The more virtual your business, the more flexible the hours, the lower the overhead, and the greater the profit potential. Your Virtual Success will help a cash-poor entrepreneur, a small business scrambling for expansion capital, an existing business seeking to improve profits, or an independent professional in any service business. Alan Blume's virtual model has resulted in large six-figure deals with people he's never met face to face--and never will-- and small sales that would never be profitable in a traditional business environment. In Your Virtual Success, he demystifies the cost-effective, leading-edge, Internet-based tools that are available to almost everyone, as long as you know what questions to ask and where to look. Your Virtual Success shows any entrepreneur, sole proprietor, partnership, or existing business how to: Leverage new Internet tools to grow your business faster and more profitably. Utilize free or low-cost online resources to hire, manage and expand your business. Rapidly create a new, work-from-home virtual business while minimizing the risks of a traditional startup.

Designers and facilitators must adapt their programs and delivery styles to be effective in the new medium that is virtual training. Virtual training gives learning professionals unprecedented flexibility, making it possible to reach participants globally and unite physically dispersed teams. This book goes beyond introducing the technology, to offer trainers proven techniques tailored specifically to engage live online audiences. In Successful Virtual Classroom, you will learn how to: Make the most of virtual classroom features such as content and screen sharing, annotation tools, polls, and breakout rooms Weave chat responses into the discussion Compensate for the absence of body language Monitor feedback Engage individuals with different learning styles Encourage audience contribution Meet the unique needs of global participants Packed with easy-to-use tools, checklists, and worksheets--as well as case studies from?Oracle,?UPS, and more--the book introduces the PREP model for planning, rehearsing, executing, and then conducting a postmortem following the training event. Featuring icebreakers and interactive exercises designed for an online environment, Successful Virtual Classroom helps you create programs that truly drive learner engagement.

A timely and hands-on resource informed by lessons learned from Fortune 500 CEOs and executives Leading at a Distance provides executives with the necessary skills to successfully lead in the new virtual workplace, backed by the research and expertise of global leadership firm Spencer Stuart. Although working remotely is not new, the global pandemic has placed virtual work at the center of everyday life. And it has thrust workforce strategies to the core of business operations globally. As the shift towards large-scale virtual work continues to grow and become a permanent fixture—by some estimates, 30% of the workforce will be working virtually – leaders must understand how to build virtual work environments that foster connected, engaged, and high-performing teams. Although some forward-thinking companies and not-for-profit organizations have made significant investments in technology and virtual collaboration, many others have simply joined the “Zoom culture” without fully appreciating what it takes to operate effectively at a distance on a sustained basis. Leading at a Distance is a timely, research-based, and highly practical guide for developing and implementing strategies for conducting high-impact virtual work, building trust, and enhancing team unity. Designed to help leaders shape organizational culture remotely, this must-have resource demonstrates how to conduct virtual onboarding for senior leaders, build top teams from a distance, manage accountability in the new virtual environment, and much more. A hands-on toolkit filled with compelling examples, expert insights, and invaluable advice, this book: Provides clear guidance on establishing effective leadership in the virtual workplace Offers practical approaches for establishing strong relationships, increasing employee engagement, and coaching from a distance Addresses ways to keep geographically dispersed team members aligned and accountable Illustrates creative ideas for boosting team morale Features an overview of the unique challenges facing leaders in the virtual workplace Discusses often-overlooked topics such as virtual hiring and onboarding Leveraging the authors' in-depth research and consulting experience, Leading at a Distance is required reading for anyone needing to adapt to a virtual way of working and develop their virtual leadership skills to maximize organizational effectiveness and performance.

In today’s complex organizations it is not uncommon to have as many as 50 percent of employees working on virtual teams. As the “virtual revolution” continues to spread, how can companies ensure that virtual team collaboration is producing the desired results? Highly practical and easy to navigate, Virtual Team Success leverages the authors’ robust global research study and hands-on experience to provide an immediately usable resource for virtual team members and team leaders. This groundbreaking book is a hands-on, practical toolkit filled with down-to-earth examples and insights that can enhance the virtual team experience for everyone involved. The authors’ research study is one of the most comprehensive applied studies ever conducted on virtual teams, and all of the recommendations outlined are based on these findings as well as the authors’ years of experience helping virtual teams and virtual team leaders effectively lead and collaborate from a distance. To help organizations and leaders enhance virtual team performance, the book includes: Why Virtual Teams Fail—outlines the four pitfalls that frequently derail virtual teams Profile of High Performing Teams—addresses the characteristics of the most effective virtual teams and what makes them successful Virtual Team Launch Kit—provides practical guidelines and tools for successfully launching virtual teams How to RAMP Up Your Team’s Effectiveness—introduces a practical research-based model of virtual team effectiveness to improve team performance Profile of Top Performing Virtual Team Leaders—identifies the practices of the most successful virtual team leaders Facilitating High-Impact Virtual Meetings—includes tips and techniques to effectively lead “v-meetings” Virtual Team Success also includes practical resources for virtual team leaders, quick reference guides for diagnosing virtual team problems, and six lessons for virtual team success.

This important volume features contributions by top virtual school practitioners and experts in the field who talk about what virtual schools can do to plan for success. If you are interested in the details of launching virtual learning options for your school, district, region, or state, you likely have more questions than answers. Where do I begin? What kind of personnel will I need? What providers and resources are available to me? How do I hire and train teachers? What are the costs involved? This authoritative volume will answer these questions and many more. Providing an overview of virtual schooling and e-learning, along with detailed case studies and issues chapters, this essential volume provides practical guidance and a brief plan for success roadmap for local schools interested in starting a virtual learning program.

Whether taking classes in school, college or university, or in a corporate training setting, it is likely that learners will be expected to do at least part of their studies via the computer. This book provides realistic guidelines to ensure their success in the virtual learning environment. From detailing tools such as WebCT and Blackboard, to overcoming personal barriers to success in distance learning, this handy text deals with issues that readers of any age, stage or situation are likely to encounter by: * demystifying terms and concepts common to online learning * addressing issues of online ethics such as netiquette, plagiarism and software piracy * offering practical advice on interacting effectively online, submitting assignments and doing research * furnishing numerous links to Web pages and other resources for further study and research. The author offers serious and humorous anecdotes to help readers avoid the pitfalls and capitalize on opportunities that will help them become a successful online student. Current and prospective online learners will greatly benefit from this practical book filled with clear, detailed assistance for learning online.

Remote learning has been around since the 18th century. Caleb Phillips began advertising correspondence courses in the Boston Gazette in 1728 allowing people, for the first time, to learn new skills no matter where they lived. For the past 300 years, virtual training, in its various formats, has been meandering into shore on an inevitable yet slow building tide. And then, just like that, everything changed. A global pandemic. Social distancing. Working from home. In an instant, the tide became a tsunami. The global pandemic accelerated the broad adoption of virtual instructor led training along with awareness that classroom-based training is often expensive, inefficient, and fails to deliver a fair return on investment. While it is certainly more challenging to re-create the collaborative environment of the physical classroom in a virtual setting, virtual training combines the structure, accountability, and social learning benefits of classroom training with speed, agility, and significant cost savings. Simply put, virtual training enables organizations to rapidly upskill more people, while generating a far higher return on the training investment. Virtual training is also green. Studies indicate that virtual training consumes nearly 90% less energy and produces 85% fewer CO2 emissions than classroom training. Still, the biggest challenge with virtual training, and the reason there has been so much resistance to it, is historically the experience has been excruciating. Not the quality of the curriculum or content. Not the talent of the trainer. The learning experience. There are few people who haven’t had the pleasure of sitting through agonizing virtual training sessions. Death by voice over PowerPoint, delivered by a disengaged instructor, has an especially bitter flavor. It is the way virtual training is delivered that matters most. When the virtual learning experience is emotionally positive: Participants are more engaged, embrace new competencies, and knowledge sticks Participants are more likely to show up to class and be open to future virtual training Trainers enjoy their work and gain fulfillment from making an impact Leaders book more virtual training Organizations more readily blend and integrate virtual training into learning & development initiatives This is exactly what this book is about. Virtual Training is the definitive guide to delivering virtual training that engages learners and makes new skills and behavioral changes stick. Jeb Blount, one of the most celebrated trainers and authors of our generation, walks you step-by-step through the seven elements of effective, engaging virtual learning experiences. Trainer Mindset & Emotional Discipline Production & Technology Media & Visuals Virtual Curriculum & Instructional Design Planning & Preparation Virtual Communication Skills Dynamic & Interactive Training Delivery As you dive into these powerful insights, and with each new chapter, you’ll gain greater and greater confidence in your ability to effectively deliver training in a virtual classroom. Once you master virtual training delivery and experience the power of remote learning, you may never want to go back to the physical classroom again.