Post from ITWorldCanada.  Written by Jennifer Kavur. View The Original Article Here.

Recent research from the Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario, conducted by Associate Professor Nicole Haggerty and recent Ivey graduate Dr. Yinglei Wang, suggests managers pay attention to virtual competence if they want their teams to be successful at online communication.

Virtual teams are still struggling to be effective, according to Haggerty. “They often struggle with issues of communication, trust and knowledge of how to use the tools in addition to the tasks they are completing,” she said.

But those who exhibit virtual competence have the skills and knowledge they need to conduct work in virtual environments, whether with their colleague in the cubicle next door or a global team, she said.

A term coined by Haggerty and Wang over the course of their research on what employees need to know in order to work effectively in virtual settings, virtual competence consists of three skill sets that work in tandem.

Virtual social skills describe an individual’s capability to build online social relationships; virtual media skills are the actual capabilities in using a range of tools and features; virtual self-efficacy is simply self confidence, she explained.

“The reason self confidence turns out to be important is because it gives people the motivation to persist when they have difficulties and it gives them the confidence to explore new features, new tools and new ways of doing things,” Haggerty said.

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While employees need the skills, the research mostly sends a message to management who create those opportunities or tasks that require employees to collaborate. “They need to have at least a sensitivity for what they are asking people to do and therefore what is it they must know to be effective,” she said.

While any level employee would benefit from having the skill set, according to Haggerty, not every employee needs it. “The crucial thing is for organizations to know the kinds of demands they are placing on their employees when they are asking them to do work,” she said.

The more a firm needs its people to collaborate online and work with remote locations and make use of mobile devices like laptops and PDAs, the more they need to look at this ensemble of skills and how they can help their employees develop it, she said.

One way of developing these skills is to use online social networking in your personal life. In their research, Haggerty and Wang found that people learn valuable skills using those tools, and those skills can transfer into the workplace setting.

This includes how to communicate using text as a primary medium, different techniques for information searching, getting used to being available online and how to explore different applications.

So the question is, should you allow those things at work or should you encourage people to use them but outside the workplace setting, said Haggerty. “The answer is it depends on what they’re trying to accomplish,” she said.

What Haggerty’s research does is give some credibility to something that organizations are trying to squash, said Jennifer Perrier-Knox, senior research analyst at Info-Tech Research Group Ltd. “Organizations need to know that those skill sets are out there, that they actually are legitimate skills and they can’t be leveraged,” she said.

“Skill sets are not just about what you learn formally on the job,” said Perrier-Knox. “There are things you can bring to the job and there are some skill sets that can’t be formally trained. Some people end up discovering them on their own and end up bringing them to the table.”

IT workers would likely exhibit higher levels of virtual competence than those from other industries, according to Perrier-Knox, simply because “there’s no fear of computers.” IT workers don’t have that fear of technology, such as worrying about breaking something or messing something up or doing something they shouldn’t be doing, she added.

But there is a line between personal and professional virtual competence, she pointed out. Personal use of social networking sites can enhance your familiarity with the basic skill set, but this doesn’t necessarily teach you the cultural rules or norms of the organization you are working for, she said. “It doesn’t teach you professionalism.”

Using Facebook, for example, gives people some practice in thinking about what messages they want to deliver. This includes deciding what gets posted, what needs to be communicated, what needs to be torn down and what needs to be archived, said Perrier-Knox.

“With a Facebook page, that owner must make decisions about what content is going to be there and what isn’t – the same kind of decision as somebody working on a virtual project,” she said.

Post By Rob Pennington,  South Austin Recruiter.  Taken from his blog, robpennington.net.

In a job market full of resumes – most of them originating from a bland Word template – setting yourself apart can be a bit of challenge. We all have unique skills and abilities that make us THE BEST CANDIDATE. But still, we all face the challenge of not getting a follow up email or even getting noticed. A step toward changing this, particularly in the creative and technical industries, is online “personal branding.”

There was a time, just a year ago, that I was only looking for a polished resume and maybe, depending on the industry, a digital portfolio to share with the agencies and private companies I represent nationwide, now it is much more – help me sell you, by already selling yourself. The concept of online personal branding is gaining more and attention (Alex Kniess of Adage wrote an article today on personal branding in the creative realm today – which is a great read) and can definitively give you a step ahead.

One of the most effective applications of personal branding I have seen, was created by an interactive producer named Shannon Swenson (check out his website as a jumping point). He does a fantastic job creating meaningful content, establishing himself as a subject matter expert, and painting a picture of who he is and how he works by connecting his presence across the web. Shannon makes himself a brand, rather than just an employee. By creating a snapshot of himself, he gives you a 3D glimpse inside his resume. Shannon’s approach may be a little larger than everyone needs, but starting with something large and working backward is always a good strategy.

Using Shannon’s branding (and my own) as a guide, let’s break down what it takes – on a basic level – to create a personal brand online.

Create Your Brand.That sounds a lot tougher than it is, you are already a brand, is just a matter of bringing it together.

- Create Your “Personal Statement.” Mine is in the upper right hand corner of my website . Try and start your statement with your full name – this will be good for optimizing search engines to your skills sets and giving you a higher rank when someone searches for a keyword or you. Use this 1-2 sentence statement as your bio line in all your social networking bio’s – be consistent.

-Polish Your Resume. Make sure the style, font and content is reflective of you. Don’t state obvious duties; state your achievements, technical skills and unique experiences. Save your resume as a PDF to prevent mis-formatingdue to software versions or font differences and make it “linkable” (i.e. any hyperlinks or email address are clickable).

- Gather your Portfolio. Do you have white pages you’ve written? Campaigns you’ve worked on? Copy? Graphics? Programs? Websites? Nothing is two small – the more evidence you can provide, easily, to an employer makes it easier it is to hire you.

- Determine what personal information you want to make available. You want to be professional, but you don’t want to be a robot. Try and be light on religion and politics, but think what items other people might find interesting or as a connection to you (associations, hobbies movies, music, books).

Create and Re-Create Your Presence. If you’re like most of us, you probably have some social networking setup (perhaps a Facebook or Myspace page), now is the time to re-evaluate your content there and determine where else you should be. You don’t need to be everywhere, here are my suggestions:

- Facebook: Must Do. The most popular social networking site has become a hub for finding and checking up on people. Create a profile and be aware of your content. Be consistent with the information here and on other website. I highly recommend amending your privacy settings to control who sees what. You can limit what and where people can post, who can see pictures you are tagged in and who can see your comments. You don’t want to hide completely, but be smart – your “friends” might not always be. Mashable contributing author Alison Driscoll wrote a great article with tips, tricks, and instructions for doing this.

- Linkedin: Must Do. If you’re familiar with Facebook, Linkedin should be a breeze. You’ll want to mimic your resume, make sure you copy your job responsibilities and “personal statement.” You can easily import addresses to find your friends, colleagues and professional acquaintances. Join networking groups applicable to you and your industries (you can search and look on your colleagues pages to see what they are part of). Get involved in conversations and reconnect with folks you’ve met.

- Twitter: Must Do. This website is a little less intuitive than other websites (I recently wrote a post on its benefits), but its growing popularity and use in the recruiting industry makes it a must do. Even if you don’t think you’ll be posting often, you’ll want to follow others and have a basic bio. You’ll find that your target companies and recruiters often post jobs here that don’t make the “post for a fee” website like Monster and Craigslist.

- Myspace and Others: Maybe… It’s not bad to have a presence other places, but don’t overdo it (which can be easy to do). The more places your name is – the better, but there is also a limited RIO. If you have time or they already exist (double check to make sure the content is consistent). Ning is a great one for networking and group related content.

Tying It all Together. Now that you have your content together and you profiles built, I highly recommend creating a HUB that can be referenced in your profiles and drive people to your different profiles and content (they are a little different each place). It is also a great way to post your portfolio items and your resume – to make them easily accessible. Whatever “hub” you pick – put it in your email signature and on your resume. Help drive people to one site, to get to all your others. The easier you make it, the more likely people are to view it.

- Google Profile. Google now offers you the ability to create a personal profile – much like what they offer for businesses – making it easier for your name to appear in a relevant search. You can build your profile here. You can include your bio, a picture and links to your relevant profiles and websites.

- Blog or Portfolio. If you have the ability (and/or your industry necessitates your work to be seen often – programmers, designers, creative directors, copy writers, graphic artists), building a blog – like this one – is THE BEST WAY TO BRING IT ALL TOGETHER. Cameron Chapman, of the website Smashing, wrote a great article on templates and resources to create fantastic and unique portfolio based websites. You don’t have to be a programmer, but you do need to be willing to commit time to creating the design, content and troubleshooting.

- Social Media as Your Hub. If you don’t have time to create a blog, use your Linkedin Profile as your jumping point to your other content. Twitter and blog feeds can be easily incorporated into your content, as can links to your company and others. Here is an example.

Personal branding is far from an exact science, but in today’s job market place, and going forward, taking the extra time and commitment will set you apart from the pack – regardless of your industry. As we move forward, I will continue to post hints and tips to making your personal branding more integrated and intuitive.

A final thought and disclaimer as you set off branding: just having a presence and a page isn’t enough. You need to maintain you content, interact and discuss with others. Promote your presence and follow blogs, like mine, to keep abreast of new developments.

What have you done to help create a personal brand for yourself? What tools have I left off that you find effective? I welcome (and request) your suggestions and input!

For more assistance, to inquire about how I can help you find talent or what opportunities I am currently recruiting for, please contact me.