Building Effcetive Remote Teams

It is now commonplace for teams to be geographically spread across the whole, or part of the globe. It is a considerable challenge to work together well when team members seldom meet face to face. Taking time out, either specifically for a team-building event, or to add team building to a planned conference, will remove misunderstandings, improve communication, increase productivity and engender a sense of belonging in the team.

 

Course Objectives

By the end of the offsite, the team members will have:

• understood the diverse characteristics of a remote team;
• explored the impact of remote working on performance;
• planned for improved communication with each other;
• explored opportunities and challenges facing the team;
• developed and articulated core team values;
• developed a model for team briefings and meetings;
• created action plans for future improvement.

 

Course Outline

• Introductions and overview
• Hot Buttons – identifying the issues for remote team working
• Understanding ourselves and others – cross cultural elements of remote team working; communication styles; motivation
• Better working relationships at a distance – group activity
• Taming the technology – using video conferencing, conference calls, instant messaging, chat rooms etc
• Managing myself – adjusting to the isolation of remote team working
• Dealing with “difficult” people remotely – cross cultural understanding, assertiveness, appropriate responses
• What do we need from each other and the team? – values activity
• Next Steps – action planning

 

Most commonly used delivery methods

• Presentation
• Discussion
• Business Simulation
• Role Play
• Question & Answer
• Case Studies
• Discovery Learning
• Modeling
• Brainstorming
• Small group activities
• Large group activities
• Activities with music
• Activities with art
• Individual coaching
• Structured feedback
• Drama
• Graphic recording
• Psychometric testing
• Appreciative enquiry
• Open Space Technology