Remote work is an extremely popular option in all kinds of organizations today. Providing online training to all team members is one of the key ingredients necessary in ensuring that your remote team attains the objectives and results expected of them.

Why is it necessary to train online teams?

Online training is the infrastructure that holds together the virtual team. Simply having the necessary knowledge is not enough - rather, the true art is in knowing how to teach and convey this knowledge to the team so it can be put to use day in and day out, following the instructions the members are given, while at the same time enhancing and adding to a better training process.

Training virtual teams allows you to:

• Pass on knowledge, experiences and tools to the team.
• Add to their tools to improve the quality of service.
• Teach the instructions for the jobs they will be doing.
• Improve the current status of a project of a project.
• Provide feedback on the job done by the team, and improve on it.
• Enhance the process of a project with the experience of the team.
• Address and clarify any doubts and uncertainties.

Characteristics of Online Training

Many of our clients complain that employees don’t seem to listen or don’t seem to understand any of their instructions. Most of the time, training sessions tend to be boring and feel like long monologues, attendees tend to get disconnected, and the vital knowledge which would have been gained is lost. Today, technology allows us to create dynamic and didactic training sessions that would keep everybody awake. How can you achieve that?

• Personalize your trainings: give examples of work that you know the attendees can relate to
• Participative sessions: ask the members questions during the training sessions. You can, for example, ask them to summarize a topic or to give their opinion about a topic.
• Dynamic and interactive sessions: ask students to do small exercises every 20-30 minutes.
• Instructions: be clear in your explanations, plan ahead.
• Consistent with the company and the project: make sure you transmit the company’s values and reiterate why the work they are doing and the process/knowledge you are giving to them is important, and how it connects with the company’s purpose.
• Further humanize the virtual medium and make it more appealing.
• You should use reliable educational content such as manuals, online surveys and programs that enable screen sharing such as Mikogo, Zoom, oovoo, HipChat, etc.
• The training should be clear, consistent and in accordance with the project objectives.

Techniques & Tools for Training Strong Distributed Teams from SococoTeam

Skills of a Successful Trainer

• Knowledge: the necessary knowledge and the experience to pass it on.
• Communication: ease in communicating through online channels - good tone of voice, good participant engagement, express themselves clearly and fluidly.
• Positive Attitude: a person with an optimistic mindset who maintains positive thinking. Has good problem solving skills and maintains a vibe of positivity.
• Participation: provides a participative space in which learning is forged by everyone exchanging knowledge, skills and points of view. Learn how to develop these traits in our Workshop: How to Execute A Successful Employee Training: Preparing for The Job.
• Service: is a helper and sees through the process of trainees, answers their questions, reinforces learning and provides excellent feedback.
• Critical thinking: has the ability to question and formulate guiding questions that help mobilize the team and strengthen its learning.
• Resourcefulness: is comfortable improvising when the training process calls for it. Can create and implement effective strategies and proposals, and enhance the training of everyone.
• Organization: is an orderly person with regard to the course content and time management, getting the most out of every training session.

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