Virtual Work Essentials: Bridging Distance
Critical skills for effectively working in a dispersed environment
This intensive workshop is designed for anyone using technology to collaborate with others over distance – across the hallway, the city, the country, or the globe. Based on best practices gathered from years of experience and research, this workshop gives participants the habits, skills, and tools required to thrive – not just survive – in the virtual arena.
The workshop comprises a mix of activities to accommodate a range of learning styles and preferences. Activities include experiential exercises and simulations, brief lectures, facilitated large group discussions, small group break-out sessions. Course content includes:
- Exploring characteristics, special challenges, benefits, disadvantages and critical success factors of virtual work
- Assessing each participants readiness to work in the virtual arena, whether as telecommuters, virtual team members, sourcing relationships, or general dispersed, global workforce communicators
- Examining the need and challenges of creating supportive relationships over distance
- Applying best practice behaviors to create presence and rapport with key colleagues
- Assessing current communication practices to identify areas for improvement
- Reviewing effective communication habits and skills, and applying those to gap areas identified
- Understanding the vital role of trust in accomplishing work in virtual teams and relationships, and how that trust differs from in-person connections
- Incorporating the learning into everyday work activities such as meetings, email, phone calls, file sharing, social media, and other technologies
- Examining top habits of successful virtual workers, and discussing application to each participant’s work life
- Creating and sharing an individual action plan to cement learning and change behaviors.