# data[].attributes.body
We are constantly referring to the Implementation Matrix as we work with schools. The DCA questions are based on the Implementation Matrix. All of this helps guide our coaching, based on where we need improvement and growth.

# data[].attributes.body
Breakoit 5
It gives us direction and an anchor to refer too

# data[].attributes.body
Team conversations related to supporting students is connected to the implementation matrix (1B, Teaming Section).

Year 5 of VTSS: DLT constantly shifting due to personnel turnover. Great conversations this year about connections to strategic plan--getting at systems level ideas. Without effective DLT, implementation varied school-to-school. (School teams were more consistent in terms of turnover.) Also essential that superintendent is active member of DLT.

# data[].attributes.body
*Use the them to align the schools work to the division level goals.
*Springboard for conversations around fidelity of implementation
*DCA helps develop the capacity to implement matrix
*Helps to become more streamlined and purposeful with work

# data[].attributes.body
DCA, Matrix, TFI (schools) is like a roadmap for us to develop our coaching system and plans! : )

# data[].attributes.body
Teams are meeting monthly.
Virtual allows for convenience to meet.
SEL focus
VTSS needs to be a priority based on current circumstances. Focusing more on behavior

# data[].attributes.body
*While there is a shared vision, there is lack of alignment in how that vision is to be implemented, much is created at the school level, not division level.
*Division-data: there are so many data points that are not being looked at or being looked at/analyzed incorrectly
*we end up working harder and not smarter, and still working in silos

# data[].attributes.body
We were able to provide structure through a tiered system.

# data[].attributes.body
*tech allowed us to meet remotely and be more flexible

# data[].attributes.body
Silos are a barrier.
Stopped the momentum.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
With the rapid rate of technological innovation over the past couple of decades, the changes we've seen in the workplace have been considerable. With increasing frequency, more teams within more organizations are being created with members who are globally dispersed and connected only by technology. As team coaches, we need to learn how to do our work in an ever growing virtual world which means coaching virtual teams. That's the reality.

From the organization's point of view, creating virtual teams makes perfect sense. It allows the organization to draw from a vast pool of global talent. Without the limitations of location, team members are being chosen on the basis of their talent, experience, skill set, and temperament.

Also, from the organization's point of view, there are excellent reasons for virtual team coaching. There is the obvious elimination of travel costs, hotel, and meals. But beyond the out-of-pocket financial costs are all the time costs associated with travel. Team members are away and unavailable; there is more stress on employees and their ability to be productive. There are significant costs associated with gathering the team together in-person.

Additionally, virtual team meetings are easier to schedule and more convenient for team members. It's an excellent way to optimize the time commitment for team members and maximize the investment in team development. More teams will take advantage of team coaching when they see that it fits their needs for economy and efficiency.

The trend is unmistakable. Organizations continue to emphasize the creation of virtual teams, including the hybrid combination of some co-located team members and some team members dispersed. Coaching virtual teams brings a unique set of challenges and in this post, we'll look at the top six.

Challenge #1: Technology

There are more ways than ever for teams to connect in a virtual environment. That's both a benefit and sometimes a headache, even when the technology works without issue.

For the team coach intent on working effectively, it starts with familiarity and competency with the technology platform. That's easier when it's the coach's choice; more challenging when the coach is being asked to use the company's setup. Not only are there many platform options these days, but there are also more device options to accommodate.

It used to be so simple. A phone. These days, we need to make the meeting work on all sorts of devices: phones, tablets, notebooks, laptops, and desktops. Best practices in the case of technology start with practice, which is easier if it's a platform you use often, and technical support is available if the platform unfamiliar. Also, have a backup plan. Assume there will be technical problems.

The technology is a challenge, especially until you're comfortable with it, but it doesn't have to be a barrier. In fact, there are ways that the technology can contribute to engagement and actually support the process by using the available features of the online platform.

Take A Survey Or Create A Poll

One of the advantages of using the polling feature in a virtual meeting environment is that the scores are always aggregated and anonymous. It gives you a "team" response which is more systems-based than voting by verbal polling or raised hands.

Use The Chat Feature

It provides a way to encourage participation for those team members who are more comfortable with writing than speaking to the group. It has the benefit of shifting the energy, inserting a quiet reflective moment, and it's a way to capture thoughts, opinions, and good ideas that you have access to later.

Breakout

In some platforms, you can create breakout rooms for small group conversations which can be especially valuable for larger teams or as a way to divide a topic into many elements.

Screen Share

It provides a way to share visuals from remote locations, easier than in-person. Sharing presentations or documents of course but also party photos. Because it's technology-based doesn't mean that the remote team space has to be impersonal. Far from it. The webcam gallery of faces is one simple way to give a team gathering a more personal environment.

Challenge #2: Logistics

The goal of coaching virtual teams is an optimal team coaching experience and the best use of the team's time, attention and energy. The format and schedule will vary from team to team depending on availability, budget, and geography, but here are some typical guidelines.

Length of Session

90 minutes seems to be the right length for a scheduled session. Longer than that and conference call fatigue starts to set in and the effort to work remotely becomes less productive.

Frequency

With virtual coaching, there are often more frequent sessions compared to gathering the team in-person. A common pattern would be twice monthly or every two weeks.

Team Size

This becomes an issue in a virtual coaching environment when teams get larger than about 12. Given the nature of the technology environment, with a large group, it is more difficult for everyone to stay engaged.

Time Zone Issues

Our number one recommendation: spread the pain. As much as possible, look for day/time overlap knowing that in some cases that won't be possible. Make sure the late night or very early morning time slot does not land on the same virtual team members all the time.

The case of virtual and co-located. In some cases, you'll have a combination of some team members co-located, like the people at "headquarters", while some remain dispersed. Our recommendation: if some are solo, make all the team solo. The dynamic of seeing a social gathering of some team members while others remain isolated can create a feeling some are "in" and some are "out". Having everyone in their own location also minimizes the chance of people having side conversations and helps ensure a better quality audio experience.

The Need for Quiet and Privacy

In preparing virtual teams for team coaching it's also important to emphasize the need for quiet & privacy. It eliminates distractions and creates a safer space for real conversation that won't be overheard by others.

Challenge #3: Structure

What can we do in 90-minute segments that can have an impact? When we're in-person with the team, two or three hours feels tight. Now we're squeezing the session into 90 min. It means making adjustments in our planning but there are still key coaching outcomes that can occur.

Build Rapport

The simple act of getting together with the intention of building a stronger team and being in honest communication with each other is, by itself, a valuable outcome. How often do teams take that opportunity when left to their own busy schedules? Team coaching gives them a reason and an opportunity they rarely take the time for. Use the opportunity to help team members get to know each other on a more personal basis. Virtual teams don't have a break room or water cooler where they can build those relationships; make time for that with teams in virtual space.

Accountability and Learning

One of the core benefits of a coaching model is the emphasis on action steps, followed by holding one another accountable for the action, and then harvesting the learning from the action taken. The virtual environment is more than suitable.

Action Session

Every team coaching session, whether it's in-person or virtual, is an opportunity for the team to do real work on an important team issue. The team picks a relevant and timely issue that needs a solution or a plan, then for the next 30 minutes the team conducts a "business as usual" meeting, and the coach observes the team dynamics in action which creates abundant material for feedback and coaching.

Brainstorming/Planning

The virtual environment is well suited to these common outcomes including the convenience of setting up smaller breakout discussions.

Recognition/Appreciation

For some team members, the virtual environment may feel safer or more comfortable for the sorts of personal appreciation or acknowledgment that might be part of the session.

In fact, there are actually inherent strengths of a virtual environment when we note that this virtual world is a verbal channel. Yes, we are big advocates for using the webcam so people see each other as human beings, not disembodied voices. Using the webcam also helps maintain engagement by eliminating multi-tasking temptations. But compared to the rich, visual environment of an in-person session, the virtual session comes up short. In the virtual environment, we rely on the verbal channel. And that translates into strengths for:

Problem-solving

Creative thinking/innovation

Storytelling/simulations

And as we already noted: Action planning and Acknowledgment

When many of the visual cues are missing, the verbal and audio channels are more important. That means listening and being aware of tone of voice and the impact of what's said and what isn't.

Challenge #4: The Experience

This is not your every day "con call". Despite the technological challenges alluded to earlier, team members are more comfortable and adept with the tools for virtual connection. That's the good news.

The bad news: they now have well-practiced habits that do not serve us well in coaching teams in a virtual world. A team coaching session is not an everyday conference call where being present at 25% or less is acceptable and more or less the norm.

Building Trust And Intimacy In A Virtual Work Environment

Team coaching and team development should improve a team's effective collaboration. It is about the relationship; the content of the conversation is important but that's not where the team learning happens. High performing teams have learned to create deeper levels of trust, honesty, and connection. That's the experience we are trying to duplicate in the virtual environment.

Skills for a Verbal Channel

One of the clues to making that virtual world more effective is to once again reflect on the nature of that environment: it's a verbal channel. That awareness gives us a focus area: focus on and improve skills for that verbal channel.

For teams, that includes listening skills of course. Active listening. Summarizing. Clarifying. The most valuable skill teams can learn is the skill of being open and curious. It's a skill that will support the team in any interaction but because it is a verbal skill. It's especially well suited for a virtual environment-an environment where it is easy to practice and the payoff will be noticeable.

Teach the team how to ask open-ended questions that are short and powerful. Help teams learn the difference between open-ended and closed-ended questions and how that affects the conversation. Introduce the distinction between advocacy and inquiry, and their attention to the balance in their team conversations. In most cases, teams are already quite proficient in taking a stand, stating a position, contributing an idea or proposing a solution. They are not as proficient at asking the curious question, the skill of inquiry.

The Need For Team Training

Teams have become accustomed to the standard con-call and the behavior that goes with it, including the level of engagement, pace, tone, and function. To use the same technology platform to create a different experience will take intention and training. That starts with an explanation but must also include buy-in by the team to take ownership of that goal and hold each other accountable for it. We recommend working with the team to create specific team agreements around protocol and how the team works together in that environment.

Adapt Experiential Work

It's true we lose many of the options for experiential team activity because the team is not mobile, but there are ways to adapt some of the experiential work when we remember we are using a verbal channel.

Challenge #5: Facilitation

With team coaching, the most important conversation is the one team members have with each other. That's where the change happens. As team coaches, we are responsible for creating the conditions for that conversation and managing the process. The challenge here is not so much with the virtual environment itself; the challenge is our lack of familiarity facilitating in that environment. There is a social aspect to the in-person team coaching that we miss when everyone is a node on the network. We're more accustomed to that public conversational setting. We are not so familiar facilitating a team conversation in a virtual-techno environment.

That awareness is for both the coach and the team. This is new territory for every one of us. This is the first place to be transparent with the team: set the context. The goal is to maximize limited time together so have the team set ground rules that support participation. Continued transparency will be key to the success of the process.

Here are some typical issues that come up that can derail or undermine a team conversation.

The voice that dominates. Sometimes it's a powerful voice or a bully; sometimes it's an

enthusiastic voice but there's little air time for others.

Silent voice. It has a presence-but not a contribution. Sometimes it's the result of thoughtful reflection; sometimes it's holding back.

The team leader. the team leader has a unique impact on the team conversation.

Conversational chaos. People talking over one another; interrupting; loss of focus; too many agendas at once.

And here are a couple of behaviors that are more often issues in the virtual environment.

Team members leaving and returning: teams tolerating interruptions

Team members multitasking

These are key areas for team agreements to maximize the effectiveness of the work in a virtual team coaching environment. To the team: "How will you handle these situations if they come up?" In some ways, the virtual environment actually gives us, as team coaches, more permission to be direct.

Challenge #6: Self-Management

Along with all the usual ways a coach might be anxious before a team coaching session, the virtual environment brings a unique set of reasons, especially when it's a new experience. One typical change for coaches is learning to get the balance right between intervening, listening and observing. As coaches, we are responsible for the process, but that doesn't mean being a dominant voice. Notice the natural temptation to fill the airspace and overcompensate when the team gets quiet. Pay attention to your own self-management tendencies and triggers.

Note that the skills for team coaching still apply. Your primary focus is still to listen below the surface of the conversation. Listen for the undercurrents and be curious about what's happening underneath at the emotional and team dynamic level because the team is not likely to be listening at that level. Notice when your attention is being focused on following the content of the conversation when you are listening to understand or analyze the situation for problem-solving. As coach, your value is in helping the team to see the habits and patterns in the way they interact.

This Is The Emerging World

Some would say this virtual world is not emerging since it surrounds us now in every facet of our lives. Our ability to work well within that world as team coaches is the part that is emerging. It is emerging as we become more familiar and as the trend within organizations to create geographically dispersed teams continues to grow.

Frankly, the majority of coaches, virtual team coaching is by far a distant second choice compared to meeting with a team in-person and face to face. Unfortunately, the world of teams will not be accommodating our wishes; we need to learn to be effective in coaching virtual teams. The need for our work is too important. The mission is largely unchanged. It's the environment that is changing.

Here's one, possibly more resourceful perspective: this is actually an outstanding opportunity to expand the impact of the work we do. For organizations, the ability to take advantage of team coaching in ways that are more convenient and economical means there is a stronger incentive. In the end, there is a greater potential for impact.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
6 Challenges of Coaching Virtual Teams & How to Address Them * Team Coaching International

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
With the rapid rate of technological innovation over the past couple of decades, the changes we've seen in the workplace have been considerable. With increasing frequency, more teams within more organizations are being created with members who are globally dispersed and connected only by technology.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Consider this now familiar view from the field:
"I've run a virtual team for the past 18 months in the development and launch of [a website.] I am located in Toronto, Canada. The website was designed in Zagreb, Croatia. The software was developed in St. John's, Newfoundland; Zagreb, Croatia; Delhi, India; and Los Angeles, USA. Most of the communication was via email with periodic discussions via Skype. I had one face-to-face meeting with the team lead for the technology development this past December."
Could this be you? Virtual teams have become a fact of business life, so what does it take to make them work effectively? On June 10, 2013, I launched a discussion around this question on LinkedIn. The result was an outpouring of experience and advice for making virtual teams work. (I define "virtual teams" as work groups which (1) have some core members who interact primarily through electronic means, and (2) are engaged in interdependent tasks - i.e. are truly teams and not just groups of independent workers). I distilled the results and combined them with my own work, which focuses on how new leaders should assess and align their teams in their first 90 days. Because that's really when it's most important to lay the foundation for superior performance in teams - virtual or otherwise. Here are ten basic principles for making this happen:

1. Get the team together physically early-on. It may seem paradoxical to say in a post on virtual teams, but face-to-face communication is still better than virtual when it comes to building relationships and fostering trust, an essential foundation for effective team work. If you can't do it, it's not the end of the world (focus on doing some virtual team building). But if you can get the team together, use the time to help team members get to know each other better, personally and professionally, as well to create a shared vision and a set of guiding principles for how the team will work. Schedule the in-person meeting early on, and reconnect regularly (semi-annually or annually) if possible.

2. Clarify tasks and processes, not just goals and roles. All new leaders need to align their team on goals, roles and responsibilities in the first 90 days. With virtual teams, however, coordination is inherently more of a challenge because people are not co-located. So it's important to focus more attention on the details of task design and the processes that will be used to complete them. Simplify the work to the greatest extent possible, ideally so tasks are assigned to sub-groups of two or three team members. And make sure that there is clarity about work process, with specifics about who does what and when. Then periodically do "after-action reviews" to evaluate how things are going and identify process adjustments and training needs.

3. Commit to a communication charter. Communication on virtual teams is often less frequent, and always is less rich than face-to-face interaction, which provides more contextual cues and information about emotional states - such as engagement or lack thereof. The only way to avoid the pitfalls is to be extremely clear and disciplined about how the team will communicate. Create a charter that establishes norms of behavior when participating in virtual meetings, such as limiting background noise and side conversations, talking clearly and at a reasonable pace, listening attentively and not dominating the conversation, and so on. The charter also should include guidelines on which communication modes to use in which circumstances, for example when to reply via email versus picking up the phone versus taking the time to create and share a document.

4. Leverage the best communication technologies. Developments in collaborative technologies - ranging from shared workspaces to multi-point video conferencing - unquestionably are making virtual teaming easier. However, selecting the "best" technologies does not necessarily mean going with the newest or most feature-laden. It's essential not to sacrifice reliability in a quest to be on the cutting edge. If the team has to struggle to get connected or wastes time making elements of the collaboration suite work, it undermines the whole endeavor. So err on the side of robustness. Also be willing to sacrifice some features in the name of having everyone on the same systems. Otherwise, you risk creating second-class team members and undermining effectiveness.

5. Build a team with rhythm. When some or all the members of a team are working separately, it's all-too-easy to get disconnected from the normal rhythms of work life. One antidote is to be disciplined in creating and enforcing rhythms in virtual team work. This means, for example, having regular meetings, ideally same day and time each week. It also means establishing and sharing meeting agenda in advance, having clear agreements on communication protocols, and starting and finishing on time. If you have team members working in different time zones, don't place all the time-zone burden on some team members; rather, establish a regular rotation of meeting times to spread the load equitably.

6. Agree on a shared language. Virtual teams often also are cross-cultural teams, and this magnifies the communication challenges - especially when members think they are speaking the same language, but actually are not. The playwright George Bernard Shaw famously described Americans and the British as "two nations divided by a common language." His quip captures the challenge of sustaining shared understanding across cultures. When the domain of team work is technical, then the languages of science and engineering often provide a solid foundation for effective communication. However, when teams work on tasks involving more ambiguity, for example generating ideas or solving problems, the potential for divergent interpretations is a real danger (see for example this Anglo-Dutch translation guide). Take the time to explicitly negotiate agreement on shared interpretations of important words and phrases, for example, when we say "yes," we mean... and when we say "no" we mean...and post this in the shared workspace.

7. Create a "virtual water cooler." The image of co-workers gathering around a water cooler is a metaphor for informal interactions that share information and reinforce social bonds. Absent explicit efforts to create a "virtual water cooler," team meetings tend to become very task-focused; this means important information may not be shared and team cohesion may weaken. One simple way to avoid this: start each meeting with a check-in, having each member take a couple of minutes to discuss what they are doing, what's going well and what's challenging. Regular virtual team-building exercises are another way to inject a bit more fun into the proceedings. Also enterprise collaboration platforms increasingly are combining shared workspaces with social networking features that can help team members to feel more connected.

8. Clarify and track commitments. In a classic HBR article " Management Time, Who's got the Monkey?" William Oncken and Donald L. Wass use the who-has-the-monkey-on-their-back metaphor to exhort leaders to push accountability down to their teams. When teams work remotely, however, it's inherently more difficult to do this, because there is no easy way to observe engagement and productivity. As above, this can be partly addressed by carefully designing tasks and having regular status meetings. Beyond that, it helps to be explicit in getting team members to commit to define intermediate milestones and track their progress. One useful tool: a "deliverables dashboard" that is visible to all team members on whatever collaborative hub they are using. If you create this, though, take care not to end up practicing virtual micro-management. There is a fine line between appropriate tracking of commitments and overbearing (and demotivating) oversight.

9. Foster shared leadership. Defining deliverables and tracking commitments provides "push" to keep team members focused and productive; shared leadership provides crucial "pull." Find ways to involve others in leading the team. Examples include: assigning responsibility for special projects, such as identifying and sharing best practices; or getting members to coach others in their areas of expertise; or assigning them as mentors to help on-board new team members; or asking them to run a virtual team-building exercise. By sharing leadership, you will not only increase engagement, but will also take some of the burden off your shoulders.

10. Don't forget the 1:1s. Leaders' one-to-one performance management and coaching interactions with their team members are a fundamental part of making any team work. Make these interactions a regular part of the virtual team rhythm, using them not only to check status and provide feedback, but to keep members connected to the vision and to highlight their part of "the story" of what you are doing together.

Finally, if you are inheriting a team, take the time to understand how your predecessor led it. It's essential that newly appointed leaders do this, whether their teams are virtual or not. Because, as Confucius put it, you must "study the past if you would define the future." It's even more important to do this homework when you inherit a virtual team, because the structures and processes used to manage communication and coordinate work have such an inordinate impact on team performance. You can use these ten principles as a checklist for diagnosing how the previous leader ran the team, and help identify and prioritize what you need to do in the first 90 days.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Making Virtual Teams Work: Ten Basic Principles

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Consider this now familiar view from the field: "I've run a virtual team for the past 18 months in the development and launch of [a website.] I am located in Toronto, Canada. The website was designed in Zagreb, Croatia. The software was developed in St. John's, Newfoundland; Zagreb, Croatia; Delhi, India; and Los Angeles, USA.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Marcia Rock Table of Contents

About the Author

About This Book

In this book, eCoaching pioneer Marcia Rock draws on best-practice research and decades of experience to offer a blueprint for professional development that maximizes teacher and student growth.

The eCoaching Continuum for Educators provides teachers, administrators, and other school professionals a step-by-step guide to the four connected, coordinated components of technology-enabled professional development: (1) studying theory and practice to build knowledge of specific content and pedagogy; (2) observing theory and practice to aid in the transfer of new knowledge to classroom practice; (3) one-on-one coaching to give teachers the feedback they need to improve classroom practice; and (4) group coaching to build capacity for identifying and solving problems of professional practice.

Rock offers a practical approach for putting professional development where it can do the most good-in the classroom. You'll learn

Why technology is so well suited for authentic, job-embedded professional development

How to cultivate a culture in which the eCoaching continuum can have the greatest impact

Which technologies are the most useful for carrying out eCoaching in a variety of settings

How to capture and evaluate the impact of eCoaching on teachers and students

The eCoaching Continuum for Educators integrates best practice in coaching for professional development with a detailed account of how teachers and other school professionals can use today's technologies to improve their practice and ensure their students are fully engaged and learning.
See the book's table of contents and read excerpts
Share This Page

Aboutthe Author

Marcia Rock is an associate professor at the University of North Carolina Greensboro (UNCG). Throughout her career, she has dedicated her research, teaching, and service endeavors to working with others in solving real-world problems of educational practice.
Read more

Professional Development

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The eCoaching Continuum for Educators: Using Technology to Enrich Professional Development and Improve Student Outcomes

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Marcia Rock Table of Contents About the Author In this book, eCoaching pioneer Marcia Rock draws on best-practice research and decades of experience to offer a blueprint for professional development that maximizes teacher and student growth.

# data[].attributes.body
Our division coaches have been able to attend school level meetings and have been very intentional in that attendance.