Effective virtual communication
Remote working has many advantages for employees and organisations, but it also comes with its own set of challenges.
Trusted by over 1,000 organisations worldwide
Overview
Remote working has many advantages for employees and organisations, but it also comes with its own set of challenges.
Without sharing office space, colleagues must find new ways to meet, share ideas and collaborate. Lacking the opportunity to pick up on cues like body language, facial expression and tone puts a heavier burden on written communication – and can mean more misunderstandings and bad feeling. And an absence of in-person interaction can lead to team members feeling disconnected, disengaged and isolated.
At the same time, leaders of remote teams must understand how to keep their team members feeling motivated and supported, while negotiating cultural or language barriers and different working and communicating styles.
But with a new skill set, effective workflows and an understanding of how to make the most of available tools, your distributed team can thrive in their virtual workplace. This intensive session will equip delegates with the key skills and techniques they need.
Outcomes
On this intensive session, your team will learn how to:
- understand virtual-communication etiquette and tone
- establish their message and choose the right channel to share it
- define a shared vision and keep each other connected and engaged
- communicate key messages clearly
- inform, update and persuade with their writing
- avoid misunderstandings, plug communication gaps and defuse conflict
- run engaging online meetings
- encourage and manage others’ contributions
- use workflows that maintain the flow of information
- collaborate effectively online
- understand and work with different social styles.
As part of the preparation, we ask delegates to fill in an analysis exercise which identifies their social style. The insights that this questionnaire reveals about each team member will help them relate better to each other remotely and team leaders to better manage and support their colleagues.
Who's it for?
Any distributed team who work remotely and use online tools to communicate.
Find the training that fits
For individuals
Book one to three people on one of our public courses. With a maximum of eight learners per course.
For groups
Train four or more people (up to your whole organisation) with in-house training designed for your team and your needs.
Tailored to you
Individual writing analysis
We’ll analyse each attendee’s writing across 15 different areas
Expert trainers
Each with 15+ years’ experience as professional writers, editors and coaches
Individual coaching
Expert one-on-one feedback with personalised insights embeds learning
AI writing
Learn how to get the most from AI tools: supercharge your writing without losing your human edge
Tailored content
Course content built around your specific learning objectives
Real-world examples
Activities and exercises modified to use your team’s documents
Where
Online virtual classroom
Online or in-person
Duration
One day
Tailored to you
Price
£495
per person + VAT
Get a quote
for your bespoke course
Course programmes
For individuals
Book one to three people on one of our public courses. With a maximum of eight learners per course.
For groups
Train four or more people (up to your whole organisation) with in-house training designed for your team and your needs..
For groups
Train four or more people (up to your whole organisation) with in-house training designed for your team and your needs.
Individual writing analysis
We’ll analyse each attendee’s writing across 15 different areas
Expert trainers
Each with 15+ years’ experience as professional writers, editors and coaches
Individual coaching
Expert one-on-one feedback with personalised insights embeds learning
AI writing
Learn how to get the most from AI tools: supercharge your writing without losing your human edge
Tailored content
Course content built around your specific learning objectives
Real-world examples
Activities and exercises modified to use your team’s documents
Where
Online or in-person
Duration
Tailored to you
Course programmes
Price
Get a quote
for your bespoke course
For individuals
Book one to three people on one of our public courses. With a maximum of eight learners per course.
Individual writing analysis
We’ll analyse your writing across 15 different areas
Individual writing analysis
We’ll analyse each attendee’s writing across 15 different areas
Expert trainers
Each with 15+ years’ experience as professional writers, editors and coaches
Individual coaching
Expert one-on-one feedback with personalised insights embeds learning
AI writing
Learn how to get the most from AI tools: supercharge your writing without losing your human edge
Tailored content
Course content built around your specific learning objectives
Real-world examples
Activities and exercises modified to use your team’s documents
Where
Online virtual classroom
Duration
One day
Course programmes
Price
£495
per person + VAT
Register your interest
We do not currently have any spaces available for individuals to book on this course.
We usually schedule new course dates around two to three months ahead of the date the course will run. If you would like to be contacted as soon as places on this course become available, then please register your interest below.
Frequently asked questions
Can the training be tailored to us specifically?
Definitely – in fact, bespoke group training is the main thing we do. One course programme doesn't look exactly like what you need? No problem. We can combine elements from any of our courses to fit your needs exactly.
Your course can also be part of a blended programme that will support your team in changing their writing for good.
Note that our scheduled course materials cannot be tailored in the same way as our bespoke training. But our trainers will always adapt their delivery based on the individual writing samples which attendees send beforehand – as well as on what people share during the day.
Is the training suitable for non-native speakers of English?
Our courses aren’t ESOL (English for speakers of other languages) courses. They’re not designed to introduce new second-language speakers to the basics of the English language. What they are about is the best ways to use the English language to create effective writing in the professional world.
But our trainers’ experience does mean that they understand and can support the typical challenges learners of English face.
Many of our trainers have experience as ESOL or TEFL (teaching English as a foreign language) teachers, and enthusiastically welcome the presence of non-native speakers on courses. Not least as this tends to best represent our workplaces in our globally connected world!
In short, non-native English speakers with a proficient grasp of English will certainly benefit from the courses – including even in some ways that native speakers don’t.
We have written a full post about this, which you can read here.
Why are group sizes on courses so small?
We limit the number of attendees on our live in-person or remote courses to ten. The reason is simply that we find people learn best in groups of no more than eight to ten.
Having larger groups affects how long activities take and changes the group dynamic: it can discourage shyer attendees from taking part and limits sharing in discussions.
Effective training happens through active learning, including supported (and tailored) practical elements. Increasing the group size compromises how personalised and practical courses can be.
If you’d like to, you can read a fuller answer to this question here.
How much does the training cost?
For our bespoke in-company training, this is a tricky one to give a short or absolute answer on. The cost will depend on many factors, including the number of delegates, the extent of the tailoring, and the elements you choose to include.
For a single course for eight to ten people, the price will range from £3,000–£3,900, or £300–£390 per delegate – as compared with £495 per delegate on a scheduled open course.
We’ll be able to tell you exactly how much you can expect to pay once we’ve spoken with you and understand your requirements.
If you’d like to read a longer explanation of our pricing, you can do that here.
I'm dyslexic – will this course be OK for me?
Yes, certainly. Dyslexia affects around one in ten people, so we often have attendees with dyslexia on our courses.
All of our trainers have received training from the British Dyslexia Association. They are also very experienced at adapting their approach in any course to the needs of the individual learner.
And we produce the materials for each course ourselves, which means we can make accommodations to help. This includes providing manuals printed on coloured paper or a PDF ahead of the day. For in-person courses, we can also provide coloured reading aids.
It's entirely up to you whether you mention your dyslexia during the training. Some attendees do, some don't. It can help for the trainer to be aware though, and you'll have the opportunity to share the information in the run-up to the course. Your trainer will keep it confidential, and you can decide whether you'd like to talk about it during the course.
What our learners say about us
Would you like to speak with us?
If you’d like to know more or have a quick chat with one of our team, then fill out the form below and we will be in touch.