I’m sitting in Starbucks as I write this.  Not because I am particularly fond of their coffee, but because they   have internet access.  I’m back in Gainesville this sunny Thursday morning.   Unfortunately my house here no longer has  cable or internet.  Nor does it have a reliable phone, any computers set up, or food in the fridge or cabinets for that matter.  For someone like me, I might as well be back in the stone age. 

I drove up to put out some fires yesterday, and as I sit here, I’m in worse shape than I thought I was. What I thought would be a quick and easy solution has ended up being more complicated and costly than I had planned.  The fact that I now live 3 hours away just makes things exponentially more difficult.  I’ve basically wasted 2 days, have nothing to show for it, and all because of  the perils of getting things done when you are not there to take care of it personally. 

Virtual teams or remote work can be a pain in the ass sometimes.  I forget about that as I am usually surrounded computers, high speed connections, and basically any tool I may need at my disposal.  The problem is that if everybody on the team does not have those tools, or if you have access to only SOME of those tools, it can be PAINFULLY unproductive.  Furthermore, sometimes the coolest technology is just no match for being there and seeing what is F’d up with your own eyes. 

I have led several virtual teams over the years. At Anysoft, our developers and product managers were in Israel and Russia.  At Pitney, we had web teams literally around the globe. And a new project that I am thinking of launching has my partner in Chicago, me in FL, a possible lawyer in MA, marketing guys in Boston and Boca Raton, designers and developers in Miami, and consultants around the country. 

Man if had to visit in person to look over a friggin’ LAWN issue, than this new business might be tougher than I thought. 

I think I am going to set up some of my personal stuff as if it were a business group.  And that means instituting a few things I have learned over the years with regards to getting work done when all the players are in different places. 

 

Communications

 

This is really the most important one.  If you don’t have a set way of reliably talking with others, you’re screwed. For me, that has always involved email (preferably on the same client, or at least all knowing how the other systems work), some type of IM for instant communications, phone, fax (or preferably scan and email), some type of central repository for shared stuff, the same apps (whatever your group uses)  and I now also think some type of visual conferencing ability or at least the ability for people to send pictures and video immediately is an absolute  necessity. 

One of the keys to remote work is to OVERCOMMUNICATE.  Being a marketing and psych guy, I always over communicate anyway, but remotely you have to step it up even more.   Over the phones, things get missed.  Over email or IM, intentions can be misconstrued.  And when in relative isolation, what is usually a non-issue can become a giant ogre of a problem if left unattended and festering.

 

Expectations

 

Another biggie.  Nobody works the same. Nobody thinks the same.  But that does not mean that you can’t all be on the same page ALL the time.  When you set clear goals, in writing, for people to achieve, they do it.  One of the problems in remote work (especially from my perspective since I am usually the boss) is that people tend to slack when they are not being held to task.  “Not my problemism” creeps in pretty fast too.  It’s human nature, and I‘m certainly no different.  So prevent that by having due dates for EVERYTHING and a schedule for when project pieces will be handed off to each member.  Make it public, make it prominent, and have  painful consequences when missed. 

Also on the expectation front, set a planned schedule for communications as well. Especially when you are in different time zones, never mind different languages, things can get screwy FAST.  A daily catch up with all members, even if for only 5 minutes can do wonders for keeping a team together and on course.

 

Don’t underestimate the power of the visual

 

This one I have added more recently.  I have tried this several times over the years, and it has always sucked.  I don’t know if it was because the technology wasn’t ready, or because people weren’t accustomed to it, but it never really worked.    However, its worth the time to MAKE it work.  The thing is, visual ability is the closest thing you will be to actually being there.  And it means a hell of a lot in a lot of situations. 

I’m not talking about just videoconferencing.  I’ve found that by just having all players with a digital camera and the ability to send a bunch of pics helps out a ton as well.  My partner and I used to brainstorm on a whiteboard. We had someone transcribe it, or each player take their own notes, but something always got missed our screwed up in the process.  The solution?  We would just take a high res pic with a digital camera and print it out.  Ta da!  Worked awesome. 

To prove my point, let me explain my current lawn fiasco and how things could have been sooo much easier.   Put simply,  if my lawn guy had a camera, I would not have had to make this trip at all.  I could have told him over the phone that my mower was dead beyond repair, and I would have figured out an alternative solution from Sarasota.  It would have taken all of 10 minutes. 

 

Here is instead what happened.

 (Back-story, I traded my old big screen TV to a buddy who was going to maintain my lawn and pool while I was away and trying to sell the house.  He’s using all my equipment since he does not have any)

 

1. He called me and said the mower stopped working.  - belt was stretched beyond repair.  I said I would order one and have it shipped there.  I asked the model number and called Sears.

2. Sears said that the model number was not enough, they needed the specific number under the seat.

3. I called back and had him drive back to the house to get the number for me.

4. I called sears and ordered the part.

5. 6 days later the part arrives in G‘ville.  Lawn guy shows up on day 7 to install and do lawn. (back lawn hasn’t been done in 4 weeks at this point) 

7. Lawn guy calls me.  Sears apparently shipped wrong part.  Right on order, wrong in box.  I call sears and they apologize.  Said they will send right part when they receive wrong ones. (another 2 weeks before lawn can be mowed).  I tell them to just cancel order, and will go in person to the store in Gville to pick up part.

8.I tell lawn guy to box up parts, Sears will pick up. He goes home.

9..  I call parts store in Gville to see if they have belt in stock. Apparently they are no longer in business, tell me to call the 800 number and order it…awesome.

10. I finally find part in stock in a different local store in Gville.

11. I drive 3 hrs to gville to get it.  Both because lawn guy does not have the cash on hand to pay for it, also so I can make sure it is the right one and get this taken care of once and for all..

12. I get the part, get to the house and start to change the belt.

13. In the process I find something wrong.  Old belt is ok.  But apparently the blade housing has sheared off the deck, and that’s why its not spinning.  It’s not attached to anything anymore.

14. Seeing as how a new deck for a lawn tractor is about $1k, its really not worth me repairing, and since I am moving, it just don’t make sense for me to buy a new tractor for $2k.

15. I now have to find a lawn guy with his own equipment and pay $100 a month to have it done.

16. I now get to drive back to Sarasota.

17. During this ordeal I has also had a photographer scheduled to come take pics of the house for a virtual tour.  I had already pushed him back 3 times because of other lawn issues.  He was scheduled to come out the day we discovered the Sears sent the wrong parts.  I was never able to get in contact with him, so I can only assume that my $200 virtual tour will look pretty interesting with my fancily landscaped and lighted pool surrounded by a lawn that now looks like a cow pasture/rainforest.

 

This entire process took about 25 hours between the time on the phone, driving, and time just stuck in Gville waiting on crap.  And it all could have been avoided with a few pictures. (Before you say it, his camera phone is broken, so that goes back to the point that everybody needs to have the tools to get the job done)

 

  

Lessons Learned

 

Apparently nothing. I’m still an idiot.  I figured while I was coming to Gainesville, I would try to kill 2 birds with one stone.  As soon as I wrap this up, I’m heading over to one of my rental properties to collect the now 16-day-late rent check from one of my tenants, and to shampoo the carpet as I promised when he renewed his lease.  I used to have a property manager up here, but not only did they suck at finding new tenants, and suck at collecting rent, but they also kept any late fees from the tenant due to their suckiness.  I’ve since canned them and taken over myself since I figured I was still the one harassing this guy on a daily basis to pay his rent, I might as well keep the $300 in late fees he inevitably racked up every month.  This too is proving to be a challenge working remotely. 

I’m sure when I get over there I will find that either a. the locks have been changed and he is not there  b. my rug shampooer is no longer working, or c. there has been a fire at the complex and the entire thing has burned to the ground. 

I’m praying for “c.” 

 

Stay cool 

JJ