Remotely Prepared: Recent Episodes
upsidedownoffice.com
Remotely Prepared is the weekly podcast that looks at how industries, organizations and people make business, and life, work at a distance. Hosts Greg Thomas and Colin Harding have each worked and lead remotely for clients over the last half decade and know what it takes to make it work. Whether you’re a remote employee or a business leader working through the challenges and opportunities of a remote workforce, this podcast is for you. With a great line of discussions and interviews, we’re here to share experiences, insights, even frustrations, and help you not only survive but thrive in this new remote world.
Have you found yourself logging on to work late at night to get more done? You're not alone! We're talking about what works about it and what doesn't...
The Microsoft Article: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/worklab/triple-peak-day
Derek Thompson's article in the Atlantic: https://www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/archive/2022/04/triple-peak-day-work-from-home/629457/
Don't forget to subscribe, share and review so we can get the word out to more 'Upside Down Offic-ers'. Have a comment or idea for the show? Email us at remotelyprepared@upsidedownoffice.com or visit us at www.upsidedownoffice.com. We'd love to hear from you.
The transition to remote work has us all in different habits - many of them not healthy - and one of the biggest is that many of us are sitting at our desks (probably not ergonomically designed) ALL day. In this week's episode we're talking with Stefan Zavalin, who wants to get us all sitting less, and has an interesting approach to getting us there...
Check out Stefan's Tedx Talk here
Check out Stefan's book here
Don't forget to subscribe, share and review so we can get the word out to more 'Upside Down Offic-ers'. Have a comment or idea for the show? Email us at remotelyprepared@upsidedownoffice.com or visit us at www.upsidedownoffice.com. We'd love to hear from you.
Feel like you're ready to escape the home office and get out with your office mates (or anyone)? Feelings of isolation and finding time to get out and connect with your team is part of remote work, and it seems like a lot of us are feeling it lately...
Don't forget to subscribe, share and review so we can get the word out to more 'Upside Down Offic-ers'. Have a comment or idea for the show? Email us at remotelyprepared@upsidedownoffice.com or visit us at www.upsidedownoffice.com. We'd love to hear from you.
The last two years have been challenging for all of us, but it’s been particularly challenging on parents. Maybe a bit unsurprisingly, a recent McKinsey study showed that working parents are overrepresented in the ‘great resignation’ and are quitting for work, be it a new job, self-employment, or the gig economy, with more flexibility. In this week’s episode we’re discussing the report and what remote work and the new work balance means for working parents.
https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/people-and-organizational-performance/our-insights/married-to-the-job-no-more-craving-flexibility-parents-are-quitting-to-get-it
Continuing our mini-series on connecting with teammates and coworkers remotely is Remote Connections: Daily Standups. Some people love 'em. Some people hate 'em. Some people...have no idea what 'em are. Today we're talking about what they are, why we like them and how to get the most out of them.
Don't forget to subscribe, share and review so we can get the word out to more 'Upside Down Offic-ers'. Have a comment or idea for the show? Email us at remotelyprepared@upsidedownoffice.com or visit us at www.upsidedownoffice.com. We'd love to hear from you.
We're kicking off our "Remote Connections" mini series by talking about one of the easiest and most important forms of connections you can establish between a team member and their leader, particularly in a remote environment.
1-on-1s are simple, scheduled but informal meetings to touch base between leader and team member and they can be incredibly powerful in creating connection and a shared pathway. Today, we're sharing experiences and our advise for running them effectively.
Don't forget to subscribe, share and review so we can get the word out to more 'Upside Down Offic-ers'. Have a comment or idea for the show? Email us at remotelyprepared@upsidedownoffice.com or visit us at www.upsidedownoffice.com. We'd love to hear from you.
"The potential for remote work is determined by tasks and activities and not by occupation."
In this week's episode, we're reviewing the results of McKinsey's November 2020 analysis of remote work tasks and activities. As opposed to what jobs can be done remotely, their analysis explores the (arguably more interesting) question of what types of tasks and activities can be done remotely -- including those that can be done 'without productivity loss'.
McKinsey report: https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/future-of-work/whats-next-for-remote-work-an-analysis-of-2000-tasks-800-jobs-and-nine-countries
99pi podcast episode referenced in the episode: https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/invisible-women/
Remote work news: https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidjeans/2022/01/18/better-ceo-vishal-garg-returns-softbank/
Don't forget to subscribe, share and review so we can get the word out to more 'Upside Down Offic-ers'. Have a comment or idea for the show? Email us at remotelyprepared@upsidedownoffice.com or visit us at www.upsidedownoffice.com. We'd love to hear from you.
Work From Home Research (wfhresearch.com) has released the December 2021 update to their research findings on trends in remote work. We're discussing the results we found most interesting, comparing our experiences. Check out the report below and get in touch to share how the results compare to your own remote work experiences.
Here are links to the research reports mentioned in this episode. Many thanks to the researchers who worked out to bring us these insights:
- https://wfhresearch.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Barrero-AEA-NABE-Jan22.pdf
- https://wfhresearch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/WFHResearch_updates_December2021.pdf
Don't forget to subscribe, share and review so we can get the word out to more 'Upside Down Offic-ers'. Have a comment or idea for the show? Email us at remotelyprepared@upsidedownoffice.com or visit us at www.upsidedownoffice.com. We'd love to hear from you.
Welcome to 2022!...it's early, but it sure does look a lot like 2021.
So, it's 2022 and with Omicron rearing it's ugly head, it's a fresh new remote start as many folks are back to remote work! We're talking about a new year, a new start to doing remote right, and some general goals and priorities discussion!
Here's a link to the Brianna Wiest post Greg mentioned in the episode: https://thoughtcatalog.com/brianna-wiest/2017/11/this-is-what-self-care-really-means-because-its-not-all-salt-baths-and-chocolate-cake/
Don't forget to subscribe, share and review so we can get the word out to more 'Upside Down Offic-ers'. Have a comment or idea for the show? Email us at remotelyprepared@upsidedownoffice.com or visit us at www.upsidedownoffice.com. We'd love to hear from you.
Over 120,000 federal employees are employed in the Ottawa-area and, since the pandemic began, remote work has become the norm for most of those workers. As a result the Nation's capital, mainly the downtown region has been hit hard by the lack of reliable dollars from all those daily spenders. Ottawa's downtown is a ghost town. So....what to do?
Don't forget to subscribe, share and review so we can get the word out to more 'Upside Down Offic-ers'. Have a comment or idea for the show? Email us at remotelyprepared@upsidedownoffice.com or visit us at www.upsidedownoffice.com. We'd love to hear from you.
If you follow remote news, you almost certainly heard about Better.com CEO's firing of 900 employees over a 3-minute Zoom call. The news received major attention not just for the number of terminations, but particularly for the callous nature of the termination and follow-up comments by the CEO. So in today's episode, we're talking about its handling and lessons to be learned.
Don't forget to subscribe, share and review so we can get the word out to more 'Upside Down Offic-ers'. Have a comment or idea for the show? Email us at remotelyprepared@upsidedownoffice.com or visit us at www.upsidedownoffice.com. We'd love to hear from you.
One of the biggest challenges of Remote work is taking the time and effort to maintain healthy work habits. Whether it's drawing the lines between your work and personal life, preventing eye fatigue and vision damage, maintaining good ergonomics in your home office set-up, or breaking up the 'sitting' periods, there are a number of activities we can engage in, and issues we have to look out for, when working outside the office. Greg and Colin are sharing some advice as well as some personal successes, failures and ongoing battles.
Here's the article we mentioned in this episode: https://www.verywellhealth.com/remote-work-health-risks-5080056
Don't forget to subscribe, share and review so we can get the word out to more 'Upside Down Offic-ers'. Have a comment or idea for the show? Email us at remotelyprepared@upsidedownoffice.com or visit us at www.upsidedownoffice.com. We'd love to hear from you.
Does it feel to like your team is hitting that 'middle of the project' fatigue with remote work? We're talking about it! (and as usual, getting distracted by many other things, too).
Don't forget to subscribe, share and review so we can get the word out to more 'Upside Down Offic-ers'. Have a comment or idea for the show? Email us at remotelyprepared@upsidedownoffice.com or visit us at www.upsidedownoffice.com. We'd love to hear from you.
We're talking with Ian & Amy Anderson, co-owners of their own web design business and true digital nomads. We discuss the digital nomad life, saving money on AirBnBs, and working effectively with your partner while sharing a workspace.
You can check out Ian & Amy's adventures on their instagrams here: ianrobertanderson and unleashingamy.
You can also check out Ian's AirBnB negotiation course here: https://ianrobertanderson.gumroad.com/l/JQhjF.
Don't forget to subscribe, share and review so we can get the word out to more 'Upside Down Offic-ers'. Have a comment or idea for the show? Email us at remotelyprepared@upsidedownoffice.com or visit us at www.upsidedownoffice.com. We'd love to hear from you.
It's a first for Remotely Prepared - a Guest Host! And for our first episode, we were lucky enough to get friend of the podcast Shaun Coghlan! You'll remember Shaun Coghlan from last season, when we spoke to him about his experiences transitioning to a new job entirely remotely (and, ya know...during a pandemic). Greg & Shaun discussed Graeme Sharpe's recent article (https://medium.com/illumination/4-simple-tricks-to-excel-at-remote-work-ab868c03ec8f) on tips and tricks for exceling at remote work. Check it out!
Don't forget to subscribe, share and review so we can get the word out to more 'Upside Down Offic-ers'. Have a comment or idea for the show? Email us at remotelyprepared@upsidedownoffice.com or visit us at www.upsidedownoffice.com. We'd love to hear from you.
We're back from a brief hiatus while Colin dealt with a difficult personal challenge. Which got us thinking about the role of remote in maintaining work in difficult times where location, working hours, and even physical and mental health states can be difficult to predict.
Don't forget to subscribe, share and review so we can get the word out to more 'Upside Down Offic-ers'. Have a comment or idea for the show? Email us at remotelyprepared@upsidedownoffice.com or visit us at www.upsidedownoffice.com. We'd love to hear from you.
In recent weeks a new idea has exploded - that some remote workers are out there secretly working 2 full-time jobs. Colin is grumpy about it, so we're talking about it.
Don't forget to subscribe, share and review so we can get the word out to more 'Upside Down Offic-ers'. Have a comment or idea for the show? Email us at remotelyprepared@upsidedownoffice.com or visit us at www.upsidedownoffice.com. We'd love to hear from you.
What would a 4 day work week mean for you as an employee? Could you keep up with your work? Achieve the same results? More? Less?
What would 3 days off a week mean for your personal life?
You guessed it! We're talking about the 4 Day Work Week.
Don't forget to subscribe, share and review so we can get the word out to more 'Upside Down Offic-ers'. Have a comment or idea for the show? Email us at remotelyprepared@upsidedownoffice.com or visit us at www.upsidedownoffice.com. We'd love to hear from you.
If you think about the promise of remote work, you probably imagine sitting on a beach enjoying the sunshine...and that's exactly where we caught up with Simran Chaudhry, VP Sales & Marketing and Co-Founder of Creospark. We had a fantastic chat about the Creospark family, their journey and the secret to their remote success.
You can connect with Sim on LinkedIn here and learn more about Creospark at https://creospark.com/
Don't forget to subscribe, share and review so we can get the word out to more 'Upside Down Offic-ers'. Have a comment or idea for the show? Email us at remotelyprepared@upsidedownoffice.com or visit us at www.upsidedownoffice.com. We'd love to hear from you.
Recently, some major tech employers have announced that remote workers may receive pay cuts if they move place of residence. In today's episode, we're talking (ranting?) about the logic behind this move - the parts that make sense, and more importantly, the parts that make no sense at all to us.
Check out the Forbes article here
Don't forget to subscribe, share and review so we can get the word out to more 'Upside Down Offic-ers'. Have a comment or idea for the show? Email us at remotelyprepared@upsidedownoffice.com or visit us at www.upsidedownoffice.com. We'd love to hear from you.
If you've ever dreamed of the 'digital nomad' lifestyle, this is the episode for you!
We sat down for a truly inspiring conversation with Adam Smith, marketing professional, founder of "Origin Story", and a true digital nomad. Over the last year or so Adam and his partner have been traveling all over North America, working and living remotely in a true digital nomad lifestyle. You won't want to miss this episode full of tips, tricks, insights and realities of the digital nomad life.
Don't forget to subscribe, share and review so we can get the word out to more 'Upside Down Offic-ers'. Have a comment or idea for the show? Email us at remotelyprepared@upsidedownoffice.com or visit us at www.upsidedownoffice.com. We'd love to hear from you.
In so many of the topics we discuss related to remote and work-life balance, so often these things come back to trust. Does the employer or manager trust the team member to work remote? Do they trust you to manage their own schedule? Put in a full work week? Put in what's needed? Stay focused enough?
As an employee, do your trust your employer or manager to support you (and not punish, intentionally or not) when you exercise reasonable work-life balance needs? Or do you feel the need to 'hack' it and look like you're online while you step away for 5 minutes? Hide your work-life needs? Or not take what you need at all?
In either direction, it's about trust. It's there. Or it's not.
Don't forget to subscribe, share and review so we can get the word out to more 'Upside Down Offic-ers'. Have a comment or idea for the show? Email us at remotelyprepared@upsidedownoffice.com or visit us at www.upsidedownoffice.com. We'd love to hear from you.
Throughout the pandemic, Hootsuite has been getting great attention for a variety of employee wellness initiatives that seem to have positive results for both employees as well as the company. We had the opportunity to sit down with Hugh Ghods, Sr. Director of Mid-Market and Commercial Sales at Hootsuite, to talk about their recent Wellness Week as well as other work-life balance measures and the impact it's been having on him, his team and the company as a whole.
You can connect with Hugh Ghods on LinkedIn here and learn about Hootsuite's Wellness Week (and other events) here.
Don't forget to subscribe, share and review so we can get the word out to more 'Upside Down Offic-ers'. Have a comment or idea for the show? Email us at remotelyprepared@upsidedownoffice.com or visit us at www.upsidedownoffice.com. We'd love to hear from you.
This week we were lucky enough to be joined by Rekha Rao-Mayya, Country Leader of ISVs at Amazon Web Services (AWS). We had a fantastic chat about recognizing work-life imbalance in yourself, supporting better work-life balance for your team through leading by example and 'Healing Thyself', and a whole lot more. Follow or connect with Rekha on LinkedIn here.
Don't forget to subscribe, share and review so we can get the word out to more 'Upside Down Offic-ers'. Have a comment or idea for the show? Email us at remotelyprepared@upsidedownoffice.com or visit us at www.upsidedownoffice.com. We'd love to hear from you.
What is flexible time (or flexi-time) and why don't more employers embrace it?? Colin makes the claim that it hits at the core of the work-life balance.
What do you think? Do you have flexible time? What would it mean for you if you did?
Don't forget to subscribe, share and review so we can get the word out to more 'Upside Down Offic-ers'. Have a comment or idea for the show? Email us at remotelyprepared@upsidedownoffice.com or visit us at www.upsidedownoffice.com. We'd love to hear from you.
In the second-part of our "getting personal" series, Greg takes us to his cottage to talk about disconnecting. Put on your life jacket - we're going kayaking.
How do you disconnect? Send us a message or share messages and pics on social media.
Don't forget to subscribe, share and review so we can get the word out to more 'Upside Down Offic-ers'. Have a comment or idea for the show? Email us at remotelyprepared@upsidedownoffice.com or visit us at www.upsidedownoffice.com. We'd love to hear from you.
In this week's intimate episode we're joining Colin as he shares his best personal secret to remote work-life balance...
Don't forget to subscribe, share and review so we can get the word out to more 'Upside Down Offic-ers'. Have a comment or idea for the show? Email us at remotelyprepared@upsidedownoffice.com or visit us at www.upsidedownoffice.com. We'd love to hear from you.
This Season we're exploring "Work Life Balance" in the context of remote work. We'll be exploring work-life balance topics and in every interview this season we'll be asking our guests: "What does work life balance mean to you?". So it seemed only fair that in our first episode of the season we answered the question for ourselves.
What does work life balance mean to you? We'd love to hear from you on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, or email us at remotelyprepared@upsidedownoffice.com
And don't forget to subscribe, share and review so we can get the word out to more 'Upside Down Offic-ers'.
We're introducing Season 4! What topic are we exploring? Why is it relevant? What can you expect? All these questions and more (such as: "What is Greg's best geology-based pun?") are answered in today's episode...
We'd love to hear from you! What topics do you want to hear explored? Who would you like to hear us interview? Email us at remotelyprepared@upsidedownoffice.com and don't forget to subscribe, share and review so we can get the word out to more 'Upside Down Offic-ers'.
We're wrapping an amazing Season 3, recapping our interviews with some amazing guests and the insights they provided, and discussing some of the other topics Greg and Colin explored together in Season 3.
We'd love to hear from you. What were your best moments from Season 3? Favourite interviews and discussions? Things we should have dug deeper into? Email us at remotelyprepared@upsidedownoffice.com and don't forget to subscribe, share and review so we can get the word out to more 'Upside Down Offic-ers'.
And thank you for joining us this season! Stay tuned for an exciting Season 4 we think you won't want to miss.
When you think of a startup, you might, like many of us, think of a small, close-knit group tightly packed into a space, fervently building the future of the company. While this is not always the case, it is true that successful startups rely on scaling a small, effective group to reach critical mass and grow. Remote work can be an additional challenge to this, which is why we were excited to speak with Wanda Haddock, I/O Psychologist and People Consultant - and Founder of LeadingwithLove.io. We discuss anything and everything about the human experience of interacting and connecting remotely. Connect with Wanda on LinkedIn here.
Don't forget to subscribe, share and review so we can get the word out to more 'Upside Down Offic-ers'. Have a comment or idea for the show? Email us at remotelyprepared@upsidedownoffice.com or visit us at www.upsidedownoffice.com. We'd love to hear from you.
The difference between 'going remote' and 'embracing remote' is acknowledging that remote is different - and so it's not as easy as flipping a switch and everything is otherwise normal. It may require different thinking, different tools, and different habits to make it work effectively for your team. That's why we're so excited to speak with Patrick Burns, Co-Founder of Commons.so, who have created a tool that addresses remote differently, and tries to recreate a more human experience.
Don't forget to subscribe, share and review so we can get the word out to more 'Upside Down Offic-ers'. Have a comment or idea for the show? Email us at remotelyprepared@upsidedownoffice.com or visit us at www.upsidedownoffice.com. We'd love to hear from you.
Who ever thought we might miss the morning commute??
It might seem crazy, but we (and a lot of other people) are missing the commute. Not for the traffic, the drive (or bus ride) or the exhaust fumes....but the decompression time. The opportunity for a break between work and... not work.
Today we're talking about missing that commute and some ways of trying to replace what we're missing out on.
Don't forget to subscribe, share and review so we can get the word out to more 'Upside Down Offic-ers'. Have a comment or idea for the show? Email us at remotelyprepared@upsidedownoffice.com or visit us at www.upsidedownoffice.com. We'd love to hear from you.
We were incredibly lucky to been joined again by Shameem Smillie, now Director of Global Contact Center Solutions at Mitel. Not only has Shameem moved into this new role during this globally remote period, she also leads the Inclusion Council at Mitel. We had an amazing chat about her new role, the transition, inclusion, and bringing your passion to life at work. You can connect with Shameem on LinkedIn here and learn more about Mitel's values here.
Don't forget to subscribe, share and review so we can get the word out to more 'Upside Down Offic-ers'. Have a comment or idea for the show? Email us at remotelyprepared@upsidedownoffice.com or visit us at www.upsidedownoffice.com. We'd love to hear from you.
We're talking goal setting! - particularly that sweet spot of 90 day goals. How they can motivate you, unite and direct a team, and how critical an activity this can be, particularly in the remote environment.
Don't forget to subscribe, share and review so we can get the word out to more 'Upside Down Offic-ers'. Have a comment or idea for the show? Email us at remotelyprepared@upsidedownoffice.com or visit us at www.upsidedownoffice.com. We'd love to hear from you.
Greg shares with us an example of a remote team activity he ran a few weeks ago with a client software team. We talk about how people responded, what worked, and what could have been better (and why that was fine!).
Has your team been running activities? Share the experience - what's working for you? For you, what makes the difference between "oh great, we have to do some activity" and "wow, that was fun, I missed connecting with people"?
Don't forget to subscribe, share and review so we can get the word out to more 'Upside Down Offic-ers'. Have a comment or idea for the show? Email us at remotelyprepared@upsidedownoffice.com or visit us at www.upsidedownoffice.com. We'd love to hear from you.
In a slightly atypical episode, Greg interviews Colin about his SAVE Leadership System and recent client work in leadership coaching. We talk about Vision, Accountability and a whole lot more! As always, you can connect with Colin on LinkedIn here or learn more about his Leadership system here.
Don't forget to subscribe, share and review so we can get the word out to more 'Upside Down Offic-ers'. Have a comment or idea for the show? Email us at remotelyprepared@upsidedownoffice.com or visit us at www.upsidedownoffice.com. We'd love to hear from you.
What does HR mean during a pandemic? How about bringing someone new onto your team when the company is remotely distributed in a pandemic?
We were grateful to sit down with Pat Mullins, Director of Human Resources & Operations at Wandrian to discuss remote HR, recruitment, onboarding, empathy, company values, and more. Pat is a truly great guy and the first person you would want onboard when building a team.
You can learn more about Wandrian here and connect with Pat on LinkedIn here.
Don't forget to subscribe, share and review so we can get the word out to more 'Upside Down Offic-ers'. Have a comment or idea for the show? Email us at remotelyprepared@upsidedownoffice.com or visit us at www.upsidedownoffice.com. We'd love to hear from you.
A worldwide pandemic seems like a good time to switch jobs, right?
In today's episode we're talking with Shaun Coghlan, Senior Product Manager at Encircle (and Remotely Prepared podcast listener!). Shaun was kind enough to share his experiences of leaving a job, interviewing, and starting a new one, all remotely and in the midst of this worldwide pandemic. Shaun shares the challenges, opportunities and some surprising benefits of the experience. Check it out and connect with Shaun on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shauncoghlan/
Don't forget to subscribe, share and review so we can get the word out to more 'Upside Down Offic-ers'. Have a comment or idea for the show? Email us at remotelyprepared@upsidedownoffice.com or visit us at www.upsidedownoffice.com. We'd love to hear from you.
A quick mini episode from Greg, with a suggestion for a different way of thinking about your progress and how you've grown...
At the time of recording this episode, it was the 1st anniversary of the declaration of a global pandemic by the WHO. In a more casual and retrospective episode, we're reminiscing on the experience of the announcement and the world's journey to remote over the last 12 months.
Don't forget to subscribe, share and review so we can get the word out to more 'Upside Down Offic-ers'. Have a comment or idea for the show? Email us at remotelyprepared@upsidedownoffice.com or visit us at www.upsidedownoffice.com. We'd love to hear from you.
We're so happy to have returning guest Marco Pasqua here to discuss accessibility and what remote means for people with disabilities. As usual, we talked about many, many things including different kinds of disabilities and finding your blindspots. And as usual, Marco was a wealth of knowledge and a wonderful person to connect with.
If you're interested in Marco and his work, you can learn more on his website (www.marcopasqua.com/) or connect with him on LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com/in/mpasqua/). Marco also mentioned a great accessibility resources starting place for businesses which can be found here: www.accessibleemployers.ca/.
Don't forget to subscribe, share and review so we can get the word out to more 'Upside Down Offic-ers'. Have a comment or idea for the show? Email us at remotelyprepared@upsidedownoffice.com or visit us at www.upsidedownoffice.com. We'd love to hear from you.
Have you thought about what your personal (or team...or organization...) Training and Professional Development will look like this year? With cancellations and significant limitations on conferences, traveling and in-person training and professional development, this year is going to look very different.
Have you thought about it? Because your organization might not be!
Don't forget to subscribe, share and review so we can get the word out to more 'Upside Down Offic-ers'. Have a comment or idea for the show? Email us at remotelyprepared@upsidedownoffice.com or visit us at www.upsidedownoffice.com. We'd love to hear from you.
In today episode's, Greg & Colin sit down with Bekah Hawrot Weigel, Founder of Virtual Coffee. We discuss starting, growing and maintaining a community, work life balance, and support at a time where we need it most. Learn more about Virtual Coffee here and you can connect with Bekah on LinkedIn.
Don't forget to subscribe, share and review so we can get the word out to more 'Upside Down Offic-ers'. Have a comment or idea for the show? Email us at remotelyprepared@upsidedownoffice.com or visit us at www.upsidedownoffice.com. We'd love to hear from you.
Remote has some great benefits, but one of the main pain points many struggle with in remote work is maintaining a work-life balance and specifically turning work 'on' and 'off'. If you're not careful, work will always be on.
Don't forget to subscribe, share and review so we can get the word out to more 'Upside Down Offic-ers'. Have a comment or idea for the show? Email us at remotelyprepared@upsidedownoffice.com or visit us at www.upsidedownoffice.com. We'd love to hear from you.
Welcome to Season 3 of the podcast! This season, we're talking about... "Embracing Remote"! Over the last two seasons, we've talked a lot about the difference between "going remote" and actually embracing remote. This season, we'll be exploring lots of ways of embracing remote for remote employees, leaders and entrepreneurs.
Don't forget to subscribe, share and review so we can get the word out to more 'Upside Down Offic-ers'. Have a comment or idea for the show? Email us at remotelyprepared@upsidedownoffice.com or visit us at www.upsidedownoffice.com. We'd love to hear from you.
It's the end of Season 2. Through interviews and 1-on-1 sessions, we explored a variety of topics all around the core concept of "Remote Leadership". In this week's episode, we review some of the conversations and key insights from this season. What's coming next season?...
Don't forget to subscribe, share and review so we can get the word out to more 'Upside Down Offic-ers'. Have a comment or idea for the show? Email us at remotelyprepared@upsidedownoffice.com or visit us at www.upsidedownoffice.com. We'd love to hear from you.
In today's episode, we're talking with Erin Blaskie, Director of Marketing at Fellow (www.fellow.app). We talk about collaboration, avoiding transactional conversations and breaking down silos, and, as always, the reality of remote teamwork!
Don't forget to subscribe, share and review so we can get the word out to more 'Upside Down Offic-ers'. Have a comment or idea for the show? Email us at remotelyprepared@upsidedownoffice.com or visit us at www.upsidedownoffice.com. We'd love to hear from you.
Since it’s a new year, it seemed like a good time for us to talk about our personal remote set-ups, what’s working, what’s not, and what we hope to do differently (better) for the coming year. We’d love to hear from you about what’s working or not for you in your remote set up or schedule. Message us on social media or email us!
Don't forget to subscribe, share and review so we can get the word out to more 'Upside Down Offic-ers'. Have a comment or idea for the show? Email us at remotelyprepared@upsidedownoffice.com or visit us at www.upsidedownoffice.com. We'd love to hear from you.
Boy was this a great one. A fantastic chat with a true veteran of remote work and leadership - Doug Miller, CEO and CTO of Brightworks.net. We talk about the history of remote and how some things have changed a lot...and some things not so much.
Don't forget to subscribe, share and review so we can get the word out to more 'Upside Down Offic-ers'. Have a comment or idea for the show? Email us at remotelyprepared@upsidedownoffice.com or visit us at www.upsidedownoffice.com. We'd love to hear from you.
Since we're knee-deep in the Holidays and tomorrow is Christmas, instead of a regular episode we just wanted to share some thoughts and a quick Holiday / end of year message. Thanks for listening this year and have a safe and Happy Holiday Season, from Greg and Colin.
A fascinating conversation with Matt Tanner, Founder and CEO of Same Page HR (samepagehr.com). Since we began the podcast, we've been interested in speaking with leaders in the HR domain to better understand how HR leaders are handling the remote transition and keep their finger on the pulse of how staff and businesses are managing. Matt did not disappoint. Check it out!
Don't forget to subscribe, share and review so we can get the word out to more 'Upside Down Offic-ers'. Have a comment or idea for the show? Email us at remotelyprepared@upsidedownoffice.com or visit us at www.upsidedownoffice.com. We'd love to hear from you.
In this week's episode, we get into every corner of remote leadership with an in-depth and insightful conversation with leadership guru Glain Roberts-McCabe. We discuss the challenges, responsibilities and opportunities of remote leadership and how leaders are struggling with remote and the pandemic, too. You can check out Glain's recent book “Grassroots leadership revolution" or her first book “Did I REALLY sign up for this?!” and learn more about her company Roundtable at gorountable.com.
Don't forget to subscribe, share and review so we can get the word out to more 'Upside Down Offic-ers'. Have a comment or idea for the show? Email us at remotelyprepared@upsidedownoffice.com or visit us at www.upsidedownoffice.com. We'd love to hear from you.
Since the 'Great Remote Migration' there has been a lot of talk about motivation; 'Keeping employees motivated at home', 'Being a motivational leader to remote teams', etc. In today's episode we wanted to explore the difference between motivation and inspiration and what "Inspirational Leadership" means.
Don't forget to subscribe, share and review so we can get the word out to more 'Upside Down Offic-ers'. Have a comment or idea for the show? Email us at remotelyprepared@upsidedownoffice.com or visit us at www.upsidedownoffice.com. We'd love to hear from you.
In today's interview with Protiviti Director and Microsoft MVP Antonio Maio. We talked about...well, pretty everything remote! We talk about the realities and challenges of growing a team remotely, staying connected, and not worrying too much about creating the 'perfect' home setup. (a point that Antonio's dog agreed with heartily).
Don't forget to subscribe, share and review so we can get the word out to more 'Upside Down Offic-ers'. Have a comment or idea for the show? Email us at remotelyprepared@upsidedownoffice.com or visit us at www.upsidedownoffice.com. We'd love to hear from you.
Today we're talking about one of the easiest, and most powerful tools for remaining aligned and connected with remote teammates: 1-on-1s. While they're not only for remote team members (I would argue everyone should use them) they are particularly valuable for remote leaders as it forces a checkpoint that is not explicitly focused on any topic aside from connecting. Check it out and let us know if you or your leader use remote 1-on-1s and how they work for you.
Don't forget to subscribe, share and review so we can get the word out to more 'Upside Down Offic-ers'. Have a comment or idea for the show? Email us at remotelyprepared@upsidedownoffice.com or visit us at www.upsidedownoffice.com. We'd love to hear from you.
We've all thought it many times -- Heather is just the person brave enough to say it. Remote Leadership Sucks! Well...sometimes at least. We had an amazing, candid conversation about Heather's experience shifting to remote leadership. If you think you've had some challenges shifting to remote leadership, you'll want to listen to Heather's story and recent experiences. A truly enlightening conversation with someone on who has some amazing experiences and insights to share.
You can connect with Heather Caudill on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/heather-caudill-30959a4/
Don't forget to subscribe, share and review so we can get the word out to more 'Upside Down Offic-ers'. Have a comment or idea for the show? Email us at remotelyprepared@upsidedownoffice.com or visit us at www.upsidedownoffice.com. We'd love to hear from you.
Particularly in times of crisis, it can be tempting for Leaders to wait to have the right information, the right plan, the right words, before they are ready to step in front of their team. But a big part of leadership is just...being there. When you're needed. Today's we're talking about Leadership by Showing the F* Up.
Don't forget to subscribe, share and review so we can get the word out to more 'Upside Down Offic-ers'. Have a comment or idea for the show? Email us at remotelyprepared@upsidedownoffice.com or visit us at www.upsidedownoffice.com. We'd love to hear from you.
“But if we're not all in the office, how am I going to micro-manage people?”….Maybe we just stop micromanaging people.
In today’s episode of the podcast, we’re talking with Justin Winter, CEO and Founder of Boostopia - support software that helps identify insights for teams working with ticketing software. We talk about Boostopia’s transition to remote, supporting the home set-ups of employees, and how to avoid micromanaging and instead focus on supporting and improving teams.
You can learn more about Boostopia at https://www.boostopia.com
Don't forget to subscribe, share and review so we can get the word out to more 'Upside Down Offic-ers'. Have a comment or idea for the show? Email us at remotelyprepared@upsidedownoffice.com or visit us at www.upsidedownoffice.com. We'd love to hear from you.
Does it seem like sometimes Remote allows things to ... ... .... drag out? Problems get solved more slowly? Difficult conversations being avoided? Everything scheduled 3 days out?
Don't forget to subscribe, share and review so we can get the word out to more 'Upside Down Offic-ers'. Have a comment or idea for the show? Email us at remotelyprepared@upsidedownoffice.com or visit us at www.upsidedownoffice.com. We'd love to hear from you.
We're kicking off Season 2 with a fantastic discussion with motivational speaker and accessibility consultant Marco Pasqua! Marco educates Greg and Colin on how to form deeper connections during networking, even in a remote environment, and how those connections pay off in building effective teams and creating positive change.
Learn more about Marco's work here: https://www.marcopasqua.com/
Don't forget to subscribe, share and review so we can get the word out to more 'Upside Down Offic-ers'. Have a comment or idea for the show? Email us at remotelyprepared@upsidedownoffice.com or visit us at www.upsidedownoffice.com. We'd love to hear from you.
It's a brand new season and we're talking about what's coming on Season 2's Remote Leadership focus.
Don't forget to subscribe, share and review so we can get the word out to more 'Upside Down Offic-ers'. Have a comment or idea for the show? Email us at remotelyprepared@upsidedownoffice.com or visit us at www.upsidedownoffice.com. We'd love to hear from you.
In the last episode of Season 1, Greg & Colin review the topics and interviews of season 1. We talk about lessons learned, our favourite interview moments, the biggest 'take-away's and what's coming next! Get ready for Season 2!
Don't forget to subscribe, share and review so we can get the word out to more 'Upside Down Offic-ers'. Have a comment or idea for the show? Email us at remotelyprepared@upsidedownoffice.com or visit us at www.upsidedownoffice.com. We'd love to hear from you.
Greg & Colin sit down with Stacy Cassio, founder of the Pink Mentor Network, a women's-focused mentoring network based out of Charlotte, NC. Like many organizations, the Pink Mentor Network made the flip to remote months ago and has subsequently extended its reach and expanded its activities. We talk about Stacy's journey, mentoring in a remote environment, and women's issues in the workforce and mentoring.
Don't forget to subscribe, share and review so we can get the word out to more 'Upside Down Offic-ers'. Have a comment or idea for the show? Email us at remotelyprepared@upsidedownoffice.com or visit us at www.upsidedownoffice.com. We'd love to hear from you.
In this week's episode of the Remotely Prepared podcast Greg & Colin discuss the difference between allowing employees to go remote, vs. embracing remote. In other words, the difference between sending employees home with headsets and laptops and not really changing much else, vs. actually looking at it as a new way of doing business that requires you to re-evaluate, look for those opportunities and pitfalls of a remote workforce, and reshape the organization around that reality,
At a time where so many companies have "gone remote", it's important to for leaders to take a moment and evaluate whether they're actually embracing remote.
Don't forget to subscribe, share and review so we can get the word out to more 'Upside Down Offic-ers'. Have a comment or idea for the show? Email us at remotelyprepared@upsidedownoffice.com or visit us at www.upsidedownoffice.com. We'd love to hear from you.
On today's episode, Greg and Colin discuss accountability and how structuring work expectations around it present more opportunities for flexible work that supports remote work and better work-life balance.
Don't forget to subscribe, share and review so we can get the word out to more 'Upside Down Offic-ers'. Have a comment or idea for the show? Email us at remotelyprepared@upsidedownoffice.com or visit us at www.upsidedownoffice.com. We'd love to hear from you.
A fantastic conversation with Jesse Finkelstein, Co-Founder and Principal of Page Two Publishing, a Vancouver, Canada-based non-fiction publisher with a strong focus on author support. We discussed how that support has changed over the process of moving to remote, as well as dealing with the realities of a global pandemic. Jesse shared insights on how Page Two handled the transition as an internal organization, as well as how they pivoted to supporting authors in new ways during a challenging time.
Page Two Publishing is the publisher of Greg's first book "Code Your Way Up: Rise to the Challenge of Software Leadership".
Don't forget to subscribe, share and review so we can get the word out to more 'Upside Down Offic-ers'. Have a comment or idea for the show? Email us at remotelyprepared@upsidedownoffice.com or visit us at www.upsidedownoffice.com. We'd love to hear from you.
On a wistful episode of the podcast, Greg & Colin discuss what we miss when we go remote and how we can try to maintain or replace those things.
Don't forget to subscribe, share and review so we can get the word out to more 'Upside Down Offic-ers'. Have a comment or idea for the show? Email us at remotelyprepared@upsidedownoffice.com or visit us at www.upsidedownoffice.com. We'd love to hear from you.
On today's episode Greg & Colin chat with J.P. Michel, education innovator and founder of SparkPath. We talk about the SparkPath approach to career discovery and generally about what this time, and remote learning experiences, can teach us about education.
This interview was recorded prior to the recent Ontario education plan announcements, but we thought this would be a good time to discuss this approach to learning, since it's top of mind for so many of us. Thinking so much about what the new school year will look like is a great opportunity to think more about education and career paths.
If you have some time, we highly recommend watching J.P. Michel's TEDx talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38AcJB983TQ
Don't forget to subscribe, share and review so we can get the word out to more 'Upside Down Offic-ers'. Have a comment or idea for the show? Email us at remotelyprepared@upsidedownoffice.com or visit us at www.upsidedownoffice.com. We'd love to hear from you.
In today's episode, Greg & Colin talk about Community. What does community mean during this time of crisis? What does remote work show us about our need for community?
Don't forget to subscribe, share and review so we can get the word out to more 'Upside Down Offic-ers'. Have a comment or idea for the show? Email us at remotelyprepared@upsidedownoffice.com or visit us at www.upsidedownoffice.com. We'd love to hear from you.
An amazing conversation with Shameem Smillie, Contact Center Sales Leader at Mitel UK. Shameem has a tremendous breadth of experience in sales, particularly focused on customer experience and long-term customer relationships. We discuss the future of contact centers, sales, loyalty, and business relationships in general in a remote business-to-business environment.
Don't forget to subscribe, share and review so we can get the word out to more 'Upside Down Offic-ers'. Have a comment or idea for the show? Email us at remotelyprepared@upsidedownoffice.com or visit us at www.upsidedownoffice.com. We'd love to hear from you.
Now that so many people have been remote for a few months, and it looks like many will be staying that way, we wanted to discuss an important topic: Finding your Balance. Once the initial early days of forced remote work settled, and the novelty of skipping the commute and working in your PJs passes, the question becomes: how to be effective at home? There are a ton of topics for discussion in this area, and we'll explore many. For today: How to find your personal balance for what works for you in a remote work situation.
Don't forget to rate, review, and subscribe to the podcast so we can reach more 'Upside Down Officers'. Have a question, or suggestion for the show? Email us at remotelyprepared@upsidedownoffice.com or visit us at www.upsidedownoffice.com
In today's episode Greg & Colin speak with Habib Mankal, a Microsoft MVP who helps stand up companies for remote work. While the work schedules of many slowed or even stopped during the early days of the Coronavirus shutdown, Hab's workload shot through the roof. We talked to Hab about what teams making the transition should be thinking about and what it takes to make the technical transition work.
Don't forget to subscribe, rate and review the Remotely Prepared podcast so we can get the word out and share more remote advice and experiences. Have feedback or an idea for the show? Visit us at www.upsidedownoffice.com or email remotelyprepared@upsidedownoffice.com - we'd love to hear from you!
Last week Greg & Colin had the opportunity to sit down and debrief on the Running Remote Conference with Liam Martin. Liam is the Chief Marketing Officer for both Time Doctor and Staff.com, as well as the co-organizer of the Running Remote Conference. Running Remote is normally an in-person, on-site conference. However, when the COVID crisis hit, the conference pivoted to a virtual approach, with the most recent event taking place remotely on June 17th & 18th (the week before our conversation).
Although we discussed a variety of topics, our interview with Liam was mostly focused on a behind the scenes look at what went into planning the conference. We discuss what went well, what the organizers plan to improve on, and in general the kinds of challenges and opportunities faced in creating a remote conference. If you've ever thought about setting up a virtual conference or speaker event, I would not miss this episode. A big thank you to Liam Martin for making time to have a 'Valley Boys' chat.
If you're interested in the Running Remote Conference, the next conference starts August 12th, 2020 and you can learn more at www.runningremote.com
Don't forget to subscribe, rate and review the Remotely Prepared podcast so we can get the word out and share more remote advice and experiences. Have feedback or an idea for the show? Visit us at www.upsidedownoffice.com or email remotelyprepared@upsidedownoffice.com - we'd love to hear from you!
In today's episode, Greg & Colin talk about Building Culture in a Remote Environment. They discuss how organizations go about defining and constructing their culture with intention, and the impact this can have on making decisions during the remote situation in which many companies now find themselves.
Don't forget to subscribe, rate and review the podcast to help us spread the word. Have a comment or suggestion for us? Email us at remotelyprepared@upsidedownoffice.com or use the form on upsidedownoffice.com.
In today's episode, Greg and Colin talk to Andy Knight, the President of Promaxis. Promaxis is a professional services company with several channels, as well as a large physical office in Ottawa that supports their on premises training services. A great chat with Andy about the challenges of the remote transition and how they have tried to adapt. We also discuss Promaxis' approach to a phased return to work plan.
Don't forget to subscribe to the podcast and rate or review us. We'd also love to hear from you - contact us through www.upsidedownoffice.com or email us at remotelyprepared@upsidedownoffice.com
In today's episode, Colin & Greg talk with Terry Tyo, Chief Marketing Officer of Great River Media, and author-to-be. When we spoke with Terry, we were in the early days of COVID isolation and he had been putting new effort into a creative project. We discuss his project, 'Plot Twist!', and how he has handled the remote adjustment, especially in the context of starting a creative project. When you start a creative project, it can be difficult to be self-disciplined to get things done -- even more so in a situation where we are dealing with stress and uncertainty. A great chat with Terry, and some tips on how he was able to create some structure and discipline to the project.
Don't forget to rate and subscribe so we can reach more remote workers and leaders!
Have an idea for an episode, or a comment for us? www.upsidedownoffice.com | remotelyprepared@upsidedownoffice.com
A quick bonus episode for you: Greg and Colin discuss some recent announcements from companies that are extending or making permanent their remote work policies. We discuss the implications and what kinds of considerations should be at play when thinking about these transitions.
Rate, Review and Subscribe to help us get the word out.
Have an idea for the show, want to share your thoughts, or want to learn more? Visit us at www.upsidedownoffice.com or email remotelyprepared@upsidedownoffice.com - we would love to hear from you!
In this week's episode, Greg & Colin discuss what new perks a business offers in a remote world. When you can't count on the $30,000 espresso machine, the on site masseuse, the slides and ball pits to get between floors...what are the real perks? When all the distractions are gone, all that's left is the company, the people, and the work.
Don't forget to rate and subscribe to help us reach more remote workers and leaders! Have an idea? Feedback? Get in contact with us: www.upsidedownoffice.com | remotelyprepared@upsidedownoffice.com
Will you join me for an experiment?...
Check us out at UpsideDownOffice.com and on social media, and don't forget to subscribe and review - we appreciate your support!
In today's episode, Greg & Colin talk to remote workforce veteran Jason Cosman, who has been leading software development teams as a remote team manager for 5 years. We talk to Jason about the pros and cons of remote leadership and how he stays connected with teams that could be cities or even continents away.
Welcome to Remotely Prepared, the weekly podcast that looks at how industries, organizations and people make business, and life, work at a distance. Greg Thomas and Colin Harding have each worked remotely for clients over the last half decade and know what it takes to make it work. Whether you’re a remote employee or a business leader working through the challenges and opportunities of a remote workforce, this podcast is for you. With a great line of discussions and interviews, we’re here to share experiences, insights, even frustrations, and help you not only survive but thrive in this new remote world.
If our podcast were a website, this would be the "About Us" page. The "Who the Heck are these people and why should I care?" section. In this episode we introduce ourselves to you and discuss, well....what this whole thing is about.