Ensuring Success in the Virtual Workplace

© 2016 NetSpeed Learning Solutions. All rights reserved. 1
Ensuring Success
in the Virtual Workplace
May 12, 2016

About Cynthia Clay
• 25+ years of leadership
development experience
• Author of Great Webinars
• Chief Architect of the Virtual
Leader™ program and
Succeeding in the Virtual
Workplace™

Webinar Objectives
• Explore six best practices adopted
by organizations
• Meet the needs of virtual team
members to reduce isolation
• Avoid the pitfalls of mediocre or
unskilled virtual leaders
• Learn more about the Virtual
Leader™ program and Succeeding
in the Virtual Workplace™

Opening Poll
What percentage of your workforce
is already in the virtual workplace?

Who Uses Virtual Teams?
Nearly 50% of organizations now
rely on virtual individuals and
teams.

A virtual leader manages a
team with individuals who
telecommute or work from
other locations.
Definition

Obstacles
What obstacles must an organization deal
with to successfully implement a virtual
workplace strategy?

Interviews
Kimberly vonKaenel
Senior Project Manager
Quest Diagnostics
Don Kraft
Head of Career & Learning
Genentech
Bill Bolton
Franchise Training Manager
Tesoro (AM/PM)
Dora Siminszky
Head of HR (Budapest)
MSCI

Client Interview
Kimberly vonKaenel
Senior Project Manager

Client Interview
What drove Quest Diagnostics
decision to embrace the virtual
workplace?

Client Interview
How does your organization
use virtual workers? In what
kinds of roles or functions?

Client Interview
What is your role in your
organization? How has the
transition to working virtually
impacted you personally?

Client Interview
What are the biggest
challenges that your
organization has experienced
or is experiencing in having a
virtual workforce?

Client Interview
What best practices would you
recommend to any organization
that wants to make this
transition smoothly?

Client Interview
What advice would you give to
virtual team leaders and virtual
team members for success in
the virtual workplace?

What are the most important needs
of virtual team members?
Virtual Team Needs

• Feel connected, not isolated
• Have clear goals and
expectations
• Receive frequent feedback on
their progress
• Be consulted on issues and
decisions
• Not be micro-managed
Virtual Team Needs
Virtual team members want to:

Virtual Leadership

Best Practice #1
Identify a virtual workplace strategy (the “why”)

Virtual Workplace Strategy
“We’ve always been global. We’re a very internationally
matrixed organization. We’re set up based on functional
lines, and the functions are located globally, in different
time zones. We all work with virtual teams. We’re never
face-to-face. There are no limitations when it comes to
roles or functions.” Doris Siminszky (MSCI)

Best Practice #1
Which of these strategic objectives
are important to your organization?

Best Practice #2
Meet face-to-face when possible

Face-to-face Connections
“As a virtual leader, it’s important that I make time when in the
office to have quality one-to-one time with everyone on my
team. We have all-team meetings and celebration dinners, for
example.” Don Kraft (Genentech)

Face-to-face Connections
What can you do to strengthen relationships when
you don’t have the option to meet face-to-face?

Best Practice #3
Adopt and leverage technology to connect,
plan, meet, and report

Leverage Technology
“When I came into this role, 90% of the challenges
in this virtual work were related to technology. It
was a nightmare. We put people back on their
own devices and moved to Adobe Connect.”
Bill Bolton (Tesoro)

Best Practice #3
What technologies do
you recommend to
connect, meet, plan,
and report?

Best Practice #4
Train people

Best Practice #4
What skills do virtual team leaders and
virtual team members need to develop
for success in the virtual workplace?

Train People
“The organization needs to provide training around
communication, technology devices to bridge
communication issues. We had a workshop on best
practices for conducting virtual meetings….In our first time
manager program, we talk about remote management and
how to be a good remote manager.”
Dora Siminszky (MSCI)

Best Practice #5
Consciously build trust

Build Trust
“You have to consciously build
trust. The work has to get done
and everyone has to feel
connected. Set ground rules
for meetings. I have one-to-
one phone calls every other
week with everyone on my
team.”
Don Kraft (Genentech)

Best Practice #5
• Set ground rules for
calls and meeting
• Avoid micro-managing
How can you
consciously build trust
in the virtual workplace?

Best Practice #6
Use templates for delegating, process
improvement, and regular reporting

Best Practice #6
“We strive to continuously improve on our current
state. Use a process for development. Create
templates for processes. You need to establish
standards, document best practices, and share
them with everyone.” Bill Bolton (Tesoro)

Best Practice #7
Be sensitive to cultural and time zone
issues

Best Practice #7
How important is it in your organization to be
sensitive to time zone and cultural issues?

Be Sensitive
“It’s about accommodating time zones and
cultural differences. In many ways, we work 24
hours a day. It’s totally natural to me that after my
kids are asleep I check my email, look at my
Blackberry, and check in. Someone in the US or
somewhere else may be needing me.”
Dora Siminsky (MSCI)

1
2
3
5
4
The Power of
Web Conferencing
Running Effective
Virtual Meetings
The Power of Connection
Building Virtual Relationships
The Power of Calibration
Building Accountability
on a Virtual Team
The Power of
Collaboration
Harnessing Individual
and Team Strengths
The Power of Celebration
Recognizing Individual
and Team Results
The Roadmap

• Five, 90-minute web workshops
• Delivered by our virtual trainers
or your virtual trainers
• Combined with NetSpeed Fast
Tracks™ mobile for pre- and
post-class reinforcement
• May be licensed and
customized
Synchronous

Learning Platform
• Reinforce learning
with text,
multimedia, and
social interaction
• Connect with class
blog and comments

Mobile-enabled
• Accessible on any device
• Use mobile device’s voice
recognition to dictate
responses to online
assignments
• Add photos from mobile
device
• Interface similar to
Facebook or Yammer

May Be Co-branded

• Five online topics in a peer-to-
peer learning environment
• Short recorded webinars,
animated video, presentations,
class blog, polls, and quizzes
• Hosted in NetSpeed Fast
Tracks™ mobile
• May be licensed and customized
Asynchronous

Co-branded

Assignments Tracked
• Facilitators may view dashboard
• Individuals may track their own progress

For Virtual Workers
• Succeeding in the Virtual Workplace
• Companion course to the Virtual Leader™
• Available in synchronous and asynchronous
formats

Next Steps
1. Request a preview of program materials.
2. Schedule a demonstration of the Virtual
Leader™ and NetSpeed Fast Tracks ™
for other stakeholders.
3. Request a proposal.
4. Bring the Virtual Leader ™ to
your organization.

Take Action
What will you do now?

Complete Our Survey
• Receive a link to view the recording and a
link to view the slides.
• Receive the ebook:
Eight Essential Strategies
to Lead Virtual Teams.

Q & A

Ensuring Success in the Virtual Workplace

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