Managing Remote and Virtual Teams

Who and Why?

As organisations become increasingly global, the virtual team and remote management are becoming the norm.  Those managing these teams need to be adept at welding the disparate resources at their disposal into a united and coherent whole, despite having limited or perhaps no opportunity to build relationships face to face.  This is particularly the case where there are ad hoc virtual teams for a specific project, requiring them to accelerate the process of team development if they are to achieve their goals.

In this course delegates gain the skills to lead this kind of team so that they deliver results across multisite and multinational environments. They will learn techniques to manage the collaboration of virtual teams and enhance productivity.  They will also learn how to create a unity of purpose and emotional connection within a group who may otherwise question where their contribution makes a difference.

Course Overview

The course is interactive with a number of activities to enable learners to practise new skills and develop their knowledge.  Delegates will define the challenges of leading in a virtual world and clarify the qualities and unique characteristics of the remote and virtual leader.  They will then work with the building blocks of a virtual team.

Using our unique assessment tool they will analyse how their team measures up against eight performance characteristics.  They will practise how to set effective team purposes, vision and values and how to keep them alive.  Delegates will develop strategies for overcoming barriers to success in building an effective and collaborative team.  Overcoming the impact of distance between team members relies on establishing trust.  The course considers how to build the four components of trust.  In addition it includes practical ways of building relationships remotely based on openness.

Key Learnings

•    By the end of the course delegates will be able to:
•    Build and lead virtual or remote teams to create success in the global workplace
•    Establish a team’s sense of purpose and vision, so that their work makes sense
•    Diagnose the team’s state of health and how to implement a get well plan
•    Design team protocols to optimise the team’s effectiveness
•    Facilitate effective and productive virtual team meetings using appropriate communication technologies such as “presence” technologies, conferencing and collaboration tools
•    Diagnose and handle the risks of managing distance and diversity
•    Adapt their leadership style to meet the unique demands of working globally
•    Ensure agreements made remotely are clear, specific and workable
•    Apply models of assertiveness and transactional analysis theory to ensure progress