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Years ago, you could pretty much guarantee that a PA would
work for a single boss. Today's PAs not only increasingly work
for multiple bosses, but on projects spanning across several
organisations.
Whether you work for a construction or marketing firm or for a
charity (just to name a few of the sectors where this has become
particularly common), the chances are that at least some of your
work will require you to work closely with other PAs in other
companies. In fact, virtual teams increasingly involve people
based not only in different offices, but different countries.
The good news about collaborative working across scattered
locations is that it makes the PA's work more stimulating,
high-powered and sociable and what's more, you'll inevitably pick
up new skills with each project that you work on. The bad news is
there is potential for disaster. Overlap can be rife; the wrong
information may be shared at the wrong time, confusing everyone
involved; one of the other PAs you work with may perform poorly,
ultimately impacting on your own work - just to mention a few of
the problems PAs report.
"There is little doubt that getting a group of people to think
and work as a team is much easier if they are working together in
the same place every day," confirms Ian Fleming, author of the
Team working Pocketbook and the Virtual Teams Pocketbook
(Management Pocketbooks). "The more that people are separated
physically, the more difficult working as a unit becomes. People
will feel isolated; team spirit does not exist; communication is
mainly through technology; there's a lack of trust; and people
may fail to deliver on time." So what can you do to ensure
everything runs smoothly? Dan Collins, founder of the training
consultancy The Fresh Group, advises PAs to remember that the
greater the distance, the more you have to work at communicating.
It can be tempting to rely on emails or unifi ed online spaces
such as Huddle.net as your main method - but don't, he says. "For
all the technical gadgets and gizmos available, the truth is
people are prone to forget or ignore anything that is said in
email, voice mail, snail mail or others. So use the written word
just to record progress. Have regular real conversations -
face-to-face where possible and via things like conference call."
If, for instance, you meet monthly, he suggests having a
compulsory weekly conference call-in which every PA must give a
two-minute verbal update on what they've achieved in the last
week and what they're doing this week. "Not only does this keep
things moving and ensure everyone is clear about what's happening
- it also creates a natural system of mutual accountability. It's
all about transparency." Meeting face-to-face - if only once - is
crucial for the success of a virtual team, believes Julia Brook,
a PA who has worked on a number of multi-disciplinary projects
involving the NHS, social services, housing agencies and others.
Getting to know the face behind a name means you're more likely
to build up a rapport and work more effectively, she explains. It
will also give you a chance to get to understand how the other
PAs work.
In fact, Brook never begins a fresh project without inviting all
the other PAs she's working with for either a formal meeting and,
if possible, an informal drink. "We go from being a random group
of people to a team with energy and direction and a clear vision
of what success will look like," she says.
Because of Brook's experience with virtual teams, she is often
asked to lead the team. "It is essential to have a clear lead -
whether that's one of the PAs like me, who reports to the head of
the project itself - or whether it is the head themselves," she
believes. "It is reasonable to expect that lead to produce a very
clear brief, leaving nothing to chance - including specific
expectations, roles and responsibilities, and timings.
Moreover, that lead should play an active role throughout -
especially by encouraging participation at points where the
individual organisations may not be naturally inclined - or feel
they are treading on toes." She recalls one occasion when
deadlines were not shared by the project lead. "Our organisation
continued to work on part of the project for a whole two weeks,
when in fact it was too late for that work to be used. The fact
that all our hard work went to waste did nothing for team
morale."
Another time, the role of each PA wasn't clearly enough defined.
"It should only have been a short project lasting two weeks, but
the inevitable overlap that occurred meant it lasted five weeks.
Some of the PAs got understandably frustrated." Despite Collins'
warning, it seems that most PAs believe technology has a
significant part to play in virtual teams. After all, technology
- like it or not - has changed the way we communicate. Among the
tools reported to be the most useful include instant messaging,
chat rooms, whiteboard, video conferencing, audio conferencing,
email, discussion boards, file share and web share.
For PAs in the private sector, one of the greatest challenges of
remote teams can be finding themselves working with PAs from
organisations that they would normally be in competition with.
But, agree the experts, never be too insular and defensive about
sharing ideas and work in such situations. In this project, treat
every organisation as an equal partner.
There are certain ways you can show that you are trustworthy too
- being consistent in your behaviour to other team members;
always being seen to be fair, giving recognition where it is
deserved rather than trying to take credit for the work of
others; and dealing with any conflicts you may have in private
and not in public.
When it comes to a difficult area of more consistent poor
performance, there are mixed views. While some believe it should
be rectified by the individual PAs involved to save the overall
project lead from being dragged into the blame game, others say
that if another PA lets you down, you should waste no time in
letting them know - for fear of being seen to cover up for other
people's mistakes. Whatever opinion you go with, remember the two
golden rules of professionalism and diplomacy. Also remember to
try and be positive even when things go wrong.
Mistakes will occur - acknowledge what happened, talk it through,
learn and move on.
If you know you will be working in a multi-cultural team,
business trainer and author John Mattock has some advice. "Be
open-minded - don't dump a national stereotype on individuals. In
fact, do some homework to understand the background better." He
adds, "Always begin in a formal, polite manner and await signals
of informality from the other person." Recognise the extra stress
imposed by language barriers, he says, and make allowances for
others without appearing patronising. And on vital matters,
always double-check understanding to avoid expensive mistakes.
"Plan communication to eliminate the negative and build on the
positive. Simple, clear, direct, honest and open are the best
styles for communication across cultures." Where projects go
well, the rewards can be multiple, says Fleming. You can achieve
major breakthroughs quickly and cost effectively, thereby
impressing your own employers. Meanwhile, on a personal level,
you get to build a whole new set of working relationships. In
addition, you get to learn new skills and challenge the way
things have been done in the past.
top 10 tips:
€¢ Invite other people's suggestions and experiences - especially
if they have had prev