Developing teams: Making virtual teams succeed

Aim: To achieve high performance in a virtual team setting

This results in:

• Strong leadership of the virtual team
• Effective facilitation of virtual team meetings
• Clarity around vision, goals, roles and responsibilities
• Effective communication and information flow
• High commitment from team members
• Inclusion of local perspectives for successful implementation

• Pre-workshop reading to focus more on implementation than input
• Using the story of King Arthur of Camelot for virtual leadership insights: Building on the book “Virtual Leadership: Secrets from the Round Table” by Jaclyn Kostner
• Developing a team metaphor together
• Indoor or outdoor exercises relevant for virtual team settings
• Kick-off and implementation toolbox including lots of tips and checklists

The course focuses on:

• Getting to know each other despite distance (the Joust)
• Using a kick-off effectively: agenda, new leader assimilation process, team charter and further tools to explore (The Round Table)
• Vision, mission and goals to align team members despite distance (Camelot)
• Developing trust and commitment in a virtual setting (Excalibur)
• Team development stages and virtual dynamics
• Individual development and team development (Lancelot)
• How to include local aspects effectively and still focus on overall goal
• Integration of each team members; benefiting from the team’s diversity
• Communication and information flow over distance and time zones (Merlin)

Content and approach vary depending on the team’s needs and the results of an in-depth briefing. This is an example of what we might cover.

Alternative approaches:

• As a kick-off workshop for a virtual team
• At any point of team development with focus on what the team needs
• As a workshop for different leaders of different virtual teams