Webcast:
Virtual work environments are rapidly being adopted; though one third of the workforce of multi-national companies based in the U.S works abroad, they are not beyond your reach. With knowledge workers enabled by email, text messaging tools, and global video conferencing, these technologies too often don't address your talent's implicit "what's in it for me" question — hence, their motivation is at risk. When informal opportunities to build camaraderie are replaced by mechanical virtual communication, it can lead to misunderstandings and feelings of disconnectedness. Exacerbated by the physical and cultural differences found in global work structures, feelings of isolation can rapidly grow into disengagement.
Managers who embrace their virtual workforce around the globe through recognition can personalize motivation that is adaptable to local markets and conditions. The nuance of culture and localized awards is possible through 24/7 mass customization. But it requires knowing the context that drives engagement in the virtual global workplace to support intrinsically motivated knowledge workers. This webcast addresses how managers can enhance the engagement of their virtual teams through culturally and personally meaningful recognition.
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Presenters
Dr. Karen Sobel Lojeski is a Professor in the Department of Technology and Society at Stony Brook University and Founder of Virtual Distance International (VDI), an advisory firm helping organizations boost productivity and innovation in the virtual workforce.Karen is a leading expert on virtual teams, leadership, and collaboration. She is the co-author of "Uniting the Virtual Workforce: Transforming Leadership and Innovation in the Globally Integrated Enterprise", John Wiley & Sons, 2008. Her upcoming book, "Leading the Virtual Workforce: How Great Leaders Transform Organizations in the 21st Century", showcases interviews with executives from IBM, Merck, HP, AT&T, Alcatel-Lucent, Crayola, and others. In it she shares best practices on how great leaders successfully leverage the growing virtual workforce. Both books are part of the Microsoft Executive Leadership Series.Karen is the pioneer who discovered Virtual Distance, a measurable, Digital Age phenomenon that strongly impacts innovation, financial performance, job satisfaction, leader effectiveness, and more. Karen created the Virtual Distance Index, which provides quantitative, tangible, and practical metrics on virtual team dynamics and organizational outcomes. When Virtual Distance is managed properly innovation improves by over 90%, project success increases by over 50% and customer satisfaction also rises by almost 60%.And here's what executives really need to know: Virtual Distance can be just as high among co-located workers as it is among those who work thousands of miles apart making the need for Virtual Distance management an urgent imperative for growth and competitive advantage.Distance management is urgent imperative for growth and competitive advantage. Karen works with worldwide organizations including Sun Microsystems, the US Navy and Center for Naval Analysis, Merck, Alcatel-Lucent, Microsoft, J&J, National Association of Children's Hospitals and Related Institutions, Genentech, Western Union, and more.Karen is a highly sought-after keynote speaker on the topic of managing virtual teams, collaboration, leadership, and strategic change. She has held leadership positions at Stratus Computer, Inc., Chase Manhattan Bank N.A., and Mercer Consulting Group. She was Chief Operating Officer for Prolifics, a JYACC company, and Vice President of North America for Xansa.Karen holds degrees in Computer Science and Applied Mathematics and recently completed her Ph.D. at Stevens Institute of Technology where her dissertation, "Virtual Distance: A New Model for the Study of Virtual Work," won the award for Best Dissertation of 2006.Karen is a Visitor at the Institute of Advanced Studies at Princeton University, a Collaborator at Stanford University's MediaX Lab, and a Presidential Fellow at NYU/Polytechnic University. Karen leads the Virtual Work Forum at Ciozone.com and her groundbreaking work on Virtual Distance has been featured in major business publications and TV appearances including Business Week, The New York Times, Entrepreneur magazine, The Los Angeles Times, ABC News, Reuters.com, Forbes.com, Inside Supply Chain Management, CIOInsight, and more.
Thanks for your insight Lyndsie,
I think you raise an important point in saying that there should be more of a balance. I would love to hear what other thought?
There was a lot of discussion about how managers need to spend more time on recognition and how this should form part of their evaluation as managers, however managers themselves are often a forgotten group. Rather than Senior Executives simply monitoring the recognition activities of managers and making this part of their performance assessment, they should be ensuring that managers are recognised as well. Managers also tend to be very squeezed between having to perform operational activites and being given little time for actually managing their people. They need to be given both the time, the tools and the incentive to recognise their teams in order for this group to remain engaged as well and not feel under-appreciated.