In our last post, part one of this series, we talked about team conflict, specifically what it is and how it arises. You can read the post, team conflict in a virtual world here. Today I want to share some time-tested strategies I have been teaching leaders so that...
Earlier in the year, I shared a series on the five challenges of a dysfunctional team. One post talked about conflict from a different lens: the fear of conflict happening in a team. Over the next couple of posts, I want to take a deeper dive into team conflict when...
As we finally start to regroup after a challenging few years, many leaders' attention is now moving towards creating a team culture that works for employees, the company and its shareholders where virtual working is fast becoming the norm for many organisations. ...
Over the next couple of months, I will be doing a deep dive into Patrick Lencioni's work on dysfunctional teams for a few logical reasons. It has been an odd couple of years, to say the least, with remote working becoming the norm, economic movement unseen before by...
It is hard to believe the impact of the Coronavirus pandemic has been influencing our lives for over eighteen months, with the fallout remaining with us for many years to come. We are never the same after a crisis as before it hit. This is what it is to be human: We...
Virtual team working has become the norm for most of us. Back in March, virtual teams were built – and took shape – almost overnight and will continue to be that way for a while yet. For some of us, virtual team working was already the norm. For others, being in a...
With such a significant shift in working practices due to the current COVID-19 pandemic, remote working could be here to stay indefinitely. Employees have embraced remote working in a way that we could not have predicted at the start of the year. Almost half of the...
Virtual leadership is such a pertinent topic right now, as leaders adapt to the new world that the coronavirus has caused. Working from home is one of the success stories of the COVID-19 outbreak, with many companies reporting an easy transition. A recent survey found...
Virtual teams have been on the rise over the last decade, but the COVID-19 outbreak has highlighted their importance in our current economy. As we move forward, it will be the teams who can make a success of remote working which will come out strongest. As announced...
The COVID-19 outbreak has changed the way we think about virtual working. Once a less ‘standard’ or optional working style, the vast majority of us are now working from home. Though on an interim basis, it’s highly likely that many organisations are now seriously...
Staying focused when working remotely can be challenging, even for seasoned professionals. Constant distractions - from that pile of laundry that needs ironing to your dog wanting a brisk walk – staying focused can be harder than you think. But with more teams...
For leaders with virtual teams, ensuring your employees stay happy and healthy means not only ensuring they have the right tools for their work but that you commit to regular communication to promote a sense of belonging to the company culture and community for your...
Before we get into developing your ideal agile virtual team culture, it’s worth thinking about what exactly we mean by ‘agile’. An agile team is a cross-functional group of individuals that have the necessary people and skills to produce a successful outcome. It’s...
Organising meetings that are productive and efficient is a fine art. And never more so if you are developing a virtual team who are too far away for regular face to face meetings. A recent study on trends in high performing global teams concluded that ‘the human...
Good leaders support their team to achieve the task at hand – great leaders look to support their employees with much more than that. Career development, loyalty to the company you work for and productivity levels are all closely linked to how effective we are at...
There are countless opportunities for colleagues who work in the same location to connect every day – whether it’s a casual conversation about non-work-related topics, or the chance to celebrate occasions such as birthdays together. But what happens when you lead a...
A dream team without boundaries: a team with the freedom and flexibility for healthy work-life balance; the ability to select the best people for the job, regardless of where they are in the world. That’s the goal. Of course, the reality is always different, and it...
“How can I motivate my team?” is one of the most common questions managers ask, and it doesn’t matter how experienced they are. Head over to Google, and you will find there are 65.7 million searches for this question. For those of you who are regular readers of the...
I recently shared the first four steps in our two-part article series on setting and holding a team vision when working remotely, which I know has resonated with many regular readers. In this second article, I will complete the next few steps and share how to hold a...
In an increasingly globalised world, virtual working is on the increase in many organisations meaning a growing number of employees rely on technology to meet, collaborate and stay connected to deliver results. We have previously talked about the importance...
Having been involved in Leadership Training for many years, I too can relate to one of their most significant challenges leaders talk about, that is being ‘time short.’ As business leaders, we never seem to have enough time, do we? So, when I travel, I like to...
Conflict in a virtual team can be insidious and appear a challenge to tackle, largely because it’s often difficult for virtual managers to identify what is happening in the first place. Without a physical workplace bringing everyone together to identify and resolve...
No matter how competent the individuals involved are, a virtual team will not perform at its true potential unless there is a core of trust between the players. As a manager of a virtual team, you have a wonderful challenge in front of you: creating trust without...
Remember the time when you spent a day working on something, only to discover another member of the remote team had already done it days ago, but forgotten to mark it as done? Remember the time when you sat waiting for an urgent response to an email for half a day,...
Did you know that your team at work already has a brand? What do you think it might be? Do you think you’d like it if you knew what it was? When other people think of your team, they almost certainly have a thought that pops into their head. It might be great- you...
Having a vision of what we are working towards is one of the most important motivators humans possess. Knowing how to utilise this powerful motivation in others is therefore one of the greatest tools at a manager’s disposal. When working in a team, a manager must be...
As a manager or leader of a team, you know exactly what you company stands for (or you should.) You know what the company strives for and how you want the team to work together towards that goal. You know what you want your company or team culture to be- whether it’s...
You’ve noticed the signs. Your key performer’s star is no longer burning so brightly. They’ve stopped putting in overtime and no longer seek you out with new ideas or to talk about the future. They are taking odd times of day off. Or strange 24 hours bugs have...
You thought that being a manager of a virtual team was going to be easier than dealing with water cooler politics? Turns out that you were wrong. As virtual work becomes infinitely more common, it throws up certain challenges for a manager. Yet where there are...
It is painful to watch a team in constant conflict. Rather like a parent wishes for his or her children to like one another, a manager hopes that his or her team will get along and be at least allies if not friends. It’s important to remember that conflict in itself...
Almost every businessperson will, from time to time, be gently teased by friends or family for using “corporate speak.” It’s true that we use a distinct dialect in our work and, while it might not always feature the most colourful or emotive language, there’s a good...
As humans, we have a deep fear of powerlessness. Finding yourself in a bad situation and having no power to change it is one of life’s most psychologically disruptive experiences. Maybe that’s why we love stories of the underdog, whether David versus Goliath or Frodo...
This is the second part of our series on productivity for virtual employees. Last time our focus was about how we can work with our physical body to fuel us to ‘be’ productive. You can find it here. This time I wanted to talk more about tasks and how we work with...
You only need to pick up any decent HR journal or read the latest round of blogs to know that the buzz words at the moment are; talent management, swiftly followed by employee engagement. In challenging economic times managers often make do with the members in their...
Virtual teams are certainly not a new concept; nor are they fixed within the 21st century. The need for them and their subsequent use has been practised for millennia: from the Roman Empire to the Catholic Church; the East India Company to the Hudson Bay Company; the...
Virtual teams are increasing as the world’s workforce is changing and becoming more connected thanks to the advance of the internet. While there are many advantages to belonging to a virtual team, it raises the question of how modern leaders will step up to the...
Technical experts in the workplace diligently go about their day to day work, but often don't get the recognition they deserve. Why do technical experts not get noticed? I work with many technical experts, whether they are IT geeks (I have been reliably informed they...
Staying on the theme of, the virtual team, I found this article about 'remote workers' on the Gallup blog. This article is well worth a read as it throws up some interesting data about productivity and engagement. Both key measures for most of the leaders and...
Over on helpscout I found this interesting article on why remote teams are the way of the future. It all makes total sense; yet there are a couple of gaps on how teams are managed and developed........?? Why Remote Teams Are the Future (and How to Make Them Work)...
