This webinar “Virtual Team Soft Skills” was hosted by the University of British Columbia in February 2017.

1. VIRTUAL TEAM
SOFT SKILLS
INFORMATION WEBINAR
February 21, 2017
P R E S E N T E D B Y
U N I V E R S I T Y O F B R I T I S H C O L U M B I A , C O N T I N U I N G S T U D I E S

2. WEBINAR PANELISTS
Howard B. Esbin, Ph.D.
CEO & Founder, PlayPrelude
@PlayPrelude
Jennifer Mielguj
Senior Program Leader, UBC Continuing Studies
@UBCCSDigital

3. 3
WEBINAR OVERVIEW
o Virtual team trends & challenges
o Team trust & soft skills
o Practical takeaways
o Q&A

4. WHICH INDUSTRY
APPLIES TO YOU?
§ Software development
§ Project management
§ Learning & Development
§ Other

5. 4.6 billion people
make up the

6. 20% telecommute:
= 900 million
people

7. VIRTUAL TEAMING IS A 21ST CENTURY SKILL
Team and project-based work:
• Cross-functional
• Cross-cultural
• Cross-generational

8. GLOBAL CHALLENGE
o 80% of virtual teams perform poorly
o Mainly due to interpersonal conflict
o Cost overruns, late delivery, poor morale
o 75% believe their projects will fail

9. SUCCESSFUL 36%
CHALLENGED 43%
FAILED 18%
Poor Success Rate
SOFTWARE TEAM PROJECTS

10. $359 billion =
The cost of
workplace conflict

11. WORKPLACE CONFLICT STATS:
• 50% due to personality and ego clashes
• 42% of time managers spend mediating
• 90% of workplace conflicts escalate
• 33% of conflicts take multiple days to resolve
“People cause projects to succeed or fail, and those who
possess emotional maturity fare better with project success”

12. HIGH TECH – HIGH TOUCH GAP
• Lack of online “water cooler” moments
• Lack of time to build relationships
• 80% of companies provide no training

13. THE NEED FOR VIRTUAL TRUST
In a survey of 600 virtual team members,
81% reported that establishing
rapport and trust
is their greatest challenge
“Trust … may be the most crucial
element necessary for virtual team
effectiveness … without it, a virtual
team may not survive”

14. THE NEED FOR VIRTUAL SOFT SKILLS
“The soft stuff is the hard stuff”

15. 15
PRACTICAL TAKEAWAYS:
3 CHECKLISTS

16. 1. VIRTUAL TEAM VISION & CHARTER
Vision and Charter Yes / No
Does your team have a Vision of Excellence?
Has your team created a Team Charter?

17. 2. VIRTUAL TEAM TRUST: 10 STEPS
Best Practices Yes / No
Pre-project online activity
Engage entire team
Introduce distributed leadership
Encourage pro-active exchange
Develop shared language
Foster rapport
Leverage “swift trust”
Showcase team member competence
Provide social networking features
Establish synchronous-asynchronous rhythms

18. 3. VIRTUAL TEAM TRUST: SOFT SKILLS
Soft Skills Yes / No
Self-Awareness
Self-Efficacy
Creativity
Empathy
Communication
Negotiation
Flexibility
Collaboration
Appreciation for Diversity
Big-Picture Thinking

19. WHERE DO YOU
AND YOUR TEAMMATES FIT?

20. CONCLUDING THOUGHTS
“Globally linked virtual teams will
transform every government and
company in the world. Any of our
peers who don’t do it won’t
survive.”
John T. Chambers
Executive Chairman, Cisco Systems

22. MORE QUESTIONS? CONTACT US!
Howard B. Esbin
E: esbin@playprelude.com
playprelude.com
Jennifer Mielguj
E: jennifer.mielguj@ubc.ca
cstudies.ubc.ca/agile
@PlayPrelude
@UBCCSDigital

23. 23