There’s no denying that the in-person way of working is ideal for collaborative and immersive working patterns. It helps us form connections with those around us that leads to a stronger collaborative process. But what about those situations where individuals or teams can’t meet in-person?
Increasingly, teams are made up of individuals that are spread out geographically, spanning states, time zones, and even continents. Co-locating and traveling add constraints to organizations which lead to a loss in productivity and an increase in travel budgets. More importantly, it takes people away from their family, friends, and pets for extended periods.
Lately, a new, potentially long-lived dynamic has pushed us into a unique position that requires remote working… COVID-19. It brings a real global threat that requires working remotely. Prior to the pandemic, many companies assumed that remote work would lead to a significant drop in productivity. As it turns out, they were wrong.
Remote Dojos are no exception!
Working remotely is new to many teams and coaches. To help make their lives easier, we recommend using the following templates for your remote Dojos.
Benefits of using templates for remote Dojos
To guarantee long-term success with your remote Dojo, it's important to make sure that both the Dojo coaches and teams participating in the Dojo have a consistent and excellent experience. Templates are a great way to make sure this happens.
Consistency
Consistency in a Dojo makes the lives of coaches a lot easier by using the same templates from one Dojo to the next. This helps provide a uniform Dojo branding message, which will allow the Dojo to gain positive recognition in the organization.
Reduce Rework
Templates also reduce rework for all Dojo experiences. They allow anyone on the Dojo staff to create the various documentation that you need (consultation documents, charters, aftercare recommendations, etc.), so the team can easily flow through the Dojo journey. With templates, the amount of rework needed from the Dojo staff is greatly reduced. And, as an added bonus, they help you quickly bring new Dojo coaches up to speed.
Scaling
Once a successful process of the Dojo journey is established, scaling into multiple parallel Dojos becomes easy. Parallel Dojos are when two or more Dojos occur simultaneously.
Remote Dojo Templates as they relate to the Dojo Journey
The templates you need will depend on the organization's maturity and tool stack. But the ultimate goal is to make the lives of the Dojo team and participants more convenient.
Let’s use the Dojo Journey as a guide to demonstrate how and where templates are being used.
Phase 1: Consult
During the Consult phase, we like to use the template below to discuss topics with the team like team availability, maturity, capabilities, tech stack, composition, and desired Dojo outcomes. To maximize this phase, include the potential Dojo participants and Dojo coaches in these conversations.
Next time you perform a consult for a team coming through the Dojo, use this template and modify it as needed.
Consultation Template
Phase 2: Charter
The Charter phase includes a deep dive meeting with potential Dojo participants, key stakeholders, and Dojo coaches. The goal of the charter is to uncover the team's challenges and identify their key results and outcomes of the Dojo. This phase allows participants and coaches to build relationships and trust. Use the template below and tailor it to fit your remote Dojo requirements.
Charter Template
Phase 3: Dojo
Since each remote Dojo experience requires a unique and tailored approach, there is no template for this phase. Check out our previous blog to gain a better understanding of what remote Dojos look like, along with recommendations on tech setup in a remote Dojo environment.
Phase 4: Aftercare
The Aftercare phase is an opportunity for Dojo graduates to have clearly defined next steps for continued success and on-going support after they complete the Dojo.
The goal of the State-of-the-Dojo template is to provide guidance and support to teams once they leave the Dojo. This template ensures the teachings of the Dojo are embedded in the team’s new way of working. It also highlights future Dojo opportunities.
State-of-the-Dojo Template
Removing Resistance and Rework from Remote Dojos
Working from home is hard. Feeling disconnected from your team and that fully collaborative environment you get from working in-person can be a struggle. But, it’s not impossible. You can still recreate the impact of an in-person Dojo remotely, you just have to approach things differently.
After lots of trial and error, we've found these templates to be the most effective across all our clients over this past year. These templates are meant to be a starting point for streamlining your Dojo and may need to be updated to meet your exact business needs.
Ultimately templates are all about making the lives of the Dojo staff & teams easier. Reach out if you have any questions or feedback!
