Wayne Turmel
Wayne Turmel is a speaker, writer and co-founder of The Remote Leadership Institute. He’s passionate about helping people present, sell and lead people and projects using today’s virtual communication technology. His books include Meet Like You Mean It - a Leader’s Guide to Painless and Productive Virtual Meetings. Wayne is based in Chicago, IL.
Key skills for virtual leaders
14 May 2019
Leading a virtual team is a tough call, so here are seven key behaviors that leaders of virtual teams need to develop to be successful.
Great advice from a sketchy source
23 Apr 2019
Ian Fleming’s James Bond books don’t normally spring to mind as sources of useful management advice. But there’s a line in ‘Goldfinger’ that is actually quite brilliant if you run a remote team.
Are your teammates competent?
08 Apr 2019
One of the biggest factors in building trust is believing in the competence of the people you work with. If you work in the same place, that isn’t so hard to do. But if you work remotely, gathering evidence of competence takes more effort.
The cost of bad meetings
26 Mar 2019
Bad meetings cost companies billions of dollars every year. But this waste is easily avoidable if only we'd all ask ourselves a couple of basic questions and think a little more about how and why we have meetings.
Staying on track isn't easy
28 Feb 2019
It's surprising how often teams lose sight of their goals. There are plenty of reasons, and maybe understanding some of the most common will help you and your team reassess where you are headed.
Five remote team new year's resolutions
07 Jan 2019
The new year is a great time to ask some fundamental questions about how your project team works together and what needs to change. So here are five "resolutions" you should at least consider for your remote team.
Do you run meetings or lead them?
24 Sep 2018
Any meeting, whether in a conference room or online, can be run. But successful meetings need to be led - and there is a huge difference between running a meeting and leading one.
Five reasons remote teams fail
20 Aug 2018
Leading a remote team isn’t that different to leading a co-located one. But we do have to re-think how we do certain things. Here are five ways you can get that wrong.
Are you hiding behind technology?
06 Aug 2018
We all get tired, rushed and overworked. And when we do, it's tempting to use technology as an excuse to take the easy way out by avoiding confrontation or uncomfortable conversations.
Earning attention on webinars
12 Jul 2018
I’m always being asked how to get people to pay attention during webinars. My answer is to ask a simple question: what are you doing to earn their attention?
Ask your team a 3,000 year-old question
22 Jun 2018
If you're mindful as to your meeting's purpose and desired outcome, you will accomplish far more than if you approach it as an empty ritual.
The mortar in a project's wall
04 Jun 2018
What holds a wall together is the mortar between the bricks. And what holds a project together is the effective, clear and proactive communication between individuals.
Shut up first, talk later
04 Jun 2018
On team conference calls, it can sometimes seem almost impossible to get people to contribute or share information effectively. Here’s how you can change that.
Accountability is more important than accounting
16 May 2018
What's more important: that people are working on exactly what you want them working on at that exact moment, or that important tasks and outputs are done on time and team goals are met?
Mapping the power in your organization
19 Apr 2018
Forget job titles, do you know who has the real power in your organization and who has real influence where it matters most?
Open questions, open communication
21 Mar 2018
Working remotely, we just don't get any of non-verbal signals we see in a meeting room. That's why asking open questions is one of the most critical skills the manager of a remote team can possess.
Office politics when you're not in an office
01 Feb 2018
People who work remotely often view the absence of office politics as a real plus. But they’re wrong. Understanding organizational and inter-personal dynamics is a critical part of that thing called ‘work’.
A whole new ballgame?
06 Dec 2017
Adopting remote teams might seem like a whole new ball game, but it’s the same game - just played on a slightly different field. The WHAT doesn’t really change, it's the HOW that's different.
Your team members aren’t pawns in a chess game
22 Nov 2017
Project management and team leadership are often viewed as chess games. But there’s one important difference. Those pieces on the chess board aren’t human. Your team members are - and they need to be treated accordingly.
Managing time in meetings
26 Oct 2017
Often when running a meeting - be it physical or virtual - we can get so focused on "getting everything done" in the allotted time slot that we forget to focus on what it is we're actually supposed to accomplish.