职场新概念英语：未来的老板须学会远程控制

A quiz on arcane facts about Bollywood and cricket might seem an unusual way to start a teleconference between workers in the US and India. But the game, used by US insurer MetLife when training its Indian IT team in new processes, has proved powerful in breaking down cultural barriers and building trust.

有关宝莱坞(Bollywood)和板球等鲜为人知的事实的小测验，似乎是一种不同寻常的开启美国和印度员工之间电话会议的方式。但事实证明，美国保险公司大都会(MetLife)在培训其印度IT团队新流程时使用的这种游戏，在打破文化障碍并建立信任方面非常有效。

“We heard them laughing and joking with each other about the questions,” says Janet Conn, who led the virtual training at MetLife and now works at technology company Cisco. As an American unversed in cricket and Bollywood minutiae, she consulted Indian contacts to make sure the questions were suitably challenging.

曾担任大都会虚拟培训主管、目前在科技公司思科(Cisco)工作的珍尼特•考恩(Janet Conn)表示：“我们听到他们大笑，并拿这些问题互相开玩笑。”作为一个对板球和宝莱坞具体细节知之甚少的美国人，她咨询了印度人，以确保这些问题具有适当难度。

“In India, people are less likely to jump in and ask questions than in the US, and we wanted them to feel comfortable enough to begin to speak up and give us the feedback needed for successful collaboration,” she says. The questions sparked the Indian workers’ curiosity.

她表示：“与美国相比，在印度，人们不太可能插嘴提问，我们希望他们在感觉足够自在的情况下发言，向我们提供成功合作所需的反馈。”这些问题激发了印度员工的好奇心。

The importance of the human element cannot be overstated. Ms Conn says the Bollywood-infused training increased connection and discussion between far-flung colleagues. “Too often, offshore teams are treated like a machine rather than a group of people who have useful input. We’re all humans . . . and you have to figure out how to find the commonalities in order to build collaboration.”

人的因素的重要性再强调也不过分。考恩表示，在培训时问几个有关宝莱坞的问题，增强了相隔遥远的同事之间的沟通和讨论。“离岸团队太多时候被视为一台机器，而非能够带来有用投入的一群人。我们都是人……要建立合作，你必须搞清楚如何找到共性。”

The role of today’s manager is becoming more demanding with teams dispersed across locations, time zones and cultures. Not only do they need the skills of a good “people manager”, such as empathy and adaptability, they also have to put more effort into planning, communicating and thinking creatively.

如今管理者的任务变得越来越苛刻，因为团队分散在不同的地区、时区和文化中。他们不仅需要良好的“人事经理”技能，例如同理心和适应能力，还必须将更多努力投入创造性的规划、沟通和思考。

“I see it as increasing the level of good management across the company,” says Isla Ramos Chaves, a senior executive at Lenovo, the computer company. Keeping people motivated is even more important if they are remote than if they see each other every day, says Ms Chaves, who has led virtual teams of between five and 200 people across Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

电脑公司联想(Lenovo)高管伊斯拉•拉莫斯•查韦斯(Isla Ramos Chaves)表示：“我认为这么做的作用是增强整个公司的良好管理水平。”查韦斯表示，与员工每天见面相比，如果员工距离遥远，保持他们的动力就变得更重要。她管理着欧洲、中东以及非洲的虚拟团队，团队人数从5人到200人。

She says managers need to articulate clearly, both to individuals and the team, how they are contributing to the results of the business unit or wider organisation. Failing to do so can lead to staff feeling isolated or unimportant.

她表示，管理者需要向个人和团队说明他们正如何为业务部门乃至整个企业的业绩做出贡献。若做不到这一点，就可能导致员工感觉孤立或不重要。

She emphasises carving out dedicated time for each team member. “You have to create a virtual space with people, so you say, for example: ‘On Monday between 9am and 10am, I’m all yours. Whatever happens, this is the time we spend together.”

她强调要为每个团队成员腾出专门的时间。“你必须与人们创建虚拟空间，因此，打个比方，你会说：‘周一早晨9点到10点，我跟你们在一起。不管发生任何事，这是我们一起度过的时间。’”

Hybrid teams, where some members are in the same office and others work remotely, pose particular challenges. Managers may allocate lesser tasks to the remote members — but the opposite can happen too.

混合团队的一些成员身处同一个办公室，还有一些人则在遥远的地方工作，这构成了特别的挑战。管理者可能会将不那么重要的任务分配给遥远地区的员工，但相反的结果也可能发生。

In conference calls with hybrid teams, Ms Chaves asks everyone to use the phone, including those who are in the office, so they have the same experience and there is less sense of “them and us”.

在与混合团队的电话会议中，查韦斯要求所有人都使用电话，包括那些在办公室的员工，使大家都有同样的体验，“他们和我们”的感觉减少了。

Virtual team leaders have to manage by results, rather than how many hours employees are tied to their desks. Objectives need to be clear from the outset, and methods agreed between manager and employee on tracking progress and giving each other feedback.

虚拟团队负责人必须根据结果进行管理，而不是以员工在办公桌前呆了多长时间作为依据。目标需要一开始就明确，管理者和员工需要就跟踪工作进展以及相互提出反馈的方法达成一致。

“The team needs a clear vision so they know what direction to go in without having to be micromanaged,” says Marc Decorte, vice-president of connected digital technologies at Royal Dutch Shell, the energy group. His team is dispersed around the world. “Performance contracts need to be based on the value of what people deliver, because that’s the value to the bottom line, not the quantity of work or the way it’s done.”

能源集团荷兰皇家壳牌(Royal Dutch Shell)互联数字技术副总裁马克•德科尔特(Marc Decorte)表示：“团队需要明确的蓝图，这样他们就可以在不需要被微管理的情况下明白前进方向。”他的团队分散在世界各地。“绩效合约需要基于员工工作的价值，因为那是对经营底线的价值，而非工作量或工作方式。”

The introduction of technology to virtual teams also has to be handled carefully. Trust can be undermined if remote workers perceive new requirements, such as use of a webcam, as a form of surveillance.

向虚拟团队引入技术也需要谨慎处理。如果遥远地区的员工把新的要求（例如使用网络摄像头）视为一种监视方式的话，信任可能会受损。

Managers with no intention of spying on their teams need to make that crystal clear, says Wayne Turmel, co-founder of the Remote Leadership Institute, a US consultancy. “An open and honest discussion about why these tools are valuable, as well as how and when the team should use them, will go a long way to lowering the fear level. On the other hand, if you are using webcams to ‘bust’ your people, or make sure they are where they are supposed to be, maybe they aren’t the ones with the issue.”

美国咨询公司Remote Leadership Institute联合创始人韦恩•蒂梅尔(Wayne Turmel)表示，无意监视团队的管理者需要明确这点。“公开且诚实地讨论这些工具为何重要，以及团队应如何使用和何时使用这个工具，将大大有利于降低人们的恐惧。在另一方面，如果你要用网络摄像头‘突击检查’你的手下，或者确定他们是否在他们应该在的地方，那么或许他们不是有问题的人。”

（新东方在线 - 新概念英语课程体验）