Training For FWA Employees and Supervisors
ECU provides training through our learning management system, Cornerstone, to aid both employees and supervisors in successfully navigating flexible work arrangements and working remotely. If specific training is not found, please reach out to Learning and Organizational Development in Human Resources at HRDevelopment@ecu.edu.
Training for Remote Working Employees
For remote employees looking for ways to become more effective and efficient working in a remote or hybrid environment.
Recommended:
Be an Effective Hybrid or Virtual Employee
Remote work offers greater flexibility and an unbeatable commute. But by leaving behind the physical office—even if it’s just for just a few days each week—you’re also losing the structure that it provided. In this course, productivity author and Emmy-winning producer Paula Rizzo shares tips that can help you thrive in this new world of hybrid and fully remote work. Discover what you need to know about establishing a routine, organizing your workweek, and optimizing communication with your boss and colleagues. Learn what you can do to ensure that your contributions to the team are recognized, even when you’re not in the room. And since working remotely doesn’t need to impact your career trajectory, Paula shares how to set aside time to think through and document your goals. Upon finishing this course, you’ll be equipped with strategies for boosting your effectiveness and productivity at work—no matter where you are.
Time Management: Working From Home
Working from home is a wonderful opportunity, but time management can be a challenge. With so many demands on your time and attention, it’s a tricky balancing act to stay productive. In this course, author and productivity expert Dave Crenshaw offers best practices for anyone who works full time or occasionally from home. Dave begins by showing how to set up a dedicated workspace for maximum productivity, including tips on setting up your computer to ensure you stay focused. Then Dave walks through how to craft your daily schedule for peak productivity and plan meaningful breaks to avoid burnout. He explains how to collaborate with remote coworkers, including how to use virtual meetings productively. Get advice for working parents and other caregivers who might be balancing professional and personal responsibilities in the home.
Further Learning:
Remote Work Foundations
When you unlock the power of remote work, you can ditch your commute, work where you focus best, and spend more time doing things you love, all while advancing your career. In this course, coach Mike Gutman from FlexJobs shows how to use today’s cloud-based communication and collaboration tools to get work done from anywhere, while remaining connected to your organization. He reveals how you can create a productive work environment at home or around town by structuring your day correctly and avoiding distractions. He also explains how to build rapport with remote colleagues so you feel like you’re part of the team and succeed in your remote career. Watch this course to learn how to work productively, when and where you want, and achieve the freedom and flexibility you need for a more balanced life
Tips for Working Remotely
Learn how to work remotely and remain connected to your organization. In this course, coach Todd Dewett reveals how you can create a productive work environment at home by structuring your day correctly, dedicating a space to work, and avoiding distractions. Once your workspace is established, he shares best practices for staying in touch with your colocated team. Last, he addresses the most common challenges encountered by remote workers: feeling isolated, navigating office politics from afar, and communicating virtually.
Training for Supervisors of Remote Working Employees
For supervisors of remote employees looking to strengthen their skillsets in managing a remote or hybrid team.
Recommended:
How to Be an Effective Remote Manager
As a manager of a remote team, you may face unique challenges, but you also have unique opportunities to help your team thrive. In this course, Mitch Simon shares his advice for leaders who are overseeing remote teams by outlining common mistakes. Mitch starts by enforcing the importance of fun in a remote workplace, including methods for hosting meetings and allowing natural conversation to take place. He then stresses the importance of setting a tone and gathering the right people together. Mitch then reviews the importance of being vulnerable with your team by way of transparency and empathy. Mitch also highlights some classic leadership missteps, such as micromanaging, avoiding conflict, and hiding details from your team. He closes by outlining the importance of creating safe spaces where your team can take risks, give and receive feedback, and learn along the way. After this course, you’ll have tools to help you lead with more confidence in a remote environment.
Further Learning:
Virtual and Hybrid Meeting Essentials
Working from home isn’t going anywhere—and neither are meetings. There’s always going to be a need for teams to gather in one room. But now that some employees are joining those rooms virtually, it’s time to rethink the status quo. In this course, join Lorraine Lee, a top-rated virtual keynote speaker and the editorial director at Prezi, as she shares strategies for making your virtual and hybrid meetings more engaging, collaborative, and productive. Lorraine zeros in on how to turn your passive participants into active ones, as well as how to determine when virtual meetings should be held live versus asynchronously. She identifies what facilitators should do before, during, and after hybrid meetings, including how to establish rules of engagement and combat video fatigue. And since attendees and presenters alike need to mind their on-camera presence, Lorraine shares tips for ensuring that you look and sound your best.
Managing Virtual Teams
Working remotely has been on the rise for many years now, with research showing that hiring managers expect nearly half of all their workers to be working remotely over the next decade. While many trends feed into this way of organizing work, managing the work effectively will be key to the success of organizations globally. In this course, instructor Phil Gold provides managers with a clear approach for getting the most out of their remote teams. He zeros in on the key factors that will ensure productivity, engagement, and growth, as well as a manager’s role in building trust, removing roadblocks, nurturing connections with team members, and setting clear goals.
Motivate Remote Teams
Remote teams are here to stay, but how do we successfully manage and motivate individuals and teams who we rarely see? How do we keep enough control while still giving them enough freedom to enjoy their work and perform at their best? In this groundbreaking course, thought leader Chris Croft looks at how to optimize the level of involvement in planning and the level of freedom in the implementation—and how to combine these two. Chris goes through the matrix of management options and covers several methods for choosing the best management style for you and your team. He looks at how traditional ideas of motivation can be adapted to the new remote environment, with practical ideas for maximizing the motivation of remote individuals and teams. Finally, he offers some thoughts on how different personality types react to working remotely and how you can help them to make the best of the situation.
Training for Organizational Leadership with Remote Working Employees
For organizational leaders with remote and hybrid components to their workforce. Includes recommended and further learning for supervisors beyond the above-listed supervisor training.
Recommended:
Hybrid Working Foundations
How do you manage hybrid teams effectively to improve engagement, productivity, and retention? The question looms large for managers and leaders but also for individual employees, most of whom now prefer the flexibility and autonomy of a hybrid work environment. In this course, instructor Dan Schawbel takes you on a tour through the new world of work, equipping you with tools to navigate the changing landscape so you can lead your teams more effectively. Learn more about hybrid work and what you can do to manage its complexities. Discover remote and in-person strategies to improve connection, collaboration, and engagement. Find out how to be a supportive leader by promoting a culture of inclusion and equity, building trust and rapport with your team members, and mentoring your employees to drive retention and future growth. Using real-world examples and key findings from his own research, Dan gives you the skills you need to be better prepared to manage the modern, hybrid workplace.
Remote Work Foundations
When you unlock the power of remote work, you can ditch your commute, work where you focus best, and spend more time doing things you love, all while advancing your career. In this course, coach Mike Gutman from FlexJobs shows how to use today’s cloud-based communication and collaboration tools to get work done from anywhere, while remaining connected to your organization. He reveals how you can create a productive work environment at home or around town by structuring your day correctly and avoiding distractions. He also explains how to build rapport with remote colleagues so you feel like you’re part of the team and succeed in your remote career. Watch this course to learn how to work productively, when and where you want, and achieve the freedom and flexibility you need for a more balanced life.
Leading at a Distance
Technology has enabled many former office workers to work from home or anywhere remotely. As the overall job landscape shifts, the number of remote workers will likely continue to increase. For the managers and leaders spearheading these remote teams, as well as teams that consist of remote and in-person employees, making the jump from in-person to virtual leadership can be challenging. In this course, instructor Kevin Eikenberry lays out how to lead effectively from a distance. He dives into the basics of remote leadership, such as how working remotely changes interpersonal dynamics. Plus, he shares tips for getting results at a distance—including how to provide remote coaching and feedback—as well as how to build trust, set reasonable boundaries as a long-distance leader, and more.
Further Learning:
Level Up Your Remote Team Experience
You’ve settled into the rhythm of remote work. Having a full schedule of virtual team meetings, presentations, and even social events no longer seems quite so peculiar. But even at this stage, there’s so much more you can do to create a more engaged, positive, and inclusive environment for your remote team. In this course, remote work consultant and educator Mike Gutman shows you how. Mike covers a variety of advanced strategies for working remotely, including how to transform a culture of micromanagement into a culture of trust; make your tasks, projects, and timelines transparent to other members of your team; and keep your team bonds strong by sharing your communication style and preferences. Plus, get tips for building empathy, embracing diverse working conditions within your remote teams, and creating a psychologically safe environment where people feel encouraged to bring their voice and ideas to the table.
Managing Skills for Remote Leaders
Being an effective manager can be challenging enough in a face-to-face setting, but as more people are shifting to working remotely, managers have to change their mindsets and methods. You can no longer pop over and connect with your team or have impromptu chats. In this course, leadership coach Dr. Mary Jean Vignone teaches how to be the best possible manager in a remote work environment. Mary Jean leverages her two decades of managing virtual teams into a 15-step program that shows how to create a sense of community, build an inclusive culture that spans virtual workspaces, and shares values, goodwill, and ideas. She shows you how to adapt your leadership style and voice to a virtual space, fostering a trusting and supportive environment that sets your remote teams up for success. While a virtual workplace can be a very enriching environment, it won’t happen organically. After completing this course, you will be better prepared to navigate this changing work landscape.
Leading Virtual Meetings
Leading virtual meetings is a critical competency for leaders who manage a remote or blended team. Join leadership and management expert Kevin Eikenberry as he identifies the challenges to holding a productive meeting online, and shares tactics for making these meetings successful. Learn about how to choose the right platform, set expectations for conduct, clarify roles, create a great agenda, and more.