In the human aspect!
It can be defined as the ability to take all the individual parts and stick them together as one single vehicle taking the whole Team/Social Group/Company forward at the same speed.
Take the example of a 4-member team of developers. One is a lagging behind not really contributing to the team and almost anti-social. One was a good performer previously and now unfocused. The third is a performer. The forth is the glue we are talking about in this article who is also an excellent performer.
The velocity of this team would be at its slowest member there by making the team under preforming.
The 4th member (The Glue) has an outcome to be achieved and without the first and 2nd members contribution, he would not be successful. He uses his relationships to either get this person inline to achieve the outcome at hand or to take out the member form the team or try hard to. He does it with all his hart and to make the first two members realize the required changes they need to make. The important fact is that he tries to get them inline and failing which take them out of the team to achieve the outcome.
This trait in a person requires the following fundamental behaviors that lead to a high-performance team.
Unconditional trust
Trust is sometimes over rated. Unconditional trust seems a big no no ! In the face of competition in an organization the ability to trust someone seems a bit far fetch leave alone being unconditional. Therefore, it is the main ingredient that leads to someone being the social glue in a business.
Focusing on each other strengths
Having led several cooperates I know how it feels like when people focus on your weakness. The ability to focus on strengths is a must if you are leading teams there by complementing each other to form the glue that cause the teams to function as one.
The service mindset
To be of service to others comes at a cost. Some think you are week and some unprofessional. However, if you look at your job as; to do grater good regardless of the consequences ! This is what I define as the service midst or to be of service to your fellow colleagues.
The ability to forgive
People make mistakes linking up to the second point here being able to move on and learn is extremely important. Sometimes we discount people and behaviors to only the negative side of things. Being the social glue requires a high degree of the ability to forgive and try continuously.
In conclusion all business have and develop these personalities as groups and individuals it is the duty of the leader to identify and mentor these people or gorps and create more glue. Tools can take you a certain distant but these people with the aid of the tools are the ones who really make a difference in a Business !
- Published in General