
Leading Virtual and Disconnected Teams (LVDT) is an online programme supporting those leading large teams or departments in providing connected leadership in a more challenging, flexible or disconnected workplace.
The impact of the Covid pandemic has added to the complexity of leadership at all levels. Campus closures, social lockdown and enforced working from home has brought about disruption, displacement and disconnection: the disruption of work patterns and activities, the displacement of teams and departments, and the disconnection of colleague relationships.
LVDT has been designed in response to these challenging times and has been developed to support colleagues to take stock of their team or departmental leadership and review their approach to influencing in a virtual and hybrid world.
You can find out more and read a testimonial from a previous delegate by downloading our information sheet below.
Closed for bookings
Next course dates will be announced in due course.
Who is the programme for?
Leading Virtual and Disconnected Teams has been designed for those leading large teams or departments in higher education and related organisations. The programme is ideal for colleagues who are a head of department, centre or service in either a professional or an academic role, or for those leading a large unit or cross-disciplinary/functional project team.
The programme is also relevant for colleagues leading teaching or research teams as part of a wider academic role and those with thematic responsibilities.

How is the programme delivered?
LVDT is delivered online in three half-day modules. The programme progresses from supporting you to rediscover your leadership and resilience through to re-expressing purpose and creating collective commitment in the team. The aim overall is to foster agility and create a purposeful hybrid balance between virtual engagement and in-person collaboration.
Module One
Rediscovering leadership in a new and changing world.
Module Two
Reconnecting teams in a new and changing world.
Module Three
Re-expressing purpose in a new and changing world.
The programme is also supported by a dedicated Advance HE Connect Group, to share resources and facilitate collaborative discussions amongst participants between the modules. To enhance the impact of the modules and increase the emphasis on discussion-based, discovery learning, some materials will also be provided in advance of the modules for review and reflection.
You can find out more detailed information about the modules by downloading our information sheet below.
What are the programme outcomes?
Participants on LVDT will have the opportunity to:
• Engage with a balance of practical approaches and conceptual ideas in relation to virtual and hybrid leadership
• Reflect upon their identity and purpose as a leader and how they connect with both their teams and organisations in this fast-changing world
• Explore the importance of congruence between values and actions for high impact leadership
• Consider techniques for self-management and sustainable resilience
• Discuss the challenges of influence and communication in a virtual and hybrid world
• Translate the core principles and practices of effective team leadership to more disconnected and disbursed work scenarios
• Review the essentials for team engagement such as investing in relationships, turning up trust and creating clarity around goals and expectations
• Discuss the importance of focus, purpose, motivation and culture for collective commitment
• Think creatively about how to take advantage of technology
• Share experiences of leading in a more disconnected institutional landscape.

'Keep it real'
In this enlightening article, LVDT Programme Director Doug Parkin sets out his seven key principles for leading virtual or hybrid teams.
