Rural Uganda. Atlanta, Georgia. Minneapolis, Minnesota. Gallup, New Mexico. Italy. Norway. Denver, Colorado.

These are the places in which The InteRoots Initiative – a small, agile nonprofit made up of an executive director and a board of directors – lives, works, and engages in partnerships to implement sustainable locally led projects.

Headquartered in Denver, Colorado, Dr. Ronald Kibirige and I co-founded InteRoots in 2018. I am currently based in Italy, while Dr. Kibirige is based in Norway with frequent travel to his native Uganda.

The projects we are currently supporting are based in rural Uganda, Atlanta, Gallup, and Minneapolis in the United States.

All this is made possible not just by technological advances, but also by the mission of the organization itself: let the community make the decisions that are best suited for them and let them lead the way, with InteRoots offering support as needed.

Here are some practical tips to work across countries and time zones.

Find a mutually convenient time for meetings. Be flexible, although not too flexible with changing it up.

 Meetings are the bedrock of any organization, and InteRoots is no different. Our board of directors meets regularly via online platforms to discuss projects, finances, future needs and governance issues. Working across many time zones means we must be mindful of when we meet. It is important to use a process that finds times that actually work for all individuals when it comes to meeting. The meeting facilitator should be cognizant of the needs and pressures of each participant.

That said, it is even more important to make sure everyone upholds their commitments once a time is chosen. Meetings without intention, especially in an organization that relies on digital platforms, can easily undercut the effectiveness of the organization in accomplishing its goals.

Use email and messaging services like WhatsApp as another communications tool.

Email has helped our organization tremendously in supporting our work, but it’s been tools like WhatsApp that I see as a game-changer. When Dr. Kibirige is in the field in rural Uganda, for example, it’s WhatsApp that allows us to communicate between each other and identify, track and share important moments and details of the projects. WhatsApp doesn’t require a lot of bandwidth, making it much easier to use in rural settings where WiFi and Internet access may not be as readily available.

Whatever form of communication is used, it is important to always include the ‘because’ when messages are shared between each other.

 When teams share workspaces, a great deal of communication goes unspoken. As a result, directives can be interpreted in context, and efficiency and clarity of communication may be prioritized. In decentralized teams, however, we have found that although clarity is important, it is more important to take the time to explain why an ask is being made.

This crucial step sometimes makes communication longer and more comprehensive, but the payoff is much greater when your teammate understands the reason, background, and philosophy behind the message. This is especially important in cross-cultural contexts, where norms of ‘business and communication are diverse.

Allow the communities the organization is serving true agency to conduct business on their terms.

At the heart of The InteRoots Initiative’s mission and philosophy is the belief that what is for the community should be by the community. A community knows best the challenges it faces and the barriers that need to be surpassed to accomplish real change. In the case of the project in Uganda, which consists of a school and associated community impact opportunities, a community board oversees and manages the project. The board is made up of elected residents of the community, who make strategic decisions using the collective resources and manifold perspectives of the community they serve.

 So although InteRoots is decentralized, it’s the local community setting a clear and cohesive vision and goals for the project, with buy-in from our organization. Even when it comes to reporting, the community sets timelines and methodologies that best fit their needs. InteRoots, in turn, mostly due to its agile structure, is able to adjust to the community and not the other way around as is often the case. This has brought about meaningful, accountable, and efficient outcomes in our projects to date.

Build an organization that engages members meaningfully based on their skillset.

Any mission-based organization needs to build a shared culture that moves towards a common purpose to succeed. In diffuse organizations like InteRoots, this is understandably harder to do. But if a team member, whether as a member of the board of directors or otherwise, is able to engage in work that supports the organization based on their individual strengths and passions, there is greater motivation to work independently and effectively on behalf of the shared effort.

Working to someone’s skillset helps strengthen an organization, as the individual is motivated, challenged in the right way, and is offered the potential for improving upon their already-robust skills in service to a common goal. In other words, for decentralized organizations to succeed, it is essential that everyone has something to bring to the table, and it is even more important that those assets are truly valued by the organization through its work. This philosophy is also the reason InteRoots requires its partner projects to have representation on the board of directors.

As InteRoots has developed, grown, adjusted and flourished over the years, we’ve made strategic decisions about our goals, both as individuals and as a collective unit. We’ve always believed we work stronger together, but that together doesn’t require a fixed location to see and experience impact. We hope more small nonprofits like ours will offer the flexibility of decentralized, community-first teams.

Scott Frank is co-founder and executive director of The InteRoots Initiative