Hassan Osman - Influencing Virtual Teams: 17 Tactics That Get Things Done with Your Remote Employees

By Hassan Osman

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Published by:
Hassan Osman atSmashwords
Copyright 2015 by HassanOsman

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The purpose ofthis book is to provide the user with general information about thesubject matter presented. This book is for entertainment purposesonly. This book is not intended, nor should the user consider it,to be legal advice for a specific situation. The author, company,and publisher make no representations or warranties with respect tothe accuracy, fitness, completeness, or applicability of thecontents of this book. They disclaim any merchantability, fitnessor warranties, whether expressed or implied. The author, company,and publisher shall in no event be held liable for any loss orother damages, including but not limited to special, incidental,consequential, or other damages. This disclaimer applies to anydamages by any failure of performance, error, omission,interruption, deletion, defect, delay in operation or transmission,computer malware, communication line failure, theft or destructionor unauthorized access to, or use of record, whether for breach ofcontract, tort, negligence, or under any other cause of action.

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I intentionally limited the length of this book toless than eighty pages.

Why? Tworeasons.

First, Iwanted to write a book that I wanted to read. No fluff, no filler content, no BS. Justhelpful, meaty content that gets you results. You wont find anydefinitions of virtual teams here. Nor will you read about anystatistical trends on the future of telecommuting.

What you will getis a straightforward list of seventeen tactics that you canimmediately use as a guide to influence your virtual team to getthings done.

Second, I wantedto focus on the tactics that will give you the maximum return oninvestment for your time. I could have added fifty more tips tothis book, but stuffing more words just to fill up a book with morecontent would have diluted the potency of the tips presentedhere.

So dont equatethe brevity of this book with a lack of usefulness. On thecontrary, youre going to learn some incredibly valuable tacticsthat will immediately help you manage your remote employees.

If you manage a virtual team,there are three powerful reasons why you need this book.

Strategiesdont mean anything unless they can be immediately applied. You canlisten to strategic advice such as build a culture of trust orencourage social interactions among your team all day long. Butif you dont get specific tactical steps that you can implement straightaway, those strategieswont be of much help.

This book focuseson actionable tips that show you exactly how to apply thesemanagement techniques with your team. Youll also get some greatexamples that help reinforce those tactics for you.

Im a strongbeliever in a science-based approach to management. Im also avoracious reader of non-fiction booksparticularly books aboutinfluence, psychology, productivity, and management.

For thisbook, Ive gathered some of the best ideas Ive learned from allthose sources and included them here for you. So the tactics youlllearn are backed by proven scientific studies that have beenpublished in best-selling books such as Influence: The Psychology ofPersuasion and top-notchjournals such as the Harvard Business Review.

All those sourcesare included at the end of book in the references section.

You may ask, Whois Hassan Osman and why should I listen to him?

Good question. Forover ten years Ive been managing and researching virtual teams. Iteach a course about managing virtual teams, I blog about workingfrom home, and I frequently publish articles about remote work.Ive done everything from managing small three-member teams as anentrepreneur to leading large-scale implementations with overthirty remote workers as a project manager in a Fortune 100company.

Currently, Im asenior program manager at Cisco Systems, where I lead virtual teamsall over the world on delivering complex projects. (Important note:the opinions expressed in this book are my own views, and not thoseof Cisco).

At any given pointin time, I could be managing a team of employees in more than eightdifferent countries. I also manage multiple projects with multiplecustomers in different time zones. I dont say all that to brag,but I do want you to realize that I eat and breathe this topic on adaily basis. My company depends upon me to know my business, and ifI didnt get results from my teams, Id be out of a job.

Over the years,Ive gained a lot of insights about what works and what doesntwith virtual teams. Some insights are based on my ownself-experimentation, while others are based on data-driven andscientific studies.

This book containsthe best of the best practical advice that I learned which willhelp you get things done with your virtual team. I guaranteeit.

As a thank-you for your purchase,Im offering a free bonus that is exclusive to my readers.

The bonusincludes two templates to help you with your meetings: a meeting agendatemplate and a meeting minutestemplate that you canuse for your own team (Ill explain how to use those templates inTactics 13 and 14 of this book). The templates are in MicrosoftWord (.doc) format so you can start using them rightaway.

Your freebonus also includes a downloadable Time Zone Meeting Coordinationebook (a PDF file) thatwill help you schedule virtual team meetings across different timezones in seven easy steps. The ebook also comes with a downloadable Excelspreadsheet template that will save you time in creating your own.