Providing virtual teams training requires a bit of creativity. Although if you can, getting the team together in one location is a great idea, it is not always possible. Many times, especially in today’s economy where companies are working to reduce expenses, virtual teams are going to remain just that – virtual. This doesn’t mean you should not provide training for virtual team members. Virtual team members should have regular opportunities to have training to help them work more effectively.
Consider these options for providing training for virtual team members:
- Use on-line training that each team member can access – regardless of their location
- Share articles on any number of topics to help team members increase their knowledge
- Ask team members to share knowledge and best practices with each other via a team collaboration portal
- Ask more senior team members to partner up virtually with more junior team members to provide them guidance.
- Select some relevant books to read and send copies to each team member (or ask someone at remote sites – such as an administrator – to order copies for virtual team members. Have members share their learnings from the books via the collaboration portal.
- For team members that attend local training workshops or conferences, ask them, upon their return, to share what they learned via an article or presentation to their fellow virtual team members.
What are your ideas for providing training opportunities to your virtual team members?
