Working Virtually

Remote working is the new reality, and transactional work – provided by freelancers, contract employees or consultants – has increased exponentially. It is forecast that as much as half the labor force will be working independently and virtually by 2020.Most organizations are still grappling with how to effectively manage their virtual staff and how to effectively support and motivate them – an increasingly urgent task as more Millennials join the workforce, bringing changed attitudes to work satisfaction. This book, the fruit of the author’s three decades of experience planning and implementing remote working environments, provides expert guidance for anyone planning a shift to remote working, managing teams of teleworkers, or themselves working in a virtual team.Working Virtually is for the executive leading changes in an enterprise that is preparing for virtual work or seeking to improve current performance. It offers tools to assess readiness, advice on creating appropriate reward policies, and strategies to adapt performance management processes to be more team-driven and technology leveraged. Working Virtually is written to and for the virtual leader who wants to establish high performing virtual teams. It provides an understanding of the roles and responsibilities of managing a virtual team, offering a wealth of advice on creating the conditions for collaboration, motivating team members, and identifying and defusing problems.Working Virtually is for the professional who works remotely from home, on the road, or in an office with remote colleagues. It is for anyone who wants to succeed in this new work environment by developing skills and networks to create a sustained and satisfying career path.With this new edition providing a 360° view of the roles and objectives of all stakeholders in the virtual workspace, this book uniquely provides readers with a rounded picture of the policies, processes, work habits, and commitments needed to achieve the shared goal of high performance remote teams.

Table of Contents:
Foreword by Didier Elzinga Acknowledgments Introduction. The Network Is the New WorkplacePart One. Virtually Mobile, Organizationally Attached 1. Vital Mind-Set Shifts in a Mobile World 2. Virtual Roadblocks and Essential Drivers Part Two. Will Virtual Work Here? 3. Redesigning the Workplace for the Human Network 4. Systems Ready, People Willing, Organization Enabled 5. Building Blocks for Virtual Team Learning 6. Learning from the Last 20+ Years Part Three. Essential Virtual Competencies 7. Virtual Leadership Differentiators 8. Henhouses and Jazz Musicians. When Is a Team a Team? 9. More Than Smarts. Virtual Team Member Competencies Part Four. The Threefold Path of High-Performance Virtual Teams 10. The First Path. Develop Your Team 11. The Second Path. Support Your Team 12. The Third Path. Produce Successful Outcomes Part Five. From Me to We 13. Collaborative Tools That Work 14. Practical Guidelines for Virtual Communication 15. Virtual Team Risks and Hacks Part Six. Expand Emotional Bandwidth 16. Virtual Team Trust 17. Virtual Employee Engagement in Cynical Cultures 18. The Fourth Path. Lead Your Career 19. What’s Next? Index

About the Author :
Trina Hoefling has been at the forefront in the field of remote management training, leading with the message that “Technology is the enabler, but People are the key.” Trina is an organization development and transformational change consultant, graduate school professor and master teacher, strategic facilitator, leadership coach and virtual team collaboration expert. A noted author and speaker, she is also a contributing chapter author in The Handbook of High Performance Virtual Teams, “The Three-Fold Path: Building Trust in a Virtual Team.” Trina is an accomplished thought leader who has never lost her passion for helping people and organizations grow. She especially enjoys being an online learning engagement facilitator, coach and shadow consultant to support today’s career professionals, teams and committed organizations.

Review :
“In her new edition, Hoefling stresses the radical changes inherent in our technologically driven work place—including increasingly specialized project work that will demand contingent and contract workers who rotate on and off teams with regularity. She writes with figurative language that make her message both relatable and inspiring. Her book chapters include checklists, assessments, and criteria to help with the more practical aspects of virtual teaming Whether you are part of a co-located, distributed, or virtual team, Working Virtually will help you increase productivity, improve employee engagement, and reap both the intrinsic and extrinsic rewards of the working on high-performing virtual teams.” Technical Communications “Trina has been thoughtfully examining non-traditional employer/employee relationships for longer than nearly anyone in the industry. What makes Working Virtually unique is that it moves past the "as a business, you better just deal with this" approach and presents tangible benefits -- and boundaries -- for both the employer and employee. All relationships must work for both sides or sooner or later they stop working. Trina's book fully recognizes this in a far more workable way than too many other "one size fits all" plans on the market. Every business and every relationship in a given business is unique and must be treated that way. Working Virtually provides guides to manage an ever-changing process, not just a list of policies that may or may not work for my business. As such, it is a go-to outline for making the new workplace work.” Doyle Albee, President Metzger Associates "Virtual is now both the vehicle and the platform for most work. Are you ready? Trina Hoefling masterfully maps the three most powerful paths you’ll travel to succeed virtually. She is the perfect guide, simplifier, and coach for every virtual team and overworked manager! Hoefling helps us see that every virtual choice, is ultimately about ourselves — our mindsets, our ability to learn and unlearn, and how we embrace change. Get Working Virtually now — to get working virtually, and to unleash all that is within you and your teams!" Bill Jensen, author of Future Strong and Disrupt! Morristown, NJ "Working Virtually does an outstanding job of reminding us that the things that make for meaningful work in face-to-face environments apply more so when working at a distance. Generosity, trust, and collective meaning making are at the core of very practical approaches to working across distances - geographic or otherwise". Jerrold McGrath, President Intervene Design Incorporated, Leadership Faculty, Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, AB, Canada "A gem of a book! Despite rapid advancements in collaboration technology and dramatic increases in the 'work from home' movement, many leaders are left to figure out on their own what it takes to drive high performing teams in this new environment. Trina Hoefling reminds us that the quality of human interaction ultimately makes, or breaks, a team and expertly lays out the tools and techniques for success." John Short, Global HR Business Partner, Integrated Supply Chain Operations - Biologics Technology Cluster MilliporeSigma, a business of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany "Successful virtual teamwork does not just happen. Even though members know how to use communication technologies, and have integrated mobile devices into their everyday lives, more is needed. Leadership, shared purpose, clear expectations, and trust are all essential-- but challenging to carry out. Working Virtually Transforming the Mobile Workplace offers important guidance for virtual team sponsors, leaders, and members. The understandings gained from this book will save time, money, and heartache!" Janet Salmons, Indie Translational Scholar @ Vision2Lead; Dissertation Chair & Qualitative Methodologist, Walden University; and Chair Academy of Management Ethics Education Committee "Could not ask for a timelier book. People who work together in the same place, at the same time will be a distinct minority before this decade is out. I love this, it’s all in one place. It is not only current but is put together so it is constantly curated as new tools are found, new techniques developed. I would say what you have here is not only best practices but also ‘next practices’." Dr. Charlie Grantham Community Design Institute