Leading hybrid & virtual teams
Virtual and classroom delivery
If well-led, hybrid and virtual teams can be fulfilling, flexible and productive, enabling staff to collaborate and interact efficiently whilst also maintaining a great work-life balance. But to unlock these benefits, managers need to be equipped with the skills to lead others without recourse to direct supervision or regular in-person contact.
As well as dealing with everyday productivity challenges, they must learn to motivate remote staff and create a sense of shared purpose and identity. Critically, they also need to ensure their teams don’t split into a well-connected ‘core’ and a remote ‘fringe’ by ensuring access to information, opportunities, recognition and visibility are spread fairly across their teams.
This comprehensive, three module course provides managers with the tools they need to build engagement, improve communication and maintain wellbeing in their virtual or hybrid team. This highly interactive and practical training programme can be delivered virtually or in-person at your offices.
Bespoke virtual or classroom delivery available
Booking details below
Modular programme or stand-alone sessions
Our Leading Hybrid & Virtual Teams training is split into three modules. Each focuses on a different aspect of the manager’s role in leading their hybrid team.
You can select a single session focused on a specific need in your organisation, or run the complete programme for a comprehensive leadership training package, either online or in the classroom.
Module outlines
1. Boosting performance, engagement and retention
Outline
Hybrid and virtual working present new challenges for managers who want to lead successful and stable teams. With less in-person contact and a greater emphasis on independent working, staff often need extra support to maintain a sense of purpose and to find ways of working that are good for themselves and for their colleagues. Building engagement and a sense of shared goals is key to improving both the team’s productivity and increasing staff retention in the long-term.
As the manager of a hybrid or virtual team there are many things you can do to ensure all your staff feel engaged in their work, but there is no one-size-fits-all solution. This intensive training module provides a toolkit for identifying and using the best and most relevant techniques and processes for each team member, and for building engagement across the team.
Module length: 90-120 mins virtual
Topics
- Understanding the business benefits of increasing staff engagement in hybrid/virtual teams
- Boosting the engagement of hybrid/remote workers using 12 proven tools and techniques
- Understanding how increasing staff engagement improves staff retention
- Ensuring inclusion and belonging across the hybrid/virtual team
- Building trust across the team
- Understanding the link between emotional intelligence and effective leadership and organisational performance
- Setting short-term performance-related objectives so we manage by output, not line-of-sight
- Holding effective 1:1s that are ‘check-ins’ rather than ‘checking-up’
- Managing attitude as well as performance
- Providing effective and performance-boosting feedback
- Increasing ownership and accountability across the team
2. Meetings, collaboration and social capital
Outline
Because hybrid and virtual teams include a mix of staff working in different locations and circumstances, managers must pay special attention to the quality and inclusiveness of communication across the team. Differences in access to information, resources, technology and opportunities for informal conversations and networking, can mean that some team members are unable to contribute and collaborate as effectively as others, potentially leading to reduced engagement and productivity. Lower visibility can also mean fewer opportunities for promotion and recognition. Furthermore, unskilled use of virtual communication can lead to hollowed-out, transactional relationships that are a missed opportunity for building cohesion within the team.
This module provides a set of tools and processes for running successful and inclusive virtual and hybrid meetings that don’t waste time and deliver specific results. It also considers communication within and beyond the team more generally, including how to build positive relationships and expand personal networks, how to encourage healthy discussion and brainstorming, and how to improve collaboration across the virtual or hybrid team.
Module length: 90-120 mins virtual
Topics
- Ensuring a level playing field in hybrid/remote working
- Achieving inclusion, involvement and collaboration across the team
- Overcoming the challenges of virtual meetings
- Ensuring clear purpose, structure, and roles during virtual meetings
- Achieving inclusion across the different aspects of hybrid and remote working
- Building relationships with other teams across the organisation
- Enriching relationships beyond the transactional
- Increasing engagement and interaction within virtual meetings
- Using meetings to drive things forward
- Holding productive discussions during meetings
- Collaborating, discussing, disagreeing and brainstorming in meetings
- Addressing digital exclusion
- Identifying problems by listening to what’s not being said
- Understanding the value of social capital
- Maximising social capital inside and outside of your organisation
3. Promoting wellbeing and adaptability
Outline
An increase in remote or home working and fewer days in the office can bring big benefits to individual and team wellbeing. But as managers we must also be aware that everyone responds to hybrid or remote working differently, and many staff may need extra support adjusting to their situation. Every combination of circumstances, personality and role will lead to a different experience, and identifying those who are struggling is key to ensuring you lead a happy and productive team.
This module explores how you can best support your hybrid or virtual team’s wellbeing, increases your sensitivity to the kinds of issues they might be facing, and provides a range of processes and techniques you can use to help promote staff wellbeing. It also provides useful ideas for building and sustaining a supportive culture throughout your team.
Module length: 90-120 mins virtual
Topics
- Recognising and addressing the challenges of hybrid/remote working
- Understanding and noticing the wellbeing challenges of remote working
- Increasing your team’s ability to be adaptable
- Feeling confident raising concerns with an employee about their wellbeing or mental health
- Techniques to support emotional wellbeing and mental health in yourself and your team
- Managing thought patterns, perception and beliefs positively
- Helping your team’s sense of perspective and pragmatism during uncertain times
- The importance of control to wellbeing, and discover ways to support your team’s sense of control at work and beyond
- Building effective, supportive relationships within a hybrid team
Additional learning support
As well as the training itself, delegates’ learning is supported by access to an online portal that includes additional curated resources such as videos, articles, book suggestions and recaps that help cement and build on their training.
We also offer individual email coaching support to anyone who needs help applying their learning for up to six months after completing the programme. Optional follow-up training sessions can also be organised to maintain momentum.
Our trainers
Our trainers are expert practitioners and consultants, with many years of experience delivering impactful training across a broad range of organisations and sectors. All are experienced in virtual as well as classroom delivery.
Sally Prescott
Sally has years of experience supporting organisations to deliver exceptional service, leadership and communications. She is a qualified coach and is licensed to deliver a wide range of training programmes. Whether through classroom or virtual training, Sally's energy, knowledge and experience have a lasting impact on those she teaches.
Kate Jennings
A highly experienced trainer, coach and consultant with a commercial background in product development, Kate has worked with clients in the UK, Europe and US to develop and deliver classroom and virtual professional skills programmes.
Joanna Markham
Joanna developed her vast knowledge over a long career as an academic and senior leader in industry. As a consultant she has worked with some of the world’s biggest companies, helping develop the professional and leadership skills of people ranging from new starters to CEOs.
Booking information
In-house - virtual or classroom
The Leading Hybrid & Virtual Teams programme is available in-house, with options for both virtual and classroom delivery.
Individual modules or the complete programme can be adapted to your needs and delivered live online by one of our expert trainers via Zoom, Teams, or your preferred video conferencing platform.
Or we can also come to your offices to deliver a full-day programme covering content from all three modules in-person.
Please contact us to find out more and to obtain a quote.
About us
Cambridge Exec is a boutique learning consultancy made up of a select team of specialists in workplace wellbeing, communications and people-oriented leadership and management. We deliver training and coaching, and conduct research and analysis that supports your people-centred workplace culture.
For twenty years we’ve been helping organisations ranging from small startups to international brands to build their people’s capacities, enhance wellbeing and boost engagement and productivity at work.
