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Leading Virtual Teams - Keys to Success in the Virtual World

Name: Leading Virtual Teams - Keys to Success in the Virtual World
Rating: 4.3 (20 reviews)

How to Lead Your Virtual Team to Build Trust Quickly, Connect Meaningfully, and Collaborate Effectively

Created byKenneth Downer

Last updated 6/2020

English

What you'll learn

Build a culture of trust and collaboration on your virtual team.
Master communication skills for leading distrbuted teams.
Plan, organize, and run virtual meetings that spark engagement, interaction, and productivity

Course content

6 sections • 26 lectures • 2h 38m total length

Introduction5:42
Welcome to the Virtual Team Leader's Course. In this video I'll orient you to how the course is organized and give you several ways to conveniently learn the material.
There are downloads for you with nearly every video, but if you would prefer to get them all at one time, you can get the Virtual Team Leader Master Guide file in the resources section of this lecture.
Welcome to the course, and I wish you the best!
Run Effective Virtual Meetings – a Quick Start Guide10:49
Get the basics for how to plan for a virtual meeting right away
Know what to check and prepare for before you hit the launch meeting button
Understand what to focus on during the meeting and what to do afterwards
Download the 43-point Quick Start Guide checklist
Course Options and Audio Download1:04

Building a Powerful Distributed Culture – Six Keys to Success8:46
Recognize the six elements of the Cultural Web
Apply each of these elements to a virtual team environment
Combine elements from the Cultural Web for greatest effect
Download the guide to building a strong team culture
Deepen Trust on Your Virtual Team - The 6 Cs8:20
Understand two kinds of trust and which virtual teams need most
Dissect the six C’s of trust and how to build them in the virtual environment
Use this one fastest way to build trust
Download the Elements of Trust Guide for keys to building trust on a virtual team
Welcoming New Teammates – 9 Ways to Bring Them On Right8:41
Understand the biggest and best opportunity to develop a positive culture
Discover nine impactful ways to welcome new people to your virtual team
Use the Two-sponsor technique to double the impact of the welcome
Download the Welcome Guide for nine steps to welcoming a new virtual teammate
Strengthen Your Multi-Cultural Virtual Team - 9 Powerful Techniques7:56
Understand the challenges associated with leading a virtual team that includes more than one culture
Explore nine ways to counteract those challenges and how to apply them in a virtual environment
Discover ways to develop cultural sensitivity on your team
Download the guide: Building Blocks for Multi-Cultural Teams
Make Training a Trust-Multiplier on Your Virtual Team5:39
Learn how focusing on training can speed the development of trust on your virtual team
Take advantage of five ways to improve teammate proficiency
Use three no-cost approaches to improve training and trust on your team
Build Your Team's Community with a Virtual Breakroom6:05
Learn about the surprising way that design impacts creativity and team culture
Take six steps to implement your own “virtual watercooler”
Know the pitfalls of a “virtual watercooler” and how to avoid them
Download the Guide: 17 Ways to Build Breakroom Engagement
Section Knowledge Check: Building Virtual Team Culture

Adapt Your Leadership Skills to the Virtual World - Module Introduction1:16
With our Virtual Team's culture now under construction, it's time to turn our attention to how we can adapt our approach in order to lead it well.
Communicate with Clarity - How to Choose the Right Channel5:45
Learn how to match the communications tool to the situation
Identify three keys to good team communications
Five things to do when there’s a communication problem
Download the Communications Tools Utility Matrix
Put the Phone to Work - 6 Ways to Make Calls More Effective7:14
Learn four reasons why and when to reach for the phone instead of email
Take advantage of six ways to get the phone working better for you
One surprising way that using the phone can improve your influence
Conquer Email - 20 Best Practices for Virtual Team Leaders8:09
Understand the advantages and disadvantages of written communication and when to use it
Employ 20 best practices when addressing, writing, and sending an email
Use writing techniques that simplify the process, speed action, and improve collaboration
Download 20 Email Best Practices for Leaders Guide
Project Your Leadership Non-verbally - 8 Ways to Lead Through the Lens5:26
How to control non-verbal messaging on camera
The surprising thing people forget when setting up for that video conference
Eight ways to project your leadership and your message non-verbally
Download Non-Verbal Skills for Virtual Team Leaders Guide
Make Introversion a Strength on Your Virtual Team8:12
Why trying to be an “authentic” leader is a bad idea
Learn five ways to make person-to-person interactions easier
Turn group settings to your advantage with these four approaches
Download the Introverted Virtual Team Leader Guide
Section Knowledge Check: Adapting Your Leadership Skills

Plan Virtual Meetings That Make an Impact - Module Introduction7:30
Employ four key factors for planning virtual team meetings
Use these five time-related considerations in choosing when to meet
Understand what to tell the team when preparing for your virtual team meeting
Download the Virtual Meeting Announcement Example for your reference
Download the Virtual Meeting Announcement Template to use in planning your next meeting
Download the Virtual Meeting Protocol Guide for what to do before/during/after meetings
Make Your Virtual Meeting an Actual Team Event - 4 Key Roles3:18
Learn to engage others by involving them in fulfilling key meeting roles
Adopt four functions for your teammates to fulfill during team meetings
Consider these five other areas for possible meeting roles
Download the Roles for Virtual Meetings Guide
Build Meeting Agendas that Spark Engagement5:39
Adopt this new mindset to help you think more creatively about agendas
Use these eight moments to inject opportunities for engagement into your agenda
Use the engagement planning template to build your next agenda
Download Agenda Engagement Plan Example Guide
Download Agenda Word Document Template
Avoid These 11 On-Camera Mistakes5:16
Learn how virtual team leaders can sabotage themselves by poor camera setting
Meet eleven kinds of video conference characters who are doing it wrong
Through their mistakes, learn how to use video to enhance how others perceive you
Download Course Guide - 11 Online Characters to Avoid
Facilitate Vurtual Meetings with Skill5:26
Explore five common video platform tools and how to use them skillfully
Learn five facilitation techniques to keep your meeting moving and your people engaged
Employ tools and techniques in combinations for best effect with these four examples
Download ELMO cards for use as immediate feedback in your virtual meetings
Execute Your Virtual Meeting with Expertise9:54
Understand what 14 things to do even before the meeting begins
Remember these 17 things to be sure to do during the meeting
Do these five key things before concluding the meeting to end it right
Download the Meeting Day Checklist to help you remember the important things
Level the Playing Field - 6 Ways to Avoid the Pitfalls of Asymmetrical Meetings4:23
Understand the pitfalls of leading asymmetrical meetings
Learn six ways to level the playing field so everyone feels equal
Use these approaches to increase trust across the team
Get Your People Talking with Icebreakers and Team Builders8:12
Use five Mental Challenges to build critical thinking, cooperation, and collaboration
Put ten Icebreaker activities to work to build your virtual team
Use these 42 provocative questions to get them thinking and sharing
Download the Icebreakers and Teambuilders Guide to get your team talking
Download the Icebreaker Questions sheet to spark interaction in your next virtual meeting
Break Out of the Meeting Rut – 12 Ways to Keep Things Interesting6:45
Learn about the Oddball Effect and how it changes people’s perception of time
Use these 12 ideas to keep things interesting and people engaged in your virtual meetings
Get people anticipating rather than dreading your next virtual team meeting
Download Conference Call Bingo for a fun way to keep your teammates engaged
Section Knowledge Check: Running Virtual Meetings

Requirements

There are no prerequisites for this course beyond a computer with internet connection and a desire to learn to lead a distributed team effectively.
Note: This is NOT a technical course on how specific virtual team platforms work, so no particular video application is required, but I will show you how to make effective use of tools that most such platforms tend to offer.

Description

Are you leading a virtual team? Are you struggling with how to build a strong, positive team culture, break through barriers to communication, or trying to lead meetings when your teammates live and work in different states, time zones, or even continents?

This course is designed to help you reach across those distances, and will show you how to bring your virtual team closer, build trust quickly, communicate effectively, lead those virtual meetings efficiently, and get things done.

More and more, leading virtual teams is the new reality, but the challenges of leading in this environment are great. When we can’t see our teammates in person, we risk losing the ability to communicate effectively with them. When we can only collaborate through technology, we lose the nuance of non-verbal communications, the sense of connection that comes with personal interaction, and the synergy that comes from working closely with team members who know and trust each other.

If we are not careful, our teammates can feel disconnected, isolated, and increasingly disengaged. As that happens, trust is slow to build if it builds at all, and the ability of the team to function dies. Instead of a team, you have a list of disinterested individuals, a pile of work to be done, and no way to be sure that it’s going to happen.

If you want to be effective as a leader in this environment, you have to master a new set of skills. You need tools that can help you reach across the span of distance and time, and through the limitations of technology to bring your virtual teammates closer together. You need techniques that help your virtual team collaborate positively and productively despite all those obstacles. This course is designed to help you do just that.

Specifically, this course will show you how to:

· Build a virtual team culture that is positive and productive

· Establish trust within your virtual team despite the challenges of time and distance

· Welcome new virtual teammates with techniques that accelerate their learning and integration into your team culture

· Lead your virtual team effectively across cultural lines

· Establish informal communications networks that strengthen your virtual team’s cohesion and creativity

· Choose the right communication tools to fit every situation.

· Use email more effectively without flooding your inbox

· Use the telephone in ways that increase personal connection

· Connect with your virtual team even if you tend to be introverted

· Take advantage of non-verbal communications to maximize your leadership presence

· Plan virtual meetings that are effective and productive

· Use a detailed 43-point checklist to ensure your virtual meetings go well

· Develop meeting agendas that spark engagement

· Use lighting and camera techniques to enhance your image as a leader

· Employ tools and techniques that make your virtual meetings more interesting and engaging for everyone

· Strengthen team bonding with dozens of virtual exercises and icebreakers

· Shake up your meetings with unusual approaches to keep your virtual team out of a rut

Resources:

Along with the video content there are many helpful resources that come as part of the course.

· An audio version of the course so you can listen and learn while on the go

· More than 20 downloadable resources and guides including:

o Checklists so you don’t forget something important

o Guide sheets to prompt your thinking, planning, and organizing

o Templates for building agendas and communicating with the team

What makes me the expert?

I’ve been in and leading virtual teams since the early 1990s, and I’ve seen the good, the bad, and the ugly along the way.

I’ve been the victim of phone conferences that I dreaded, interactions that left me distrustful of my teammates and leaders, and marathon virtual meetings that were an absolute waste of time.

But I’ve also experienced the best – fast-paced, engaging interactions that I looked forward to, collaborative sessions that were extremely productive, and bosses who knew how to reach out, communicate, and connect despite being hundreds of miles away.

After over 20 years of doing this in environments as diverse as prairie states spread across the Midwest U.S., to sprawling deserts in the Middle East, I have taken the best of those experiences and put them in this course for you so that you and your teammates don’t have to learn the hard way, as I did.

What this course is NOT:

This course is NOT a technical how-to course. It will not tell you specifically how to activate breakout rooms during a Zoom video meeting, or how to build and launch a poll while in Microsoft Teams. The technology changes too quickly, there are too many possible platforms, and the developers of those platforms can do a better job of explaining how their tools work – you should go to them for their expertise.

What I WILL do is talk about features and tools that the most common platforms have, and how to use those tools to best advantage to make your virtual team better at what you do.

See you inside!

Watch the Introductory Video and the free preview videos to get a taste of all that this course provides, and then I’ll see you inside. I’m looking forward to sharing everything I’ve learned with you about leading virtual teams so that you can lead your own virtual team more effectively than ever.

Ken

Who this course is for:

This course is for anyone who wants to improve their ability to lead virtual teams that are geographically dispersed.
Whether you’ve lead dozens of virtual teams, or are about to lead your very first, the tools in this course will equip you to do it better.

Leading Virtual Teams - Keys to Success in the Virtual World

What you'll learn

Explore related topics

Course content

Introduction3 lectures • 18min

Building Virtual Team Culture6 lectures • 45min

Developing Virtual Team Leadership Skills6 lectures • 36min

Running Virtual Team Meetings9 lectures • 56min

Course Conclusion1 lecture • 2min

Final Thoughts and Resources1 lecture • 1min

Requirements

Description

Who this course is for: