The Remote Leadership Certificate Series is a series of seven online sessions plus a bonus audio recording of The Introduction to the Remote Leader. All of the online sessions are delivered via WebEx. After you register, you will receive calendar invitations with log-in details for each session. Below is an agenda of these sessions.

Introduction to the Remote Leader

In this previously recorded replay (that you will receive immediately upon registration), Wayne and Kevin come together to talk about the challenges and pitfalls, the opportunities and benefits of leading remotely. This is your introduction to the Series, designed to help you get a better understanding of what you can expect in our time together and to learn the “whys and wherefores” of remote leadership.

SESSION #1: How Leaders Create and Manage Remote Teams

Whether you are just starting a remote project team or leading an ongoing group from a distance, this session takes traditional team development ideas and expands them and makes them relevant (and practical) for a group working virtually.

At the end of this session, participants will:

• Understand and share the challenges and possibilities of remote teams
• Assess their current teams in the areas of task completion, working relationships and communication
• Learn what builds trust in any team, and how to accomplish that in a remote environment
• Discover tools and techniques for creating great working relationships using your company’s technology
• Develop an action plan for strengthening relationships and trust in your remote team

The session includes a pre-class assessment of their current team health in three areas, copies of the course visuals and a PDF, re-printable packet of planning tools they can use for future presentations.

SESSION #2: Leading Effective Virtual Meetings

Over half a manager’s time is spent on meetings, and fewer than 20% of managers have received any coaching or training in the dynamics of effective online meeting leadership.

It’s no wonder than that 60% of those meetings are considered wasted time by both participants and meeting leaders!

In this session, we teach simple rules and best practices for leading meetings that get results. No matter the presentation platform, you’ll learn how to speed up adoption of the tool and gain a greater return on your technology investment.

The session includes a pre-class assessment of your current online meeting effectiveness, copies of the course visuals and a PDF, re-printable packet of planning tools they can use for future presentations.

At the end of this program, participants will:

• Become familiar with the most common features of web presentation and meeting tools
• Understand the challenges and possibilities of online meetings
• Learn the best way to prepare both leaders and participants for an effective, collaborative meeting
• Discover tools and techniques for increasing participation and interaction
• Develop the facilitation skills needed to get great results from your virtual meetings

SESSIONS #3: Writing & Managing Email

This session provides strategies to help you be more efficient, productive and successful in all of your written and electronic communications!

At the end of this session, participants will learn:

• The importance of analyzing and improving emails you send
• A simple format for writingemail that is easy to read, easy to understand gets action
• How your tone, style, and grammar in communications lead to either sabotage or success
• How to manage volume and quality of correspondence, inside (and outside) of your organization by declaring W.A.R. on email
• Habits to immediately develop that will carry you to success

SESSIONS 4: Maximizing Your Productivity as a Remote Employee

In this session, we’ll help you to get control of your day life and career. We start by identifying the unique challenges that confront remote workers, and robs them of both their productivity and time. You’ll learn the importance of clarifying your role, your work and your goals and also how to make sure you and your organization are in sync right from the start.

At the end of this session, participants will learn:

• General challenges of working remotely
• Specific challenges of working at home
• How to create a remote (home) working environment that is built for success
• The “4 Productivity Pivots” that can drastically improve your overall productivity
• The danger of the “Activity Trap” and how to avoid it
• Tips for eliminating distractions and improving your focus
• How to manage your calendar so that you’re working during your most productive times
• The habits that are impacting your productivity and results
• Action planning for future success and effectiveness

SESSION #5: Remote Goal Setting and Accountability

As a leader you know that helping your team member set goals – and then holding them accountable for those goals is part of your job. But more than that, it is critical to your success. Doing these things can be challenging in any setting, but when you are leading virtually, and not interacting or seeing your team members (and their work product) everyday, it is even more challenging. This session takes the principles of goal setting, supporting goal achievement and accountability and applies them to the unique challenges of doing it all at a distance.

At the end of this program, participants will:

• Be able to apply 7 keys to effective goal setting – beyond SMART goals
• Identify and apply both process and results goals
• Create goal achievement synergy with a remote team
• Create a goal achievement plan that can be achieved remotely
• Identify at least five ways to support remote team members in reaching their goals
• Be able to effectively create clear accountability over the phone or other technology
• Use a valuable accountability model
• Use remote tracking and follow-up processes

SESSION #6: Effective Remote Coaching and Feedback

If you lead a team or have responsibility for a project with people dispersed geographically, the challenges of giving feedback are heightened significantly. Not only are communication opportunities reduced, but in many cases it is harder to observe the behaviors you are coaching on. This session takes the principles of effective coaching and feedback and applies them to the unique challenges of doing it at a distance.

This is a highly interactive session allowing participants to not only learn the principles and skills but get their specific questions answered. Participants will leave with the workshop handouts and checklists and tools to help them succeed in their coaching opportunities.

Whether people work in the next office or halfway around the world, they deserve effective feedback to progress in their productivity and results. This session will give participants the confidence and skills to do this successfully.

At the end of this program, participants will:

• Recognize the sources of feedback and how they impact successful delivery of feedback
• Determine ways to gather information and data in order to provide useful feedback
• Apply ten key feedback strategies in a remote or virtual situation
• Be able to effectively engage people in a coaching conversation over the phone or other technology
• Use a simple coaching model effectively
• Use remote tracking and follow-up processes
• Set clear performance and results expectations

SESSION #7: Wrap-up Session

The series concludes the way it begins – with you, Kevin and Wayne together to tie up the loose ends, solidify your knowledge, answer your questions and basically be your coach. You and your cohort of learners will have the chance to pick the brains of Wayne and Kevin, and they will share their latest thinking and lessons on all things related to leading remotely.