16 Remote Work Training Courses for Excellence in Management (Free + Paid in 2024)

With the pandemic just behind is and more companies shifting towards remote work, managing remote teams has become increasingly important. But it's not always easy to know how to handle this new way of working.

Even if you're an experienced manager, leading a remote team can be challenging due to limited contact, physical distance, and communication issues.

That's why we've put together a guide to help you out! We've reviewed 16 Remote Work Training Courses that can help you enhance your skills and prepare you for the unique challenges of leading a remote team.

With these courses, you'll be able to master the art of remote management in no time.

16 Remote Work Training Courses to Improve Your Leadership Skills

It's no secret that remote team management is a challenge for many leaders. But it doesn't have to be.

If you're a remote manager, you know that managing people is hard. 

You can't just walk over to someone's desk and ask them what they're working on. You need to figure out how to manage your team members in a way that makes them feel supported and engaged while also holding them accountable for their work.

However, with the right remote management training course, you can master the art of leading a virtual team and enjoy all the benefits that come with it.

You can get the most out of these tools if you combine them in ways that best suit your situation. 

So, without further ado, here are our recommendations.

1. GitLab - How to Manage a Remote Team

Provider: Coursera

Course Title: How to Manage a Remote Team

Overview: This course was developed with GitLab, a famous remote-first company. It teaches how to manage remote teams, communicate well, and use tools to work together effectively. 

You will learn to create trust, keep a team culture, and maintain productivity while working remotely. This course teaches you how to manage remote teams successfully. You'll learn from experienced professionals and get practical strategies and best practices.

Best For: This course is perfect for new remote managers who want to learn the basics of managing a remote team. This is for people who want to learn how to lead remote teams effectively. You'll learn important principles and practical skills.

Students love this course because of its well-structured knowledge with practical examples of a fully remote organization's substantial benefits and challenges. As GitLab is a fully remote company, they frame the whole course as if this should be the ultimate goal and go through all the main aspects of transitioning toward a remote organization. Moreover, the course's assessment is straightforward, practical, and uncomplicated.

Click here to sign up for Gitlab's "How to Manage a Remote Team" – it's free.

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2. University of Toronto - Communication Strategies for a Virtual Age

Provider: Coursera

Course Title: Communication Strategies for a Virtual Age

Overview: This course discusses how communication is different now that we have digital technology. This resource gives you a grasp of important ideas and useful techniques for communicating well in teams, whether you're working face-to-face or remotely. 

At the end of the course, you will learn how to apply communication principles, give impactful presentations, improve your communication style for persuasion, conduct effective meetings, and handle difficult conversations with empathy. 

These abilities will help remote managers adapt to and flourish in digital communication, creating deep relationships and productive teamwork.

Best For: This training is great for remote managers who want to improve their virtual communication abilities. This course is for you if you work in a remote team and want to improve cooperation and morale.

Attendees loved this course because instructor Ivan Wanis Ruiz did a wonderful explaining the topic and imparting his knowledge for various components, including how to communicate both in the virtual and real world; how to identify people's motivation by knowing their communication styles; and ways to make a good presentation by asking the correct questions and giving the exact message and image you want to people. 

Click here and sign up for University of Toronto's Communication Strategies for a Virtual Age – it's free!

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3. Skillshare - Effective Communication: Five Best Practices for Remote Teams

Provider: Skillshare

Course Title: Effective Communication: Five Best Practices for Remote Teams

Overview: No matter your remote or hybrid-remote team role, this class will provide valuable insights to improve your communication skills and create a more comfortable work environment for everyone.

This course will teach you effective communication techniques for remote teams with Claire Lew, CEO of Know Your Team. You will combat Zoom fatigue and overwhelming Slack notifications by implementing these five best practices making communication a priority by embracing asynchronous writing; efficiently running remote meetings by streamlining the process; selecting the appropriate communication channel for each situation; boosting productivity by creating uninterrupted time blocks; lead remote communication with empathy and understanding.

Best For: This class offers an opportunity for CEOs leading remote or hybrid-remote teams and employees working remotely to transform their communication approach. It will assist in envisioning new ways to effectively interact with colleagues, promoting a sense of comfort and ease for everyone involved. 

The completer has emphasized that this class motivated them to reconsider conducting and organizing team meetings, together with one-on-one meetings with their team members, and ready to apply the fresh ideas into practice.

Click here and sign up for Skillshare for an Effective Communication: Five Best Practices fro Remote Teams.

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4. Udacity - Managing Remote Teams with Upwork

Provider: Udacity

Course Title: Managing Remote Teams with Upwork

Overview: This training was developed in collaboration with Upwork to help remote managers better oversee their employees away from the office. 

Tools for managing distributed teams and techniques for effectively communicating with and motivating remote workers will be covered.

Upwork delivers helpful context since it has deep experience in working with remote resources.

Best For: Managers, team leaders, and professionals who operate remotely and utilize Upwork to coordinate their teams are the intended readers. You will enhance your skill set and boost your hirability through innovative, independent learning through this free course.

Click here and sign up for the Remote Work Training Course: Managing Remote Teams with Upwork.

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5. Hubspot - Remote Leadership Training: How to Manage a Remote Team

Provider: Hubspot Academy

Course Title: Remote Leadership Training: How to Manage a Remote Team

‍Overview: HubSpot's free remote management training is an excellent primer on the subject. It deals with typical problems remote managers encounter and provides solutions to them. 

Value is added to the course by the qualified teachers and interesting material. The need to foster a positive business culture when working remotely is also covered in the training by emphasizing the common challenges of working from home; how to create an inclusive work-from-home culture; and how to establish rules of engagement to keep your remote team productive. 

Best For: Anyone interested in learning the fundamentals of remote leadership would benefit greatly from this course.

Click here and sign up for a Remote Leadership Training: How to Manage a Remote Team.

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6. Udemy - How to Manage & Influence Your Virtual Team

Provider: Udemy

Course Title: How to Manage & Influence Your Virtual Team

Overview: The course "How to Manage and Influence Your Virtual Team" provides in-depth instruction on leading a remote team, emphasizing tactical training instead of theoretical instruction. 

This resource explains how to persuade and change the behavior of remote team members using psychological tactics and step-by-step methods. The course focuses on choosing the appropriate technology frameworks and establishing trust in virtual environments. 

The instructor's 15 years of experience managing virtual teams is combined with extensive research to provide practical insights that stand out. This training is a great option if you're looking to improve your remote management abilities without breaking the bank.

Best For: This course is great for managers who work remotely and want to get better at leading and motivating teams that work virtually. It's perfect for anyone who wants to receive guidance on strengthening their connections with others, keeping their teams united, and getting the most out of working from afar.

The completers of this course highly recommend it as the course provided great understanding and examples of how to manage the team on work-from-home, build trust with team members; how fully engage among members of the team to get work done; how improve communication, especially during virtual meetings with the team, as well as choosing the right technology. These are needed in an organization to complete work as a manager.

7. Stanford Online - Managing Remote and Hybrid Teams

Provider: Stanford Online

Course Title: Managing Remote and Hybrid Teams

Overview: This course teaches how to manage remote and hybrid teams. It focuses on encouraging teamwork, trust, and unity within the team. You will learn how to use technology and create a policy for remote work to help your team succeed.

While the course will look great on your resume or LinkedIn, the higher cost will be a potential downside. 

Best For: This course is helpful for managers who work remotely and lead teams that are a mix of in-person and remote workers or those who work in companies moving towards this type of work model. 

Learners would recommend this course to any manager who is concerned about whether their hybrid team can be productive in a telework environment. The knowledge gained from this course can be put into practice immediately and create a competitive advantage over companies that offer remote work but have not yet found solutions to the challenges it brings.

8. Rising Team

Provider: Rising Team

Overview: Not quite a course per se, Rising Team is a journey you can take with your team. The platforms lets managers run lively team development sessions that don't just educate, but also increase connection and engagement within the team.

Each session includes warmups, activities, aggregated team insights, reflections, timers, and more. Topics you can expect to enjoy include Psychological Safety (our favorite!), Diversity & Inclusion, Appreciation, Motivation, and Clear Expectations.

Best for: Managers who don't want to study alone but rather make learning better hybrid team management collaboratively. We've used Rising Team and found it incredibly valuable, especially with new team members.

9. Udemy - Managing a Remote Team

Provider: Udemy

Course Title: Managing a Remote Team

Overview: To learn how to manage a remote team effectively, check out Udemy's Managing a Remote Team course. 

Topics including creating goals, communicating effectively, evaluating remote employees' performance, and engaging in team-building activities over long distances are covered. This course gives remote managers useful strategies and tips to do their job well.

Best For: This course is for people new to managing remote teams or moving into remote team management for the first time. You'll learn the most important principles and best practices.

Students who completed the course emphasized that this course is engaging facilitation thus far. It includes great tips for effective remote meetings, protocol, and ideas for remote team building.

10. LinkedIn Learning - Managing Virtual Teams

Provider: LinkedIn Learning

Course Title: Managing Virtual Teams

Overview: This course provides managers with an introduction to managing virtual teams, with a particular emphasis on leadership, communication, and cooperation. 

You will learn how to foster trust among your team members and give them the authority to decide for the group. 

Best For: Managers and team leaders responsible for virtual teams and professionals interested in remote team management best practices make up the best target audience for the course. If you already have access to LinkedIn Learning, the course comes at no cost. 

From the course’s learner, it was short yet informative. It’s really helpful for development and comprehensiveness while saving time, effort, and money. The course defines the four key points of a remote manager's role: Build Trust, Removing Roadblocks, Nurturing Team Connections, Managing Workloads, and Deliverables. 

"If I had to sum it up in one word, it's communication. Communicating freely and openly with your team members is the single biggest factor to successfully lead any team." - Phil Gold, Instructor.

11. Pluralsight - Managing Remote Teams

Provider: Pluralsight

Course Title: Managing Remote Teams

Overview: Doru Catana's "Managing Remote Teams" course on Pluralsight offers a thorough education in remote team management that touches on various topics, such as recruitment, communication, performance, and culture. 

You'll learn to build a strong remote team culture, use technology effectively, and develop strategies to overcome common remote work challenges.

Best For: This course is great for those who want to improve their ability to manage teams that work remotely. This resource is for managers, whether they are new or experienced, who want to learn useful techniques and tools for leading remote teams successfully.

12. Skillsoft - Leading Virtual Teams

Provider: Global Knowledge

Course Title: Leading Virtual Teams

Overview: Skillsoft's Leading Virtual Teams course aims to provide remote managers with the tools they need to manage and inspire virtual teams effectively. 

Key concepts, including trust building, conflict resolution, and effective communication in virtual teams, are covered. The training course is designed to help leaders of remote teams by providing them with practical advice and engaging activities.

Best For: The intended audience for this training is remote managers who wish to improve their skills as leaders of virtual teams. Best for those who want to learn how to create productive virtual team dynamics, foster cooperation, and propel remote teams to succeed in their job.

Practically, it provides you with best practices to solve a virtual team’s challenges by emphasizing warning signs of an unproductive virtual worker common.

13. Cornell University - Leading Remote Teams

Provider: eCornell

Course Title: Leading Remote Teams

Overview: This course from Cornell University is designed to teach managers how to manage remote teams effectively. 

The session starts with an examination of methods for fostering the kind of trust, involvement, and dedication essential to achieving team success and avoiding the need for corrective measures. 

Then, you'll look at strategies for promoting an environment where remote workers may constructively disagree with one another, take responsibility for their actions, and make sound decisions. After completing the training, you'll be ready to lead virtual teams of any culture and handle the problems that crop up when working remotely.

Best For: It caters to individual contributors, consultants, leaders and executives; who want to understand the unique challenges and strategies required to lead remote teams effectively.

14. Chris Dyer – Remote Leadership Course

Overview: Chris Dyer, a famous thinker and speaker on the topic of remote work, offer this course that helps companies with their remote teams.

The course introduces new opportunities to scale your business, vastly improve employee morale, hire top talent wherever you find it, and unite your team across time zones and lifestyles. This course also guides managers through the  steps for hiring, leading, and meeting in a remote business structure.

The great thing about Chris is that beside this course, he also offers live coaching, meaning you can keep improving your remote leadership skills with him beyond the lessons.

Best For: Managers and leaders who want to make real work of improving their remote management skills, and who want to be inspired along the way. 

15. University of Leeds - Collaborative Working in a Remote Team

Provider: FutureLearn

Course Title: Collaborative Working in a Remote Team

Overview: The emphasis of this training is on working together effectively across geographical distances. 

You'll discover what it takes to operate well in virtual teams, what tools can facilitate communication, and how to build a productive remote workplace. This training is designed to help remote teams work together more effectively by providing actionable insights and techniques.

Best For: Managers of distributed teams benefit from this course if they want to encourage teamwork and diversity among their employees.

The learner as a remote working IT professional expressed that this course was an instant cultural fit for them. They found it exciting and engaging as they could explore the foundation for creating a truly collaborative experience with their peers; and leverage all the excellent tools available in the market.

16. Remote How - Master Managing Remote Teams

Provider: Remote How

Course Title: Master Managing Remote Teams

Overview: You can learn all you need to know about leading and supervising a remote team by taking Remote How's Master Managing Remote Teams course. 

It discusses issues including measuring performance in a dispersed workforce and how to maximize the efficiency of a remote team. This training is designed to help managers of remote teams by giving them actionable advice and useful tools.

There is a space for community, where you’ll meet fellow managers who face the same challenges as you; to troubleshoot your hurdles, consult with the community, and learn from peers.

Best For: Remote managers who want to learn about remote work policies and best practices for building a successful hybrid team.
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What Should A Good Remote Work Training Course Provide?

To assist managers in successfully leading and managing remote teams, a good remote management training program will give thorough guidance and tools. Some essential components of good remote management training include:

Strategies for Communicating Long Distances

In remote teams, good communication is essential. The training should include methods and best practices for communicating remotely, such as utilizing various digital technologies, promoting open and transparent dialogue, using active listening, and administering virtual meetings.

Controlling Performance and Holding People Accountable

Goals, measurements, and accountability systems are essential for managing a remote team's success. Goal-setting, progress tracking, constructive criticism, and inspiring remote workers to do their best are all topics that should be included in the training.

Project Management and Remote Teamwork

Collaboration initiatives are commonplace for distributed teams. Project management strategies suited to virtual teams, work allocation, tracking progress, and timely project delivery are all topics that should be included in the training.

Ability to Lead from a Distance

Leadership qualities are essential for remote managers. Leadership training for remote teams should emphasize skills like fostering open communication, delegating authority, mediating disagreements, and encouraging personal and professional growth.

Offsite Team Building

Creating a strong and dedicated remote workforce is crucial. Training for distributed teams should focus on methods for bringing people together, forging bonds of trust and camaraderie, and encouraging everyone to feel like they belong.

Summary

In conclusion, remote managers and leaders may benefit greatly from the information and guidance from these Remote Work Training Courses listed above. Investing in your growth is the surest way to acquire the knowledge and abilities you'll need to manage a remote team effectively. 

Don't put off improving your skills as a remote manager any longer; sign up for one of these classes immediately.