Category: LeadingVirtualTeamsCourse

This post provides all the information you need for Part 3: Setting shared expectations (originally released 5 May ’23). Each part includes a podcast to listen to, prompts to help you reflect on your practice and inspiration to explore the topic further. 

Listen to the course podcast

This course is podcast based and you can take part by simply listening each week as a new topic is released.

This week’s episode:
S02E14 – How to Lead Virtual Teams: Part 3 – Setting shared expectations

In this third course podcast (33 min), we examine how we can set shared expectations with and for the people we work with and how we communicate those expectations. We are going to examine the difference between expectations and lived experience when it comes to work life balance and in the context of collaborating or meeting online. For this topic, we’ll be referring to examples from Chapter 1 and 2 of ⁠⁠Leading Virtual Teams⁠⁠.

Reflect on this topic

These prompts are designed to help you identify blind spots and open up new ways to think about the way you work. Setting aside some time to reflect helps you develop your critical, analytical and reflective skills as a leader or manager:

• How do you communicate your expectations to your team?
• What do you communicate by example?
• How does your approach affirm or contradict your expectations?
• How do your expectations differ for yourself and others?

Explore tools and resources

Here are some further tools and resources to explore if you’d like to take a deeper dive:

• Read Mary Burgess’s thoughts on Work life balance
• Werdmüller, B. Working on the weekends (Werd.io, 5 February 2021)
• Parker, P. The Art of Gathering: How We Meet and Why It Matters (Penguin, 2018)
• Finders, M. and Munoz, J. Cameras On: Surveillance in the Time of COVID-19 (Inside Higher Ed, 3 March 2021)
• Read Maha Bali’s post Students Talk to Me About Webcams

Say hello #lvt23

If you’d like to connect with me and other participants during the course, use the hashtag #lvt23 on Mastodon, Instagram and Twitter. I’ll be posting a few times each week during the course, and I’d love to hear from you. 

Catching up?

If you are just getting started with How to Lead Virtual Teams or catching up with topics you have missed, you can find all the information you need to get started on the catch up page.

This post provides all the information you need for Part 2: How we work and onboard new colleagues (originally released 28 April ’23). Each part includes a podcast to listen to, prompts to help you reflect on your practice and inspiration to explore the topic further. 

Listen to the course podcast

This course is podcast based and you can take part by simply listening each week as a new topic is released.

This week’s episode:
S02E13 – How to Lead Virtual Teams: Part 2 – How we work and onboard new colleagues

In this second course podcast (40 min), we discuss definitions of different ways of working and why it matters to be clear when it comes to the language we use when we talk about how we work. We will also explore how this relates to recruiting staff and onboarding new colleagues. For this topic, we’ll be referring on Chapter 1 of ⁠⁠Leading Virtual Teams⁠⁠.

Reflect on this topic

Effectively reflecting on your practice is a key skill for leading virtual teams. For this topic, use these definitions of different Modes of Working to reflect on your practice. You can either join in the reflection as you listen to the podcast episode, which includes a dedicated section on this, or you can return to this once you have listened to the episode:

• What term(s) best describe your mode of working?
• How would you describe it to someone else?
• To what degree do the policies in your organisation reflect this practice?
• What may new colleagues not easily understand about the way you work? What else?
• What might be difficult for new colleagues to get used to? Why?

“So what?” The purpose of the reflection is three-fold: first and foremost, it helps you develop your reflective skills. Try to notice how easy or difficult you find it to reflect in particular questions. Secondly, the prompts are designed to help you identify blind spots and open up new ways to think about the way you work. Thirdly, you can use these prompts to identify areas for action or making a change to the way you work.

Explore tools and resources

Here are some further tools and resources to explore if you’d like to take a deeper dive:

• Explore Modes of Working from Leading Virtual Teams
• Kropp, B. and McRae, E. 11 Trends that Will Shape Work in 2022 and Beyond
• Noelle, D. What Colocated Teams Can Learn From Remote Teams
• Ringel, R. When Do We Actually Need to Meet in Person?

Say hello #lvt23

If you’d like to connect with me and other participants during the course, use the hashtag #lvt23 on Mastodon, Instagram and Twitter. I’ll be posting a few times each week during the course, and I’d love to hear from you. 

Catching up?

If you are just getting started with How to Lead Virtual Teams or catching up with topics you have missed, you can find all the information you need to get started on the catch up page.

Welcome to the course orientation 🙂

If you are registered for this course, you will receive 2 emails from me each week, one on Fridays to introduce the topic and a second one on Thursdays with a round up of resources and a quick recap.

Course overview

Each course topic includes a podcast to listen to, prompts to help you reflect on your practice and inspiration to explore the topic further.  Here is an overview of the course and the dates on which each topic is released:

>> Part 1: Orientation and a brief introduction to Leading Virtual Teams (21 April ’23)
Part 2: How we work and onboard new colleagues (28 April ’23)
Part 3: Setting shared expectations (5 May ’23)
Part 4: Fostering a shared team culture (12 May ’23)
Part 5: Leading team activities (19 May ’23)
Part 6: Course reflection – Setting intentions for your practice (26 May ’23)

Course companion book

To get started, download the course companion book, Leading Virtual Teams. The book is free to download in different formats and we will use individual chapters from the book throughout the course.

For each topic, individual chapters are sign-posted. The course podcasts include the key points for each topic, so there is no need to read each chapter unless you wish to take a deeper dive into a particular topic.

Listen to the course podcast

This course is podcast based and you can take part by simply listening each week as a new topic is released.

This week’s episode:
S02E12 – How to Lead Virtual Teams: Part 1 – Course Orientation

In the first course podcast (29 min), I introduce the topics of the course and show you how to take part. For this orientation session, we’ll be focusing on the Introduction Chapter of Leading Virtual Teams.

Don’t miss the next episode

The podcast is called Leading Virtual Teams and you can find it on most podcast platforms including:

• Apple Podcasts
• RSS Feed
• Spotify
• Google Podcasts

You will receive a weekly email as new course episodes are released, and you can also subscribe to the podcast to make sure you don’t miss a course episode.

Reflect on your intentions for the course

Reflecting on what’s important to you is a key skill for leading virtual teams. This week, focus on setting an intention for what you want out of this course.

There is no wrong way of doing this. You can choose to write your thoughts down or you might prefer to simply think about things. Get started with these prompts:

• What do you most want from taking part in the course?
• What practical constraints do you have?
• How can best overcome or work within these constraints?
• What would you like to change or learn more about?

Not sure where to start? If you’d like to develop your approach to reflecting on your professional practice, then have a look at the dedicated activity in Chapter 2 of Leading Virtual Teams, which includes helpful hints and practical tips to get you started.

Explore tools and resources

As this is our orientation week, your main focus should be on finding your way around the course and the key course materials including the book and podcast. Here are some further tools and resources to explore if you’d like to take a deeper dive:

Tool for reflection: Leading Virtual Teams – Wheel

I have adapted this coaching tool to help leaders and managers reflect on their approach to leading virtual teams. The wheel contains eight sections, including one which is blank for you to add your own category. You can download this template, print it out and add your own scores or make a copy to edit. If you’d like to learn a bit more about how to use this tool, listen to a previous podcast episode that goes into more detail.

Further reading:

There is a wealth of information out there about how to lead virtual and hybrid teams and each takes a very different approach. These are two of the most popular books I’ve comes across:

• J. O’Duinn, Distributed Teams, 2nd ed. (John O’Diunn, 2021).
• Warzel, C and Petersen, A. Out of Office (Scrible, 2021)

Connect #lvt23

If you’d like to connect with me and other participants during the course, use the hashtag #lvt23 on Mastodon, Instagram and Twitter. I’ll be posting a few times each week during the course, and I’d love to hear from you. 

We’ll be getting underway on 21 April. Here is a quick preview of what to expect: 

Course schedule

• 21 April: Orientation and a brief introduction to Leading Virtual Teams
• 28 April: Week 1 – How we work and onboard new colleagues
• 5 May: Week 2 – Setting shared expectations
• 12 May: Week 3 – Fostering a shared team culture
• 19 May: Week 4 – Leading team activities
• 26 May: Course reflection – Setting intentions for your practice

Course delivery

Each week you will receive 2 emails from me, one to introduce the topic and a second one with a round up of resources and a quick recap. Each course topic includes a podcast to listen to, prompts to help you reflect on your practice and inspiration to explore the topic further. 

No screen time, no rigid schedule

The course is designed to fit around you. You can follow along week by week, or progress at your own pace and dip in or out of topics. You can listen to the course podcast episodes on your preferred platform as you walk the dog, cook or sit in a comfy chair.

Connect #lvt23

If you’d like to connect with me and other participants during the course, use the hashtag #lvt23 on Mastodon, Instagram and Twitter. I’ll be posting a few times each week during the course, and I’d love to hear from you. 

Sign up

No already registered? It’s not too late.

The course is free to join and open to all. Once you are registered for the course, you will receive all course information and content via email. You can take the course over a period of four weeks at your own pace or you can dip in and out of topics that interest you. Course content will remain available for at least three months after the end of the course so that you can revisit topics. 

Sign up now