Leading Virtual Teams Bootcamp
Successful virtual teams have advantages including reduced stress, higher engagement, and increased productivity, when managed well. We are here to help you do this!
- Session 1: Vision & Mission Alignment. A shared commitment to a vision for the organization’s future is one of the most powerful ways successful virtual teams maintain their momentum. Everyone must be aligned with the broader vision as well as knowing how their individual and team contributions fit into delivering on that mission. Leaders must work hard not only to share the broader vision and mission consistently but also to create a connection between their specific team’s efforts and the achievement of the broader vision. This requires a disciplined approach and often the establishment of more relevant performance goals in order to align the day-to-day tasks and agendas to that organizational strategy. We will help you align your team’s efforts to the broader organization’s vision and mission so they can serve as the glue to hold your virtual team members together.
- Session 2: Culture. Shared values, mutual trust and collaboration are all hallmarks of a strong culture. Either building this type of culture or trying to sustain it while working remotely is challenging, but we want you to know that it absolutely is possible! It requires discipline on your part because of the need to constantly share information even when you think it’s too much and because your team will be looking to you to help them feel connected, not only to the company but also to each other. In this session, we will share effective methods to engage your team members and set expectations. We will also cover how to foster a virtual work environment rich with participation, feedback, and discussion as well as opportunities for social interaction. The outcome over time will be a more motivated, confident and productive team.
- Session 3: Structure. When leading virtual teams, disciplined management processes are essential to the success of the team. They provide individual team members with a structured framework for working together and understanding expectations and mutual accountability. They also provide the leader with regular opportunities to focus (or pivot) the team on the highest priorities while keeping other efforts progressing forward. And they provide everyone with the information needed for solid and timely decision making. We’ve touch on how to ensure virtual meetings are focused, engaging and progressing the team toward its goals, but perhaps more importantly, we’ll cover meeting cadence, along with the importance of set agendas, preparation and roles, and tracking of deliverables in a virtual team environment.
- Session 4: Communication. One of the biggest reasons virtual teams struggle is due to communication. These challenges can stem from cultural differences, misaligned expectations, different time zones, feeling a lack of connection, etc. To become a successful virtual team productive communication must be fostered. Productive communication is done frequently, respectfully, inclusively, multi-channel, and is done with extreme clarity and grounded in “soft” skills. In addition, feedback is a key component of communication and determines whether the team is highly functioning or not. There are several key ingredients to ensuring feedback is delivered in a productive and respectful way, understood, and therefore more likely to be put to use. These include establishing trust, balancing the positive and with the negative, being specific, consistent, and timely. We will dive into all of these topics, do some role playing (believe me, it actually helps a lot!), and provide you with some sure-fire tricks to apply to your virtual team.
Bootcamp Trainers: Dr. Lizza & Stasia Huiner
Please contact me with any questions or concerns at (541) 854-0144 or email Hello@DrLizza.com