Virtual Team Builders-Certificate Program

The Challenge of Building Virtual Teams - Trust And Isolation
This workshop has been developed to assist leaders/members of virtual teams, in understanding the key challenges of a remote work environment.
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Business environments are changing. Fuelled by international competition, technological advancements and alternative work practices, organizations are embracing virtual team structures at an unprecedented rate. Virtual teams save costs, boost corporate productivity and bring about new levels of job satisfaction.

Making and managing the transition from traditional models of organizational operations to a geographically-dispersed mode requires exceptional interpersonal skills, strong leadership abilities, and the ability to communicate with diverse cultures ... capabilities this course will teach you. At the conclusion of this program, you will leave with practical ways to communicate effectively within a virtual team setting, run more effective virtual meetings, build trusting relationships, ensure employee engagement and manage performance.

Session 1 – The Communication Connection: Getting it Right.

In this 2-hour session we will determine our behavioral style and identify the strengths and challenges we bring to the team.

At the conclusion of this session, participants will be able to...

Determine the goals of the DiSC behavioral profile.
Identify the characteristics of each behavioral style.
Describe the strengths and challenges each style brings to the team.

Session 2 – Identifying Behavioral Styles and Making Them Work For You

At the end of this 2-hour session you will be able to explain how to identify and adapt your behavioral style to people on your team.

At the conclusion of this session, participants will be able to...

Identify three key questions you can use to identify people’s styles.
Develop strategies for adapting your behaviour to others on your team.

Session 3 – Making Norms the Norm

This 2-hour session will focus on creating a Team Operating Agreement which will include how to interact with each other and with clients. The key to a successful TOA is to ensure buy-in between all parties. This is achieved through consensus on the day of training.

At the conclusion of this session, participants will be able to …

Describe the role that expectations play and how to manage them.
Analyze how a Team Operating Agreement can help build a cohesive team.
Define the components of a Team Operating Agreement.
List a six step process to creating a Team Operating Agreement

Session 4 - Harnessing the Power of Cultural Diversity

This 2-hour session will look at effective ways to create, sustain and enhance a culturally dispersed work team.

At the conclusion of this session, participants will be able to …

Clarify influences that shape perspectives within virtual team.
Describe strategies to overcome cultural barriers.
Identify how diverse perspectives can improve organizational performance in virtual teams.
Develop the guidelines by which your team will operate.

Session 5 - Leading a Virtual Team: Same Game, Different Rules

This 2-hour session focuses on how to maximize your virtual team management skills and build the capabilities necessary to create a team environment which fosters continuity, growth and learning.

At the conclusion of this session, participants will be able to...

Describe the principal responsibilities of a Team Leader
Define why trust is important to a successful team and how to get it

Session 6 - Technology Tips for Virtual Teams

Technology can be scary! Employees are expected to understand and use a variety of software, systems and computer set-ups that are a constant presence in the business environment …but often with little or no formal training. This course will provide the top tips for virtual teams to use computer-based or web-enabled tools for maximum productivity and participation. This is a non-technical course, specifically geared to those who do not work within the information technology field.

At the conclusion of this session, participants will be able to …

Identify and share best practice use of various technologies for optimal virtual team communication
Incorporate best practice use of various technologies for keeping virtual team work maximally productive

Session 7-Meet me in Cyberspace

Meetings are hard enough to run when the participants are all in the same room. But any meeting you call, nowadays, probably has at least one person attending who works in a remote location and we all know virtual meetings are the lifeblood of the remote team. In order to be effective, these meetings must be well organized, efficient and be structured so that issues and decisions can be dealt with from a distance. This 1.5 hour on-line session details techniques for optimizing any virtual meeting.

At the conclusion of this session, participants will be able to...

Create solutions to the challenges of facilitating an effective virtual meeting.
Identify the best practices needed to effectively facilitate a virtual team meeting.
Develop 5 techniques to improve interactivity and involvement on a teleconference.