Understanding remote team management
- Identifying unique features of remote work.
- Detecting distance-driven constraints and opportunities for the manager.
- Defining the characteristics of virtual teams and the challenges of distance.
- Understanding the needs of off-site employees.
- Evaluating the need for videoconferences and how frequent they should be.
- Identifying managerial challenges and key success factors.
- Finding areas to take action in.
Exercise
Work in sub-groups to exchange practices. Charting remote management challenges.
Your position as a remote manager
- Identifying different roles of a remote manager: Motivating, guiding, encouraging, unifying, negotiating, overseeing, evaluating.
- Clarifying everyone’s role and tasks.
- Analyzing a remote employee's profile and adapting your management style.
- Practicing different styles based on context: From directive style to delegating style.
- Identifying the causes of motivation/demotivation due to remote work. Skills assessment.
- Setting realistic goals for remote employees that get them motivated.
- Delegating tasks: How to communicate, implement, track, and secure delegations despite the distance.
- Stimulating and developing the autonomy of remote employees: Reserved powers, delegated powers.
- Formalizing the action plan with the employee.
- Tactful management by setting goals.
- Conducting performance reviews.
Exercise
Self-diagnosis about your own remote management style and willingness to delegate. Filmed role-playing to highlight problems with communication and delegation. Collective debriefing. Group brainstorming about the performance review methodology.
Properly informing, communicating, and monitoring remotely
- Being present as a manager: Not too much, nor too little.
- Being double vigilant about the image conveyed by your written and verbal communication. Using constructive language.
- Making good use of the collaborative tools available: Instant messaging. Wikis, social media, etc.
- Adapting the means of communication to the type of message in order to streamline the flow of information.
- Benefits and limits of the various tools available.
- Leading a teleconference or videoconference. Helpful rules for writing emails.
- Field coaching with the employee.
- Creating a bond and avoiding the feeling of isolation. Getting news on a regular basis.
- Highlighting individual contributions. Giving regular, sincere signs of recognition.
- Maintaining an open-ended team climate conducive to dialog. Ensuring routine contact.
- Negotiating remotely: Using active listening and questioning techniques.
- Detecting and calming tensions. Defusing conflicts remotely.
- Refocusing with an employee.
Exercise
Group discussions: Overview of tools for remote management. Filmed role-playing to highlight problems with remote communication and conflict resolution. Group debriefing.
Organizing your team’s work
- A team’s stages of development. Identifying your team’s stage of development.
- Setting specific operating rules.
- Contracting the rights and obligations of managers and their employees.
- Building the team. Acting like a leader to encourage others to commit.
- Organizing the team. Determining areas of responsibility. Highlighting individual skills.
- Developing expertise Promoting talents. Pooling best practices.
- Creating a formal and informal information network.
- Setting up suitable information-sharing and monitoring tools.
- Maintaining the feeling of belonging to a team. Developing and sustaining confidence over time.
- Remaining available and responsive when on the go.
- Implementing activity indicators.
- Agreeing on monitoring tools and dashboards for the employee, the team.
- Formalizing progress contracts.
Exercise
Individual brainstorming: Formalize a methodology for remotely monitoring your employees. Simulated teleconference. Case study involving an email conversation. Discussing practices
3d
- 21h00 
