Working Remotely Toolkit for Managers

The transition to managing teams remotely involves gaining new skills sets to be effective and successful. The Employee and Organization Development Department is here to support you in this transition with our newly launched Working Remotely Toolkit. This toolkit covers a range of remote-working topics, including getting settled, setting up your remote work station, digital communication, setting healthy boundaries and habits, and managing remotely. With on-demand courses, articles, podcasts, checklists and books, our Working Remotely Toolkit will provide you with information, action items, and tips you can implement today to gain confidence in your remote working capabilities and ensure your team feels valued and connected, and has the tools to be successful.


Learning Hub Working Virtually (Team Managers) Bundle

A curated collection of three on-demand learning activities to help team managers be successful when working remotely.


Online Learning Community

Follow us on LinkedIn to stay up-to-date with upcoming learning opportunities and collaborate with others before, during, and after events.

 Online Courses

Learning Hub Working Virtually (Meeting Organizer) Bundle

A curated collection of two on-demand learning activities to help meeting organizers be successful when working remotely.

Managing Virtual Teams

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.

Leading at a Distance

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.

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.

 Sites and Tools

Faculty and Staff Guide for Remote Work

Cal Poly has several tech resources available to enable faculty and staff to seamlessly work from anywhere. Follow this step-by-step guide to make sure you have access to all the campus resources you need while working remotely.

Free Download: The Space And The Habits That Can Help You Thrive As A Remote Worker

A free download of two of the three sections of the book, and they’ll help you jumpstart your remote work setup, regardless of how long you’ll be doing it. Section II: The Space covers the physical aspects of a quality remote workplace. Section III: The Habits reviews behaviors and practices that can contribute to remote worker success.

The Best Virtual Team Building Activities

This comprehensive list illustrates the many ways in which you can help foster cohesive relationships among your team members, even remotely!

Teaching and Working Remotely

A number of services and resources are available to the Cal Poly community to support virtual instruction and telecommuting, so our university can keep teaching, learning and working – from almost anywhere.

 Zoom Resources

Zoom Help Center

Zoom Help Center provides daily live or recorded webinars to help you get started and navigate this user-friendly software.

CTLT: Instructional Continuity: Streaming Live or Recording Classes in Zoom

The Center for Teaching, Learning & Technology provides information on how to set up Zoom meetings and use the features as well as FERPA compliance.

 Articles

3 Tips for Making Remote Training Sessions Work

The challenge to companies is how to continue to carry out the critical mission of learning in a non-traditional workplace atmosphere. There are three interrelated themes that can have a special significance for training a remote workforce: engagement, collaboration and performance support.

Digital Communication Skills: Is Your Message Getting Across?

When you decide to focus on your digital communication skills, your message will come across more clearly. By following these five simple keys to success, you and your team will be able to say, “We’re communicating well, and we just happen to be doing it online.”

 Books, Videos, and Podcasts

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The Long-Distance Leader: Rules for Remarkable Remote Leadership

Leadership First, Locations Second. As more organizations adopt a remote workforce, the challenges of leading at a distance become more urgent than ever. The cofounders of the Remote Leadership Institute, Kevin Eikenberry and Wayne Turmel, show leaders how to guide their teams by recalling the foundational principles of leadership whether their teams are scattered globally or just working from home a few days a week.

TED Talk: Managing Cross Cultural Remote Teams

Ricardo Fernandez talks about the every day complexities of working remotely and managing a team of 30 people from very different cultures and backgrounds. He discusses the benefits of working remotely and the ability to prise productivity over presence. However, there are some interesting challenges - people can have different perceptions of time management, speak the same language but have different interpretations, etc. Challenges like these get compounded when working remotely.

Worklife with Adam Grant: A TED original podcast

Organizational psychologist Adam Grant takes you inside the minds of some of the world’s most unusual professionals to explore the science of making work not suck. From learning how to love criticism to harnessing the power of frustration, one thing’s for sure: You’ll never see your job the same way again.