2019-09-16 | Addressing Virtual Team Multiculturalism
The same language does not mean the same understanding. It was a big day. We had just signed an agreement with a sales team in Europe that would help us sell our products overseas, but also give us a clear picture of what our clients wanted when they deployed learning...
2019-09-09 | Overcoming Virtual Team Performance Problems and Failures
After a conflict is resolved, take steps to prevent future negative emotions. In this second part of a two-part post (here’s a link to the first part), the discussion turns to “the blame game” where two or more employees want to identify others’ problems exclusively,...
2019-09-02 | Resolving Virtual Team Conflict
“Deal with it” is probably not a great coping mechanism. Shock and disbelief. Anger and negotiation. Depression. Exploration. Acceptance. These are all states of change that employees (and bosses!) go through when an organizational shift occurs. I’ve been through each...
2019-08-26 | Distance Leader Work-Life Balance
Don’t believe the hype: You still have to connect with people in a personal way. I was attending a work event where someone mentioned they were moving to a new office location. “That’s great!” I replied, “are you planning on moving closer to work?” Her response, in a...
2019-08-19 | Distance Leader Career Challenges
Reaching other people has never been easier, but being heard has never been harder. As distance leaders, we use a variety of different communication tools. From email to team collaboration platforms, and from instant messaging to virtualized face-to-face...
2019-08-12 | Defining Successful Distance Leaders
Distance sometimes magnifies poor leadership. Distance working comes with its own set of challenges and stressors. Whether it’s the amount of time spent alone, the always-close proximity of work at home, or the invasion of personal time with work issues, distance...
2019-08-05 | Addressing Virtual Team Multiculturalism
It’s obvious that global communications are hard. What’s not as obvious is what strategies you can use to communicate globally. I ran a team once that spanned several countries, about 10 time zone hours, and multiple cultural backgrounds. There were some...
2019-07-29 | Overcoming Virtual Team Performance Problems and Failures
Being a distance leader requires new observation skills. Imagine yourself in this situation: In a regularly scheduled one-on-one video call with a productive employee on your team, she mentions that she has been unhappy with her work lately. This worker, Trina, has a...
