Training Industry Magazine - May/June 2021 - 9

C.J. REED, CPTM

GUEST EDITOR

CHANGES TO IT TRAINING
TO ACQUIRE SKILLS FOR
WORKING REMOTELY
It might be hard to imagine now, but a year
ago many employees had no experience
working from home. Before the COVID-19
pandemic, many organizations had
workforces primarily accustomed to
working in office and other professional
settings on a regular basis.
Since remote work is not common in most
construction sites or offices, the information
technology (IT) training department
at McCarthy Building Companies
partnered with human resources (HR)
to create webinars and tools to support
our partners as we adjusted to this
alternative way of working. Below are
some recommendations from the series:
WORKING REMOTELY - AS AN
INDIVIDUAL
When working remotely, employees
must be deliberate in staying connected
with managers and teammates. By taking
advantage of communication tools,
employees can reach out to colleagues
for ideas and feedback as they would in
the office. You should also encourage
individuals to take breaks from work to
casually catch up with co-workers.

ON A REMOTE TEAM,
IT IS IMPORTANT TO
MAKE SURE EVERYONE
IS HEARD AND
PARTICIPATING.
The IT training department also
recommended using video tools when
appropriate in online meetings and
interactions. This helps employees interact
and communicate more transparently and

authentically, because they're able to read
facial expressions and other non-verbal
cues. Moreover, video chats are often
much quicker and efficient than an email
or instant message.
WORKING REMOTELY - AS A
MANAGER
In the remote environment, leaders
must manage results, not processes.
The IT training department identified
which collaboration and communication
tools employees can use to establish
consistent one-on-one and group checkins with managers. Managers also setup
" open room " meeting times in online
platforms for their employees to jump in
for quick questions and guidance. If an
employee joins, the manager closes the
meeting room to indicate it is occupied.
The IT training department also helped
managers use online tools to help track
employees' tasks and progress. With
this tool, managers can create tasks and
organize them into three categories: do,
doing and done. Both managers and
employees can review tasks at any time
and meet to reprioritize or reallocate.
WORKING REMOTELY - AS A TEAM
On a remote team, it is important to make
sure everyone is heard and participating.
Don't let anyone fall through the cracks,
and be patient as teammates adjust.
To avoid this, start each meeting with a
check-in - asking each member to take
a couple minutes to discuss what they
are doing, what is going well and what is
challenging. The IT training department
also identified tools within our online
meeting platforms to make meetings

more engaging and interactive - such
as polling, chats, breakout rooms and
virtual backgrounds.
You can also ensure all team members are
heard by carving out time for team building
and casual communication. Maintaining
personal working relationships and
checking in on teammates regularly is
critical to long-term success. IT training
provided quick guides on using internal
social media platforms to encourage team
cohesion and sharing. Our organization
also began to host virtual happy hours and
lunch and learns to provide skills training
and development.
WORKING REMOTELY -
SUCCESSFULLY
The sudden shift to remote work
required us to learn new online tools to
help individuals, managers and teams
in the remote environment. To avoid
redundancies, IT training departments
should identify and track which online
learning tools and features are at the
organization's disposal. By reducing
redundancies and establishing strong
strategic alignment between your
business's and employees' needs,
your IT Training department can
successfully assist and support your
remote workforce.
C.J. Reed, CPTM, serves as the IT
customer support manager for McCarthy
Building Companies, which provides
commercial construction. CJ has over 20
years of experience in the construction
industry and is responsible for leading
IT training and providing on-demand
support for the company's standard IT
systems and services. Email C.J.

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Training Industry Magazine - May/June 2021

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