Working Virtually
Collaborating Across Boundaries
Do you miss those conversations in the hallway and at the coffeepot?
You’re no longer working at the main office. Maybe you work at home or in a small office separated from the rest of your team. Or perhaps you spend so much time on the road you feel as if you live in an airport. How do you get information? How do you continue to work effectively from a remote location?
Many believe that technology overcomes the obstacles to working remotely, when in fact it is the dynamics of human communication — or miscommunication — that present the biggest problems. As a virtual worker you need to learn how to communicate with others when you are not face to face. And you need to understand your own working style to successfully work across boundaries created by distance, time, and culture, to name just a few.
In this workshop, you acquire the necessary communications skills for working virtually. You learn how to set the policies and make contracts that ensure your success as a virtual worker. You also gain an understanding of your own working style so you can create a plan that covers your needs.
The Working Virtually workshop is a process that begins with a one-day training session in which participants spend time on self-assessment, experiential learning exercises, and working with small groups. As a follow up, the facilitator works with either groups or individuals to develop the plans and policies identified in the workshop, or to apply new skills and best practices to the work environment.
What do participants learn in the workshop?
- Definition of working virtually
- Distinction between local and remote communication
- Best practices for working virtually
- How the benefits and challenges of working virtually overlap
- How to generate a personal or corporate action plan
The Benefits
- An understanding of the dynamics of interpersonal communication, particularly the differences between local and remote communications
- An understanding of your personal style as it relates to working virtually
- Knowledge of current technologies that support working remotely and a how-to on choosing the best one for each type of communication
- Tools that help you address the typical issues that arise in working remotely