Cuyahoga Community CollegeBuilding Skills for Successful Remote Work
By Ashley Speaker, Program Coordinator, Corporate College
Social distancing feels foreign to those of us used to working outside the home with co-workers and clients. Sure, we send emails and talk on the phone regularly — but there are many aspects of remote work that differ from what we’re accustomed to. And now that everything is remote, any deficits in our communication and organizational skills can cause us to become easily overwhelmed.
We have to do things differently now. But what does that look like?
We must communicate well, especially since so much is accomplished through email or text. Our virtual presence must be as strong as our face-to-face interaction. We must also examine the processes we use in our day-to-day operations.
What can we do to get ahead of our own deficits and/or strengthen what we already do well?
Here are four online courses that will help you right now through Corporate College.
Communicating for Leadership Success
In the past few weeks, my inbox has been flooded with emails announcing changes to everything — from my organization going remote to the restaurant down the street offering carryout only. These days, we’re scheduling more virtual meetings than ever before. Many workers are also homeschooling their kids during the day. With all these distractions, how do we cut through the noise to deliver clear and concise directives for our team?
This course introduces leaders to essential interaction skills to be effective in the situations they handle on a daily basis, such as coaching, delegating and driving change. Don’t we all want a leader like that? I can’t wait to start this one.
I’m going to level with you — I was the kid who did all the group projects by herself. I didn’t trust the other students to do it my way … I mean, the “right” way. Now I work in the business world, on complex projects with many contributors on the team. We all bring different skills to the table, and one person cannot solve the problem alone. I learned quickly that trust is important — both to leading team projects and to participating in them.
How do I trust that team members are accomplishing their duties remotely? The truth is that we don’t always know what they are doing — but if we form trusting relationships, we can empower individuals to complete their tasks and think creatively.
This course explores the skills you need to build trusting relationships, which enable people to take risks, identify and solve problems, and collaborate to achieve business results.
Business Writing for Busy Professionals
We all need to slow down and think about the purpose of our writing. We must ask questions like, “Who is this for? Is it concise and to the point? Did I proofread it before I sent it out?”
We’re sending so many messages, proposals and project updates via email these days that we don’t stop to see if we can answer those questions. And if you’ve gotten this far, you know that I need some help here, too. Yikes … I’d better get started now!
Lean and Lean Six Sigma Courses for Your Industry
Did I mention that I want to improve processes for the day-to-day operations of my department? There really isn’t a better time to get started than now. Taking everything out of my work office and moving it to my home office made me question of lot of the items on my plate. For example, why isn’t this stack of forms completed electronically?
I hate paper clutter, and I hate sending emails to five different departments to get approval on one item. If we take a moment to outline our current processes and ask the tough questions, we can make changes that are driven by data. This helps us get buy-in from others in our organization. Your industry may be different from mine, but I know there is value in learning these basic principles.