Zoom is not remote working - 7 critical things you might be missing

Are you really working remotely, or simply talking remotely? Since lockdowns were instituted around the world companies have been scrambling to get technology such as #Zoom, #Microsoft #Teams and more in place for their teams to work remotely. The fact that you have such tools in place does not necessarily mean you have achieved successful remote working. 

The missing ingredient

Most of these tools simply address the communication part while others have whiteboards and other functionalities. Most teams working remotely still miss the one important ingredient to make remote work productive and meaningful - a clearly defined and facilitated process.

Venture Designers specialises in facilitating remote processes. We use them with all types of remote teams and the different challenges they are facing. From making better critical decisions, finding new #opportunities, innovating, developing and testing new products or applying a continuous #improvement mindset. We found that having a good process in place has many benefits. 

Benefits of following the right process for the right situation

#1. Certainty: You know what needs to be done

A good process makes sure everyone knows what needs to be done and what the team needs to achieve. 

Before the process starts: Having a clear frame of what wants to be achieved means everyone knows what needs to be done, nobody gets left behind.

After the process finished: WWWHH - After the session, you know What needs to be done, by Who, by When, How and How much is needed in time or other resources. 

#2. Alignment: Everyone is on the same page

A good process creates alignment and inclusion in your team members creating a safer working environment and builds trust in the work that is being done. Having everyone on the same page creates a better situational awareness within your organization.

#3. Save cash: Reduce #risk and the cost of failure

Having a clear process with desired outcomes, tracking and accountability reduce your risk of doing the wrong thing and in turn, reduces your cost of #failure in case the initiative does not deliver on what was expected. 

#4. Increased speed and efficiency

A good process helps you to efficiently work through the tasks/problems at hand and get to the best solutions or actions faster. Many clients have complained that they sit in 1 to 2 hours meetings after they ask themselves: “What was I there for?”.

A good process ensures the right people with the right information and decision-making power is present so that things can get done, fast. Do you have time to waste on another purposeless meeting?

#5. Increased Engagement and trust

A good process gives you clarity of purpose, process and roles. Increasing engagement, contribution and building trust. People learn that a clear process was followed to make decisions increasing trust in the whole system, especially now that many of us have to make difficult decisions. Over time the process teaches your teams how to make decisions in a structured way, empowering your people and reducing time wastage and management overhead. 

#6. Less stress and fights

Without a well defined and facilitated process team are often at the mercy of the opinions of either the person with the loudest voice or the most power or the highest-paid person in the room. A good process reduces this and makes sure that the wisdom of the group is utilised to the maximum, not only increasing engagement and reduces your #management #overhead if you are the leader of a team.

#7. A new perspective for leaders 

Using a facilitator allows the senior team member, manager or executive to step out of their role and become a participant in creating the outcome. They will continue to have additional decision-making powers that come with their role, we find that it is exercised with more discretion as our processes surface the wisdom and creativity of the group.

Venture Designers have perfected a range of #processes that you can use so that your team works remotely effectively and get things done in a world where we all have to do more, in less time with fewer resources. 

We have the core offerings, within which we use a range of processes, depending on the client and their context.

#1. Online Meeting Facilitation - Increasing the #Speed and #Efficiency of Decision Making for Remote Teams. 

#2. FutureNow - A Process to Make Better #Critical #Decisions, Faster. The focus is on the short-term, often days

#3. FutureFinder - A Process to Find New #Opportunities to Solve Big Problems aligned to the strategy and innovation approach of the organisation. The process typically runs from ? to 2 days (face-to-face time equivalence).

#4. FutureTester - A Process to Generate, Prototype and Test Solutions to important challenges, often following a FutureFinder exercise. This approach, Reduces Risk and Amplifies Success. The process runs over 1-4 days (face-to-face time equivalence).

#5. FutureBuilder - A Process to Build a New #Future with Less #Risk and More Accuracy while Teaching Your Teams to do it without us. This process runs over longer periods of time as teams identify, solve and test ideas to solve every-day challenges, coached and supported by the Venture Designers team.

Reach us at www.VentureDesigners.com or [email protected] 

#zoom #remoteteams #workfromhome #workplace #corona #newwork