leading & working in the new world

Leading in the Virtual World

Lars Sudmannmail@lars-sudmann.com@LarsSudmann

Flickr/Andy_Magee

Audiences„Virtual Led“

Virtual Leader

Leadership Lecturer

Organizational Advisor

Why should I care about the ‘remote’ environment?

More than 200 million people work in remote teams

Source: Manpower

Virtual teams can outperform co-located teams

Source: Siebdrat, Hoegl, Ernst 2009

…but…

…but…

How does it

feel to work like this?

Like this?

Flickr/jerrybunkers

Or more like this?

90% of virtual team members complain in the beginning about insufficient possibility to build relationships and trust*

*Source: e.g. RW3 study reporthttp://rw-3.com/VTSReportv7.pdf

10 Tips & Tools

mail@lars-sudmann.com

@larssudmann

Foundations

‘Remote Mindset’

‘Leveraging technology’

Focus needed

Tech overload

Under-utilized

Full remote power

Audiences

1

Explore

1: Virtual Management

2: Virtual Culture & Meetings

# 1 Proactive

Interaction

Virtual Coffees

#2Reflect on your

virtual Image

“Alright, let me send this email”

“Now the phone call…”

“I will just update the micro-blog of the

company”

“Let’s do a video conference with my new

team”

“Ok…that is done…work went well today”

“She was typing all the time while on the phone

– he does not care!”

“’Do that!’ as email text

How rude of him!”

“Did you see that funny picture in the background? Was he

in his kid’s room?”

“How banal - here surely is somebody who cannot blog… and even spelling

mistakes….hahaha”

E-Mail Phone

Video Blog

…

Johari-Window for a Virtual Image check

Blind Spots

Known to others

Not known to others

Known to self

Not known to self

Johari-Window in Virtual Interaction

Based on: Luft / Ingham "The Johari window”

#3Over-share with

your team

Share how you will communicate with each other

Share how you will have conflicts with each other

“People in our study were convinced they’ve accurately understood the tone of an e-mail message when in fact their odds are no better than chance.”

Nicholas EpleyUniversity of Chicago

Share how you will have conflicts with each other

Facts are friendly

Never assume

Use “the ladder”

“Wow, what a week”

“The full re-work of the model is done”

“Then I also developed the training program for all

employees”

“Then the coordination and execution of the meeting here on site”

“Argue”

“Argue…”

“Argue”

“Not to mention the site team building event

that I organized”

“Now the last thing for the week – the call with my

boss”

“Wow, it’s busy here…”

“…I didn’t hear from you all week, I wish I had also such a calm job!”

…

#4Virtual

Performance Management

Jochen BrennerAssociate Director, Procter & Gamble

“Deliverables and work you do are harder to see from the distance. On top of that, you need to be more agile and anticipate much more of what could happen as you just can’t check in with your manager at the same frequency.”

Performance

Clearly specify results & strategic intents you want to have done by your team

Use WFH days for focus time

#5Overcome the passive face-

time bias

Performance

ExposureImag

e

You have to make your own music!

Not only think about performance, but also of the exposure of your team (and yourself)

Availability & Response

I clearly align with my manager what s/he expects in terms of minimum and maximum response times

O In place O Not needed O Action

Frequency & Timing

I have a constant flow of updates to management rather than 'burst & silence'

O In place O Not needed O Action

Content Communication

I regularly give my manager updates of what I am working on (e.g. via going through my 'sent emails' once per week and discuss in 1-1)

O In place O Not needed O Action

1 Virtual Management

#1 Proactive Interaction

#2 Virtual Image

#3 Over-Share

#4 Virtual Performance

#5 Exposure management

1: Virtual Management

2: Virtual Culture & Meetings

Google Powerpoint Karaoke

Foundation

Do you remember your last phone conference?

Mute all

Foundation

Know Your Technology by Heart

#1Visualize

Topic Time Who? Next Step Until when?

#2Speak like a

Radio DJ

Radio

#3Short & concise

#4Have a Drumbeat

& Heartbeat

#5Do virtual

teambuilding

Teambuilding

Games

Insights

Getting to know

Fun

Play

Non-workHuman

Relax

Work/LifeStoriesbond

# Tech Manuals in Companies

# Read Tech Manuals in Companies

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# Tech Manuals in Companies

# Read Tech Manuals in Companies

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5 minute tips

1 Virtual Management

2 Virtual Culture & Meetings

#1 Over-Visualize

#2 Radio DJ

#3 Short & Concise

#4 Drumbeat & Heartbeat

#5 Virtual Teambuilding

#1 Proactive Interaction

#2 Virtual Image

#3 Over-Share

#4 Virtual Performance

#5 Exposure management

Happy Birthday Robert

Leading in the New World

Lars Sudmannmail@lars-sudmann.com@LarsSudmann