Virtual Team Skills
For both managers and employees, working remotely carries an entirely different set of demands compared to working in co-located teams. Trying to apply these same skills that we use in-person is rarely effective, and can often lead to additional problems and frustration. Developing a solid virtual skill set is critical for maintaining high performance and achieving aggressive goals.
LTI virtual team training topics have been selected and designed to address the most common challenges faced by managers and employees when working remotely. Through our interactive sessions we provide practical tips and techniques to overcome obstacles and focus on direct application.
All of these topics can be delivered in various formats to best fit your situation. From 90-minute webinars to multi-session live on-line programs. Our goal is to help your managers and teams develop their virtual skills. As with all LTI programs, every session is specifically tailored for your team and organization.
Many managers are faced with managing remote workers, from entirely virtual teams to individuals who work from home only on occasion. Unfortunately, most managers rely on skills that they’ve developed to lead co-located teams, but these are rarely as effective when applied to remote teams. Our goal is to help managers address the unique demands of managing remote teams and individuals by helping them…
- Apply 3 fundamental principles of managing remote teams
- Transition from managing activity to managing results
- Explore the 3 dimensions of communication and their impact of visibility
- Create a feedback-rich environment that promotes on-going communication
- Leverage operational agreements to drive results-based performance and ensure clarity
- Empower employees to drive the remote communication process
- Focus on behavioral-based expectations to facilitate open communication
- “Check in” without “Checking up”
- Proactively manage ongoing communication, feedback, and results
More and more often in today’s business world, employees are being asked to work remotely with little if any preparation and training. In order to maintain their highest levels of productivity, they will need to tap a different skillset and develop a stronger relationship with their managers. This session is designed to help ease this transition and empower employees to become part of the solution. This fast-paced program is designed to help employees…
- Apply 3 fundamental components of working remotely
- Transition from an activity-focus to a results-focused mindset
- Explore the 3 dimensions of communication and their impact on visibility
- Leverage operational agreements to minimize ambiguity and improve clarity
- Promote open communication to keep people connected and informed
- Position ongoing feedback and evaluation to maintain alignment
- Take ownership of their role in managing remote operations
Do you work from home but find it challenging to stay focused, manage your time, overcome distractions, and feel productive by the end of the day? Working remotely requires a whole new level of time management, communication, and planning. This fast-paced program is the perfect opportunity to challenge your thinking and begin developing effective strategies for working remotely. The tips and techniques covered during this session include:
- Establishing clear expectations and an effective home process
- Leveraging routine to regain control and stability
- Tools to help monitor progress and stay on track
- Techniques for managing time and drive results
- Taking ownership of communication and feedback to stay connected
- Email and communication tips to improve clarity and understanding
- Partnering to become part of the solution rather than the problem
- Learning to manage results rather than activity
- Strategies to overcome procrastination and isolation
- Self-management through effective planning
- Managing your physical space and controlling distractions
- Managing potential conflict quickly and objectively
Every team has the potential for conflict, but working remotely adds an entirely new set of challenges. Misinterpretation, miscommunication, and unchecked assumptions all add to the complexity of the situation. More than ever, being able to quickly and effectively address conflict and re-open the lines of communication is essential. This program is designed to help position both managers and employees to become an active part of the solution. This program will help participants…
- Better understand the most common causes of conflict when working remotely
- Explore the logical and emotional sides of conflict
- How to STOP escalation when you can’t talk face-to-face (a 4-step process)
- Recognize different conflict styles
- Learn to adapt to better facilitate win-win outcomes across distance
- Recognize the role each of us plays in managing conflict
- Explore how to proactively reduce the potential for conflict
Managing projects effectively is both and art and a science. While understanding the specific steps is definitely important, your ability to manage the overall process, including the people, is absolutely essential. This program is designed to provide an introduction to the basic project management cycle, explore the importance of strong interpersonal skills, and explore how both of these are impacted when working virtually. As a team, having a common understanding of this overall process can help improve efficiency while reducing ambiguity and conflict. This program is designed to help participants…
- Understand the 4 stages of project management and how they operate remotely
- Recognize critical steps that if ignored can derail any project
- Proactively control scope creep through effective planning
- Establish an effective process that facilitates ongoing remote communication
- Clarify expectations that drive feedback and minimize conflict regardless of distance
- Learn to “Check in” without people feeling like you’re “Checking up”
- Take personal responsibility for keeping remote members of the team informed
Creating productive relationships and a strong sense of team can be a challenge when working remotely. It’s easy to begin thinking of teammates as faceless emails or indistinct colleagues. When working virtually, it’s even more important to continually reinforce relationships, clarify roles, model and facilitate open communication, and drive conversations beyond tactical necessities. High performance teams are driven by relationships, not tasks, and this fast-paced interactive session helps build these connections. But always remember, building a strong team, whether co-located or distributed, takes continual effort and reinforcement. This session is designed to help teams…
- Build trust within your distributed team
- Create a common sense of purpose that helps build alignment
- Fine tune your remote communication plan
- Identify and leverage individual strengths
- Manage team related problems by improving remote feedback
- Cope with ambiguity and uncertainty
Developing emotional intelligence (EI) is one of the most critical skills for working remotely… not just for leaders, but for all team members. Understanding and being able to manage ourselves is the first step in communicating effectively, minimizing conflict, and reducing assumptions. Without this level of self-awareness, we have a tendency to “get in our own way.” Building these skills helps you better manage your own stress and effectiveness as well as becoming a stronger asset to others. Leveraging our EI in the virtual world is an absolute necessity to overcome the challenges of time and distance. This program is designed to help participants…
- Understand the 4 basic components of emotional intelligence
- Explore the differences and impact of EI in a virtual setting
- Gain insights into your personal strengths and challenges
- Examine how EI influences your overall effectiveness as a virtual team
- Explore strategies for working with others when communication may be limited
- Practice using EI to improve your remote communication and engagement
- Set clear expectations for on-going reinforcement and feedback
Recent Participant Comments
- Even though the team building was not in person, I really felt like I was able to get to know my team members well and interact with them the same as if it were in person. The group activities were fun and really got our brains thinking.
- Thank you for putting together this program in a new format so quickly! It has been very valuable.
- This was one of the better sessions on team building and group dynamics I have attended. The instructors were excellent and they did a great job of moving the materials along and bringing everything together. I was unsure how the team building would work in the virtual format and was pleasantly surprised how well it went!
- Very well run. Insightful and informative. Explored team-building in a a very engaging way.
- This has been such a productive and fun day. To come out of being in zoom meeting all day and feel successful is a great thing!
- Great learning tool! Thoroughly enjoyed the exercise.
- Great course, I wasn’t sure if it would be successful since it was online, but I was not disappointed!
- Both presenters brought a lot of energy and enthusiasm!
- At first I didn’t want to do this sort of thing and go outside my comfort zone, but after all is done and I’m looking back I am very happy this was part of our program!