When a company has many different office locations, often people in one office aren't familiar with people in other offices due to a lack of interaction. This problem is particularly pronounced where you have offices that span multiple time zones or countries.
Tip: You can use a time zone converter to know the time difference between offices. You may also install one of the numerous apps to help with that info.
What improvements come from better interaction?
It is crucial to build interaction between all company offices because it often improves the following:
- Communication
- Relationships
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Technical skills
- Knowing alternative approaches
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Access to resources
- Knowing who has certain skills
- Knowing who can provide you with localized or domain specific information
- Cooperation
- Confidence
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Understanding of foreign perspectives
- Knowing why someone from another culture responds in a different way to what you are used to
Boost interaction with unique strategies
Think about what your company can do to increase interaction. There are tonnes of ways that interaction can be developed. Examples include:
Team building activities
- Playing a game/solving a puzzle together
- Reviewing/updating a company standard together
- Having a company retreat to bring everyone together
- Going on a group trip (e.g., to the Great Wall of China)
- Visiting local companies together
- Having employees from China to work in every Australian office for a month each or vice versa
- Having developers from Brisbane spend a week in Melbourne
- Pair programming
- Mob programming
Rotating Daily Scrum
- Each week, 1 person from each office is paired up to do a Daily Scrum with others
Creating cross-office teams and events
- Putting developers from the China office onto a project with Australian developers
- People from different offices are paired up to have virtual coffee
- A Chinese dev does a presentation at the Sydney User Group
Cultural events and videos
- Celebrating holidays from other countries
- Organize meetings to discuss culturally different issues
- Have a weekly language exchange catchup
- Organize a cultural performance day where everyone shares a piece from their culture
Product videos about other offices
- What is it like to work in the China office?
- What is your reaction if you see Chinese on a web page?
- What are the differences in the app market in China and Australia? I.e. WeChat vs Facebook
Fun weekly company meetings
- Everyone meets on Friday for 30 minutes to discuss a fun question
