Pinar: Strategies to address challenges
in building effective remote teams.
Thank you for choosing to be here this morning.
You know, there are other sessions you can attend
and we are very excited to have you here.
So let's get started with the introductions.
Today are presenters are myself
and two of my dear colleagues, Isandra and Susan, we look
we all work is the instructional designers
at a university of Iowa business and online education unit.
So to help us set the flow
of our presentation during the speech session
we welcome you to post any questions that you may have
into the chat throughout the presentation.
You can also choose to leave your contact information
so that they can get back to you.
If they don't have enough time today
during our presentation
we'll also give some breather points where
we will welcome your insights
for those will also prompt you to post in the chat.
And one of us will be maintaining the chat at all times.
Well, if the time permits, we'll also have Kenny session
at the end of our presentation.
So let's start with the context, what was happening
in the last 14 months, academic institutions
across the nation had been challenged to pivot
to online, and virtual teaching and learning.
We as instructional designers
mobilized existing leadership skills to
address the unprecedented challenges posed by COVID-19.
How did we do it?
How did we respond?
We quickly assess the situation
what was needed and responded accordingly.
We gathered the rapid action teams, brainstorm ideas
and quickly created solutions
for the problems instinct problems.
So we designed focused and applied on the move.
We promoted effective and sustainable solutions
for these unprecedented challenges
in the workplace we contributed the strategic
and cultural shift
in workplace communication, collaboration, and engagement.
Our goal in the session is to share practical strategies to
address challenges in building effective remote teams.
So our conversation will be revolving
around embracing the pivot
staying intentional and being proactive.
So let's talk about the pivot
the ability of leaders to pivot and adapt
as their role is disrupting around them is essential.
But what does it really mean?
Pivot means to make fundamental often blonde and rapid
change in direction.
Well, I just, some of the characteristics
of a pivoting leader that helped them in this process.
So a pivoting leader embraces the change of course
and they find the balance between being strategic
and proactive as well as reactive, in this sense
putting forward a clear vision is crucial.
When we pivot in our leadership
we do it for the long run, having a clear vision
helps pivoting needle to shape core values
and these values define who we are, who we hired
the way that we treat each other, collide, play our clients
partners and collaborate there.
And this is actually how our reputation is measured.
The pivoting leaders are acutely aware
of the power of positive attitude
and the difference it can make in their organizations.
And finally successful leaders understand their
success is tied to the hard work
and the dedication of those around them.
So here let's take 30 seconds
and then feel free to share your strategies, ideas
experiences in the chat.
What strategies have you used to keep the team
working together effectively
during an unexpected shift to remote working.
Well, for our instructional design team
2020 challenges presented themselves as working remotely
shifting the scope of our work collaboration
across campus units, with different focus points
and building a new team with new hires.
So in this part of the presentation, the link that is
under shared between at the beginning of our presentation
you'll find a page handout that lists all
of our lessons learned regarding
to the effective communications strategies is we implemented
and we pivoted pivoted to working remotely
and our hope is
that you will find these ideas, tips, strategies
transportable, and applicable to your context as well.
So effective communication strategies are managing time
and space effectively communicating effectively
efficiently, and regularly
and having a can do attitude for time sake
and to leave room to other presenters that we have today.
I'm not going to expand on those, but it's our
team's getting ready to return back to campus.
In July, we find ourselves reflecting back
and thinking about the gains
from this experience overall throughout our initial focus.
So our initial focus was to be reactive
to the challenges and what was going on in time.
We designed, developed and employed practice strategies
for the long-term success of our team.
With a clear vision in my, some
of our lessons learned became part of our regular flow
and be intent to keep them that being said
I'm going to pass the microphone
to my colleague Isandra now.
Isandra: Thank you, Pinar
and good morning everybody.
So another strategy that
through all these paths eventful year
and enables to work enable us to as instructional designers
to be leadership agents
at our institution was to stay intentional
from that next slide, please, from that, from that
and this strategy really allows us to bring together
these spread groups, as you, as I'm sure many, many
of you have experienced promoting effective collaboration
among these spread groups truly requires an
intentional facilitation of this process just
doesn't happen overnight or magically, right?
And it requires an understanding of what are the, the
what is the value on the skill sets.
Bring both bring brought to the, to the team
by all the members that are coming together to
achieve that common goal.
So to tell you a little bit about how that worked for us
in the weeks, following the university's move to
to virtual learning and to remote work, we were tasked
our team was tasked to work with another group
another instructional development unit at the university
also composed by instructional designers, tech staff
and teaching experts to lounge a campus
wide initiative to train faculty
on best practices for online teaching and learning.
We were also looking to disseminate templates
and best practice handouts that would facilitate
the faculty cementation to build to our learning
and also to that will help support academic continuity
throughout the, the month following the pandemic.
So to our advantage, we have, we had worked with some
of these people in prior projects that being said, we, we
we still felt that it was really important to be deliberate
about creating a safe working environment
for everybody we made and to achieve that we made time
for introductions to learn about our skillsets
and to clearly identify the instructional need
that we were trying to breach a fit is so important
in any instructional design endeavor
and in an effort to be inclusive,
we held brainstorming sessions aimed to
identify the appropriate content for our audience
which was faculty actions and TA throughout the university.
Do they find a delivery
the best delivery modality for,
to disseminate information and to define work
in teams and to implement and to, and also to
define the plan that we were going to share with
with our administrators.
So how we were planning to make this happen
for the university.
The outcome of this conversation was the outcome
of this inclusive goal-driven brainstorming
sessions was a serious of summer
and early falls webinars and LMS training as well.
Iwoa uses CAMBAS on these training sessions were open
to all university to everybody at the university of Iowa.
We also put together
or collaborated to put together a website where we
that we used to share all these templates that are only
information best we have best practices, handouts templates
and also be videos to support some
of the information that was chair.
As you can imagine,
our implementation plan included deliverables and deadlines
all the webinars and all the training materials
that were created using eco system template, each team
which was often composed from people
from both of this instructional development teams
work collaboratively to define our own timeline
our responsibilities
and the content that was going to be delivered
in every one of those training sessions.
These effort was really successful
for the time that we have to work on it
which was a big pressure
for many of us working in higher education.
Any, we think that part of that part of that was
because we were very intentional every step of the way.
So we have another question for you.
If you could share with us in the chat, your strategies
what enabled you to collaborate
to collaborate with other departments throughout the
throughout this pandemic?
Yes, I see a lot of file sharing strategies.
I think that will work out for many, many of us.
We haven't been there with you
absolutely nurturing positive relationships across teams.
That was very important for us as well.
Thank you.
Thank you for sharing.
So to, to give us a summary of what this
our intentional strategies that we put
in place to collaborate with to bring these teams together.
From the beginning
we establish a professional respect with our colleagues.
We recognize everybody's contribution
and everything that we worked on.
We started an end that every conversation
as a group or as a team
depending on what level of the project we were working on
and we clarify individual expectations
and define a project timeline, this
this language last one, again, it was extremely important
for us because we had a small window
of time to define the plan that we were moving forward
and also to implement the project
to implement the webinars that we were
that we created for this initiative.
Susan?
Susan: Hi, thank you so much, Isandra.
So our third and final strategy is to be proactive, right?
So our own five person, team of instructional designers
at the university of Iowa distance
and online education, right, changed significantly
over the last year, as we completed hiring onboarding
and integrating two new colleagues
while working fully remote.
And in fact to this day
our current team has not met in person as a group.
And it really does require a proactive leadership
to pull that off, right?
So let's take a look at what this looks like
and begin with the big picture, right?
We know that building teams that are effective
that collaborate and that support each other
that doesn't happen by accident.
It requires some intention
and planning. As proactive leaders,
We work to build an environment
and provide the resources where teams
and individuals can flourish, right?
And as instructional designers
we know how important it is to plan
for today and to look to the future
not waiting necessarily until things calm down, right?
To tackle those important issues or projects, right?
So our final question, and please again
feel free to share your ideas and experience in the chat.
You can see that question on the screen, right?
So with the current conversations
in higher ed about the nature of work, you know
the topic of remote hiring
and onboarding really has become more relevant
even if it's not something
you have experienced so far, right?
So have you thought
about how to plan for remote hiring
and onboarding and how that process might need to change
for a remote or hybrid work environment?
I'd love to hear your thoughts or your experience.
Please feel free to share those in the chat.
Right, I'm going to go ahead and move on for time
but please keep sharing your ideas as we move on.
I'm going to share some specific lessons
but I want you to consider what you can take
with you and apply to your own practice.
So we're going to take a look
at a basic onboarding roadmap and just full transparency.
In the past
we had a pretty unstructured onboarding process, right?
Really just address need to know information, you know
the logistics, tech processes, that kind of thing.
And we really relied a little too much
on addressing questions in the moment and as they popped up
and here's how our process will changed to
accommodate remote work as instructional designers
we borrowed from best practices for online course design
and shifted from a mindset that says, you know
just ask someone nearby that proximity
to the expert strategy, to a more proactive approach
that provides needed information and details upfront, right?
So what does this look like in practice, right?
So to start onboarding
at a distance really should take a page
from adult learning principles and give ownership
and expect ownership from everyone involved, right?
And we can support
that by providing that explicit information upfront, right?
to the new hire and everyone involved, right?
Next, it's important to
consider how to compensate for those intangibles.
Like the loss of was informal introductions, right?
And connections with staff.
One of the ways that we tackled this was to
identify specific people or groups that would normally be
on the building or campus tour and set
up informal zoom sessions for staff
to meet each other, right?
That's proved to be really valuable
if you think about it, cold calling someone
or emailing them that you've never met
in person can feel really awkward in a new work environment.
So adding that initial intentional meeting really
helped to make those connections.
Next, we know that it can be really valuable
for staff to hear information from multiple
multiple voices and perspectives, right?
And so it can them to get a sense
of team culture and how work and processes differ
and where it's important, that things stay consistent.
So this is the type of job shadowing that turns onboarding
into a scaffolded mentoring approach that relies
on and build the strengths of your entire team.
So next, as, as new hires take on more responsibility
and they, what's my? what else
Take on more responsibility and they get ownership, right?
It's important to make sure that you're communicating
and remind them that no question is unwelcome.
It's really crucial
that you keep those lines of communication open, right?
So next, we're gonna talk
about a tool that we've provided to you, right?
We're sharing a copy of onboarding resources
and that link spent shared in the chat
and we'll share it again for you in case you missed it.
It includes the onboarding checklist
and meeting invitation templates.
All of those resources are pre-populated
with content for you to consider, for example
things like should the new hire plan to attend, observe
participate in, or facilitate the meeting.
You just invited them to
those are all very different things, right?
And will it be virtual or in person?
Those are small details that are easy to forget
but sharing them upfront can really speed understanding
and help to make a meeting really successful.
So putting our instructional design hats
on really helped us to rethink
and apply learning theory in the onboarding process, right?
And it's reflected in the details
cadence and strategies that we've provided for you here.
So just a few quick thoughts to take
with you as you consider your own strategies.
remember, you know, always provide that open
and welcoming environment, think about including everyone
in the process and those details, right?
Provide that clear, actionable information.
And then finally, as you move forward
in whatever leadership roles you inhabit
I encourage you to begin
by evaluating one of your current strategies, right?
Include everyone in the process
move the whole team of forward together.
And don't forget to embrace the pivot
stay intentional and be proactive.
So that's it folks
thank you so much for your time and attention
and we're happy.
I think we have a couple of minutes left
so we're happy to open up the mics and have a conversation
if you have any thoughts or questions.
And I just want to say, I love all
of the ideas that you have shared
in the chat and we're planning on downloading that chat.
So, and we'll add that to the shared resources,
Google folder for you,
so that you all can have access to that as well.
Hope that's helpful.