COURSE OVERVIEW:
Virtual collaboration is working jointly toward a common goal using digital resources as the primary means of cooperation. Without physical interaction, distributed teams leverage digital tools that allow for real-time communication, collaboration, and file-sharing.
In a virtual collaboration arrangement, employers get to reap the benefits of cost savings and the increased productivity of remote workers. Research has found that employees that worked from home were 43% more productive.
Collaborating remotely costs less, as companies can use these arrangements to reduce or erase overhead costs such as rent, utilities, and internet costs. There’s no need for fancy furniture or office art either. All those costs add up, and when you’re collaborating remotely instead, you can invest those resources back into the business.
Mastering virtual collaboration also means streamlining operations. Rolling out appropriate collaboration tools and systems can minimise manual admin tasks, giving team members the bandwidth to focus on more meaningful work that creates deliverables, wows customers, and drives greater revenue.
A virtual work environment can also be a great catalyst for attracting top talent. Since your company isn’t confined to your local pool of potential applicants, you can cast a wider net and fill roles with ideal candidates, instead of settling for those in close proximity.
Successful virtual collaboration grows out of effective habits. Team members demand guidance and structure, so having a clear onboarding plan, a regular cadence of meeting times, and the right tools in place can make all the difference in the outcomes associated with your digital collaboration efforts.
This course provides many rules that will enable you to excel at the game of virtual collaboration. When these rules are applied, your organisation will rise to a new level of performance.
The rules in the first section of this course are about collaboration that mostly apply to people, their behaviours and interactions as they affect online or virtual collaboration. The rules focus on why you are collaborating, who to trust and who you are collaborating with. These are followed by rules about communication and conflict.
The rules in the second section talk about how collaboration affects processes and policies. This section starts with the application of collaboration to the process of accountability and then looks at the tension between security and collaboration. The next rules focus on projects and specific processes like collaboration in supply chain, followed by processes for collaborating with specific groups or generations, followed by the process of making collaboration a core value and part of leadership.
The rules in the last section can help you choose a collaboration technology along with some of the best practices for using these technologies.
LEARNING OUTCOMES:
By the end of this course, you will be able to understand the following rules:
- Businesses should master virtual collaboration
- Know why you are collaborating
- Trust is not enough in virtual collaboration
- Include all your stakeholders
- Actively include each person on a global team
- Be a conscious communicator
- Structure communications that supports successful collaboration
- Agree on a process for resolving conflict
- Communicate frequently, but briefly
- Develop clear "rules of engagement" to support successful collaboration
- Formality of process & communication
- Think before you speak
- Checking in as a way of being
- Take 100 percent responsibility
- Collaboration technologies magnify your message
- Understand the nature of your message
- Consider the physical limitation of the method
- Consider the permanency of the communication
- Consider the ripple effect of being misunderstood
- Define the problem tightly
- Collaboration starts with understanding
- Flexibility and familiarity are critical for successful collaboration
- Make someone responsible for collaboration
- Foster a culture of true professional candour
- Plan critical elements of your business
- Measure what you collaborate about
- Creativity and flexibility reigns
- Metrics for both process & productivity
- Technology & communication training
- Know the objective before defining the tools
- Collaboration requires management and leadership
- Accountability is the next step in collaboration
- Security vs. collaboration
- Manage collaboration like a project
- Collaboration can make projects more successful
- Collaboration in supply chains
- Collaborate with mobile professionals
- Use leaders as collaborative strategists
- Start with talent management
- Collaboration tools should be easy
- Create the ideal collaborative environment
- Encourage trust and participation
- Remove the barriers to participation
- Change management ensures collaboration
- Communication improves with collaboration technologies
- Create a communications plan
- Apply collaborative principles to transactions
COURSE DURATION:
The typical duration of this course is approximately 2-3 hours to complete. Your enrolment is Valid for 12 Months. Start anytime and study at your own pace.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS:
You must have access to a computer or any mobile device with Adobe Acrobat Reader (free PDF Viewer) installed, to complete this course.
COURSE DELIVERY:
Purchase and download course content.
ASSESSMENT:
A simple 10-question true or false quiz with Unlimited Submission Attempts.
CERTIFICATION:
Upon course completion, you will receive a customised digital “Certificate of Completion”.