CFAME Connection is pleased to announce the launch of the CELNeT website, an online space dedicated to the Collaboration, e-Learning and Networks lab.
Sophisticated technologies have increased our opportunities to connect even as they have presented new challenges in how we communicate without the benefit of face-to-face interaction. CELNet specializes in e-Leadership and virtual team disciplines and provides customized consulting for private and public sector organizations.
In a recent FaceTime interview with CFAME Connection, Maggie Pearson, Research Assistant, CELNeT, CFAME, highlighted the progress made since CELNeT’s beginnings in 2015.
Maggie Pearson:
At CELNeT, we believe e-Leadership is a critical area for research and teaching in management. Our mission is to be a resource for all of Dalhousie’s Faculty of Management’s schools and programmes. I have been privileged to work with Martine Durier-Copp and Binod Sundararajan, the founders of the CELNeT program as well as the dedicated researchers who are affiliated with this initiative.
Martine and Binod developed the ConnecT Framework training model, which is based on evidence that major communication breakdowns and conflicts in virtual teams can be mitigated through leadership intervention. The ConnecT Framework explores the e-Leadership competencies that empower teams, leverage technology, and utilize timelines. Feedback has been extremely gratifying.
I believe that CELNeT’s success over the past two years comes from our personal experience of working remotely. We understand the nuances of communicating within a virtual team structure. Our evidence-based training modules are specifically designed to enable managers to thrive within a dynamic team environment.
As a graduate of Dalhousie’s Master of Library and Information Studies, I was excited to become involved in a project that held such potential for collaboration. My predecessor, Amy Belanger, assisted Martine and Binod in the creation of the CELNeT training framework. Part of my mission was to design the website and build upon Amy’s foundation for the site’s information architecture. CELNeT required an online presence where researchers, learners, and seekers of solutions could connect, collaborate, and follow up.
During my tenure with CELNeT, I have participated in analyzing interviews with private and public sector employees on their virtual team experiences, researching best practices for successful e-leadership and virtual team work, developing workshop material for delivering our e-leadership training, and, of course, connecting with a network of researchers and building the CELNeT website.
My term at CELNeT is coming to an end. As I go on to pursue other personal and professional goals, I will take with me the invaluable insight gained from working within a vibrant team. I am confident that the incoming research assistant will continue to expand the website with more researchers, resources, and connections.