Building and Managing Successful Remote Teams Seminar
Time: 09:00 - 13:15 BST (if you can't attend live, register to watch the recording)
Cost per attendee: £250 + VAT
Platform: Zoom - An encrypted zoom platform with password access. Click here for further information and to test access
Have you updated and adopted new management skills to reflect your new working environment? The success of remote teams is now your responsibility, and managed effectively, remote teams can deliver increased productivity, quality and goal-achievement.
As the Covid-19 pandemic continues, most organisations have adopted remote working patterns, leading to seismic changes for employees, both in their working and domestic lives. HR, along with team managers, need to meet the challenges of this new normal and we are delighted to provide an update of several sell-out programmes we have been running in the past year to support those affected.
In addition, a recent survey conducted by PwC showed 83% of office workers would like to continue working remotely at least one day a week after the coronavirus crisis ends; Spotify have gone one further and said employees can work from anywhere in the world. Hybrid work patterns are here to stay.
However, our clients are reporting a sense of dislocation after remote working for a year; how can HR managers foster team identity and company culture as well as ensure they are effectively monitoring performance and collaboration?
Making remote team working effective requires specific skills - we have identified world-class speakers to offer expertise, experience and solid practical advice on how to get the best out of your people. Meeting these needs requires a proper understanding of remote team dynamics - this intensive, half-day seminar, developed with input from leading mental health, management, remote working and technology experts, will deliver:
- new communication and observation skills
- fostering and maintaining productive working procedure
- choosing and leveraging the right technology
- creating new channels to create healthy and inclusive remote workforces
- practical solutions to establish a strong virtual leadership presence
Please note: If you might like to endorse or sponsor the event, please see how to get involved here.
Want to run this course in-house?
We can tailor any of our events to run in-house for your organisation, find out more here
Which functions will benefit from attending
- HR, Recruitment and Resourcing, Legal, Training, Compliance and Audit, Administration, Strategy, Policy, Operations, Line Managers and all directors and staff with responsibilities within this area.
Hear from
Schedule
Introduction to the day and ice-breaker exercise
Elizabeth Smith
Director of Research , Business Forums International Ltd. (BFI)
Elizabeth is director of research and a founding co-director at Business Forums International. She is responsible for all programme content and writing, and researches current areas of interest for senior HR professionals in large organisations. BFI is the UK’s leading HR risk specialist conference and training provider, delivering key and timely information to over 3,000 delegates a year both through public and in-house training courses. Before founding BFI in 1996, Elizabeth specialised in researching corporate financial programmes in Asia and the Middle East, based in Dubai. She also worked in advertising and publishing in the Middle East and London. Elizabeth was educated in the West Indies, Saudi Arabia and Belgium before reading Modern Languages at Durham University. She is currently developing an online training course for line managers to raise awareness of menopause symptoms and ways that employers can work to make their workplaces more inclusive.
People, teams and building a connected organisation for the future
Pilar Orti
Director , Virtual Not Distant
Pilar Orti is the Founder and Director of Virtual not Distant, where she helps managers and their teams adopt online collaboration practices. She’s worked with all types of organisations (private, public, small, large…), where their people want to feel closer together despite being physically apart. Through Virtual not Distant she runs workshops on Visible Teamwork and facilitates team sessions. She’s also developing an employee-led, in-house podcasting programme through which organisations can amplify their culture and nurture a sense of belonging. Pilar hosts the “21st Century Work Life” podcast, which focuses on leading remote teams, online collaboration and how distributed organisations are evolving. The show, listed by companies such as remote.co and Workplaceless as a top podcast for remote workers, includes returning guests, many of whom are international thought-leaders and advocates for remote work. She’s also an active member of the International Association of Facilitators, where she co-hosts the podcast of the England and Wales chapter “Facilitation Stories”. Pilar has a parallel career as a voiceover artist, which includes the voice of Xuli for the popular BBC cartoon “GoJetters” and she has written books on different subjects.
- Adopting a new management mindset to embrace the virtual space
- Making authentic connections and valuing individuals
- Communication and trust-building: beyond the online meeting
- Levity and informality: getting a health balance
- Supporting internal networking, informal learning and sense of belonging in an organisation
Critical success factors in building remote teams: The Google experience
Biren Kalaria
Director, Client Solutions & Analytics , Google
Biren is Director of Client Solutions & Analytics for Google in the UK and is currently the executive sponsor of the Flexible Working steering group within the Global Business Organization in the UK.
In a fireside chat, Biren will talk about the key stages of remote team building, and examine critical factors in successful, resilient, inclusive and empowered teams at Google.
Occupational health considerations: essentials for successful and healthy remote teams
Netsai Chirenda
Occupational Health Advisor , Virgin Atlantic Airlines
Netsai is a registered nurse and clinician who has worked in Occupational Health since 2007 and was recently Lead Aviation Occupational Health Specialist at one of two sites for Virgin Atlantic. She has been supporting the development of the airline’s COVID Testing service. She has been involved in delivering complex projects in very fast paced environment ensuring compliance and safety with regulatory bodies is maintained. She continues to enjoy working with different multi-disciplines and is also an active member of the Society of Occupational Medicine, currently working on several projects on Diversity and Inclusion Task Force.
A critical checklist for HR managers to ensure lessons learned from lockdown can be implemented and adapted for the new normal.
Comfort break
Understanding remote team working: the psychological perspective for HR managers
Mark Hashimi MSc MBACP UKCP
Director , Strategic Wellbeing
Mark, having previously held a number of senior management positions over the last ten years, has significant experience when dealing with mental health and work related issues, as head of workplace wellbeing at Mind in Hammersmith & Fulham, senior revenue manager at EDF Energy, as a psychotherapist, trainer, public speaker, mental health first aid instructor and from his own personal experiences. Mark works closely with Bloomberg, WPP Group, Ogilvy, UKTV, BBC Worldwide, Cabinet Office, AIG Insurance, Allianz, Hiscox, Met Police, NHS, Sage Publishing to name a few. Mark facilitates mental health sessions with a strong focus on proactive intervention and long-term sustainability, challenging stigma and effective communication. Mark takes an “end-to-end” approach to wellbeing strategy implementation when working with clients; he is experienced in reviewing, enhancing and writing mental health policy and embedding welling strategy in line with best practice. Alongside corporate training and consultancy, Mark works as a psychotherapist and counsellor trained in transactional analysis and EMDR. Mark co-designed and delivered the “Trauma and Bereavement” training for those impacted by the Grenfell tragedy and Mind’s core mental health and emotional intelligence workshops delivered nationally.
- Remote working team dynamics: developmental stages of building a high performance team
- Stress and psychological detachment: what gets in the way and how to manage it
- General principles to build trust, safety and communication
- What is the role of HR during and after the pandemic?
- Virtual feedback though coaching as a method of avoiding potential conflict situation
Methods to maximise engagement, wellbeing and inclusion: a case study
Sarah Morgan
Organisational Development Manager , Stockport Council
Sarah has 30 years’ experience in OD and Workforce Development in both Public and Private sectors. She is highly skilled in organisational performance improvement, leadership development, coaching, culture change, employment law, equality & diversity and team development. She has worked across the banking, telecommunications and public sector reforming ways of working and developing the workforce. Sarah has also been successful in have vast experience and success collaborating Health and Social Care integration. She has had major success in business development and change programmes and large system roll outs. More recently her time has been spent supporting local government change including efficiency savings, restructures, wellbeing and most recent supporting the workforce through COVID. This included whole organisation working practices and support, wellbeing, leader and manager guidance and digital solutions. She is also part of a team who is focusing on future hybrid working across Greater Manchester ensuring it is safe, functional and enhances the wellbeing of colleagues. She is also passionate about and leading on equality in the workplace ensuring all colleagues are supported in the best way that enhance their working life and those whom they support in the community. In her spare time, she is an avid skier, walker and equestrian. Living in Buxton, Derbyshire she spends a lot of time out on the hills. However her family would say her favourite pass time is cleaning and would give ‘Mrs Hinch’ a run for her money. She also spends time supporting her local community either through volunteering at a local foodbank or shopping for neighbours.
- Moving from WFH to hybrid training and workforce development: making planning and implementing a strategy that works
- Understanding the practicalities: communication and practice
- Wellbeing, safety and equality considerations: what works for us
- Red flags and warning signs: a checklist
- Managing outcomes versus presenteeism
- Managing change and culture shifts to avoid ambiguity and establish clear action-based objectives
Comfort break
Technology and new habits for successful remote team working
Jeff Wellstead
CEO , Big Bear Partners
Jeff's career has spanned over 25 years of HR leadership and consulting working within investment banking, consulting and technology (SaaS, Voice Recognition, NLP, AI/Machine Learning, eCommerce and bio-technology). He also works with exponential organizations to prepare for rapid hyper-growth across people, process and technology challenges to ensure vision realization. For the last 16 years, Jeff has been working with start-up & SME tech companies to provide actionable strategies to grow people, process & technology, building highly effective innovation cultures to support the revolutionary pace of disruptive product and service creation. As CEO of Big Bear Partners, Jeff is an accomplished talent & innovation accelerator and Future of Work consultant for SME businesses in the emerging, fast growth high-tech and biotech sectors, as well as mature businesses under taking digital transformation.
- Defining the outcomes you need in order to best match your tech: essential questions for HR
- Best tools for:
- collaborative working
- communication
- performance
Drawing on a wealth of tech and remote working experience in start-ups, Jeff will share knowledge to enable HR professionals to leverage the latest tech to optimise team relations, check-in and performance tracking and course correction. This will be a highly interactive session with plenty of opportunity to ask questions.
Creating a place where people love to work – the citadel
Ryan Hopkins
Wellbeing & Collaboration Leader , Sainsbury's Digital Tech and Data
Ryan currently leads wellbeing and collaboration at Sainsbury’s Digital, Tech & Data, improving how colleagues work best together; enabling colleagues to thrive rather than survive. He intends to make Sainsbury's an even better place to work; supporting his colleagues to be their best selves, do their best work, and be proud of it. Ryan is a former Big 4 Digital Strategy Consultant. He has managed and delivered global wellbeing strategies, tools and solutions; people-led transformations; large conferences for some of the world's largest companies such as Dyson, Salesforce, Discovery, etc. The overriding purpose of all this work is to create the culture/environments for the workforce of the future to thrive. In addition to his work at Sainsbury’s, Ryan is working with industry-leading professionals and companies to encourage, empower, and enable individuals to prioritise what makes them their best selves and for organisations to create the space for this to happen. He is also working as an Advisor with various wellbeing start-ups and actively contributes to the latest thought leadership in this space, speaking at conferences, panels, and contributing to reports/publications. When Ryan has a spare minute, you’ll find him practising his Spanish or doing some obscene fitness challenge.
- Using data to change the perception of wellbeing from cost to profit
- Where to focus your wellbeing initiatives for the greatest outcome
- An exercise for you and your teams – working from home, but better
Comfort break
Meeting the challenges of remote collaboration, communication and connection: a case study
Zena O'May
HR Manager , Orion Pharma UK Ltd
Zena has been with Orion for approximately 17 years. She is responsible for the direction of the HR function, ensuring policies and practices comply with appropriate legislation and best practice. She also helps build the capabilities of Orion employees. In her spare time Zena practices Life Coaching (utilising NLP, Mindfulness, CBT & Life Coaching) to help individuals from all walks of life to live the life that they aspire to. You may also find Zena on the stage, singing.
- Establishing requirements and managing transition: what did we learn?
- Maintaining culture: key goals and practices for successful remote teams
- What next? planning for the new normal
Wrap-up, final questions and end of seminar
Event supported by
Launched back in 2004, Mindful Employer is a UK wide initiative run by Devon Partnership NHS Trust. Providing employers with easy access to professional workplace mental health training, information and advice; our goal is to help empower organisations – large or small – to take a lead in supporting the mental wellbeing of staff.
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01983 861133
info@bfi.co.uk