coupled with his interest in the topic (and the fact that he has written seven books), made him a great co-author. Whenever we had a question, Jim called CEOs or other top leaders to get an insider's perspective. A fun example of this is when we were reading about new advancements in Microsoft Teams to combat video fatigue, Jim contacted Satya Nadella and Kathleen Hogan, CEO and CHRO of Microsoft, respectively, who put us in direct touch with Jeff Teper, the leader of the product, design, and engineering teams for Microsoft 365, which includes Microsoft Teams.
Working on the book virtually with our superb internal project team (Ashley Zaslav, Hannah Ford, and Will Dowling) has also been an opportunity for us to test out new approaches. We navigated learning how to leverage different technologies and channel flexibility. Some of us took video calls from our kids’ playroom or a hospital room with a relative; one of us sent notes while out at sea on a boat in Bermuda, all the while learning more about each other as people and employees.
What I love most about this book is that it integrates more than 15 years of research and experience in a practical way that anyone can apply. We hope that you enjoy this labor of love.
Darleen DeRosa, November 2020
Table of Contents
1 Cover
5 Preface: “The Most Obscure PhD in History”: The Story Behind This Book
6 Introduction: The Virtual Revolutionintroduction Accelerating an Existing Trend: Virtual Work Is Here to Stay A Tale of Three Perspectives Our Perspective: Working and Leading at a Distance Is Here to Stay The Big Questions Notes
7 CHAPTER 1: What We Learned from the Pandemic: Our Research Shows Remote Work Is Here to Stay Our Research on the Virtual Experience During a Pandemic Key Findings The Bottom Line Notes
8 CHAPTER 2: No Trust = No Team: The Formula for Building Cohesive Relationships Virtually Warning Signs of Low Trust Examples of Low Trust Examples of High Trust Building Trust in a Virtual Team: The Credibility Factor The Bottom Line Note
9 CHAPTER 3: What Does Good Look Like? Profile of High-Performing Virtual Teams Team Composition Communication and Training Leadership and Management Common Problems That Hurt Virtual Team Performance The RAMP Model The Bottom Line
10 CHAPTER 4: How to RAMP Up Your Virtual Team's Performance: A Blueprint for Success Tips to “RAMP Up” Your Virtual Team Performance Conversation Channels Team-Building Software Videos of Company Events Quizzes Virtual Photo Competitions and Submissions Coffee Meetings, Team Challenges, or Pizza Parties via Video Digital “Bonfires”/All Company Meetings The Bottom Line
11 CHAPTER 5: Out of Sight, Not Out of Mind: How to Inspire and Motivate from Afar Find Ways to Recognize and Reward Employees Get to Understand the Values of Your Remote Team Members Help the Team Find Its “Why?” and Then Focus on the “How” Create a Sense of Purpose and then Focus on the “How” Become a Storyteller The Bottom Line Notes
12 CHAPTER 6: “You're on Mute”: The Ultimate Guide for Hosting Virtual Meetings Before the Meeting Running the Meeting The Five Types of Disruptors in Virtual Meetings and How to Handle Them A Few Important Caveats About Media Richness: Video Burnout The Bottom Line
