As I mentioned in yesterday's Teams365 post (#1161) only 23% of virtual teams had participated in virtual team training (according to Christine Solomon's research)
Connection across a virtual or remote teams helps to support engagement, results as well as better opportunities for synergy, alignment and flow between staff. While it is not always possible to bring people together, being able to support staff in different ways in connecting virtually is important.
This might include the following activities:
Setting up an internal intranet for sharing of best practices across your virtual team. In establishing something like this consider:
Take a few minutes in your next team meeting to identify core knowledge areas team members are looking for.
Setting up a regular newsletter which can be shared electronically across the team and with wider stakeholders about key issues. This might be a monthly or quarterly edition, focusing on different projects and initiatives across the team or other fun areas. In my former experience as a virtual team leader this was a special project team members would take on to produce and create, boosting the peer relationships across our team. It also was a fantastic vehicle for letting other's know what we were doing, creating a team identity, and even in some instances, being a really important budget tool - (i.e. it made the business case for some new initiatives easier because we had "Stories" to showcase of our success).
Pair team members on a quarterly basis to learn more about each other and share resources and best practices. This is a great form of peer mentoring and shadowing. What would you want to focus on if you choose to look at peer partners?
Special projects are another way to bring peer partners together. In my former experience we had different special projects that were spearheaded by different team members in different countries. Ranging from our team newsletter, to support for our annual in person team meetings, special project committees were another way to create connection across the team, leveraging strengths and skills of the team members, boosting engagement.
As you think about your team right now, what are some ways to boost connection between team members and enhance ownership of the team process by your members?
Have a great Tuesday,
Jennifer
Connection across a virtual or remote teams helps to support engagement, results as well as better opportunities for synergy, alignment and flow between staff. While it is not always possible to bring people together, being able to support staff in different ways in connecting virtually is important.
This might include the following activities:
Setting up an internal intranet for sharing of best practices across your virtual team. In establishing something like this consider:
- What resources would be useful for each team member to have access to?
- Are there selected documents or reports that would be useful for each team member to have access to?
- What can you do to set up a living, breathing document repository for the team to always be adding to?
- What system are you going to use to index it?
Take a few minutes in your next team meeting to identify core knowledge areas team members are looking for.
Setting up a regular newsletter which can be shared electronically across the team and with wider stakeholders about key issues. This might be a monthly or quarterly edition, focusing on different projects and initiatives across the team or other fun areas. In my former experience as a virtual team leader this was a special project team members would take on to produce and create, boosting the peer relationships across our team. It also was a fantastic vehicle for letting other's know what we were doing, creating a team identity, and even in some instances, being a really important budget tool - (i.e. it made the business case for some new initiatives easier because we had "Stories" to showcase of our success).
Pair team members on a quarterly basis to learn more about each other and share resources and best practices. This is a great form of peer mentoring and shadowing. What would you want to focus on if you choose to look at peer partners?
Special projects are another way to bring peer partners together. In my former experience we had different special projects that were spearheaded by different team members in different countries. Ranging from our team newsletter, to support for our annual in person team meetings, special project committees were another way to create connection across the team, leveraging strengths and skills of the team members, boosting engagement.
As you think about your team right now, what are some ways to boost connection between team members and enhance ownership of the team process by your members?
Have a great Tuesday,
Jennifer
Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized - Enhanced Leadership and Teamwork through Coaching, Training and Retreats
Conversation Sparker Cards(TM)
Stay tuned for my new book launch later this spring/summer which will be in part exploring the topic of virtual team development, and enhancing your team's virtual connections.
(416)996-8326
Potentials Realized - Enhanced Leadership and Teamwork through Coaching, Training and Retreats
Conversation Sparker Cards(TM)
Stay tuned for my new book launch later this spring/summer which will be in part exploring the topic of virtual team development, and enhancing your team's virtual connections.
(416)996-8326
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