As part of my corporate role I was invited to attend a panel for a networking event. The hot topic of the day was how to create effective relationships between teams based in the UK and abroad.

Too often, the external workforce is considered as secondary to UK teams and the importance these teams play in our capacity to deliver and scale is underestimated.

Bizarrely, the pandemic has actually helped bring our UK teams across the country and offshore based teams closer together. Pre-pandemic we often experienced technical issues when connecting our teams online; people sitting together in meeting rooms trying to speak loud enough for a single microphone to pick up the sound and everyone straining their ears to hear what other teams were saying. People in one meeting room may be laughing at a joke but others couldn’t hear and felt left out.

As we have all been working from home with our own headsets we can hear each other better and everyone is on a level playing field. The banter and jokes can be heard by everyone and there is an opportunity for all to join in.

In the last 15 months we have made more of an effort to have virtual social meetings with people outside of our location, because we had to. This has had a positive impact on relationships. Through quizzes we have had opportunity for friendly competition and having a laugh.

We asked new joiners to share a slide about themselves, photos of their life, their hobbies and interests so we could get to know them a little. It’s incredible how just knowing a few basic facts about others can create connections and discussion points. We have been able to see a different side to colleagues which we may not otherwise have taken time to find out.

When it comes to connecting with colleagues many organisations tend to forget teams based outside of the UK. But if we work with an external workforce it’s because we need their skills and expertise to boost our UK staff base. Surely we want everyone to feel part of the team? To be able to relate to each other’s lives and the world we live in. 

Instead of thinking of our external workforce as ‘resource partners’ we think of them as ‘our teams’. We may not have the same appraisal system, but we have the same goals, we share the same values and we have the same deadlines. Our success is theirs and together we’re stronger. 

It’s too easy to focus only on commercial value, rates and securing a commodity workforce. These people are our colleagues and they have skills we need. Isn’t it more fun to work together if we have a personal connection too?

Pre-pandemic working from home more than the occasional day was met with raised eyebrows and an air of suspicion. Many of our sourcing partner colleagues were simply unable to work from home due to contractual agreements between the client and vendor. We simply didn’t trust that anyone could, or would, be as productive working from home as they were in the office. 

We now know that’s not true. Whilst it may not suit everyone to work from home permanently, we have proven that productivity is not driven by the location of the bum on the seat. 

Andrew Verity shared that his CEO of Skipton Building Society told his teams; If we can trust people when we had to, we should trust people when we choose to. I agree - let’s start from a position of trust instead of suspicion.

How much do you know about colleagues’ lives in different locations? Anyone who has visited India will know that travelling by road is a very unique (read petrifying!) experience! What is the weather like? How is their home office set up? What do people do after work? What’s their favourite food? 

Investing time to get to know each other creates connection, familiarity and trust. If someone is late for a 9am meeting every day I might feel frustrated. If I know that someone struggles to get to a 9am meeting every morning because taking their daughter to school means they get stuck in traffic and can be delayed, I can change the meeting time and reduce stress for my colleagues. 

If you struggle to build connections with other people coaching can help - why not get in touch?