21st Century Work Life and leading remote teams: Recent Episodes
Pilar Orti
Brought to you by Virtual not Distant, the 21st Century Work Life podcast looks at leading and managing remote teams, online collaboration and working in distributed organisations.
Join Pilar Orti, guests & co-hosts as they shine the spotlight on the most relevant themes and news relevant to the modern knowledge worker.
In today's episode, Pilar shares her highlights from the book:
How to Change: The Science of Getting from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be by Katy Milkman
Pilar shares her booknotes from:
Black Box Thinking: Growth Mindset and the Secrets of High Performance
by Matthew Syed
Another episode from the season Booknotes, where Pilar shares the notes she made while reading a book, allowing new insights to emerge spontaneously behind the microphone. In today's episode: Part 1 Pilar shares her booknotes from:
Black Box Thinking: Growth Mindset and the Secrets of High Performance
by Matthew Syed
"The paradox of success: it is built upon failure."
During the episode, Pilar shares:
Zoe podcast episode from 16 March 2026 Tim Spector's 7 health habits for 2026 https://zoe.com/learn/tim-spectors-7-health-habits-for-2026
The Proving Ground by Michael Connelly The Trial by Rob Rinder Pandora's Jar: Women in the Greek Myths
New newsletter! Pilates and Remote Work: https://pilatesandremotework.substack.com/
And don't forget to check out Connection and Disconnection in Remote Teams, the book!
Part 2: Personal Updates Enjoying writing about Pilates, looking for different teachers to learn from and lots of voicoever jobs last week!
If you're interested in All the World's a Workplace, sign up here.
A different kind of episode today! We're back with two voices, and this time, instead of Pilar sharing notes from a book, she speaks to her co-author Bree Caggiati, about their latest book, "Connection and Disconnection in Remote Teams". They cover some of the book's topics, how the research has moved on, and for Part 2, they've got some connection-related personal updates. In today's episode: Part 1 Check out Connection and Disconnection in Remote Teams, the book!
- Book and Project Origins
Bree and Pilar explain how their 2019 podcast project on connection and disconnection evolved into their recently published book.
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Evolution from Remote to Hybrid Work How remote work went from a "niche" concept in 2019 to the mainstream adoption of hybrid models post-pandemic, and the common mistake of forcing traditional office-based practices into remote environments and the benefits of establishing intentional remote-first frameworks.
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Diversity and Inclusion in Connection: Individuals experience belonging differently and how designing for specific needs can benefit an entire team.
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Structure and Themes of the Book An overview of the core topics addressed in the book.
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New Research on Monthly Meetups A new study by Nick Bloom suggesting that bringing fully remote teams together just once a month can significantly boost productivity and reduce quit rates.
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The "3A Framework" of Connection & Shared Responsibility A breakdown of three ways people connect at work., and the "overarching thesis" that connection is a shared duty between the organisation, the manager, and the individual, requiring deliberate design rather than just hoping it happens.
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The Connection Quiz A ten-question, quiz to test Bree's memory of key concepts from the book, such as the health risks of chronic loneliness and the "remote-first" approach.
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Generative AI and Rapport How AI chatbots might replace small human interactions, potentially impacting the bonding and trust-building typically found in quick feedback loops.
Part 2: Personal Updates Talking "Away from the Work", but still connected to today's topic of connection!
Another episode from the season Booknotes, where Pilar shares the notes she made while reading a book, allowing new insights to emerge spontaneously behind the microphone. In today's episode: Part 1 Pilar shares her booknotes from:
Code Dependent: How AI Is Changing Our Lives
by Madhumita Murgia
"The problem that we have is not the algorithms, but the humans."
And don't forget to check out Connection and Disconnection in Remote Teams, the book!
Part 2: Personal Updates Pilar shares some of the ways in which she's using generative AI to help with the writing of her book.
If you're interested in All the World's a Workplace, sign up here.
Another episode from the season Booknotes, where Pilar shares the notes she made while reading a book, allowing new insights to emerge spontaneously behind the microphone. In today's episode: Part 1 Pilar shares her booknotes from:
Make Time: How to focus on what happens every day
by Jake Knapp and John Zeratsky
Four Thousand Weeks: Embrace your limits. Change your life. Make your four thousand weeks count
by Oliver Burkman
"The technologies we use to try to 'get on top of everything' always fail us, in the end, because they increase the size of the 'everything' of which we're trying to get on top."
And don't forget to check out Connection and Disconnection in Remote Teams, the book!
Part 2: Personal Updates Pilar is reading this novel, which she's really enjoying: In a Good Light by Clare Chambers An announcement: Pilates for Remote Workers is in the making… Feedback has come through for All the World's a Workplace Pilar has to go back to re-writing the cozy mystery in third person…
pilarwrites.com
Another episode from the season: Booknotes, where Pilar shares the notes she made while reading a book, allowing new insights to emerge spontaneously behind the microphone. In today's episode: Part 1 Pilar shares her booknotes from:
The Unexpected Joy of the Ordinary
by Catherine Gray
Favourite highlight:
"Happiness is not having what you want, but wanting what you have."
And don't forget to check out Connection and Disconnection in Remote Teams, the book!
Part 2: Personal Updates If you're interested in the future book The A to Z of Spanish Refrains, sign up here: https://atozofspanishculture.com/2025/01/16/n-is-for-un-libro-nuevo/
Pilar talks about her recent experience recording for an audioguide (the producer was great!), how her writing is going (the cozy mystery, not so great) and her ongoing learnings as Pilates teacher.
pilarwrites.com
Another episode from the season: Booknotes, where Pilar shares the notes she made while reading a book, allowing new insights to emerge spontaneously behind the microphone. In today's episode: Part 1 Pilar shares her booknotes from:
The Art of Possibility: Transforming Professional and Personal Life
by Rosamund Stone Zander and Benjamin Zander
Favourite highlight:
I love my weeds as much as my unblossomed roses. (Which actually comes from a letter received by one of the author's students.)
Part 2 Recommendations for other reading: Mark Kilby's newsletter Staying Human with Tech
Practical Presenting: 100 Actionable Tips by Guy Michaels
And don't forget to check out Connection and Disconnection in Remote Teams, the book!
Personal Updates
Hello to Andrew and Mike from Blue Goat Books, thank you for listening! Pilar tells of what she learned from having a substitute teacher for her choir singing class. And how she experienced cognitive load herself while teaching Pilates. pilarwrites.com
Another episode from the season Booknotes, where Pilar shares the notes she made while reading a book, allowing new insights to emerge spontaneously behind the microphone. In today's episode: Part 1 Pilar shares her booknotes from:
Futureproof: 9 Rules for Humans in the Age of Automation by Kevin Roose
Favourite highlight:
"It's on us—the people who love technology but worry about its use—to explore this adjacent possible and push for the best version of it."
Part 2 Updates from Pilar:
A fiction recommendation: You Are Here by David Nicholls
The struggles writing the chapter on leadership for All the World's a Workplace. What Pilar is learning through choir singing lessons.
pilarwrites.com And don't forget to check out Connection and Disconnection in Remote Teams, the book!
Another episode from the season: Booknotes, where Pilar shares the notes she made while reading a book, allowing new insights to emerge spontaneously behind the microphone. In today's episode: Part 1 Pilar shares her booknotes from:
Because Internet: Understanding how language is changing by Gretchen McCulloch Listener Roberta recommends: It's Not Magic. The Ordinary Skills of Exceptional Leaders by John Amaechi and the fiction book: No Two Persons by Erica Bauermeister. Pilar in turn recommends Roberta Sawatzky's memoir Between here and Where? Embracing life's transitions and the novel Home Stretch by Graham Norton
And don't forget to check out Connection and Disconnection in Remote Teams, the book!
Part 2 Updates from Pilar:
The interview on The Creative Penn podcast episode 831:
How to Pivot Careers, Co-Write Books, And Stay Connected As A Remote Creative With Pilar Orti
The importance of attending Pilates classes as a student The workflow for this show pilarwrites.com
The 21st Century Work Life podcast is back - with a different kind of content and format. The Booknotes season starts and will last... for a while. In today's episode: Part 1 Pilar shares her booknotes from
How To Have A Good Day: The Essential Toolkit for a Productive Day at Work and Beyond by Caroline Webb
Part 2 Updates from Pilar -her books and what she's up to. pilarwrites.com
A very short episode where I (Pilar Orti) share the reasons why the 21st Century Work Life podcast is going on pause. Stay subscribed though, as you never know when new episodes might drop! Thank you very much for listening and all the best for 2025. Get in touch: https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/contact-us
It’s the end of the year, but we’re not making any predictions - things are moving way too fast! Instead, Pilar and Maya review some of the issues that have been blamed on “remote”.
For an extensive summary of the episode, check out www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/dont-blame-remote-work
You can message Pilar through the Virtual not Distant website: https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/contact-us and get hold of Maya over at Remote Work Europe: https://www.remoteworkeurope.eu/ .
Listener Richard de Villiers reached out to host Pilar Orti after hearing the episode on the 3 A’s of Connection. He has plenty to say on the subject of connection in remote teams, and many different frameworks to share to help other listeners think through change programmes and their own leadership.
Connect with Richard on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/richarddevilliers/ For detailed show notes, head over to
https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts /connection-frameworks
In this episode, host Pilar Orti interviews Andreea Gătin an event and community manager who is organising a unique experience for digital nomad and remote workers in Romania. Andreea discusses her goals for the experience, which include showcasing Romania as a destination for digital nomads and fostering a sense of community among participants. It’s happening in March 2025, so check it out!
Find an episode summary over at www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/experience-romania
Find out more about Andreea and the experience she’s creating:
Information and Registration Form
Connect with Andreea Ioana Gătin on LinkedIn
In this episode, host Pilar Orti talks to Sagar Chandni, who describes himself as a distributed work practitioner and a strategy leader with a heart. We talk about the nuances of these terms and the evolving nature of work, particularly in India where Sagar is based.
Sagar discusses his work with startups and the challenges and opportunities they face, and shares his approach to informed leadership, ethical business strategies, and workplace inclusiveness, as well as the importance of embracing a mindset shift and approaching work in a way that fosters meaningful connections and positive impact both personally and professionally. He also gives us a view of the startup landscape in India. Yes, we cover a lot in this episode! Find out more about Sagar and his work: Connect with Sagar on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sagarchandni/
Check out his LinkedIn show Virtual Global Leadership Podcast Subscribe to his newsletter: https://strivewithsagarchandni.substack.com/
For a written summary check out https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/leader-with-heart
Host Pilar Orti is joined by Doug Haines, the founder of Kalium and Marketing Pros. Doug's entrepreneurial journey began with Kalium, where he successfully recruited talent from South Africa. This positive experience inspired him to launch Marketing Pros, an agency connecting South African marketing professionals with global opportunities. In this episode, Doug discusses the development of both ventures and his strategies for maintaining a robust talent pool. For the full show notes check out www.virtualnotdistant.com
Find out more about Doug Haines and his companies: Marketing Pros: https://www.marketingpros.co Kalium: https://www.kalium.co.uk/ If you’re looking to expand your team and want to talk to Doug about your best options, find him on LinkedIn, https://www.linkedin.com/in/doughaines/
or email him as per the end of the interview.
In this episode, host Pilar Orti shares her new framework showing how we connect at work, and talks about some of her other projects. If you'd like to be alerted when the Remotely Shakespeare wall calendar comes out, head over to remotelyshakespeare.com For more information check out www.virtualnotdistant.com
A special episode to celebrate the launch of the revised edition of The Long-Distance Leader, written by Kevin Eikenberry and Wayne Turmel, who returns to the show with another conversation that made host Pilar Orti laugh plenty of times. The conversation takes a critical look at the “hybrid” workplace - is it a compromise, a hostage negotiation? Or is the problem that we’re all transitioning to a new era of knowledge work, and are uncomfortable with uncertainty? Wayne also covers the role of trust, building a culture fit for hybrid and proximity bias. Summary blog post: https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/challenges-of-hybrid
Find out more about the book here: kevineikenberry.com/products/the-long-distance-leader
Check out Wayne’s website too: wayneturmel.com
And if you’d like to hear more from the authors, listen to Wayne in episode 238 or hear from Kevin Eikenberry in episode 181.
In today’s episode, host Pilar Orti catches up with Frédérique Lloyd Bougreau, about how she transformed her career and lifestyle by setting up a Pilates studio in rural France. They talk about cultural adaptation, building a business in a new environment and the Importance of movement and exercise as we progress through life. Frédérique’s contact details are over at her website: https://www.pilatesbienetre.com/contact.html As always, you can find Pilar over at www.virtualnotdistant.com
For today’s Recommendations episode, Pilar is joined by Catherine Nicholson, co-founder and creative director of The Virtual Training Team. Before they move onto this month’s reading and listening recommendations, Catherine talks about her recent interest: the blend of generations in the workplace, and how to make the most out of them.
Recorded on 7 August 2024 For the full set of show notes, head over to https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/generations-workplace
In this episode Pilar talks to Justin Gignac, co-founder of Working Not Working, and Nicolina Jennings, the company's VP and Managing Director. Our guests share the origins and evolution of Working Not Working, and how what they’ve learned about engagement and belonging led to their new platform NTRNL. They make a strong case for increasing employee retention by creating an infrastructure that makes internal opportunities - and hidden talents- visible to all. You can find a summary over at www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/working-not-working
Check out Working not Working https://workingnotworking.com
and NTRNL https://workingnotworking.com/ntrnl
We are joined by regular guest Theresa Hollema who has been doing some thinking with host Pilar Orti on the topic of Bonding within remote teams, versus Bridging, where team members create bonds with other parts of the organisation. Plus, Theresa has her own reading and listening recommendations to add to Pilar’s.
You can connect with Theresa on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/theresasigillitohollema/
And check out the resources on her website: https://virtualacrosscultures.com/ Let us know what you thought of the episode over at www.virtualnotdistant.com/contact
You can find an summary of the first part, plus all the links we refer to here:
ww.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/bridging-remote-teams
A new player has entered the field in the world of work: generative AI. As remote teams increasingly rely on asynchronous communication, have AI chatbots become go-to resources for quick answers and idea validation? What does this mean for our workplace relationships and social skills? Maya Middlemiss and Pilar Orti discuss! For more detailed show notes head over to www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/chatbots
You can message Pilar through the Virtual not Distant website: https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/contact-us and get hold of Maya over at Remote Work Europe: https://www.remoteworkeurope.eu/ .
Host Pilar Orti talks to Henry O'Loughlin, founder of Buildremote. As he shares his journey from running a fully remote marketing agency to creating Buildremote, Henry discusses the pitfalls many companies faced during the pandemic and how his experience led him to develop a "remote operating system" playbook.
The conversation evolves into a thought experiment looking into the future of work, exploring concepts like the four-day workweek, the growing trend of freelancing and the creator economy, ending in a not-too-distant future where traditional employment structures become networks of one-person businesses collaborating globally.
Connect with Henry on LinkedIn linkedin.com/in/henry-olaughlin/
Check out the Remote Operating System at Buildremote buildremote.co
For a summary blog post, check out https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/work-evolution
05:05: Four-Day Workweek and Remote Work Connection 08:03: Future of Work and Questioning Traditional Practices 17:49: Freelancing and the Creator Economy 26:12: Resistance to Change in Traditional Work Structures 28:22: Challenges of Managing Part-Time and Freelance Workers
30:18: Remote Work: Learning Curve and Comparisons
In today’s episode, Pilar Orti welcomes regular guest Mark Kilby onto the show, to find out how he’s using generative AI. They share their personal experiences, preferences, and cautionary tales surrounding various AI tools. Plus, they have plenty of reading, listening and tool recommendations for you this month! Recorded on 24 April 2024, so some of the tools have evolved since then. For the show notes, check out:
https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/may-recommendations
You can connect with Mark Kilby on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/mkilby/
Or message him through his website: www.markkilby.com And if you’d like to keep up with his thoughts and work, subscribe to Differability https://differability.works/ Connect with Pilar over at https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/contact-us
Today’s show notes are a little bit different. We’d like to keep Jack’s story in his own words as much as possible, so we’re sharing a polished version of the transcript over at:
https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts /jack-nilles-telework
Talking to our host Pilar Orti, Jack takes us on a journey through the very early days of telecommuting, sharing the challenges and triumphs he experienced while pioneering this new concept. From convincing skeptical companies to adopt telework to exploring the societal benefits of reduced traffic congestion and pollution, Jack's story is a fascinating glimpse into the birth of a movement that continues to shape our world today.
LINKS:
Get in touch with Jack through his website (you can email him from there) https://www.jala.com/ Jack’s blog: https://www.jalahq.com/blog/
WORK DIFFERENT, the documentary https://www.nfb.ca/film/work-different/
You can connect with Pilar on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/pilarorti/ Or message her through https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/contact-us
In this episode, Pilar interviews Jaap Linssen, the founder of OrangeTrail, a company that helps organisations navigate change and adopt new ways of working.
Jaap has been helping people in organisations collaborate and communicate through harnessing the power of technology since 2011. Through Jaap’s examples, they talk about asking questions to drive engagement, developing team narratives to strengthen teamwork, the adoption of genAI in organisations and social learning. And building a business exporting farm cheese. Of course. Here are some links for you to check out:
Find out more about OrangeTrail on their website. Connect with Jaap on LinkedIn. And don’t forget to watch the video New experiments in self-teaching by Sugata Mitra
Plus, if you’re interested in using genAI for creative projects, you might want to check out Spiralling Creativity, Pilar’s new blog. For a full summary and show notes, check out
https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts /team-narratives
We’ve struggled this month to create a collection around remote work, so we’ve gone a bit “around the edges” - but it’s still all relevant to our audience. There is much content around hybrid work at the moment, and it tends to have more of a “how to” angle to it , so we often give it a miss. So, please send through anything you think we might add in future episodes. https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/contact-us
Coffee Break Articles 05.00 MINS The Pyramid Principle Via Sketchplanations How Remote Workers Are Reshaping Corporate Travel Policies via Skift E-voice in the Digitalised Workplace. Insights from an Alternative Organisation via Human Resource Management Journal (Wiley) Grabbed from Eva Rimbau-Gilabert’s profile on previously-known-as-Twitter. Airchat Is Silicon Valley’s Latest Obsession via Wired.com
Article + Documentary 15.50 MINS Work Different a documentary by Julien Capraro This was recommended by Jack Niles, reader of the newsletter, and author of Managing Telework: Strategies for Managing the Virtual Workforce published by Wiley in 1998. You can read about the documentary here: https://www.createastir.ca/articles/work-different-rendez-vous-french-film-festival and watch the documentary here: https://www.nfb.ca/film/work-different/
Books 18.12 MINS The Long Game: How to Be a Long-Term Thinker in a Short-Term World by Dorie Clark (You might also want to check out Entrepreneurial You.)
Hidden Potential: The Science of Achieving Greater Things by Adam Grant Slow Productivity: The Lost Art of Accomplishment Without Burnout by Cal Newport
How To Know a Person: The Art of Seeing Others Deeply and Being Deeply Seen by David Brooks (thanks Bernie J MItchell for the recommendation!)
Audio Recommendations 30.25 MINS Deep Questions with Cal Newport 294: A Tactical Assault on Business1 April 2024The Long-Distance Worklife podcastEpisode: Press Start on SoWork: How Gamers are Influencing the Future of Remote Work 15 April 2024 Remote Work Life RWL203 From office manager to international remote work expert w/ Laurel Farrer, Founder Distribute Consulting 4 March 2024
What’s Going On with Maya and Pilar Check out our own work! Thinking Remote: Inspiration for Leaders of Distributed Teams, a collection of our blog posts. And Maya’s “Out Of The Office: Making the transition to working from home” and “Finding Your Edge: Establishing And Maintaining Boundaries When You Work From Home”
Pilar is back on Twitter (X)! Maya’s mainly on LinkedIn, and… during RWE’s LinkedIn’s challenge, Maya posted about Getting Things Done, and got a comment from David Allen on it!
Maya is speaking at Bansko Nomad Fest. Use her code for a discount! 𝗠𝗮𝘆𝗮𝗥𝗪𝗘_𝗯𝗻𝗳𝟮𝟰 Our newsletters: Pilar’s “Spiralling Creativity” https://spirallingcreativity.substack.com/
Maya’s “Remote Echoes” https://mayamiddlemiss.substack.com/ You can message Pilar through the Virtual not Distant website: https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/contact-us and get hold of Maya over at Remote Work Europe: https://www.remoteworkeurope.eu/ .
In today’s episode, Pilar Orti interviews Amale Ghalbouni, a former executive strategy director turned coach. Amale shares her experiences navigating career pivots, rediscovering purpose, and helping individuals and teams foster deep human connections. They talk about the changing nature of work, and the importance of preventing burnout.
Find out more about Amale on her website. Connect with her on LinkedIn. Check out The Brick Coach website For a summary blog post, head over to
https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts /coaching-and-burnout
Maya and Pilar discuss some of the ways in which remote workers are networking. And very special guest Matt Ballantine shares his experiment “100 coffees”.
Recorded on 21 March 2024. To get in touch, head over to https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/contact-us
Maya shares a recent event she ran as part of Remote Work Europe, with Ali Meehan on “speed networking”.
Someone else organising networking-type events is Lisette Sutherland from Collaboration Superpowers, who is running virtual coworking sessions: https://www.collaborationsuperpowers.com/workshops/schedule/?type=1112
Maybe this kind of event is something organisations could run, instead of assuming the best way for people to connect is through face to face social events? 12.25mins Special guest Matt Ballantine tells us about his relationship building experiment: 100 coffees. Read about it here: https://mmitii.mattballantine.com/category/projects/100-coffees/ Connect with Matt on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattballantine/ Listen to his previous episode on this show: https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/collaboration-in-organisations Listen to the WB40 podcast, or even, book a coffee time with Matt: https://calendly.com/matt-ballantine 27.15mins
What about online communities? Belonging to a public group and a private one, and a free one versus a paid one, are very different experiences. Remote Work Europe has a public, open group on Facebook, and a private community, over at https://www.remoteworkeurope.eu/connected Communities and relationships can exist both online and off: we mention Social Now as a conference about the digital workspace: 16th and 17th May in Lisbon, and also the online community Asynco. And relationship building can be synchronous or asynchronous. Virtual Team Talk, set up back in the day by Pilar and Lisette, is still around! 43.15mins And Social Media? How’s it going over on LinkedIn? If you want to become active on the platform, join the RWE challenge: https://www.linkedin.com/events/levelupyourlinkedinspring2024-a7175914652218834945/comments/
Or, you might want to join Alison Jones’ Book Proposal Challenge. And being part of a challenge itself is a great way of meeting new people with whom you have something in common! 52.30mins In the absence of people, can generative AI bots help? A cheeky transition into some resources we have around generative AI: Maya has created the course: Generative AI Secrets For Remote Work Search Success And Pilar is now blogging about her artistic projects with and without genAI over at Spiralling Creativity, where her latest post ponders on whether genAI is a Clown .
In today’s episode, tech journalist Jennifer Riggins talks about the impact of generative AI on the world of software development, focusing on the challenges faced by DevSecOps teams in keeping up with the accelerated pace of code creation enabled by GenAI tools. She raises important questions about the potential risks posed by generative AI, such as the introduction of vulnerabilities and intellectual property issues, and emphasises the need for organizations to establish clear AI governance policies to mitigate these risks.
You can read the full summary and show notes (created by GenAI) here: https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/ai-developers Connect with Jen on LinkedIn. Read the article: Will Generative AI Kill DevsecOps? Read Jen’s other article: The AI governance policy engineering managers needed yesterday Check out the State of OpenCon 24 sessions on YouTube. You can also check out Pilar's post on her Spiralling Creativity blog, describing her recent experience with GenAI creating this episode's show notes. https://spirallingcreativity.substack.com/p/gen-ai-helpful-assistant-or-clown If you enjoy listening to the 21st Century Work Life podcast, you might also enjoy Management Café - look for it wherever you are listening to this.
Today’s guest is Linda Redell, Head of Talents and Culture at the hybrid company Homelike. https://www.thehomelike.com/ With a diverse workforce spread across multiple countries, Linda and her team are responsible for maintaining the company culture and employee well-being. The shift to remote work has brought challenges and opportunities, with a focus on creating spaces for physical interaction, revamping onboarding, and fostering engagement.
Connect with Linda Redell on LinkedIn. https://www.linkedin.com/in/linda-redell/ Find our more about Homelike nd what it’s like working there: www.thehomelike.com
For a summary of the conversation, check out https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/homelike
Today’s post is the audio companion to the Virtual not Distant monthly newsletter, which you can sign up to here. Every month, Pilar shares with readers articles she’s come across on the web, books she’s read (or is reading) and podcast episodes she’s listened to. And today, she’s joined by Marcus Wermuth, who is an Engineering Leader specialising in virtual leadership.| Marcus is back on this show, this time talking about his recent professional transition: laying himself off from his job as Head of Engineering. This has been a very difficult decision to take, but he’s followed his own principles, and stayed true to his identity as servant leader.
Coffee Break Articles: First off, check out Marcus’ article on “laying himself off”, If you are interested in hearing another conversation about how to strike the balance between transparency and discretion, check out episode 69 of the Management Café. 18.30 MINS Deutsche Bank's 3-day-a-week return-to-office policy has been met with fierce criticism by staff who say there isn't enough space for everyone via Business Insider The title says it all, but worth looking at some of the detail to understand the risks of mandatory planning looks like.
Right to disconnect: Implementation and impact at company level
Recent research shows that having laws about the right to disconnect is not enough to prevent employees feeling like they have to be constantly available. Company culture and in-house companies are needed too.
10 Ways to Build Better Relationships Working Remotely A blog post that could have been a short ebook. A thoughtful article with specific advice on how to build relationships .
Are Enterprise Social Platforms All Talk?
Past guest Wietske Van Osch has just released research into why enterprise social networks need to be run differently to the social networks employees might be used to, for employees and the organisation to get the most out of them. Gifts and Greats for True Feedback via Mark Kilby A very useful post to guide us through formulating feedback on other people’s work, and how to structure it.
Listening Recommendations: Podcast: The Rich Roll Podcast Episode: #815 CHARLES DUHIGG: HOW TO UNLOCK THE SECRET LANGUAGE OF CONNECTION Date: 22 February 2024 An interview with journalist/writer Charles Duhigg, talking about building strong relationships. Podcast: Tetragrammaton with Rick Rubin Long-form Interviews with a range of guests, from a range of industries. Podcast: Collaboration Superpowers Episode: Agile Retrospectives 2.0 with Esther Derby, Diana Larsen & David Horowitz Date: 5 March 2022 Lisette Sutherland talks to the authors of the new edition of Agile Retrospectives 2.0. Pilar hasn’t listened to it yet, but highly recommends it - she’s a great fan of David Horowitz, who guested on this show back in 2017, in episode 129 on Building a Distributed Business. Podcast: Sliced Bread Episode: Fitness Trackers (UK link, but look for it in your podcast app) 29 Feb 2023
Book Recommendations: Scaling People: Tactics for Management and Company Building by Claire Hughes Johnson Collabor(h)ate: How to build incredible collaborative relationships at work (even if you’d rather work alone)
by Deb Mashek PhD
Supercommunicators: How to Unlock the Secret Language of Connection by Charles Duhigg
The Coming Wave by Mustafa Suleyman Can’t Hurt Me by David Goggings
Make Your Art No Matter What by Beth Pickens
You can connect with Marcus Wermuth on LinkedIn and check out his website: www.marcuswermuth.com
Other episodes with Marcus: WLP291 Starting a New Role Remotely WLP219 OnBoarding (or Integration) in Remote Teams and Organisations WLP188 - From Maker to Manager in a Distributed Company
SIgn up to the Virtual not Distant's newsletter here: https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/newsletter
In this episode, Production Designer Kate Rance shares her diverse career spanning theatre and film. She compares design approaches across industries, her affinity for hands-on craft versus managing teams, and learning new skills through her eclectic projects. Kate and Pilar used to work together on theatre productions (many years ago!) and Kate has designed www.virtualnotdistant.com , as well as www.adventuresinpodcasting.com
Check out Kate's website, www.katerance.com For detailed show notes, head over to www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/film-production
Maya and Pilar tackle the topic of "digital culture" in organisations, with this article as a springboard:
"What is digital culture? The teams best prepared for change use modern digital communication tools, feel comfortable learning new ones and continually adapt how they work."
By the team at Slack, 29th July 2022 https://slack.com/intl/en-gb/blog/collaboration/what-is-digital-culture Pilar mentions the book "The Rise of the Frontline Worker"
35.00 mins
In other news…
“The winners and losers of London’s work from home economy” City.com 17 Sept 2023
39.00mins
Personal updates: Remote Work Europe keeps growing, with new countries joining: Belgium, Cyprus and Turkey now have their own groups, check them out:. And if you want to join the premium community, go to https://www.remoteworkeurope.eu/connected And RWE even has a presence on TikTok!
Pilar isn’t on TikTok but is doing a lot of podcasting - both hosting and guesting. She’s now doing a monthly version of the newsletter. You can listen to her on the Remote Work Life podcast with Alex Wilson-Campbell.
And remember that we have a course on asynchronous communication for remote team managers.
For the full show notes go to https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/digital-culture
In this episode, Barbara Mutedzi describes conscious leadership and its role in transitioning to remote work, with particular reference to her work in Zimbabwe. Throughout the episode, Barbara advocates for the need for leaders to embrace self-awareness, adaptability, and empathy to create more resilient, inclusive, and effective work environments.
Find Barbara over on LinkedIn. Find out more about her conscious leadership practice and her coaching programmes.
For a summary of the episode head over to:
https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/conscious-leadership
Today’s post is the audio companion to the Virtual not Distant monthly newsletter, and you can subscribe to it via email here. Every month, Pilar shares with readers articles she’s come across on the web, books she’s read (or is reading) and podcast episodes she’s listened to. The newsletter also has a digest of the Virtual not Distant content - but this podcast version has an update of Pilar’s own work.
Coffee Break Articles: The dark side of remote work via Asynchronous Agile
Remote work stifles innovation, a massive new study finds via Gallant CEO, based on a study in Nature
Apple knew AirDrop users could be identified and tracked as early as 2019, researchers say via CNN Business 'I had £3,000 stolen via WhatsApp job scam message' via BBC UK (This month’s articles are all a bit dark, but it’s just a coincidence!)
Book Recommendation: This month’s book recommendation is "Four Thousand Weeks: Embrace your limits. Change your life. Make your four thousand weeks count" by Oliver Burkeman. It is NOT a book on how to manage your time. It's a philosophical read.
Listening Recommendations: Podcast: The Tim Ferriss Podcast Episode: Matt Mullenweg — The Art of Crafting a Sabbatical, Tips for Defending Against Hackers, Leveraging Open Source, Thriving in an AI World, and Tips for Life’s Darkest Hours (#713) Date: 29 December 2023 Podcast: Work from Home Forever Episode: Eileen Tanner, 27 Years of Remote Work from Fax Machines to Virtual Meetings Date: 18 December 2023 (And if you want to find out more about Don Voltaire, host of Work from Home Forever , check out the latest episode of Adventures in Podcasting: Ep 71 Adventures in podcasting with your son, finding guests and the life-changing potential of remote work) Podcast: Hard Fork
In today’s episode, Maya shares her challenges trying to embrace the “work from anywhere” spirit. Our co-hosts also talk about how the popularity of Chat GPT has opened up the need to reinvent education, how they’re using the bot and why we should all be vigilant when reading current research on the impact of remote work in organisations.
Recorded on 29 January 2024. For the full show notes, head over to https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/ep346
If you have something to add to the conversation, please let us know: https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/contact-us
Other relevant links:
https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/blog/remote-anytime-anyplace-anywhere
https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/blog/work-life-what
https://chat.openai.com/g/g-x2K9hqH3L-healthy-happy-homeworking-advisor
https://chat.openai.com/g/g-A51yp1KCy-beat-procrastination
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/nick-bloom-86b79510b_wsj-news-exclusive-when-layoffs-happen-activity-7156670698369732608-6m2K/
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/jason-salt_remote-worker-job-changes-in-2023-activity-7156690158833082369-pK25/
La Gran Renuncia episode: https://open.spotify.com/episode/4p7x6PHwVKRkZWWCzAkacd?si=XkQvUHkBTLmUbeawMRc_zA https://www.remoteworkeurope.eu/connected
Hello dear listeners of the 21st Century Work Life podcast. This is a little bonus episode, what some would call, a piece of content marketing, as I’ve put it together to introduce you to our audio-first course, for managers and leaders of remote teams: Navigating Asynchronous Communication. And in this episode, I’ve selected three sections to share with you, to give you a flavour of the course - in case this is something for you, or your colleagues. If you want to check out the copy, head over to our website. https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/audio-first-course
I’ve talked about the format before - but in case you’re new to the show, it’s a course to help you lay down the foundations of asynchronous communication in your team, and it’s narrated by my colleague Simon Wilson and myself. It has nine modules, formal modules with title and everything, and some reflection questions at the end, and then it has three informal conversations between Simon and myself, like those you might find on this podcast.
Before I go into the content, I’m experimenting with the delivery of this course, as to how YOU access it. And at the moment, you can take the course in two ways: one is through an app, which is actually designed for Audiobooks. And you can mark the audio if you have favourite bits etc, and also, you get a the text version of the course and the transcripts of the conversations. That’s it. (And for those of you who are used to buying online products, that’s being delivered through Gumroad.)
Now, we’ve also got a more traditional way of laying out an online course, through the platform Thinkific. It’s still audio only, but everything looks more like an online course, and you have a few worksheets you can download and fill in in PDF form, plus some quizzes, which are a way of getting you to think through the material, although to be honest, they’re mainly for fun, because it’s difficult to create multiple choice quizzes that really test you.
But, for testing you, we do have a certificate option. And for that we have a choice of assessments that you can take, and then send to us for marking. This can be text, audio or video even. And all of that is explained in the course - but if you want more information on that, le me know.
Before I move onto the sections from the course, let me tell you some of the topics we cover.
Coffee Break Conversation 1: Introduction - to your tutors and the material
Module 1: Benefits and Drawbacks of Asynchronous Communication
Module 2: Foundations of Asynchronous Communication
Bonus: Psychological Safety in Asynchronous Communication
Module 3: Different Conversations at Work
Coffee Break Conversation 2: Why is Asynchronous Communication so Hard to Get Used to?
Module 4: Collaborating on Tasks Asynchronously
Module 5: Decision-making and Alignment
Module 6: Capturing Your Team's Knowledge
Module 7: Integrating Meetings into Our Process
Coffee Break Conversation 3: Working with External Parties
Module 8: The Technology and the Team Agreement
Module 9: Your Next Steps
Right, if you’re still with me, let’s move onto a section from module 2, foundations of async, a segment of the coffee covnersation about how hard async can be to get used to, and then, I’ve included most of the module on Capturing your team’s knowledge, as this is one part of remote teamwork that those relatively new to remote work miss.
Do get in touch if you need anything from me - thank you for listening.
https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/contact-us
In this episode, Pilar talks to Jeanna Barrett, founder and Chief Remote Officer at the fully distributed company FPS. Jeanna shares how she set up the company by following her values and aspiring lifestyle, as well as her approach to company culture, remote operations and how values influence her decisions.
For detailed show notes, head over to https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/remote-operations
Links:
Find Jeanna over on LinkedIn. Check out the Remotely Cultured podcast.
Learn more about FPS.
Pilar pops in for a quick solo show to let you know how the focus of the show is changing.
It’s the last episode of the year, and it’s very hard to break tradition! Maya and Pilar talk through some of the recent stories around remote work and the world of work and try to make up their minds as to whether we’re moving forward or backwards…
Just as they’ve been doing over the last three months, Maya and Pilar comment on this month’s guest, Valentina Thörner the Empress of Remote! What was particularly memorable was her tiara story (of course!) and the way in which she continues to advocate for experimentation at every level in the organisation. (To hear Valentina talking about the two axis of remote work (location and schedule), check out episode 342.)
09.25 MINS
There is a danger of organisations being seen to be discriminating against certain employees if they make them go back to the office. Legally things are not that clear cut. This article from October showed the need for organisations to understand the implications fully: Case update: employers must do their homework before making ‘back to the office’ decisions.
12.52 MINS
One example of the world of work moving backwards is this guidance by the UK government against a four-day work week in local authorities. Note the lack of evidence to support it: “it does not believe that it delivers local taxpayers’ value for money.” At 16.00 MINS, Pilar brings in an example of the voiceover industry, which makes it clear that being able to work remotely might continue to perpetuate an “always on” culture. This might all sound like our hosts are in a negative state of mind, but maybe this is something that also applies to listeners? Maybe they are seeking information to navigate the more difficult facets of the modern work environment. The most popular episodes have focused on terminations (333), conflict (331), The upside and downsides of creativity and productivity (330)… But also some more uplifting ones like Effective Manager Mindset for Global Virtual Teams (315) and one on visibility and transparency in leadership with Mark Kilby (321). On the moving forwards side… 21.12 MINS Discussing Buffer's "State of Remote Work 2023" report, Pilar and Maya note a surprising trend: more remote workers now feel that working remotely has a positive impact on their career growth. This contradicts the common belief that remote work might hinder career advancement.
27.00 MINS We couldn’t end our reflections on 2023 without talking about Generative AI. We already did an episode on AI in November 2019 (https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/artificial-intelligence ), so it’s something we’ve always kept an eye out on. Now that Generative AI is being integrated into everyday tools and is more accessible, what’s going on in organisations? Check out Salesforce’s recent research which shows that More than Half of Generative AI Adopters Use Unapproved Tools at Work. (Does it remind you of how remote teams in organisations often use Shadow IT?) Generative AI is being used widely by all sorts of professionals, and a few months ago, Amazon had to cap the number of books that authors could upload daily, as GenAI was being used to crank up books. Speaking of which… Pilar has co-written a book with Chat GPT. “The Remote Worker’s Guide to Time Management” will be out in all formats in January, but the Kindle version is already out for pre-order. 40.10 MINS If you don’t want to read a book co-created with a bot, then maybe you’d like to chat to humans? The doors to the brand new community of Remote Work Europe are now open! There’s been a rise in closed online communities as social media has become noisy and unreliable. Maya embraces this and has set up Remote Work Europe Connected for remote workers of all kinds who are looking for a space to seek help, connection and inspiration. That’s it from us this year, we hope you enjoyed our 2023 What’s Going On episodes!
In this episode, Valentina Thörner talks about the importance of defining what “remote” means in an organisation, particularly around the dimensions of time and location. For a really good summary, check out
https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/distributed-teams-matrix
Connect with Valentina over on LinkedIn. Subscribe to her newsletter “Remote that Works”.
Hi, Pilar here. This is a very short announcement to let you know that I’ll be releasing soon a book on time management for remote workers.
This is an experiment. I am co writing it with Chat GPT, but I think it's wonderful. And I can say that because I’ve mainly been working on this as an editor and coach, and most of the writing has come from Chat GPT.
I am now looking for Beta Readers. It's a short book, it's about 20,000 words long, which means about an hour of reading. I'll be able to offer it to you as a PDF or an EPUB.
I would love to hear what you think, because although I do have the distance as an author, they’re not my words.
I am thinking of publishing it definitely before the New Year, before January. So if you are interested in checking it out and just giving me a couple of feedback tips, like, did you like it? Did you not? Is it boring? Is it too basic?I just need to put it out there and get people's opinions on it.
Please email me (email in the audio) or use the contact form over at https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/contact-us
Next week, we've got a cracking episode with Valentina Thorner, talking about the two axes of distributed work: time and location.
Maya and Pilar share their thoughts on the last two episodes, both of which covered different aspects of asynchronous communication. While some organisations are still struggling with incorporating a “good” version of async, others are getting ready to introduce AI. Where will it all end?
Links and mentions They refer back to episode 339 and 340. Talk about the recent Loom acquisition by Atlassian: https://www.atlassian.com/blog/announcements/atlassian-acquires-loom
Pilar mentions the AI Marketing Show, and a listener sent in this article on Working Out Loud: https://www.reworked.co/collaboration-productivity/rehumanize-your-workplace-by-working-out-loud/ For a longer summary, check out
https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/more-async
With the rise of online communities and digital platforms, the way we share, innovate, and co-create has evolved. Wietske van Osch, together with Burcu Bulgurcu recently published research, exploring the nuances of collaborative creativity in online spaces. Pilar came across the piece in the MIT Sloan Review, and invited Wietske onto the show.
This episode is a great example of the power of online communities. Pilar read the article “The Profound Influence of Small Choices in Digital Collaboration” in the Fall 2023 edition of the MIT Sloan Review, and shared it in a Slack community hosted by previous guest Rachael Happe. One of its members, Lori, happened to know Wietske and she introduced her to Pilar.
In this episode, Wietske van Osch talks about her recent research into enterprise social networks, exploring how a group's choice of private or public channels influences the type of creativity nurtured.
Connect with Wietske over on LinkedIn. You can find the full show notes over at
https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/public-private At Virtual not Distant, we consider asynchronous communication an essential practice of online collaboration. That’s why we’ve created an audio-first course for managers new to leading remote teams, and new managers. Find out more about the course here or get in touch with Pilar through our contact form.
In this conversation, Pilar and Sumeet Gayathri Moghe delve into the intricacies of remote work, asynchronous communication, and the challenges of global collaboration. Sumeet also shares why he “worked out loud” as part of the process of writing the book “The Async-First Playbook”. For the full summary of the conversation, head over to
https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/async-first Links:
Connect with Sumeet over at LinkedIn. Read Sumeet’s work: www.asyncagile.org Delight your eyes with Sumeet’s other work: www.sumeetmoghe.com/ Find out more about “The Async-First Playbook: Remote Collaboration Techniques for Agile Software Teams”. Find out more about the Async-First Manifesto. Special Offer: For a limited time, listeners can avail a discount on the "Async First Playbook" by navigating to informit.com/async and using the coupon code "NOTDISTANT".
At Virtual not Distant, we also consider asynchronous communication an essential practice of online collaboration. That’s why we’ve created an audio-first course for managers new to leading remote teams, and new managers. Find out more about the course here or get in touch with Pilar through our contact form.
In our previous episode, our guests Tammy and Theresa discussed career progression in remote and global teams. In this episode, Maya and Pilar look at another sector of the working population: freelancers, and discuss what’s going on with remote freelancers and remote workers who want to access opportunities in a country different to where they reside.
Maya and Pilar explore the world of remote freelancers. Maya's initiative, Remote Work Europe, supports those new to remote work, offering guidance and job opportunities. The boundaries between traditional employment and freelancing are blurring due to remote work's flexibility. Challenges arise from limited remote entry-level roles and complex international hiring processes. Early-career remote workers might initially need in-person training, but highlighting remote-specific skills can be advantageous. The rise of freelancing is evident, yet transitioning can be bureaucratic - and our special guest Sondre Rasch of Safetywing suggests countries simplify self-employment processes.
For the full episode summary, check out https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts /remote-freelancing
Pilar welcomes back Tammy Bjelland, CEO of Workplaceless and Theresa Hollema, author of “Virtual Teams Across Cultures” to talk about career progression in remote and global teams. Tammy covers how organisations can ensure that remote employees don’t miss out on career development in hybrid settings, and Theresa talks about how hard it is for distributed employees to get the attention of HQ for resources and career opportunities and how that adds a type of stress, which has nothing to do with performance.
For a detailed summary of the conversation, head over to
https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/career-progression-remote
Connect with Tammy Bjelland on LinkedIn, and subscribe to her newsletter. (And don’t forget to check out the course Grow Placeless!)
Follow Theresa Sigilito Hollema on LinkedIn, where she regularly posts “micro learnings” on the topic of virtual global teams. Also check out the resources on her website and her book Virtual Teams Across Cultures.
And if you would like to hear more from our guests, check out Tammy in episode 286 talking about the challenges of adopting asynchronous communication and Theresa’s multiple contributions to the show (her and Pilar like talking A LOT about the world of work!). Ep 315 Effective Manager Mindset for Global Teams, Ep 300 parts 1, 2 and 3, and Ep 251 Leveraging Cultural Differences in Global Virtual Teams.
We’re trying something different for the next few months for the 21st Century Work Life podcast. Rather than commenting on recent news and articles, Maya and Pilar will look at What’s Going On by commenting and expanding on the themes brought up by the monthly guest-driven episodes. Please let us know what you think of this new format.
In today’s episode, Pilar and Maya reflect on the previous episode where guest Jan Nieuweboer, senior consultant of the future of work at Rabobank, shared the bank's journey in implementing a hybrid work model. (If you want to listen to or read the summary of the conversation between Jan and Pilar, look for episode 335 on your favourite podcast app, or follow this link.) For the show notes/summary, visit
https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/commenting-on-hybrid
In today's episode, Pilar talks to Jan Nieuweboer, senior consultant on hybrid work at Rabobank, and spokesperson for the Future of Work and Hybrid Working. He describes how plans for changing the ways of working at Rabobank were accelerated by the pandemic, and how the working model has evolved. For more details and to get in touch with us, head over to
https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts /hybrid-rabobank
We're taking a break from our regular schedule this summer, but Pilar couldn't help it and she's popping in to let you know about some of her plans - including some adapted Shakespeare, which you can follow below.
Please share your thoughts through our contact form. https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/contact-us
Why should I love these tools so? 'Tis odds
They never will affect me. I am simple,
Each tool beckoning with promises untold,
And I love all. To master all of them is futile;
To delete them is senseless. Out upon’t!
What trials are we workers driven to
When remote work has claimed us! First, I saw Slack,
I, seeing, deemed it a worthy app;
It has as much to charm a worker in it
(If it please to bestow it so) as ever
These eyes yet look’d on. Next, I yearned over Trello,
And so would any mind o’ my conscience
That ever dream’d, or pledge’d time management
To a fresh and appealing task. Then, I lov’d the whiteboard,
Extremely lov’d it, infinitely lov’d it;
And yet it had its flaws, as all do too;
But in my heart was Google Suite, and there,
Lord, what a coil it keeps! To see a multitude of apps
All accessed with one click, what a heaven it is!
And yet its name’s a fleeting ones, and scarce lasts
One generation of remote.
Then, there is Dropbox, a cloud aloft,
A refuge for files, a sanctuary for documents.
Its sync, its share, its version history,
Did cause my heart to leap, my mind to marvel.
Yet, it too had its flaws, its limits, its expenses,
Its conflicts, its deletions, a horror to behold.
And now, there's Notion, a novelty it used to be,
With its pages, its databases, its all-in-one workspace.
It promises the universe, it promises the moon,
But oh, what a learning curve, what a mountain to ascend!
Yet, I cannot resist, I cannot deny,
The allure of these apps, the promise of productivity.
Oh, what a world, what a world of apps!
A blessing and a curse, a delight and a burden.
To navigate this sea, to master these tools,
Is a task Herculean, a labor of love.
Yet, I am but a worker, a humble knowledge worker,
Lost in the sea of apps, adrift in the ocean of remote work.
And yet, on the horizon, a glimmer of hope,
The promise of AI, the dream of automation,
To lighten our load, to ease our burden,
A new dawn for the remote, a new era for work.
In this episode, Pilar talks with Julieta Moreno, an international employment and mobility lawyer. Julieta shares her experiences working with employment of record (EOR) companies, which help businesses employ resources in countries where they don't have an entity, taking care of the administrative and legal aspects of maintaining an employee's legal employment status in their respective countries.
For the full show notes, head over to www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/remote-termination
In today’s episode, Maya and Pilar cover the State of the Global Workplace 2023 report by Gallup and the Forbes article Our Changing Psychological Contract at Work, by Keith Ferrazzi.
Pilar introduces a concept from a book "No Hard Feelings," by Liz and Mollie, which discusses reasons why employees may lose motivation: lack of control over their work, absence of meaningful work, lack of learning opportunities, and disliking coworkers. (If you would like to hear more about the book, check out episode 57 of Management Cafe.)
There is also reference to https://www.developingleadership.co/episode/episode-34-managing-an-engineering-team-in-a-remote-first-world-with-alexandra-sunderland
For the full show notes, go to
https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/stress-engagement-gallup2023
Lech Guzowski, a workplace culture facilitator, emphasizes understanding individual needs and responses to conflict for effective workplace communication. He uses the Thomas Kilmann conflict model to explain different ways people respond to conflict based on their levels of assertiveness and cooperativeness.
Working remotely can allow for more thoughtful responses to conflict, but it can also hide simmering issues. It's therefore crucial to integrate conflict management into work processes and provide spaces for open discussion, especially in a remote setup. This practice helps to prevent artificial harmony and fosters authentic communication.
Conflicts are an integral part of collaboration, and when managed well, can fuel a team's growth. However, remote teams can become conflict-avoidant, overwhelmed by conflict, or disconnected from issues. Leaders need to facilitate conflict management within teams, and tools like Lech's culture micro practices can be used to initiate these conversations.
The hybrid work model, combining office and remote work, can also breed conflict, particularly regarding personal work preferences and decision-making about workspaces. Lech suggests running separate rules for each setup rather than merging them. He values in-person workshops but believes that office work needs to evolve from its traditional form.
Lech hosts the "We Got This" podcast to inspire listeners with insights from Heads of People and CEOs about implementing people initiatives in their organizations.
For the full summary, go to www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/navigating-conflict
This episode covers recent research on three different aspects of new and established ways of working: the effect of asynchronous work on folk music creation, the trends in use of online tools and productivity global productivity in the “work from anywhere” economy. (Oh, and we’ve thrown in some numbers from 2017, for you to compare whether anything has changed…)
We refer to this content:
Asynchronous work can fuel creativity.
This episode from the Work from Home Forever podcast,
Work Trend Index Report by Microsoft
“Stop the Meeting Madness” published in HBR July-Aug 2017
New Research Reveals We’re on the Precipice of the Next Global Productivity Boom.
And for the full show notes, check out:
https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/new-trends
In this bonus episode, Pilar introduces the Five Principles of Asynchronous Communication: Team interactions work best when they have one focus: co-ordination, collaboration or connection.
Teamwork happens in stages, and these can happen asynchronously or synchronously.
Designing together our teamwork supports inclusivity.
Asynchronous communication needs calendar time.
Approach new asynchronous practices as experiments: agree, test, and review.
If you are a new manager, or new to managing remote teams, you might be interesting in our new audio-first course on asynchronous communication. Sign up here to register your interest.
Our guest this month is Wayne Turmel, also co-host of Long Distance Work Life.
Wayne has been studying remote work for almost 20 years. He now works within the Kevin Eikenbery group helping leaders in organisations. The word “remote” is becoming redundant as working with remote workers is now part of most knowledge workers.
Wayne and Kevin have co-written three books: Long-Distance Leader and Long-Distance Team Mate (how to stay engaged and effective when we don’t share the space with our team) which are focused on the individual, and the new book, Long-Distance Team - probably the last book in the series, written to help create the environment where long-distance leaders and team mates can thrive.
In this podcast episode, Wayne Turmel discusses the evolution of remote work culture, and how organizations are adapting to new work setups, like hybrid models, and the need to intentionally shape their cultures.
He delves into the meaning of 'culture,' the difference between macro- and team-cultures, and the challenges of maintaining organizational culture in hybrid setups.
He emphasizes the need for discussions around the formation of new work cultures, especially in light of significant lifestyle changes during the pandemic. As organizations gravitate towards a 'hybrid' model, defining it remains a challenge due to factors like time management and synchronous/asynchronous work. Wayne underlines how the diverse geographical cultures contribute to varying perspectives on returning to the office.
For more detailed show notes, head over to
https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/hybrid-culture-is-messy
Coming out of the forced-remote period is getting messy: mandates to return to the office, forced working from home, diversity at a global level in how remote work is regulated, plus the ever-evolving technology!
Recorded on 19 April 2023, this episode also includes guests Guy Van Leemput and Patrick Van Renterghem, organisers of the Brussels Digital Workplace conference.
Today we are joined by Sergey Fedorov (co-founder and CTO) and Tatiana Ivanova (Business Manager) from A1 SolarStore. This is an unusual kind of organisation for us to feature on the podcast because they deal with physical products, and real-world customer installations - but new ways of working are increasingly pervading every kind of industry, as this case study demonstrates. You can find the show notes here:
https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/startup-spirit
You can learn more about A1 SolarStore and check out their blog on their website: https://a1solarstore.com/. You can connect with Tatiana and Sergey on LinkedIn.
A special episode, as it was inspired by a message from one of her listeners, who wanted to find out about more about the role of Head of Remote. Pilar reached out to Tyler Sellhorn, a teacher-oriented technologist who maintains the website headofremote.xyz. For the full show notes, head over to https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts /head-of-remote-position
In this What’s Going On episode, Maya and Pilar talk about the range of features in collaboration technology that could affect the way in which we work together, without us even noticing. Recorded on 23 March 2023, you can find the show notes over at
https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/control-the-tech
00.30mins Beware of the technology! 23.30mins Integration of AI 33.00mins Phones, phones, phones 35.50mins We love the tech, really! 40.40mins Other News 47.20mins Listener input
Do let us know your opinion on all of this! We’d love to hear from you.
Pilar welcomes returning guest Robert Glazer to talk about helping people develop and thrive in an organisation, the subject of Robert’s latest book “Elevate Your Team: Empower Your Team To Reach Their Full Potential and Build A Business That Builds Leaders.“
You can check out the full show notes over at: https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/elevate-your-team
In this What’s Going On episode, Maya and Pilar discuss recent research into what people do with the time they save not having to commute to work, why people use third spaces of work and other tech updates. Recorded on 22 February 2023.
Below are some time codes to guide you through the episode, but for the full show notes, please visit https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/third-places-of-work 00.30 Stats on working from home time savings and the 4-day week 21.25mins Research into third places of work 29.20mins Technology updates Do let us know your opinion on all of this! We’d love to hear from you.
Pilar talks to returning guest Mark Kilby about the different ways in which leaders can gain visibility in remote organisations, the need for pervasive and transparent communication, as well as the benefits of visualising our work.
Check out Mark’s book: From Chaos To Successfully Distributed Agile Teams . You can find Mark over at markkilby.com and modusinstittute.com .
For the full show notes, go to https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/visible-leadership
In this What’s Going On episode, Maya and Pilar take inspiration from a post (not a very sophisticated one) generated by ChatGPT about the challenges facing those working from home this year. They also review articles by humans, on the future of work and the future of office spaces. Recorded on 24 Jan 2023.
For the show notes and links to the articles we mention, go to https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/chat-gtp
In this episode, Shannon Teague shares her story scaling a remote business, and some of the things she learned along the way. For the full show notes visit Links:
You can find Shannon and her course over at www.scalingupsimplified.com - and she’s got a free course on hiring remotely to get you started if you need help right now. And if you want to hear more from Sharon, check out her YouTube channel. The episode that Pilar mentions from Management Café is episode 34 Is delegation hard?
We'll be back to our normal programme next week, but in case you're looking for something to listen to around leading remote teams, here's a conversation between Tim Burgess and Pilar Orti on tackling the challenges of the asynchronous environment as managers/leaders. This is episode 38 from Management Café, where the co-hosts talk about an aspect of management for about 20 minutes. Join them for this informal style every week!
Search for Management Café in your favourite podcast app, or head over to the Management Café site for timecoded show notes. If you'd like to be a test listener for our new audio-first course on asynchronous communication, register here: https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/your-opinion Today's conversation: What happens for managers when work moves away from real time meeting focussed and more towards asynchronous? Communication and team interaction can be as unique and nuanced as each individual human. So how do we navigate management when our team are spending large parts of their time working async?
In this What’s Going On episode, Maya and Pilar review how new ways of working have landed in organisations and how the freelance landscape is evolving - mainly in relation to remote work. Recorded on 5 December 2022.
They cover the following articles:
Is it time to revisit unproductive flexible working arrangements? https://www.peoplemanagement.co.uk/article/1803235/time-revisit-unproductive-flexible-working-arrangements
Article about hybrid at Hubspot https://www.hubspot.com/hybrid
Resource from GitLab on Head of Remote: https://about.gitlab.com/company/culture/all-remote/head-of-remote/
Pointer Remote newsletter: https://pointerremote.com/newsletter/
Freelancing: The Future is Freelance podcast https://futureisfreelance.buzzsprout.com/ They refer to guest John Lee speaking on tax rules
The Number of U.S. Independent Workers Continued to Surge in 2022: https://www.smallbizlabs.com/2022/12/the-number-of-us-independent-workers-continued-to-surge-in-2022.html
Pilar mentions the podcast After Hours, episode 17 Nov 2022.
Solopreneurship and e-residency: when small is beautiful. https://www.e-resident.gov.ee/blog/posts/solopreneurship-and-eresidency
(Check out the section on digital nomads in episode 309 https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/august2022)
You can find the full show notes at https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/recap-2023
We'd love to hear what you think about all this: https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/contact-us
Today's guest is Daphnée Laforest, who is also helping organisations adopt asynchronous practices to make remote work sustainable.
Daphne is the host of the podcast The Remote First podcast, which started during the pandemic to help companies adopt remote work, and now it focuses on optimising new ways of working. Daphne works with small and medium enterprises transitioning to remote or hybrid ways of working, helping them adopt asynchronous operations, improving their onboarding etc. Her and Pilar talk about the slow widespread adoption of asynchronous practices, the importance of culture and the difficulty of "working out loud". For more show notes and to subscribe to our newsletter, check out https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/async-operations
We had a problem with our previous file, so just in case you couldn't access it from your app earlier on, here it is.
(We had to edit something at the last minute...)
In this What’s Going On episode, Maya and Pilar talk about how online education is evolving and what this means for the future workforce, the rise of births linked to remote work, as well as a couple of news around tech and our community. Recorded on 15 November 2022.
The beginning of the episode covers online education for children and young people.
16.00minsComment on this article: https://ifstudies.org/blog/is-remote-work-behind-the-spike-in-us-birth-rates
24.50minsLooks like everyone is becoming a one-stop collaboration space, with Zoom and Canva widening their features.
33.12mins
Thanks to listener Scarlett, and hello to Catherine!
Sign up to Judy's course Buzzing online workshops for change-makers
starts 5 Dec, listen out for the discount code
https://maven.com/inoncollab/buzzingonlineworkshops
And Richard MacKinnon has a free and premium community (Community Plus) over at Work Life Psych.
https://www.worklifepsych.club/
In this What’s Going On episode, Maya and Pilar talk about how online education is evolving and what this means for the future workforce, the rise of births linked to remote work, as well as a couple of news around tech and our community. Recorded on 15 November 2022.
The beginning of the episode covers online education for children and young people.
16.00mins Comment on this article: https://ifstudies.org/blog/is-remote-work-behind-the-spike-in-us-birth-rates
24.50minsLooks like everyone is becoming a one-stop collaboration space, with Zoom and Canva widening their features.
33.12mins
Thanks to listener Scarlett, and hello to Catherine!
Sign up to Judy's course Buzzing online workshops for change-makers
starts 5 Dec, listen out for the discount code
https://maven.com/inoncollab/buzzingonlineworkshops
And Richard MacKinnon has a free and premium community (Community Plus) over at Work Life Psych.
https://www.worklifepsych.club/
Today’s episode is a bit different. Pilar is joined by Theresa Sigilitto Holleman, who specialises in leadership for global virtual teams, and is the author of the book Virtual Teams Across Cultures: Create Succesful Teams Across the World.
They discuss how Pilar’s article Key Mindset Changes for the New Remote Manager , written in 2020 to help those suddenly working from home, can be adapted to the global context.
You can find the show notes over at https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/virtual-leader-mindset
Today’s episode is a bit different. Pilar is joined by Theresa Sigilitto Holleman, who specialises in leadership for global virtual teams, and is the author of the book Virtual Teams Across Cultures: Create Succesful Teams Across the World.
They discuss how Pilar’s article Key Mindset Changes for the New Remote Manager , written in 2020 to help those suddenly working from home, can be adapted to the global context.
You can find the show notes over at https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/virtual-leader-mindset
In this What’s Going On episode, Maya and Pilar cover a small set of articles all related to the growing danger of presenteeism at work. Recorded on 17 October 2022.
For the full show notes, check out https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/async-privilege
In this What’s Going On episode, Maya and Pilar cover a small set of articles all related to the growing danger of presenteeism at work. Recorded on 17 October 2022.
For the full show notes, check out https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/async-privilege
Michele Ong has been working remotely in global teams for over 10 years - and she loves it! She tells us why and shares how the profile of remote work in Australia has changed over the last years.
For the long form show notes, head over to
https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/joys-of-remote-work
Michele Ong has been working remotely in global teams for over 10 years - and she loves it! She tells us why and shares how the profile of remote work in Australia has changed over the last years.
For the long form show notes, head over to
https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/joys-of-remote-work
In this episode, Maya and Pilar take a step back to look at the possible effects (both positive and negative) of widespread adoption of remote work.
For the links and a full summary, check out: https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/remote-inclusivity-inequality
A different kind of episode for today, and we would love your feedback.
What does psychological safety look in a team that has embraced asynchronous communication? Pilar and Simon Wilson share a work in progress module of the course they working on.
We’d love to hear from you what you think, through our page Your Opinion .
For the full show notes, head over to https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/psychological-safety-asynchronous
In this episode we go into the detail of how to best use a collaboration tool like Asana - even though we concentrate on this particular tool, much of what we talk about is applicable to many other platforms that allow us to visualise our workflow.
To connect with Bastien, you can find him on LinkedIn, and you can check out his website: ido-clarity.com/
For the full show notes, check out https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/using-asana
In this episode, Maya and Pilar discuss recent figures about the adoption of remote work, the increasing costs of working from home as energy prices rise, first aid in a hybrid workplace, what co-working stipends say about a company and recent protests against digital nomads.
For the show notes, visit https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/august2022
In today’s episode, Pilar talks to Rachel Happe, who is a consultant helping leaders in organisations to boost engagement. They talk about the mindset leadership needs to build digital communities in the workplace, and all the things that get in the way.
For the full show notes, check out
https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/engaged-communities
If you want to continue exploring this topic, check out Rachel’s blog post Building a Hybrid Workplace: How Communities Transform Work. https://engagedorgs.com/building-a-hybrid-workplace-how-communities-transform-work/
You can connect with Rachel on Twitter @rhappe, or if you prefer a work-related series of tweets follow the Engaged Orgs account: @engagedorgs
You can also connect with Rachel Happe on LinkedIn. https://www.linkedin.com/in/rhappe/
In today’s episode, Pilar talks to Niklas Dorn, co-founder and CEO of Filestage about how they recruit in the company, the role of values in the day-day and what async communication looks like in the company.
For more detailed show notes, visit https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/async-feedback
In today’s episode, Pilar talks to Niklas Dorn, co-founder and CEO of Filestage about how they recruit in the company, the role of values in the day-day and what async communication looks like in the company.
For more detailed show notes, visit https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/async-feedback
Today’s guest Stefan Zavalin goes into detail about how he works with teams in organisations to sit less. There is plenty here for you to incorporate into your team. Plus, the conversation is also relevant to those involved in introducing change.
You can find out more about Stefan go to stefanzavalin.com and check out his book “Sit Less: Evolve Your Work and Life Without Compromising Your Health”.
For the full show notes, visit www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/sit-less
In this episode, Maya and Pilar discuss the the recent developments around the 4-day week experiments in the UK and Spain, they reflect on whether audio quality might give rise to a new kind of unconscious bias and they have a go at introvert/extrovert stereotypes. Plus, bits and pieces around collaboration tech and news from our network.
The approach to the 4-Day Week has many parallels with remote work. Organisations need to have the appropriate culture, and it will look differently in different companies. A chip shop featured in The Guardian’s article Thousands of UK workers begin world’s biggest trial of four-day week is a prime example of this, where they’ve implemented a whole new set of shifts, to make sure that customers still get the same level of service.
18.05 MINS
Pilar, who pays unusual attention to audio, has noticed that her first impressions of people online, specially those featured in events, is affected by the quality of their audio. If remote workers want to show up as their best in meetings and presentations, it’s worth organisations, or individuals, investing in external microphones. (We recommend a YETI microphone.)
29:40 MINS
There are still many misconceptions of what introverts are, thinking that they are always shy. There are some introverts who are shy, but there are also shy extroverts. It’s all about how energy is managed, and what energises us.
A short and fun one to end with: are we in danger of “slack-splaining”? We discuss this article which talks about how so many people are overthinking their written messages (on Slack, etc) and the stress it’s causing.
Full show notes here https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/4day-week
David Stoddard is COO and Partner at Barnett Waddingham, a leading independent UK professional services consultancy at the forefront of risk, pensions, investment and insurance, with almost 1,500 employees in 9 offices.
(By the way, Pilar was very impressed by their website, have a look.)
David is the Chief Operating Officer, one of 100 partners, and he leads the non-client facing areas of the business, including the transformation across the business - Work Smart. The company has 9 offices across the UK.
Pre-pandemic, the office was at the centre of the work and the hub of connection.
David and his team surveyed the employees through a regular pulse check throughout the pandemic, as they were concerned that people felt disconnected and were going through difficult times. They surveyed how people were feeling, what was working well, what wasn’t working well, etc.
Some of the things they found when they surveyed their people confirmed their expectations, like people seeing a benefit of working together, and the benefit of having more time to work in a focused way, and the work life balance that the pandemic had provided. It was also very clear that everyone’s experience was personal, and had different views on what the best ways of working were.
The team also found a few surprises amongst the survey replies, like the fact that some people had adopted pets during the pandemic and so were concerned about having to leave them in order to go to the office.
The organisation is now adopting the Work Smart framework, but with the knowledge that each part of the business is very different, eg some dispersed team which are client-facing, some teams where individuals benefit from focus solo time etc.
Clients shared much of the feedback with what they’d had from their colleagues. Clients also find the benefit of getting together in person, for example every three months, or at the beginning of the relationship. However, when there is already trust within a relationship, this is not as important, and meetings can take place online. In fact, throughout this process, they have been able to share some of their learnings with their clients, as they were also adapting to different ways of working.
18.50mins
The intention of the Work Smart framework is to create a framework that’s best for clients, colleagues and culture. Underpinning it is the belief that some activities at Barnett Waddingham are done best face to face, for example being immersed in a call when you have just joined the company. Apprentices and graduates can learn by osmosis by being in the same physical space.
At the same time there are some activities which are best done in quiet spaces, and for some people that will be the home - but some people will prefer to do these activities in the office.
Being conscious of what you’re doing and why during these experiments is important. Asking people to come back to the office needs to be more deliberate and the benefits of people being physically together need to be made explicit.
The “contract” with work has changed from the default being to go into the office, to consciously choosing to do so, or request so.
Leaders in the organisation also need to change how they work, as working with an office-based team is different to learning a hybrid team.
29.15mins
There is a risk of “cultural drift” happening over time, if you don’t deliberately work to sustain the culture of the organisation. People tend to be members of different teams, so there is the question of where do you form the greatest sense of connection or belonging? Probably with your immediate team, but then how do you connect to the broader culture? Social events are one example of bringing people together from different parts of the organisation.
There will be a period of adjustment as people discover what it’s like to be in the office now, as opposed to in the past. Meanwhile, David and his colleagues are still testing new ways of working, refining the technology, adapting their facilities and training their people. David believes hybrid is here to stay, and you can resist it, or embrace it. If you embrace it and get it right, you can create a sustainable and competitive advantage.
Roberta Sawatsky is a “research storyteller”. As well as running her own consultancy, SAM is Remote, she is a business professor at Okanagan School of Business, Canada with a focus on HR and management. She blogs at Probe and Ponder… learning from life and travels. Below are some brief show notes. For a longer summary, check out:
https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/hybrid-leadership-competencies
Roberta’s research is around remote work/hybrid work/work from anywhere.
“You have to be willing to take the responsibility, if you’re asking for the flexibility.”
Roberta has had an interest in and has been involved in leadership her whole adult life, leading teams, or in a volunteer capacity. Whenever people are in a position of leadership or something less formal, leading by relationship, they have a responsibility to take it seriously, as they are influencing people.
Roberta’s recent research started in 2019, looking at the core competencies of remote workers. She then decided to build on that research, but focus on leaders, so she extended her study leave.
“Never underestimate the impact of culture shock.”
Check out Roberta’s post.
16.00 MINS
The research into leading hybrid teams
Proximity equity: the unconscious treatment to give preferential treatment to those in our vicinity.
Hybrid: Some people are colocated in the same physical space, or in the same town but not working in the office, while there are other members of the team working in other parts of the world.
Robert Greenleaf’s concept of servant leadership encourages questions like “Do those served grow as persons?” “Do they become healthier when being served”?
26.30 MINS
In the end, the philosophy behind what we do is important. What is a leader’s philosophy of leadership becomes important because of their impact over others’ lives, so Roberta started to ask questions around that. She mentions the book “Humankind by Rutger Bregman”.
“Autonomy in the workplace is not about passively letting employees be independent, it’s also not about working in isolation or doing work without guidance, boundaries, supervision or collaboration. What it is, is about allowing people to work the way that is most conducive to their own best performance.”
42.24 MINS
After covering the actions that leaders can take to nurture their teams and team members, Roberta turns to the leadership competencies.
Someone leading a team can grow these competencies and be aware of what they are already good at.
Link to Competencies for Successful Hybrid Leadership by Roberta Sawatzky
Roberta hopes that this research will reach leaders and will be incorporating this into her classes in September, as well as her consultancy and coaching work.
Connect with Roberta on LinkedIn and check out her research and company, Sam is Remote.
Thanks to everyone who commented on our 300th episode! You can now find all the interviews over at the new podcast Work Life Changes and Remote Work in Organisations.
We kick off looking at “what might be going on”. Maya has written “Virtual e-residency, a future in the metaverse?”, a piece looking at the potential of emerging technologies, and how we might make use of them as part of work in the future. Will “hybrid” mean we use both the metaverse and the office? Will there be a place online where all Estonian e-residents and businesses can meet? And how will taxation work?
12.45 mins
We bring in the voices of two of our guests from episode 300, for this section on asynchronous communication. (We like to practice what we preach!)
Mark Kilby tells us about a new experiment he’s set up using asynchronous video. He’s using the app Volley to bring people together who are reading his book and have questions and comments. It was not feasible to set up online meetings to bring everyone together, as readers are spread all over the world.
Following episode 294, where we covered a couple of articles on emojis, Ross Winter, our own “podcast polisher” has some further questions on the use of emojis: Why do we only have a handful of emojis? Should we ditch them? Are they harming the quality of our communication? What about predictive replies?
Or is it just a matter of sending a quick reply vs no reply at all?
31.16 mins
John Hopkins, has recently completed some research on hybrid work in Australia. It outlines the three main hybrid work structures, and how happy workers are with them. Pretty happy by the way.
Back in the UK, two government politicians are determined to get everyone back in the office. One of our listeners asked for commentary on the news that an unnamed politician (we don’t want to give him the space here in our blog, but we name him in the episode) has been leaving notes on civil servants’ desks telling them they are much missed at the office. He wants everyone back and one of the reasons is that the tax payer is paying for the buildings. (Yes, you read right.)
One of our listeners sent us coverage of this story, with his own thoughts about how the different departments in the civil service are still recovering from the pandemic backlog, are at different points in their “digitalisation” and how some jobs can be done remotely while others can’t.
46.08 mins
Finally, if you are looking for an activity for your team, check out these online puzzles from Google Arts and Culture. And let us know if you try them yourself! (Pilar heard about this in the After Hours podcast.)
47.30mins
We have some things to report from our network, but before that, Maya is hosting a new podcast: The Future is Freelance !
Thanks to everyone who commented on the 300th episode! And remember we now have a new show: Work Life Changes and Remote Work in Organisations.
Many thanks to Hans Gaertner for sharing episode 298 with Laurel Farrer, all about biases in the hybrid workplace, and to Zahra for letting us know that our work resonates at her end too.
Nancy Settle-Murphy recommends remove.bg to remove backgrounds from profile photos and make quick edits, and there is still time to get a 10% discount on Penny Pullan’s book Virtual Leadership, Practical Strategies for Success with Remote or Hybrid Work and Teams when you get it directly from the publisher’s site. (But you need to listen to the episode!)
Let us know what you think over at virtualnotdistant.com
Pilar talks to Brian Casel about asynchronous communication and how he uses his product, Zip Message in the day to day running of his business.
Links:
You can communicate asynchronously with Brian through his Zip Message page:
https://zipmessage.com/brian
And you can find him on Twitter too https://twitter.com/CasJam
https://briancasel.com/podcasts
For more show notes, check out https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/asynchronous-video
In this episode, we focus on the 21st Century Work Life podcast: how it’s evolved and what it could cover in the future. And our guests have come wise words for you, our listeners.
00.00 mins Pilar shares how the show has evolved over the last 100 episodes. Some of the episodes she mentions are: episode 209 The Journey of the Remote Leader, episode 263 “Remote” is not the Only Challenge, episode 282 Asynchronous Facilitation and Online Collaboration, episode 286 The Challenges of Adopting Asynchronous Communication.
09.05 mins Bree and Pilar talk about the Connection and Disconnection in Remote Teams series and how the conversations around remote work in general changed during the pandemic.
15.39 mins We hear some general suggestions from guests about what they’d like a podcast like ours to cover in the future. Tim Burgess is first, he’s been leading a distributed company for a few years - he would like to hear more “secrets” from people who are in the remote space. Then we hear from Theresa Sigillito Hollema, who as a guest has talked about leading global teams, her speciality. She’s interested in the psychology of working away from each other.
Theresa refers to My Pocket Psych, so its from its host, Dr. Richard MacKinnon, who we hear from next. He’s also appeared on this show as guest, and as part of the Connection and Disconnection series. He would like the show to cover the “how to” for those new to the space (especially if it’s evidence-based). He’s followed by Mark Kilby, who’s also been on this show a lot, (and who Pilar got to meet in person, in London!) and would like a mix of the “how” and the “why”. Then we hear from Pinar Akkaya, it’s the first time she’s guested on this show. She’s looking for inspiration and “what if” scenarios.
24.49 mins Other guests have more specific suggestions. Simon Wilson kicks this bit off. He’d like to hear more - and be involved in conversations - about what asynchronous communication looks like in those teams embracing it, plus deep conversations about organisational culture. We then hear from Ross Winter, our podcast polisher, who would like to hear answers to questions like, Why are we spending so much time looking for connection online? Eva Rimbau Gilabert suggest we cover the transition to hybrid (of which there are many versions), especially when we can back it up with academic research, while Bree encourages us to continue with the diversity of perspectives and deepening the conversation about the future of work.
31.32 mins Finally, the guests have some final words for listeners of the show, and Pilar. We hear from Maya, Simon, Eva, Pinar, Richard, Tim, Ross (and cat!), Bree, Mark, and Theresa, who leaves us with an inspiring aspiration.
And thanks to Anish Hindocha, for contributing to the two other parts of this episode! (By the way, Pilar has “podcastinitis” and hosts many shows!)
And we have some outtakes from 40.03mins for your amusement after our MANY THANKS to all of you!
In this episode, our guests talk about how their approach to their work and their work has changed, as well as how the view of work in relation to the rest of our lives has changed. 03.45 After an introduction to the episode, we hear from Theresa about how the delivery of her training and consultancy has changed, Pinar tells us about delivering her wine tasting workshops online and Maya reflects on what has changed at her end.
09.30 We hear from Richard about travelling less for work, Bree tells us how she’s changed where she works from and Simon reflects on all the things he’s gained from working more online.
How about what’s at the core of our work, ourselves as humans? How has the way in which we look after ourselves changed over the last three years? How about the way in which we connect with others?
Mark points out the importance of “energy management”, we’ll hear again from Richard about using technology efficiently, and Eva tells us how she’s expected at more meetings now than before the pandemic - although they’re also incorporating more async. Tim and Pilar reflect on how the desired levels of interaction change.
Bree, who hosted our season on Connection and Disconnection in Remote Teams, shares how working on that season made her more aware of her own needs.
20.52 What about our relationship with technology? Tim talks about how he experiments with different communication media as business leader and Ross tells us how the way in which he works with clients has evolved.
24.34 Pilar suggests that remote work can be a great option when we don’t get on with our colleagues… And that we can control our communications more. Richard reminds us to take a break, Bree has started to experiment with her working patterns
Richard has also developed fluid boundaries between work and non-work time and Pilar has swapped her Saturday for the Friday. Is it allowed, to work on the weekend?
30.50 Eva describes how the difference between separators and integrators is now more visible, Pilar suggests the work-life balance conversation is out of date and Simon thinks most knowledge workers can change our relationship with work - and shares why he thinks he’s “got it wrong”.
Mark talks about getting value from his work, Tim describes his new view of his role as a business leader, while Ross describes work as a mixture of insight, knowledge and experience.
37.45 Eva shares how her own organisation has changed the focus of how they work. Anish would like to know what people are using the time they save in commuting for - building a new business or career, etc? Are we going to see the rise of the portfolio worker? Tim talks about cognitive consistency between who we are and who we see we are at work. Simon points out that the missing conversation at the moment is about how the working lives are going to be different.
45.00 We tackle the broader question of what we’re hearing from others. We start with the work from home experience. Mark has been thinking about the craftsmen working a few centuries ago whose workshops were tied to their homes, Richard has noticed how people have discovered the benefits of not going into an office every day, while Pinar suggests we’re looking for more meaning in our work.
Tim wonders whether we’re closer to becoming a “self we recognise” at work, and this will lead to a better life experience. Ross wonders whether we’re becoming different personalities when we are online.
50.31 The conversation around purpose at work, why we work, etc will continue. Pinar goes as far to suggest that the meaning of work is being redefined. Finally, Maya suggests that all the words we’re using now to describe the location of our work and other aspects of it will disappear, and we’ll just talk about work.
Find us on https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/300-part2
This is the first part of the celebratory episode 300!
Some of our guests return to the show to share how they see the world of remote work changing, how their own ways of working have changed and what they'd like this podcast to cover over the next 100 episodes (or is it next 300!).
We'll hear from:
Maya Middelmiss
Dr Richard MacKinnon
Mark Kilby
Tim Burgess
Simon Wilson
Bree Cagiatti
Eva Rimbau-Gilabert
Theresa Sigilito Hollema
Ross Winter
Pinar Akkaya
Anish Hindocha
and your host, Pilar Orti
00.00 Pilar introduces the 3 parts and introduces the guests.
09.30 The guests start answering the question: What do you think is going to stay the same in remote work most knowledge workers for the next three years and what do you think it’s going to change?
Bree predicts lots of changes as people recover from the shock of being forced into working from home, and Simon has seen some organisations rushing back to the office, while some have embraced the possibility of working remotely. Theresa reckons the desire for flexibility at work will continue, while Maya says that this raised self-awareness is here to stay.
13.25 But there’s also a less rosy view of what's going on. Anish gives us the devil advocate’s answer (and what he’s observing in the UK), Maya thinks many people are keen to have more “analog conversations” and some resistance to sustain the change, while Eva is seeing a reluctance in seriously adopting remote work in Spain.
Mark has his doubts about whether hybrid is going to survive, while Simon has seen a polarisation in how organisations approach the ability to work in person and online.
19.00 What skills, mindset, behaviours will we need? Richard would like to see more sharing of what’s working and what successful remote work looks like, Tim thinks collaboration, communication and burnout will still be a problem - as they are a fundamental part of work.
Pinar reckons we have developed some of these digital skills we’ve been needed for a while, and improved our interpersonal skills. Theresa has seen micromanagers become more facilitative, and Simon reckons that the organisations that survive are those that will adopt asynchronous communication successfully.
28.00 Pilar does her usual rant about the need for understanding asynchronous communication.
30.40 Theresa specialises in global teams and is interested in nurturing cultural awareness and creating inclusion in global teams, and she shares how virtual teams have affected these.
36.45 Pilar reminds us of the “remote work for social change” conversation, which was lost during the pandemic. (But you can catch up with it in episode 212!)
37.00 What will be next on our minds? Maya reckons organisations and teams will consolidate their technology and apps, and look out for stuff like digital identity and blockchain. Meanwhile Ross, with an eye out on the parallels between social media and remote work, predicts a more decentralised way of working in many ways.
Pinar reckons there will also be changes in talent acquisition and retention, while Theresa has seen an increase in interest in how to work better with international colleagues.
We end the episode with a reminder about “subcultures” in organisations.
Tune in for the second part, where our guests reflect on how their own ways of working have changed and how they view the world of work in relation to the rest of their lives - and what they're hearing is going on with others.
https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/300-part1
In this episode, Maya and Pilar discuss the mental health challenges in returning to the office space, the evolution of communication in the workplace and the reasons why many people do not want to work remotely – in Spain and other places.
The set up of a hybrid workplace continues with its challenges. In episode 106 of My Pocket Psych, guest Dr. Hayley Lewis talked about how she was working with a government organisation whose chief exec wanted to reduce the office space in order to cut down on public spending.
However, when she looked into the living conditions of some of the employees, it was clear that asking (or offering) people to work from home would end up with some individuals working in difficult conditions.
While we’re making sure we can have the conversation so that people can work flexibly, there’s also a need to help people speak out when they feel they can’t use their homes for work.
In any case, saving money by reducing the office space might not be as straight-forward as it looks. According to a set of yet to be released data that Maya’s had access to, to make remote work permanent in some organisations, they will have to invest heavily in IT and cybersecurity, etc. Something they maybe didn’t do during the pandemic.
09.45 MINS
The return to the office is bringing some unexpected challenges and this article covers a few of them: Everyone Is Not OK, but Back at Work Anyway.
For example, the dynamics of a team that used to be colocated might have changed when it went suddenly remote. And now that they have to return to their previous workspace… it might not be easy. Many people have changed, and had different experiences of working remotely during the pandemic.
We need to continue talking about how we’re doing, we’re still in transition. What medium people prefer for being open about how they’re feeling might vary. For some, the best medium might be face to face, others might prefer to tell you how they are on Slack, there’s great diversity in this.
Different people and different teams will figure it out as they go along. What’s common is that there is still a lot of uncertainty around what the future of the workplace will look like, and still around the pandemic. (And have you heard of “Schrodinger’s Covid”?)
19.00 MINS
On a lighter note, Slack has published this article about how written communication at work is changing and becoming more informal: From jargon to emoji, the evolution of workplace communication styles.
Instead of business jargon, people prefer to adopt more informal ways of talking to colleagues, using GIFs and emojis. Is this a hangover from the way we were taught to write “properly” at school? Or is it that we communicate much more in writing with colleagues and therefore can adopt more informal and playful ways of doing so? However, we can’t let informality bring a lack of clarity (Maya’s words!) and we still need to adopt formal ways of writing when needed.
Pilar doesn’t like emojis that duplicate a message, like the article with a smiley face followed by “enjoying” in the text. Sometimes it feels like information overload. But some of these emojis have a lot of energy behind them, and they have their place.
Different teams will evolve their own ways of communicating, even how you react to messages, or even having their own designs.
(Let us know what you think of this!)
29.20 MINS
We move on to a recent article about how telework is being adopted now in Spain, post-lockdown, “Dos años después del confinamiento, ¿qué pasa con el teletrabajo en España?”(It’s been two years after lockdown. What’s going on with telework in Spain?). It’s been written by regular guest on the show Eva Rimbau-Gilabert.
(You can hear her talk about the state of remote work in Spain pre-pandemic in episode 214 The View from South Europe.)
“The most prominent reason why there is not as much teleworking as possible is that a large part of the people who could telework prefer not to do so (58.5%). The reasons for wanting to work face-to-face include disadvantages of teleworking such as lack of social contact with colleagues, difficulties disconnecting from work or work overload. Added to this is the fact that the private home may not be suitable for teleworking.”
This reflects much of what we were talking about earlier and we’re sure this is not the case only in Spain. It’s still difficult to disconnect from work, this sometimes has to do with culture, sometimes with individuals, and mobile phones don’t make it any easier!
This research says 58.5% people don’t want to continue teleworking, which is similar to what we heard from previous guest Laurel in episode 298, that the number of people in the US asking to work remotely hasn’t increased, it’s just their negotiation power has changed.
“The majority of people who have ever teleworked indicate that, once the pandemic is over, they would like to telework every day (23.5% without ever going to the workplace, and 24.7% going occasionally), with an average preference of 3.8 days of telecommuting per week.”
Even though we hear that the main reason for going back to using the office is to see our colleagues, it looks like a decent percentage of people don’t have a need to go back to the workplace. It’s a minority, but it’s there. (Maybe it was always there, but we didn’t know about it…)
Finally, the article talks about complex vs simple communication, and how they benefit from different spaces. It helps to define “communication” and “collaboration” when we’re talking about how to best do it.
Some people might prefer the office for complex communication, while others might prefer to do that kind of communication away from each other, taking their time. (Thanks to listener Pedro for this latter point of view, the conversation on LinkedIn is here.)
Different spaces are more suited to different kinds of interactions, and these will vary between teams, and even at different stages of the work. Coworking spaces don’t seem to have gone mainstream yet in Spain, even though they can provide a good alternative to working from home.
To talk about all these different things takes time, so it’s worth thinking about moving some of our more transactional, simple team communication to the asynchronous space so that we can use our time together to talk through the next iteration of how we work.
Finally, a shout out to Omnipresent and Oyster for their April Fool’s memos! They almost got us!
We welcome Laurel Farrer to the podcast, to talk about how to lay down the foundations to provide an equitable experience for our employees, in a hybrid setup. The conversation was inspired by Laurel’s article 10 Habits to Ensure Equality in Your Hybrid Team.
But before we get into the content of the article, we hear from Laurel about her aspirations for the adoption of remote work. In her LinkedIn profile, she says that she “leverages the power of workplace flexibility to impact business operations and socioeconomics.” She named her company “Distribute Consultancy” – they’re not just talking about working with people who are physically distributed, but they also champion the opportunity to distribute wealth and opportunity. Enabling remote work is about changing the way we work, and changing the world at an economic level.
Laurel reminds us that the kind of work that happened during the pandemic, was not “remote work”, it was a contingency plan. This has led to controversy about whether this has helped or hindered socioeconomics.
How does “hybrid” fit into this? Laurel’s research shows that the number of workforce requests from those who want to work remotely and want workplace flexibility has not increased since before the pandemic. What has changed is their negotiation power, having shown that it’s possible to work productively even when you’re away from the office.
This can lead employers to feel pressured into offering flexible working, and offering this from a point of fear, they will be resentful. Whereas if they truly understand the benefits, like more efficient outputs, it can be a great option for everyone.
10.53 MINS
Let’s get to Laurel’s article now and discuss the habits she mentions, under different themes.
Mindset
Management resistance is the first barrier to success in adopting remote work. There is a danger of people being seen as more committed just because they choose to work from the office and this can lead to proximity bias, where those closer to you are perceived as more valuable.
In order to be successful as a hybrid team, we need to operate as a remote team. We need to stop talking about “location”, it shouldn’t be a factor in how your work is recognised. The more we can employ the principles of “virtual first”, the more successful we’ll be. The office can be seen as a tool, somewhere else where we can get the work done.
It’s not always the remote workers who feel left out. Laurel quotes Lara Owen, talking about the “coffee vs pants debate”, where each type of workforce thinks the other side is better off.
One of the conversations that is currently missing is why people need to come into the office and when, even if they’re being given a choice of when to do so. Team members start to make decisions on where to work from, depending on personal life factors (e.g. having to pick up a child at a certain time), rather than thinking about what tasks and conversations are best had where. These conversations create a new type of value for the office, and the different environments.
20.55 MINS
Blending workspaces: designing consisten workplaces
We’ve been working in offices for a very long while and so there are aspects of the workplace we take for granted, like health and safety regulations which also make us more productive.
If we shift from the carefully curated environment of the office to our home, (or a noisy coffee shop) we run the risk of being less productive. So as we are talking about having a choice of workspaces, organisations need to make sure that people working away from the office can still be safe, connected and access the resources they need to do their work.
At the same time, office spaces need to be comfortable for people too, which is tricky as different people are comfortable in different environments. (e.g. Pilar is always cold in offices with aircon!) Some people might prefer to work from home, even if they miss the social connection, because they’re more comfortable than in the office, so what changes can we make in the office so that it becomes a place where people want to work from? This is also a conversation worth having with employees.
27.32 MINS
Collaboration practices
In an office, one of the greatest channels of communication is implicit communication and observation. We can make small changes, so that remote workers don’t feel left out of the hybrid experience. Having more explicit announcements and communicating in public channels rather than direct messages (e.g. in Slack) and paying attention to how we’re using the technology, rather than what technology we’re using.
We need to be more deliberate about how we communicate, and pull back on its spontaneous nature, so it’s difficult, and it’s easy to resist it. However, what feels natural after many years of working in the same way, was at some point also intentional. In a way, we are creating our new “organic” way of working. We can still be emotional in our interactions, and facilitate empathetic leadership, but it requires intention.
We are innovating in the ways we communicate and collaborate. And just because we used to do things in one way (e.g. monitor presence rather than output) doesn’t mean that they were the right ways of doing them. Something for change advocates to hang onto.
36.08 MINS
Inclusivity
We are different in many ways, more than we’ve been used to thinking about. How we like to communicate, what tech we prefer, where we like to work from. Maybe before they weren’t relevant, or that visible… eg many people are now asking themselves how to engage introverts in online meetings, whereas they’d never considered how this was being addressed in the in-person version…
How can you design your rituals, communication practices etc to be as inclusive as possible? Global and standardised tools, including asynchronous communication, etc. We can let go of some of the systems and ways of working that might have held certain people back.
Diversity needs to be turned into inclusion, by making sure different types of people are being recognised. When we talk about flexibility rather than “remote” or “hybrid” we can also look at the flexibility possible in jobs where location-independence is not an option. Schedule flexibility, access to the same digital tools and documentation as remote workers, etc are being explored by manufacturing companies worried about creating a gap between the different types of employees. Then we start to look at true equality.
To wrap up, Laurel shares her thoughts and experiences on how remote work is being adopted by large organisations. Her company Distribute helps organisations explore high levels of flexibility, through helping to evaluate their tools, write handbooks and policies, create training programmes etc. Key to making the change scalable is how success is measured. By being clear in our success metrics, we can evaluate whether hybrid work works.
You can find out more about Laurel through her website https://www.distributeconsulting.com/ or connect with her on LinkedIn.
She also appears on episode 212 on Remote Work and Social Change, episode 189 where she talks about information isolation, and the series on Connection and Disconnection on Remote Teams.
In this bonus episode of the 21st Century Work Life podcast, Ana Neves talks about how she’s structured the conference Social Now, which covers how enterprise social network tools can help organisations in the day to day, ”rather than being an extra thing we have to do”.
Your code as listener to get the early bird discount until 8 April is WCL21.
The conference started in 2012, and has a fictitious company at its centre. The people in the company have challenges that will resonate with most employees in organisations, and the conference is structured around helping people in the company. Ana blogs as a new employee in this organisation, so that attendees have a background on the case study through the blog http://houseofcables.socialnow.org/
Many organisations have implemented these tools, but are not making the best use of them, being used at a superficial level. Pilar was under the impression that online tools are being used efficiently and deliberately at a team level, but this is not the case.
Ana talks about Social Collaboration Maturity Benchmark Report 2021, which shows that teams are still using online tools for videoconferencing and direct messages, but not for what the tools are best, which is working out in the open and documenting.
The concepts of “working out loud” or “working in the narrative” are still not being adopted. Eg from I’ve done this document vs I’m working on this document. Work in progress can be useful to others in your team or the organisation, but of course to share this requires a lot of psychological safety. For example, if you’re writing a report over a month, even the first sentences that you write down could already be of use to others.
It’s all about having the right culture, not just the right tools.
Before the pandemic, the number of direct messages was smaller than during. Before the pandemic, the teams and people using these tools were already behind the concept of working out loud, whereas now they’ve adopted them because that’s all they had. People are afraid of having their work in progress visible to all.
At an organisational level, Ana has seen orgs try to compensate for the lack of being together in the physical space. However some of these ways of keeping employees “engaged” sometimes seem purposeless, and focused on the social. If this is not consistent with the organisation’s culture, it jars with people and can be worse than doing nothing.
These tools work best when they are used to listen to people and what they have to say, around topics that link back to business. What brings people together is their work, not just their social ties. Creating organisation-wide dialogues about things linked to work eg internal processes, new products is where these tools become valuable.
For some employees, it’s difficult to think about some of these spaces where we can have important conversations, not just “watercooler conversations”. The spaces are informal, but you can have good conversations. The key is to evidence that you have been listening, else there’s no point.
These tools work best asynchronously and are great for documenting thoughts and ideas that don’t get implemented. For example, “we’ve made this decision, and if you want to look at other ideas that were generated, have a look at this conversation”. This also helps to see who was part of the conversation.
It also helps to support the concept of “peer assist”, where people learn from others when they’re kicking off a project. Asynchronous conversations stay as a record for others to 1) identify the people who can help them, and then have a conversation with them and 2) to access thoughts of people who have left the organisation, through their posts
19.30 mins
Ana talks about the conference Social Now, on the different ways in which these tools can be weaved into how the day to day looks like in organisations. The focus this year is about enabling engaged and high performing teams, aligned with the organisation’s values and culture.
The conference is centred around the fictitious company Cablinc, and Ana is blogging as the Head of Marketing & Internal Communications at Cablinc. Through the blog http://houseofcables.socialnow.org/ she covers the challenges a new employee might have when joining a company, especially around the issues of knowledge management and communication.
Regarding the content of the conference itself, Ana talks about the focus of some of the sessions, including Pilar’s. You can find the whole agenda here: https://socialnow.org/agenda/ Some examples, how to run great hybrid meetings, and how to draft some of the posts to facilitate conversation in the enterprise networks. The conference will kick off with a “liberating structure”, tapping into the knowledge of the attendees straight away.
The attendees share common context from the beginning, with the case study providing a common language for all. And the names of the characters are memorable, so they become part of the conversation.
This is a good example of using an external (and fictitious!) focus to talk about our own issues, even something that we can use in your own teams.
As well as advice from the consultants for the fictitious company, there are also live demos of some online tools, showing how they can be used in the day to day. This helps participants to get a sense of the impact these tools can have in the day to day. (And if participants feel like they’re being sold to, they can raise their flags!)
The blog http://houseofcables.socialnow.org covers the challenges of the access and retention of critical knowledge, employee engagement, internal communication and teamwork & collaboration. Presenters, vendors and participants of the conference have access to these fictitious (but based in reality!) challenges, and on what everything is anchored.
There is also a session which follows the format of “peer assist”, whereby people in one part of the organisation can benefit from the experience of others in the organisation with similar experiences, or with experiences with transferable learning.
The Social Now conference is taking place on 19 and 20 May 2022 in Lisbon. You can find all the details and book tickets here: https://socialnow.org/agenda/
And you can connect with Ana on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ananeves/
And Twitter:
And if you speak Portuguese, you can listen to the podcast that Ana hosts, KMOL: https://kmol.pt/category/podcast/
In this episode, Maya and Pilar discuss the different communication rhythms that remote teams adopt. They also cover the concept of documentation, as something that can help slow down a team's rhythm, or at least help it towards "burstiness", a characteristic of successful teams. Plenty here to reflect on.
Communication in an online team requires a different mindset to that of when you are collocated, and requires different ways of interacting which might feel unnatural, or even uncomfortable.
It all started with this tweet:
https://twitter.com/PilarOrti/status/1499370551596527617
“Over the last years, I’ve worked & collaborated with a wide range of people online. 1 thing that strikes me is that the rhythm of communication & the speed of the workflow become apparent. I’ve noticed when somebody’s rhythm clashes with my own. Is this something you’ve noticed?”
Saskie replied that she also noticed when it WAS in sync, and gave this metaphor: “Musing on your tweet brought to mind an image of 3 legged races as a child. Just agreeing to begin with the outer leg first was a winning tactic. It wasn’t about running faster – just about not falling over ourselves!”
As external people, we notice this when we come into a team, but the team might not be aware that there are different rhythms of communicating. There are teams which communicate constantly, either because the task requires it, or because they’re used to it. So this presents itself like constant tagging, and many near real-time replies; on the other hand some teams barely tag anyone, just post messages at some point, and don’t require as much synchronous communication, neither to do their work or to feel connected. We explain the terms “asynchronous communication”, “documentation” and “single source of truth”. For more on this, you might want to check out this newsletter from Remote Fabric: http://newsletter.remotefabric.com/issues/push-vs-pull-communication-issue-2-696532
Teams can start by pulling together different bits of information and gather them in one single space, so that it’s accessible for everyone. Think of it as a key area in your online office.
You can also adopt the principle, thinking, “is this conversation or document something we want to keep for future reference, could it help someone?” It’s about making it easier to find where the expertise is in the company, so this is not only about content but also about knowing who can help you in the company.
Could this be relevant to learning and development roles? Shifting the mindset from how to run “engaging online workshops” to how can we curate the information and knowledge in the company? Technology is making this easier by the year…
(For more on this check out next week’s episode on Knowledge Management in organisations.)
19.00 MINS
DIfferent teams have different rhythms and they are influenced by the nature and progress of task and task interdependence, perception of and real hierarchy and level of autonomy to make decisions and social culture.
We begin talking about the rhythm around tasks and how this is affected by the nature of the task, the progress, and if we’re in a project, the stage of the project. Eg kick off and brainstorming at the beginning might require regular lots of exchanges, then a slower rhythm and less interactions as everyone “gets on with it”, and a faster pace.
We can reflect as individuals and as a team whether the rhythm we have is useful to us. Also, don’t forget about our wider context and how this might affect the rhythm in which we communicate.
Task interdependence will also affect your communication cadence, as well as whether you have a space where you go to communicate your progress. (You can find out more about this in episode 239, or read the show notes.)
By the way, creating documentation is all about creating the space for meaningful conversations, and conversing when it’s the best way of getting things done together, not as the only way of getting things done together. It helps us avoid information being held in someone’s head.
Documentation is live, so that improvement to our processes can be communicated too. But none of this helps if we don’t develop a culture of accessing documentation and other asynchronous communication. (We know, it can feel like a lot of extra work, but transitions are always difficult…)
As team leaders, we need to change our mindset and focus on creating an ecosystem within which people can work rather than always being the main point of contact for information. It can be difficult to figure out which technology can help us best though… Another challenge…
And of course, none of this works without psychological safety…
36.00 MINS
The sense of hierarchy and real hierarchy, as well as the ability and trust to make decisions on our own also can result in constant communication, as everyone feels like they need to check in.
Presenteeism and the need to be seen as working really hard, can also result in lots of “push communication” when we complete the work – rather than the more calm cadence of making our workflow visible in an agreed way.
If we don’t have a system for communicating innovations and experiments, one person can end up in the receiving end of lots of information requests, rather than people going to a specific place to find out more about this.
As team leaders, we can take the coaching approach and document some of the answers people might be looking for, so that they can access them on their own, rather than relying on you. Personality also plays a part in this, and the ability to figure out things on your own, or finding your way through information is a core skill for remote workers.
43.00 MINS
Finally, let’s look at culture.
Is psychological safety as important in remote teams as in colocated? At least you have to know it’s ok to bring things up.
In teams where people have a need to feel connected physically or emotionally to each other throughout the day, we might also get fast paced communication.
There was some research done on the rhythm of communication done a couple of years ago: Successful Remote Teams Communicate in Bursts by Christoph Riedl and Anita Williams Woolley, published on 28 October 2020 HBR online
https://hbr.org/2020/10/successful-remote-teams-communicate-in-bursts
Bursts of rapid-fire communication with longer periods of silence in between are characteristic of successful teams. Bursts help to focus energy, develop ideas, get closure on specific questions and condensing the synchronous time, can help those who really miss the ‘buzz’ of face to face interactions.
Find synchronous time together and define it, rather than suddenly move to synchronous communication. This does not need to be set in advance, but can be built on what’s going on organically or can be emerging by sharing availability.
From the article, “The bottom line: Worry less about sparking creativity and connection through watercooler-style interactions in the physical world, and focus more on facilitating bursty communication.”
Let’s not forget that artificial intelligence is making it easier for us to find information, including how real-time conversations are being recorded (in video, audio) and how they can be searched.
We know none of this is easy – let us know if you need some help.
54.00 MINS
We’d like to share an article by our friend Jennifer Riggins which is both timely and evergreen: How to Support Teammates Living in Ukraine — or Any War Zone.
The article offers examples of how to support people in crisis situations in both practical and emotional ways. It’s very relevant to today’s context, but can also help in the future.
We hope you enjoyed the episode, feel free to send us some feedback or any other thoughts you would like to share with us and the listeners.
Sign up for our monthly newsletter below as a way of keeping in touch, or join us over at LinkedIn.
Catherine Nicholson is the Director of The Virtual Training Team
She last appeared on the show in episode 274, almost a year ago. Now she is back to let us know how the work with their clients has evolved, and how they have changed how they work as a team.
The novelty of having to move online because of the pandemic has faded. Trainers, as well as other knowledge workers, are now looking at how to make the most out of the online space, once everyone has embraced the mindset that things can be done through technology.
Trainers can move onto the next level by taking “learning loops'' as a first design point, by looking for a routine that learners are used to so that they feel familiar in the environment. Before this familiarity turns into predictability and people “stop trying”, it might be necessary to “shake things up a bit” – but how? We need to enhance the learning experience, but maintain purpose.
One of their approaches is to “be a kid in the sweetie shop”, the sweetie shop being the huge amount of tools, stories, research, technologies out there that they can use. (Although always coming back to the purpose of the training.)
Once they explore one of these “gigs”, they focus on what is going to be essential to deliver the experience they’re looking for. But they don’t let everything go, in case it’s useful as supporting materials.
Another approach, driven by clients whose main challenge is the need for participants to consume and understand long chunks of materials. Here the problem leads to the process, rather than the output. For example, the material can be turned into an audio that summarises the key points, to be listened to before they go to the full material. Catherine covers a few more approaches that can prime people before they interact with the content. (In some ways, we’re going back to “blended learning”, in the widest sense of the world.)
13.30mins
Learning pathways can be designed for learners: required and desired pathways, to help us curate the content and design the learning experience. This is a great way of fuelling the autonomy aspect of intrinsic motivation.
Internal trainers have another challenge which is delivering sessions where there’s a lot of content to be covered, through material designed by others in the organisations, sometimes even by another department, like communications. Catherine mentions a few ways to tackle this, like creating more slides. (More slides, you say? Yes!)
Or if you can’t change the deck, you can use “hide and reveal”, or even using the pointer to direct people’s attention through the information.
Look out for Catherine’s upcoming video on “Hide and Reveal”!
(Their videos can be found here.)
21.30
Let’s leave the tech to one side and focus on the quality of the conversations that participants have in the session. When you first start to train, it’s easy to be scared by the “tumbleweed moments”, but these aren’t always bad, sometimes they mean that people are thinking, and sometimes they’re necessary. (Plus, they feel longer in the online space!)
There’s a lot to think through when you’re delivering online, screen, chat box, reactions, slides, camera pointing at you… While still being in “delivery mode”. Having your questions planned in advance is key.
Which will provoke deeper thinking in participants? Which can lead to more fruitful conversations? Thinking through these in advance will make delivery easier.
27.15
There’s a parallel here with the challenges managers have when they’re leading meetings.Plus, we’re now having conversations we didn’t have before, more personal, more sensitive. Psychological safety is key.
It’s also important to know who is present at the meeting, in what way, and what they’re supposed to be doing. For example, graduates might be attending to observe, can make this explicit during the meeting, and if they have their camera off, explain why.
As a trainer (or manager), you can also keep a “contribution log” – being respectful that people want to contribute at different levels. Catherine covers some of the reasons people contribute less, and the fact that our introversion/extroversion preferences become more radical if we are uncomfortable.
We can manage our presence in our meetings, and part of this is discussing/communicating how we use our cameras. For example, video is useful, but doesn’t always have to be on. There are times when it’s important for it to be on, and there are advantages, but it’s not an absolute. It’s important to understand our own preferences and not always design for them.
Balance – that’s the word.
37.00
The conversation turns to how Catherine’s team is experimenting with new ways of working. They’ve come across the challenge of balancing schedule autonomy, with the need to be available to each other when needed.
One challenge some team members have is seeing a message and, even if it doesn’t need immediate replies, the message presence lingers, so they’re using the Schedule message function in MSTeams.
“Flexible work” is great, but it needs structure. Catherine and her colleagues are experimenting with core hours, with flexibility within them. Through experimentation, we get clarity, and have to have conversations about working together.
You can find out more about Catherine here: The Virtual Training Team
In the last What's Going On episode, which was actually a hybrid of WGOn and ReThinking Thinking Remote, Maya and Pilar discuss Maya's chapter from our book Thinking Remote, "Sick and Tired, Working and Not Working in a Remote Team".
This add-on episode is the audio version of that chapter. You can read the blog version of the chapter here: https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/blog/sickness-remote-teams
WLP294 What’s Going On: Wellbeing and Emojis
This episode is a hybrid of What’s Going On and Thinking Remote. Maya and Pilar revisit the chapter from Thinking Remote: Sick and Tired, Working and Not-Working on a Remote Team. They also discuss asynchronous communication and how it’s being adopted in the workspace, they talk about the role of emojis and finally, they share a couple of social media discussions.
4.05 mins
In the past (before the pandemic), taking time off work meant you had one of two choices – both were difficult processes.
The first option was to go into work, even though you were ill - unless you were very ill, it was almost expected you would go into work, plus, we did not want to let our teammates down.
The second option was to stay at home, but even then you were not fully away from work, as you could still do some work online and lessen the workload for your colleagues to feel less guilty. In both cases there is a sense of fear of work piling up that is still prominent even in current times.
This has continued even in the pandemic. It takes a lot of self-discipline to step away and focus on resting and recovering.
When visible teamwork is implemented, it should make taking time off to recover an easier process. As we are able to communicate our progress and give access to our work. This can help people rest and recover.
Another part that is changing is our approach to mental health, as it is becoming acknowledged and more accepted to take a mental health leave in the workplace.
20.12 mins
Pilar and Maya talk about the new space created by Salesforce called Trailblazer Ranch. It is a holistic and nature driven space with the purpose of getting people to connect with their team. They also discuss the article Diving Deeper Five workforce trends to watch in 2021, which states that wellbeing is a part of how we are doing work, it is not a separate aspect of it. (Yes, it’s a year old but it all still feels relevant.)
We can give people autonomy to make meaningful decisions about their contributions to the organisation to help prevent disconnection. This means we don’t need expensive programmes to look after our employees’ wellbeing.
25.47 mins
The Royal Society for Arts (RSA) has recently released Social security: The risks from automation and economic insecurity for England’s social renters covering the state of the UK’s social housing, used by those who cannot afford market rates. Part of this article states:
“When employed, people in social housing are less likely to benefit from good work practices that support their economic and personal security: only 38 percent of social renters are in work which offers them an annual incremental pay increase, and three quarters (74 percent) never worked from home, even in the height of the pandemic.”
When we are considering why we are doing hybrid or remote work, the main aim is to achieve autonomy and flexibility , but we still need to prevent a two-tiered workforce being created. You therefore need to find ways to provide flexibility for those who cannot do their work remotely.
31.49 mins
Maya and Pilar shift to the topic of asynchronous communication, in the context of emojis. They discuss an article titled Do emojis represent the whole gamut of human emotion? The short answer is, yes they do.
For this experiment they took 74 different facial emojis and observed how much valence and arousal they had communicated amongst a demographic of 1000 Japanese participants aged 20 to 39. To quote the article:
“They see our emotional experiences as falling along continuous scales of both valence - how positive or negative an emotion is - and arousal. So, for instance, “sadness” has a negative valence but is fairly low in arousal; “anger” is also negatively-valenced but high in arousal; and “excitement” is positively-valenced but is still high in arousal.”
They have given us a cool graph with all of the emojis plotted of these different levels to show how different emojis have different effects. For instance, emojis that have accessories, such as the starry eyed or blue icicle, have higher arousal ratings.
When communicating with people from different countries and cultures we need to take these aspects into consideration. The article, Caution! These emojis mean different things in different countries, discusses this. For instance it mentions that the prayer emoji can have different meanings depending on the culture.
50.52mins
News from the social media community and our connections:
Follow the conversation on Twitter about helping people adopt asynchronous communication. https://twitter.com/marjolijndg/status/1491476316453052420?s=21
Pilar will be speaking at Social Now in Lisbon, in May. Check out the programme, centred around a case study. (And look out for organiser Ana Neves talking about it on this podcast.)
Penny Pullan has released the second edition of her book Virtual Leadership. You can get a 20% discount with the code FBM20 from the publisher’s website.
Lucid Meetings have released a new course “Free Your Team From Unproductive Meetings”, If you would like to sign up to their March/April programme, this link will take you there. (Please note it’s an affiliate link, so if you sign up, you’ll also be supporting this podcast.)
Have you got any news you’d like to share with our audience? Let us know through our contact form or Twitter.
We also have a page on LinkedIn you can follow.
If you have any other questions about asynchronous communication or have any thoughts or ideas you want to discuss you can tweet at Virtual not Distant or at Maya or Pilar directly.
In this episode, Pilar speaks to Chase Warrington, Head of Remote at Doist. Chase shares how he is challenging how remote work is approached at his organisation, and what he has learnt in his new position that can be used to improve the business and its people.
You can find the show notes below, and there's a transcript over at https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/head-of-remote-doist
Chase discusses his new position as Head of Remote and talks about how as a community we can help each other learn and grow, and figure out what is the best way to overcome the challenges remote teams face.
24.36 mins
Chase discusses the importance of bringing a team of people from different departments together to socialise and work on a new project, to help overcome feelings of isolation, loneliness, disconnection and disengagement.
Working remotely does have its own set of challenges to overcome, not in the way of changing the entire system, more so that we have systems in place to implement when facing these challenges. Having a social calendar can benefit remote work as there can be a time set at the end of each month for people to come together and connect. However there are ways to make these gatherings more impactful.
(You can read Chase’s article “How to Build Human Connections in an Async Workplace” from Doist’s website.)
Chase has created a “social crew” to have these gatherings be more structured,create innovative ideas and have a sense of leadership. Having a place where individuals can come together to connect can be beneficial to not only the members involved but to the business as a whole. With these social crews there has to be intention behind the crews and the intention has to come from being connected at work, but not in the sense of being in the same departments. There are other factors that can connect people in the workplace, even when it is remotely.
Connecting members from different departments to work on a project each month can help prevent feelings of isolation and disconnection. The most important aspect of the crews is to create this feeling of connection and get members of the business outside of their “bubbles'', to make them get to know each other under a common goal.
45.45 mins
Chase hosts the About Abroad podcast separately from his work at Doist, and it’s the result of him being an American expat in Spain. During his travels he’s met many other expats and digital nomads facing similar challenges to him. So he’s created the About Abroad podcast to discuss these various challenges, help other expats, or people travelling outside of their country for the first time.
The podcast was originally set up to discuss living, travelling, and working abroad, but as his travels and discussions with people grew, the topic of remote work came into the discussion as well, as many expats do work remotely. There are a multitude of people from around the world who come on to the podcast and tell their own amazing stories, from building a community of nomads, to what it is like living in the South Pole.
42.57 mins
As for Twist: Future of Work, this is a video series that promotes the use of various products and services that can help with the future of work. Twist is one of the products that Chase encourages listeners to use (it’s part of Doist, of course!)but there are numerous products and services out there that seek to benefit the future of businesses. They have creators behind those products and services as well, and Chase is keen to feature them. Another aspect of this podcast series is to bring in founders of companies and discuss the ethics of the company, why they chose to start their own companies and any personal stories they want to share about the company and product.
51.55 mins
Finally, Chase coversthe Estonia E-residency, which gives entrepreneurs and freelancers an opportunity to set up their own business in Estonia, and do business with other EU companies as well. Estonia E -residency does allow individuals to work remotely as an individual can live in another part of the world, for instance in Hungary, but they are seeking to do business in Estonia, they now have the means to accomplish this.
Working remotely does have its own set of challenges, however there are advantages to it as well and ways to overcome these challenges. If there are any questions that remote workers, entrepreneurs, and freelancers have regarding remote work there are ways to find the answers to them.
You can connect with Chase on LinkedIn, and listen to About Abroad on all podcast apps, or from the show’s website.
Following episode 292's conversation on working out loud, here are the two chapters from Thinking Remote we covered.
In this episode, we revisit the chapters from Thinking Remote which addressed the concept of “working out loud”.
Adopting the concept helps to keep the team spirit, how to stay aligned and creative. Working out loud allows those who thrive on interactive energy - we can think of “working out loud for productivity, creativity and collaboration”.
The concept of working out loud has been around for a while, since the online world started thriving. (For more on this, check out episode 170, with guest Jochen Lillich https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/wlp170-working-out-loud )
8.50mins How have things changed since we wrote those blog posts?
18.01mins
An example of the power of “working out loud” and “thinking outloud”.
We quote from this article: Can Matt Mullenweg save the internet?
25.40 We revisit the chapter from Thinking Remote The Dangers of Working Out Loud , First published as a blog post in 2016.
30.40
Next up, we turn our attention to the team member, and revisit the chapter by Maya: Now that I’m remote can anyone see how hard I’m working?
39.36
Community news, we share what others are tweeting and saying from our connections
For more links and transcript, head over to www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/revisiting-working-out-loud
In today’s episode Pilar catches up with long-time friend of this podcast, Marcus Wermuth to talk about his mid-pandemic transition into new role as the full-time senior engineering manager at Remote.com.
This podcast is brought to you by Virtual Not Distant in London (virtualnotdistant.com) where we help managers and teams transition to an office-optional approach. For detailed show notes, visit our podcast page.
This podcast is brought to you by Virtual Not Distant in London (virtualnotdistant.com) where we help managers and teams transition to an office-optional approach.
In today’s episode Pilar and Maya reflected on the changes which have taken place in remote work throughout 2021 - differentiation of terminology, the rise of asynchronous communication, new apps, and the endless talk about hybrid!
We also thank our community, and share news about upcoming workshops and themes for the new year.
36.08 Virtual Not Distant news
40.52 Thank you to our community
This podcast is brought to you by Virtual Not Distant in London (virtualnotdistant.com) where we help managers and teams transition to an office-optional approach.
In today’s episode Pilar interviewed Carlos Jonay Suarez and Elsa Rodriguez from Pueblos Remotos: https://www.pueblosremotos.com/ about their exciting initiative to bring remote workers and rural communities together in Spain’s Canary Islands. Connecting local entrepreneurs with international nomadic workers synergises creativity and idea sharing, while creating lasting friendships in a sustainable ecotourism environment, to benefit all participants.
Carlos would rather network with you in person than online, but meanwhile can be found on LinkedIn and also (in Spanish) SinOficina, and LinkedIn is also the best place to find Elsa - as well as keeping up with all the news and information on the main Pueblos Remotos site.
You can find out more information and get in touch with us over at www.virtualnotdistant.com
This podcast is brought to you by Virtual Not Distant in London (virtualnotdistant.com) where we help managers and teams transition to an office-optional approach.
In today’s episode, Pilar and Maya kick off a series reflecting on Thinking Remote: Inspiration for Leaders of Distributed Teams, which was published in 2018 - a geological epoch ago, in remote work terms. What has changed, what has stayed the same, and how have Pilar and Maya changed and evolved their own thinking on these themes?
The first chapter of the book dealt with designing the digital workplace, and you can read the original blog post from which the chapter derived here: Designing the Digital Workspace: What We Can Learn from the Physical Space — Virtual not Distant.
This podcast is brought to you by Virtual Not Distant in London (virtualnotdistant.com) where we help managers and teams transition to an office-optional approach.
In today’s episode host Pilar Orti speaks with Corine Tan from emotional wellbeing platform Kona. They discuss their recently published Remote Manager Report 2021, and the product they have created - which helps teams check in with each other and share their context and emotions, via a slackbot which presents as a cute dog avatar.
Download Kona’s team building guide, and keep up with Corine and Kona on Twitter.
This podcast is brought to you by Virtual Not Distant in London (virtualnotdistant.com) where we help managers and teams transition to an office-optional approach.
Today’s episode features Tammy Bjelland founder and CEO of Workplaceless, and features a deep-dive into their new product Placeless Coach.
Tammy talks to Pilar about the background to Workplaceless, and the evident need for Placeless Coach, which helps teams and individuals develop better habits and behaviours around asynchronous working. Check it out at Placeless Coach - Reserve Your Spot.
And keep up with Tammy on LinkedIn and Twitter, to see what else she is working on.
In this unusual episode (we rarely release an episode just about our own services), Pilar talks about the new (and not so new) workshops and programmes at Virtual not Distant, mainly for managers and leaders of remote teams.
With the increase in training for managers of remote teams by companies who have been working "in the space" for a while, as well as new consultants who have learned about working online recently, we've decided to narrow our offering to offer what we can uniquely offer.
In this episode, you can hear a little bit about each of the new 4 workshops for managers of remote teams, all delivered in-house. And Pilar shares how Podcasting for Connection could actually work in an organisation.
You can find out details on the workshops through here: https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/training-for-managers-overview
04.45mins List of all workshops and talking about Motivation and Visible Teamwork workshop
07.37mins Mastering Online Facilitation for Engaging Meetings
09.32 Let's Meet Less! Adopting Asynchronous Communication
11.01 Overcoming Loneliness in Remote Teams
14.45 Overview of Podcasting for Connection, internal podcasting to help create a sense of belonging and connection in organisations
You can find out more information and get in touch with us over at www.virtualnotdistant.com
This podcast is brought to you by Virtual Not Distant in London (virtualnotdistant.com) where we help managers and teams transition to an office-optional approach.
Today Pilar and Maya explore 2 recent research publications which both touch on boundaries in remote work in a range of ways, (just like Maya’s recent book ‘Finding Your Edge: Establishing And Maintaining Boundaries When You Work From Home’):
How to create psychological safety in virtual teams
and
The effects of remote work on collaboration among information workers
This episode is repurposed from the Northcentral Universtiy Podcast Series, from their CAVO series.
Theresa Sigillito Holleman and Pilar Orti talk about what examples of hybrid workplaces they're coming across, the challenges that this set-up brings as well as how to spend less time in meetings!
Check out more from CAVO here: https://www.ncu.edu/center-advancement-virtual-organizations
Find out more about Theresa's work here: https://www.interact-global.net/
And check out Virtual not Distant's work here: https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/
Brought to you by Virtual Not Distant in London (virtualnotdistant.com), where we help people work better together apart.
Today’s episode explores the themes of loneliness for the remote worker. This is an edited summary of a live talk with Dr Richard MacKinnon on loneliness and disconnection in remote teams back in July, as part of the Learning Lounge of the Emotional Intelligence (EI) Evolution.
The live EI Evolution event it's on October 12th, featuring the godfather of EI Daniel Goleman - you can learn more and book here, using code PILARORTI10 for 10% discount.
Beyond the #watercooler
19.14 Self awareness
27.44 Remote vs colocated work
34.30 Talking about emotions
You can find the full show notes over at: https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/beyond-watercooler-loneliness
Today's episode explores facilitative leadership in remote teams, and how to successfully blend asynchronous and synchronous practices to help teams work effectively together.
Pilar Orti interviews Simon Wilson, co-founder of Wilson Sheriff, and certified master facilitator with the International Association of Faciliation (IAF). He’s been working with the online space as part of his practice for many years, and co-authored Virtual Meetings a Practical Guide.
Connect with Simon on Twitter, and online for more.
For the full show notes, head over to https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/asynchronous-collaboration-facilitation
Brought to you by Virtual Not Distant in London (https://virtualnotdistant.com)
Today Pilar Orti and Maya Middlemiss explore topical themes and publications in remote work, including:
03.10 Going back to (the) work (place) Work at the Office, Win a New Car! Seriously! But there are better ideas from Ocado Group offers staff remote working abroad. 13.54 Regulating ‘work from anywhere’: * Your Company Needs a Digital Nomad Policy (HBR) * Top CHROs Believe 'Flexibility Within a Framework' Is the Future of Work (Gallup, June 2021). * What to do about "Global COVID Nomads",
34.10 The future is flexible… Let’s remember, in all this talk of location-hopping, that flexibility as a principle is about much more than where you work. Future Forum study of 10,000 knowledge workers shows that 93% want flexibility in when and how they work; more than half are open to a job change.
(Slack are taking care of our emotional wellbeing in an app update, and advancing their audio offering too).
41.30 Company news New coworking adventures from the Virtual Not Distant team.
What about you? Don't forget to share your questions, ideas, links, and concerns, about the rapidly evolving remote work scene.
From Virtual Not Distant in London (https://virtualnotdistant.com), today’s episode explores the use of the office and other environments for deliberate and mindful work in teams. We are joined by Justin Morris, Senior Customer Success Manager - Modern Communications, at Microsoft.
We discuss ‘reopening anxiety’, onboarding during lockdown, courageous and flexible leadership, and Microsoft’s 3 pillar frameworkof people, place and process. The right policies, underpinned by the right cloud-based technology, can make this work for everyone - but it requires an agile and experimental approach.
Mindful teamwork is the way Justin describes it, and being able to nurture ideas from the spark to production means involving the right people at the right time.
Our in-house Visible Teamwork framework structures this concept around a set of principles and practices which work effectively in long-term distributed teams, so here’s a quick reminder of the
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Deliberate communication - passing on the right information in the right way, from availability to ideas to soliciting input and sharing news. How and where do we share each kind of information, at the right time, and with the right people?
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Work visibility - from project management tools and dashboards to collaborative documents, we need ways (appropriate to what we do), to share what we’re working on and the progress it’s making - providing updates, seeking feedback, managing resources, and sharing ideas.
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Planned spontaneity - finally, we need ways to recreate the unscheduled, serendipitous communications and connections and possibilities, by creating environments and practices which support this. And yes, the shared office can be one tool we can use for this - but it is far from the only one.
For more on the Visible Teamwork framework, please check out the following articles and episodes:
Good bye "Working Out Loud"; Hello "Visible Teamwork"
WLP241 Visible Teamwork and Trust in Remote Teams
Applications of Visible Teamwork in Remote Teams — Virtual not Distant
WLP239 Match Your Visible Teamwork to Your Team Task Workflow
You can also download our free PDF guide by signing up for the newsletter in the box below, and learn how to put the ideas into practice in your own team via an in-house workshop.
Brought to you by Virtual Not Distant in London, where we help people work together wherever they are https://virtualnotdistant.com
Today’s episode is dedicated to coworking spaces, because we’re all about choice and office-optionality - so we need to remember that remote work does not always mean working from home.
3.18 Asia Hundley and Bree Caggiati from Shield GEO discuss the role that coworkings played in their pre-pandemic lives.
8:21 Bernie Mitchell, coworking and future of work advocate; European Coworking Assembly, and what if everyone could walk to work? Connect with Bernie at Berniejmitchell.com, and sign up for his newsletter there too.
Meanwhile do check out our brand-new podcasting for connection service - and connect and share your feedback with us.
WLP278 What's Going On: Office Dilemmas and Virtual Watercoolers
Brought to you by Virtual Not Distant in London
(http://virtualnotdistant.com)
In today’s episode Pilar and Maya explore ‘what’s going on’ with an evergreen perspective, looking at issues about returning to the office, some new research, and more, including:
- Location-independent employment in Norway Regjeringen vil ha flere på hjemmekontor, som Guro Aanerød i Lofoten. Kan skape jobber i distriktet – NRK,
- Facebook are going to allow Irish staff work from other European countries,
- The 'Zoom towns' luring remote workers to rural enclaves.
- ‘You shouldn’t feel pressured’: Many Americans dread returning to the office.
- A Field Experiment on Virtual Synchronous Interactions and Performance of Organizational Newcomers - data-driven contemporary research, looking at how well interns integrate and find long-term success in virtual teams, according to different ‘virtual watercooler’ protocols.
- You can now schedule messages in Slack
- Our LinkedIn question of the month: In this current work environment, how can we help or encourage our teams and colleagues (and ourselves) to avoid burnout and too much computer time while still being productive?
- Pilar is doing a talk at The Inaugural Ei Evolution Summit+ - EI Summit, and also we have a discount code if you want to book for the main summit (PILARORTI10).
For this bonus episode, Nadia Vatalidis talks about the onboarding process at the distributed company Remote.
This show is brought to you by Virtual not Distant. You can find the full show notes over at www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/onboarding-remote-teams
This podcast is brought to you by Virtual Not Distant in London, where we help teams work better together wherever they are: https://virtualnotdistant.com.
In today’s episode Pilar Orti interviews Mark Kilby, Mark has a course in the Lucid Meetings platform, How to Discover, Interview, and Hire Amazing Remote People,
The discussion includes points of difference between remote and face-to-face recruitment and hiring, and highlights lots of positive potential created by the remote environment.
Learn more about Mark at MarkKilby.com, and check out his former appearances in this podcast, especially episode 219 for more on onboarding/integration.
Brought to you by Virtual Not Distant in London, this month’s ‘what’s going on?’ remote news round-up was recorded by Pilar Orti and Maya Middlemiss on 1st June 2021.
https://virtualnotdistant.com
Under discussion:
The evolution of hybrid work in context, and the impact on lockdown on things like creativity (because it's not just productivity that matters).
Pilar’s twitter space, held at midday UK time every Wednesday - do come and share, or just listen if you want.
The ‘Virtual First’ policy at Dropbox: Why Dropbox’s ‘Virtual First’ model could be the future of work; Featured Collection Virtual First Toolkit.
Global trends: Major New Zealand bank makes working from home model permanent and the Estonian e-residency scheme expanding e-Residency new locations | e-Residency.
Google is exploring the future of video conferencing, with Project Starline: May 18 / Research Project Starline: Feel like you're there, together.
And shout-outs to our listeners and LinkedIn community - we always love to hear from you.
Brought to you by Virtual Not Distant in London:
Https://virtualnotdistant.com
Today’s episode we take a deep dive into the world of Online training, and how this has changed and continues to evolve.
3.03 Interview with Catherine Nicholson, Virtual Training Team
Learn more about Catherine and the Virtual Training Team check out their YouTube channel (which includes loads of guides and support for your own online training), and do connect with her on LinkedIn.
35.50 Pilar’s thoughts on hybrid working
We have always talked about ‘office-optional’ working at Virtual Not Distant, but this has never been such a complicated question!
Keep an eye on Pilar’s Twitter at midday (UK time) on Wednesday, for ongoing discussions of this and similar themes.
A bonus episode encouraging those who move events like All Hands / Town Hall meetings and conferences online, to approach the whole design process differently to how they would be run online.
For the accompanying show notes, head over to https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/engaging-online-events
Brought to you by Virtual Not Distant Ltd in London (https://virtualnotdistant.com),
Today's episode, recorded 04-05-21, brings you a discussion between Pilar Orti and Maya Middlemiss about
What people mean, when they talk about hybrid work? (Tl;dr - a lot of different things with no consensus on definitions);
What the future might be for co-working spaces?
What can we learn from the Basecamp story, about how asynchronous teams communicate and share?
And our experimentations in Twitter Spaces - will we see (hear) you there?
Today’s episode features a conversation recorded back in February 2020 between Pilar and returning guest John O’Duinn about how he’s helping the government in California to show how remote work can benefit the environment, and how he’s seen people experience the sudden transition to remote work.
Find out more over at https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/remote-work-environment
This podcast is brought to you by Virtual Not Distant in London, where we help leaders of remote teams thrive.
http://virtualnotdistant.com
In today's episode Pilar interviews Ann Collins from Bluebottle coaching, who has been conducting some fascinating in-depth research with leaders of remote teams and the impact of COVID on their work.
You can read more about Ann’s work and this research on LinkedIn, and she’d be very glad to connect with listeners there and send further details of her findings.
Her own podcast is Leaders who love what they do.
In today’s episode, Pilar talks to Anish Hindocha, who, after working as a change consultant for over 20 years, now helps organisations improve their culture.
They talk about what organisational culture is, whether it has changed in organisations during the pandemic - and how - and the opportunities to make the world of work a better place.
You can connect with Anish here:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/anishhindocha/
And you can find more detailed show notes over at https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/culture-conversation
Brought to you by Virtual Not Distant in London (https://virtualnotdistant.com)
Maya has recently published “Finding Your Edge: Establishing And Maintaining Boundaries When You Work From Home”, reflecting on issues on many minds right now as we all strive for balance between work and the rest of our lives. Pilar and Maya discuss integrators vs segmenters, using daylight and other sensory input as boundaries, and keeping tasks and roles in place when we work from home.
23.00 What’s Going On Interesting articles:
- I'm socially anxious, and working from home has been life-changing.
- Spain to launch trial of four-day working week.
and 38:20 Tech updates:
- Being in a BBC virtual studio audience recording,
- How to use Slack emoji to simplify work (and cut out noise),
- Taming the hybrid work chimera: Tips from Slack, WordPress, & Salesforce chiefs;
- Why Microsoft wants Discord
59.45 Our community: Take a look at the conversations and our question of the month, over on our LinkedIn page https://www.linkedin.com/company/virtualnotdistant
Brought to you by Virtual Not Distant in London, today's episode explores mindset issues for new remote managers, and some changes which people new to this role may need to explore. (https://virtualnotdistant.com)
The episode is structured around Pilar’s article Key mindset changes for the new remote manager
and covers the need to:
(4.09) 1. Adopt a coaching mindset
(8.09) 2. Embrace delegation and avoid interference
(10.04) 3. Make friends with your technology
(Including an interview with agile coach Mark Kilby (at 18.24), about how data visualisation can help explore issues of disengagement in remote teams)
(44.13) 4: Get Intentional
(47.14) Finally, 5: Don't make yourself indispensable
Brought to you by Virtual Not Distant in London, where we help teams work together better online, https://virtualnotdistant.com
In today’s episode Pilar and Maya take their regular look at what’s going on in the remote work and collaboration space (which goes beyond work to include education and other spheres now using the same technology), and then explore the theme of social connection in remote teams.
04.00 What’s Going On - a focus on education Pilar took part in a panel at PA2021 for Project Access International with Bernie Mitchell (Episode 158), and Niklas Huppmann from Human Aid and Covid Africa.
It’s so interesting how the tech is changing the way we learn, hopefully leading to greater opportunity for everyone.
Despite technical challenges ( likeSingle Sign-on for Programmable Video), the panel predicted that a hybrid approach blending online and face-to-face is what to expect in future, with interesting implications for building professional networks.
Pilar has also been working with BeNext on virtual leadership, and exploring the strengths of cohort based learning - a great strength of the online space, as People Matters agrees: Article: Ten reasons why cohort-based programs are the future of skilling — People Matters.
21.57 Socialisation in the online space People talk about missing social interaction when forced to work from home, and often the solution seems to be to arrange specific out-of-work opportunities for this. But this is to imply that social interaction at work only takes place in the pub afterwards! Which isn’t how it works in the colocated workspace - so why should it be online?
Recent episodes with Chris Coladonato (262) and Goncalo Silva (264) have some great ideas of how to do this well, and there’s also episode 170 with Jochen Lillich on the DIRECTT framework (Decision, Insight, Result, Emotion, Contact, Troubles, Thanks) for working out loud - all ways to weave engagement and sociability throughout your day to day interactions.
How are you making space for sharing and connecting in your organisation? Don’t forget to let us know, and maybe our in-house podcasting service could help, if you want a new way to relate to one another in your online team.
43.51 Our community With everything segueing beautifully today, this takes us into our LinkedIn question of the month, Now that you're not working in an office together, how are you capturing the learning in your team that happens away from each other? generating fantastic and insightful responses from friends like Bart Van Roey (episode 261) - we’d love to know what you think too.
In this episode, Pilar talks to guest Francisco Corzo about the future of the workplace in Guatemala and the concept of Working Near Home. You can find the full show notes over at https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/near-home-in-guatemala
Links to articles we refer to:
Pilar and Francisco talk about the recent Forbes article: From Work from Home to Work Near Home, the beginning of a new office trend.
Pilar’s article on LinkedIn from a few years ago called Sharing Office Spaces across Organisations
Brought to you by Virtual Not Distant in London, where we help those working apart rom each other feel closer together:
https://virtualnotdistant.com
5:21 Today, Pilar talks to Jennifer Riggins about the upcoming Aginext conference, (and why they're using the Spatial Chat app for their networking sessions), and then:
19.21 We share a panel recorded at Agile Tour London, October 2020, featuring: * Beth Maguire from Hubspot * Gonçalo Silva, CTO at Doist * Marcus Wermuth, engineering manager at Buffer, * Morgan Legge head of sales and success at Convert.com
Discussing personal learning styles, embedding learning in organisational culture, practices for sharing and reflecting on learning - and much much more.
Enjoy!
Brought to you by Virtual Not Distant (https://virtualnotdistant.com) in London, in today's "what's going on?" series Pilar Orti and Maya Middlemiss discuss:
02:08 The state of remote work right now * Pandemic working is not remote working * But this wasn’t what I meant, when I said working from home was great! * Older employees are adapting to remote work better than younger workers
17.10 Location independent lifestyle * Hawaii's Remote Work Program Comes With Free Flights * Repeople (Nomad City)
23.38 New tech for remote * ‘Moodbeam’: A wristband that tells your boss if you are unhappy. The Future Of Trello Is On The Horizon: Take a Sneak Peek and Going Beyond The Board: A Whole New Trello Is Here. * Healthy Happy Homeworking mailing list: Don't be a Zoom Zombie!) * The launch of Microsoft Viva - the 'employee experience platform'.
45.37 Virtual not Distant news
- A LinkedIn discussion which became a blog post,
- Making the Most of Virtual Facilitation: Using the Asynchronous Space
- Maya's community for homeworkers: Healthy Happy Homeworking Facebook group,
- Richard MacKinnon's WorkLifePsych.club
These are not Virtual Not Distant communities, but we’re always listening to you too.
Hello and welcome to episode 262 of the 21st Century Work Life podcast, brought to you by Virtual Not Distant in London.
Before we dive in the interview a quick reminder about our Podcasting for Connection service - podcasting is a great asynchronous tool that can help maintain a sense of belonging.
04.29 Chris Coladonato Chris Coladonato works in learning and development at a large insurance enterprise, and is a great advocate for remote work. She is very active on social media and we’ve long enjoyed the insightful content she shares and discusses, from virtual commutes to networking and connection.
17.00 Teamwork and staying connected
35.45 External social media
Connect with Chris on LinkedIn, Twitter and her blog.
Speaking of LinkedIn, we had a great conversation over on our own page, about getting started with working remotely… And if you love podcasting as much as we do, you’ll want to follow Adventures in Podcasting, for news about a new book from Pilar coming soon.
A special bonus episode, of this podcast brought to you by Virtual Not Distant in London (http://virtualnotdistant.com),
Today we talk to Bart Van Roey and Viviane Kock about their new book “Beyond New Ways of Working" - 'dialogue book' in Dutch, which is extending the conversation about remote work and the future of work in more ways than one.
Contact Viviane via her own website at Formation et consultance en télétravail - NestYourDesk and Bart at ihop : for people and business,
Welcome to our first recording of 2021, brought to you by Virtual Not Distant in London.
https://virtualnotdistant.com
2.39 We share and discuss a great message from a LinkedIn connection in Guatemala, Francisco Corzo.
10.09 Tech round-up: apps offline, Hey for work, Deaf people and online meetings, and MSTeams updates. 20.24 Communications and collaboration in 2021
36.10 Community news, including Minds at Work and our own Podcasting for connection service.
Do keep in touch and let us know 'what's going on' in your remote work world.
Welcome to our first podcast episode of 2021, and happy new year to you wherever and whenever you are listening - from Virtual Not Distant in London (http://virtualnotdistant.com).
Today we reflect further on culture in organisations, and bring you a great interview someone whose job revolves around this critical issue.
04.47 Stella Huang, head of Talent and Culture in Shield GEO Pilar spoke with Stella Huang in December 2020,
Shield GEO take their retreats very seriously as a globally distributed organisation, and shifting them online during the throes of 2020 was a highly tactical endeavour.
Being unable to do that the following year, they still wanted to connect people the best way they could, switching from a one-off annual get together to a regular cadence of monthly hour-long events.
Please see https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/culture-virtual-retreats for full shownotes.
28.09 Getting clear on organisational culture Ensuring that human element of connectedness is at the heart of the new ‘Podcasting for Connection’ offering from Virtual Not Distant, which focuses on how we relate to and value one another outside of and around the work, which helps and supports the work we do together.
Pilar will be developing this theme through 2021, and working with organisations to focus on culture across boundaries as the future of work evolves. Please do share your thoughts with her and help us create the content and services you need, to support you through this pivotal and important time for all remote and hybrid organisations.
This episode first went out in October 2019, as episode 212. We don't want this aspect of remote work to get lost amidst the pandemic forced remote work from home conversation.
Our guests include Chris Slemp, Mandy Garner, Nacho Rodriguez, Lorraine Charles and Laurel Farrer.
For full show notes visit https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/remote-social-change
Brought to you by Virtual Not Distant in London.
In the final recording of the year, Pilar Orti and Maya Middlemiss take a longer perspective on the recent transformational shifts in remote work - while being mindful of all that 2020 has taught us.
We discuss:
03.34 Serendipitous encounters (listener question from our LinkedIn page) (see also episode 211 on planned spontaneity)
14.06 Designing for the interactions we want to see Why You Need a Head of Remote Work.
Embracing a flexible workplace
25.20 A ‘work from anywhere’ future? Should employers let staff work remotely from abroad during lockdown?
Google Asks Workers Who Went Abroad for Covid to Return.
Time to re-energise - workingmums.co.uk
GitLab: work where you want, when you want
For full shownotes please see https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/beyond-wfh-remote-spirit, and learn about the range of services and support that Virtual Not Distant can offer you as you and your team go 'beyond wfh' into 2021.
Brought to you by Virtual Not Distant in London.
Today's imterview features Robert (Bob) Glazer who previously joined us 2 years ago back in episode 179, CEO of global partner marketing agency Acceleration Partners and author and podcaster
Robert’s company is fully remote and has always valued flexibility, long before the upheavals of 2020, so is glad to see the legitimising of the remote-first approach for agencies.
Robert’s Friday Forward email newsletter helps reflect and disseminate Acceleration Partners’ values and vision, bringing these to a wider audience nowadays, and also modelling a culture of learning, ownership, and growth and improvement.
Do connect via his website http://robertglazer.com/, and check out the Friday Forward book too.
Don’t forget to share your own thoughts about culture, identity, and team cohesion in the online space, and do look out for our new service to help you deepen your own team’s connection and relationships - podcasting for connection.
For full shownotes see https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/virtual-organisation-culture, and learn more about what Virtual Not Distant has to offer.
In the final episode of the mini-series How the World of Work and our Attitudes to Work are Changing, Pilar talks to Dr. Chris Mullen, Executive Director of The Workforce Institute at UKG, about their recent research into employees' concerns "for the workplace of today and tomorrow."
You can read a summary of the study here:
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200915005303/en/Physical-Safety-Psychological-Security-Job-Stability-Employees-Worldwide-Share-Top-COVID-19-Concerns-for-the-Workplace-of-Today-and-Tomorrow
And to connect with guest Chris Mullen, you can follow him on Twitter, https://twitter.com/chrismmullen or connect on LinkedIn. https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrismmullen/
We'd love to hear your comments through our contact form on https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/contact-us
This is the second of three episode of the mini-series, "How the World of Work (and our attitudes to work) are Changing".
Today, Pilar talks to Andrew Saunders about the research carried out in September 2020 the exclusive survey carried out by Management Today on what leaders really think about the return to the workplace: Will Hybrid Working Ever Work?
You can connect with Andrew via Linkedin or Twitter.
You can download the report here: https://cached.offlinehbpl.hbpl.co.uk/NewsAttachments/OTM/Will-Hybrid-Working-Ever-Work-Mangement-Today-special-report-2020.pdf
The first episode in our three-part series on how the the world of work and our attitudes to work are changing.
Today, Pilar talks to Katerina Bohle Carbonell about the results of the Remote Working during COVID-19: Ireland’s National Survey, phase II. This work was carried out with the support of the Whitaker Institute, NUI Galway and the Western Development Commission. Katerina is one of the four authors.
You can check out the survey here:
http://whitakerinstitute.ie/project/remote-working-during-covid-19-irelands-national-survey/
And to connect with Katerina:
https://netnigma.com/
Subscribe to her newsletter:
https://netnigma.substack.com/
Connect on Twitter with her:
https://twitter.com/katerinabohlec
This bonus episode is brought to you by Virtual Not Distant in London, and it continues the conversation between Pilar Orti and Tim Burgess of Shield GEO, looking at what’s been happening in both companies and the events they’ve been involved with.
Pilar took part in the IAF conference, which was a week-long single track event, taking place online for the first time.
Very different was Agile Tour London - also run on Zoom, but with the community conversation centred on Slack.
Finally, Pilar has just attended Repeople, which used to be the NomadCity event in person in Gran Canaria.
Also Shield GEO have run events online for their own distributed team, instead of their usual face-to-face retreats. Dividing their 17 regions into 3 blocs by timezone, they had fun online with trivia and so on, but also dived deeply into cultural exploration and learning from each other about each other’s locally lived experiences.
Pilar has run webinars recently on Visible Teamwork, and learned from participants that even when people know the theory, providing a framework and vocabulary for the interactions which support the theory is what makes all the difference.
If you enjoyed these conversations with Tim Burgess, do follow him on Twitter, and take a look at the special series on connection and disconnection in remote work that we produced in partnership with ShieldGEO nearly a year ago - when the world was a different place, but the issues were strangely evergreen.
We have a special guest for today’s What’s Going On episode, as Tim Burgess from Shield GEO joins Pilar Orti from Virtual Not Distant, while Maya is away.
Recording on the 6th November 2020, heres:'
5.32 What's going on Home vs Office This article The commuters who don't want to return to the office illustrates how women in particular feel less rushed and time pressured, when they don’t have to travel to work outside the home.
Business Insider Australia point out that Dutch civil servants now get $2 a day to cover coffee and toilet paper while remote working — and you should ask your boss for the same, a financial institution says.
This is now law in parts of Europe, with new law in Spain to ensure boundaries, and this from Switzerland: Companies must pay share of rent for employees working from home.
21.50 Research into future of work Great to see work from anywhere entering the academic discourse with featured articles in Harvard Business Review from Prithwiraj Choudhury, and we love the uptake of this particular turn of phrase.
Helen Jewell shared this article with Pilar at the IAF conference, about sign language for the Deaf community on video conferencing - a good reminder of the lost nuances for all when we translate a 3d face to face experience into a 2d one on-screen.
36.41 Surviving 2020
This article Keep Your Weary Workers Engaged and Motivated relates intrinsic motivation to the way we’re working through a crisis now, a valuable lens for understanding employee behaviour and wellbeing.
Another recent paper Tim found goes deeper still, EXPRESS: Interpersonal connectivity work: Being there with and for geographically distant others - Ella Hafermalz, Kai Riemer, which explores the impact of telemedicine (another huge focus for remote collaboration 2020, that has much to teach us all).
So that’s What’s Going On, and do join us tomorrow for the events and company news section of this conversation.
Today we’re delighted to be speaking to Theresa Sigillito Hollema, about her new book Virtual Teams Across Cultures: Create Successful Teams Around The World, in discussion with Pilar Orti from Virtual Not Distant Ltd.
Theresa is a cultural consultant and team coach with Interact Global, working with virtual teams spanning cultures and borders, for many years.
Pilar and Theresa discuss cultural competence, the intersection of cultural difference and remote team dynamics, team belonging, and diversity and inclusion, in this interesting conversation - please see full shownotes on our website, and keep up with Theresa on Twitter and LinkedIn for more information about her work and her writing. Also, do check out our earlier episodes exploring some of the concepts covered in the episode, which are summarised and linked in a single big blog post here.
Welcome to episode 250 - a nice milestone to celebrate, so we even altered our usual running order to make this round number an occasion for Pilar and Maya to record together, and discuss what’s going on in the world of remote work right now in October 2020, brought to you by Virtual Not Distant Ltd in London.
Don’t forget you can receive our valuable guide to leading through visible teamwork, just by signing up for our newsletter.
For now, let’s take a look at ‘What’s Going On’...
Hybrid workspaces and practices Beware the office politics of hybrid workplaces, we’ll have to see how this emerges and unfolds - and see who really has a chance to make a choice.
This New York Times article picked up on tensions in some big tech companies in this article: Parents Got More Time Off. Then the Backlash Started.
The evolution of remote work Eva Rimbau shared this OECD study: Productivity gains from teleworking in the post COVID-19 era: How can public policies make it happen?, demonstrating large organisation understanding of remote working’s risks and rewards.
According to Fast Company, Gitlab are quite exemplary when it comes to this stuff - Extremely transparent and incredibly remote Gitlab’s radical vision for the future of work is a good read.
Looking to the remote future... Maya found this article which might be the salvation of Spain’s struggling tourist industry - Log on, chill out: holiday resorts lure remote workers to fill gap left by tourists.
Whereas back in the UK, Bosses are doing weird things to get people back in the office, according to Wired.
Leadership thoughts Thanks for this ‘comfort reading’ share Chris Coladonato, Seven Ways to Rally Your Remote Team in Confusing Times - some gems here in this nice fluffy listicle, also surprisingly touchy-feely for Inc.
The traits of good remote leaders · Intense Minimalism shared by Valentina Thorner on Linkedin is also a great read, including very up-to-date research.
Random tech changes which make remote better Pilar is very impressed with Word online (in Office 365) now transcribes dictation. Amazing how this tech is evolving - do take a look!
Also, did you know you can record the pronunciation of your name, in your LinkedIn profile? So now if you want to hear the difference between Pilar’s name in English and Spanish, go and have a listen.
Virtual Not Distant announcements: Speaking of LinkedIn, a great conversation emerged here about asynchronous communication - do take a look this thread full of some amazing ideas from our fabulous remote community.
Pilar was featured in this recent Washington Post article How to work remotely through time-zone changes, also focusing on asynchronous communication - this time from the perspective of US nationals who had ended up remote working from afar - once again great to see this stuff reaching the mainstream conversation.
Maya’s new book “Out of the Office”, first in the Healthy Happy Homeworking series, is about to publish! So please sign up for presale discount notification, and news of forthcoming releases. Please do share it with any friends particularly if they are struggling with any aspects of working from home.
Virtual not Distant Ltd brings you a fascinating episode today, exploring the role of employers in the future of work, and how remote work fits in to this - with two very different interviews and points of view.
Firstly, on the 8th October we have a webinar about sustainable asynchronous communications, in association with regular podcast guest Richard Mackinnon at Work Life Psych - classic webinar style, you can listen in passively, or join in the chat conversation of course. And on the 27th October, when Pilar will be talking about adopting Visible Teamwork in your team through asynchronous communication - to help you put it all into practice.
8.06 Erica McMannes, Instant Teams Erica McMannes and Liz Rodewald put Instant Teams together four years ago, to meet the employment needs of military spouses, for flexible location-independent work opportunities. They knew there were companies who needed the dedication and skills that this underserved cohort could bring to that need, so they created the service specifically to bring these two parties together.
They’re industry-agnostic, building remote teams for any industry, focusing on admin, marketing, and customer success teams. They create long-term employment relationships, and have their own software system which helps them scale and build teams fast, carefully vetting and matching their educated and experienced candidates with the right firms, using trusted tools.
Art Kleiner, author and consultant Art Kleiner is the co-author of The Wise Advocate: The Inner Voice of Strategic Leadership, author of The Age of Heretics and Former editor in chief of the magazine strategy+business. He and Pilar recorded this conversation nearly a year ago! BUT it follows on nicely from the interview with Erica, because it builds upon the question of how we build careers, and specifically what enterprises have to offer employees, as opposed to contractors?
So these laws and structures have shaped how we work together at a high level - but right now, everything is in flux, even more so than when Art and Pilar had this conversation in 2019! Check out Episode 244 if you like more of these ‘big questions’, because while they may not have clear answers, they have great potential to make you think.
What will the enterprise of tomorrow look like, and how will those who do the work within it relate to it - economically, legally, and personally?
WLP248 Emotional Intelligence in Remote Teams
Today's episode explores the fascinating subject of emotional intelligence in remote teams, and is brought to you by Virtual Not Distant Ltd - with the help of Rowena Hennigan, and Sandra Thompson, from Rise in Emotiona Intelligence
( also on LinkedIn)
timestamps:
7.30 Emotional intelligence defined 18.24 Highly emotional intelligent teams 40.10 Developing Team EI
Welcome to our monthly What’s Going On round-up, brought to you by Virtual Not Distant Ltd.
Today we discuss tech, the future of the office, the future of life and housing and work life balance, and an upcoming event.
3.29 Tech AI-Driven Accountability,
https://tldv.io/ “too long, didn’t view”,
12.20 The future of the office UK office demand 'shifting to the suburbs' amid Covid-19 crisis,
The age of the office is over – the future lies in Britain's commuter towns | Simon Jenkins
MGM Resorts Rolls Out Ultimate Work-From-Vegas Package At Bellagio And ARIA
23.06 Work-life balance and boundaries Building Work-Life Boundaries in the WFH Era -
Microsoft Analyzed Data on Its Newly Remote Workforce -
37.15 Back to tech - well, email anyway, and a cool event: The Basecamp/Rework team built a new email app Hey,
Built to Last – Audio Conference for Brand Builders.
46.09 What’s going in the Virtual Not Distant community Rowena Hennigan (see episodes 215 and 244) and Sandra Thompson have set up RISE Emotional Intelligence -
Brian Rhea has written The Manager’s Guide to Engaging Remote Employees, about engaging remote workers - do have a look, it’s really in depth and comprehensive.
Lisette Sutherland’s Work Together Anywhere book is now in Japanese
Pilar has a workshop on planned spontaneity on the 3rd of September with Next Stage Radicals,
Pilar was also a recent guest on their own podcast, so that’s well worth a listen.
The Visible Teamwork Guide will be published very soon - so do look out for that, more news asap, and the full book will follow.
And finally, Pilar has a new newsletter to subscribe to, ‘Think, Write, Converse’ - sign up on her site, for a glimpse into Pilar’s mind!
Today’s episode from London-based consultancy Virtual Not Distant is about asynchronous communication - for more on this subject check out episode 234, and also this podcast from My Pocket Psych - because being able to communicate flexibly across time and space without snagging people up in endless calls is so critical to successful online collaboration, as we discuss today with two fantastic guests.
5.02 Gonçalo Silva, CTO at Doist Gonçalo joins us from Portugal, where he works as the CTO of Doist (creators of apps like Todoist and Twist), a fully remote, global, and bootstrapped organisation of 13 years, where they walk their talk and make tools which work for their own communication needs in the first instance. They have grown slowly and carefully, expanding over 34 countries, to a team of now comprising nearly 80 people.
Gonçalo role-models the organisation’s core values through his day-to-day interactions, and working toward incremental improvements - self-reflecting, and sharing and making sure his actions are congruent with his values and intentions to provide an example for the rest of the team.
Do check out the Doist Blog, and keep up with Gonçalo on Twitter.
43.30 Justin Mitchell, Yac Our next guest is the founder of a tool called Yac, and Justin explains this as voice messaging for teams - something which works because we’re so used to voice messaging in the consumer space.
You can learn more by connecting with Yac and Justin personally on Twitter, to keep the asynchronous conversation going. And of course they have a podcast, which they record live and share on Youtube: Remote Voices.
WLP245 What We Can All Learn from What's Going On
Brought to you by Virtual Not Distant Ltd:
There’s a massive scam hiding behind Google’s search results - here’s an interesting story, proving perhaps that human ingenuity still beats out the algorithms,
Meanwhile, big corporations have their eyes on a flexible future, and we’re seeing new practice emerge from around the world: Fujitsu Embarks towards 'New Normal', Redefining Working Styles for its Japan Offices:
Compare this to our podcasting buddy Robert Kropp’s reflection on the remote transition at Siemans - another powerful reminder of just what a big deal it is, to transition to remote at this global scale, and a fascinating comment thread to dig into on this LinkedIn post.
Meanwhile closer to home at Essex County Council they have also been reflecting on recent changes and done some primary research: Digital remote working - research findings - Service Transformation, and produced this transparent and insightful report.
This depressing article from the Guardian about 'the quiet grinding loneliness of working from home' made Maya groan (especially when people kept tagging her in it), but it’s good to be reminded how hard this has all been for so many people - even when journalists conflate living through a terrifying pandemic and all the impact that has on people’s mental health, with the effect of working from home.
Some serious multi-modal findings here from the big budget of Microsoft in The future of work—the good, the challenging & the unknown, we always love good solid evidence, and now we have the data.
And a big report from the EU, Regulations to address work–life balance in digital flexible working arrangements, takes a deep dry dive into the legal frameworks including the Work–Life Balance Directive (EU/2019/1158), adopted in June 2019 and due to be implemented by Member States within a three-year period.
50:56 And in the Virtual Not Distant world: * Maya reflected on the recent episode (241) about trust, to talk about trusting the system and the work, as well as the people. * A quick shout out to Lorraine Charles who joined us in episode 212 whose refugee training programme has a partnership with a new French NGO - CHAMS to partner with Na'amal and UNHCR to provide skills for remote work - Jordan. * Maya is working on a new book series called Healthy Happy Homeworking, with volume one coming soon (join the mailing list for pre-order opportunities). * Hello to Nikhil Vimal - thanks for sharing our podcast, and all that you learned from it, we love it when we spot things like this, and the feedback as well as the ego boost is invaluable. * Pilar is running an event on the 3rd September with Next Stage Radicals, on ‘planned spontaneity’ - so sign up to workshop this concept here (it’s going to very spontaneous). * The question of transcripts does keep bubbling up - would you like to see a full transcript of this episode, instead of or in addition to Maya’s summarising show notes? Let us know! * A quick hello to our new team member Becky Boyd who Boldly, who is helping with some backend stuff and admin, also our LinkedIn page - so say hi to Becky if you spot her there! * And last of all Pilar found our website strapline quoted here, on Virtual facilitation and training for remote teams – FUTOUR - we love these little echoes, from the from around the world of remote collaboration.
This podcast is brought to you by Virtual Not Distant in London; please check out https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/questions-education-perception for full shownotes and detailed information.
In today’s episode we bringing you two interesting guests dig in to some of the big questions about remote work and the future of work.
03:51 Robert Kropp: How education needs to evolve for the future of work Robert joined us in Episode 230, when he and Rowena Hennigan introduced us to Remote Work Tree, and we’ve enjoyed his articles before in our What’s Going On segments (you can enjoy them all on his blog at Allwork.)
20:50 John O’Duinn: Physical proximity and employment status John joined us last month on Episode 240 to talk about how Vermont is incentivising remote workers.
He also wrote this really interesting article, Physical Proximity vs Employment Status.
Please note: this show returns to its previous fortnightly schedule from now on. Make sure you follow us and subscribe in your favourite podcast player, so you don't miss any episodes.
Another solo show from Virtual Not Distant Managing Director Pilar Orti, completing an unofficial miniseries around the concept of visible teamwork. Please see full shownotes for this and all our podcast episodes at https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts.
Visible teamwork is a set of practices which include using technology to make our work and ourselves manifest in our remote teams - staying connected, as well as collaborating. So we need to understand what drive us to do our work in the first place: our motivations, for being part of a team and working toward common goals.
Deci and Ryan’s definition of intrinsic motivation comes from the positive position that we all want to do our best, in work and in life, but the environment gets in the way of that. It follows that we should assume positive intent in others too, so that’s a good place to start.
They define the components of intrinsic motivation as autonomy, competence, and relatedness (see also Daniel Pink’s ‘Drive’ too, though he uses mastery and purpose instead of competence and relatedness).
5.23 Autonomy Having a choice of where to work from feeds autonomy, so it’s easy to conclude that ‘remote = better’. But right now external circumstances may constrain that, as may the structures of large organisations trying to change the way they move forward in a safe and hybrid way. Choosing how and when to do the work matters too, and even who we do it with - so creating choice wherever we can will help people feel more autonomous.
10:18 Competence Both doing our job well and learning to improve, are important here - so asynchronous, flexible communication supports this, promoting deep work without disruption.
14.23 Relatedness We need to relate to people, the work, and its purpose - and this reminds us how much we need to stay connected to the whole organisation and the bigger picture, as well as our immediate team and work.
____
To find out more, and put the concepts of visible teamwork to work in your team through our bespoke coaching and facilitation, then make sure you contact us. And look out for our forthcoming ‘podcasting for connection’ service, to help you strengthen those connections, wherever you are and whatever work you’re doing.
Welcome to our regular news round-up episode, that has become a monthly feature in the light of such fast-moving change in the world of remote work. In these episodes, Pilar and Maya discuss a selection of recent news items, announcements, and publications, which reflect the way issues and policies are unfolding.
This conversation was recorded on 30th June 2020, please see full shownotes at https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/WGO-July-2020
Productivity monitoring: Considerations for HR, from compliance to culture More and more companies are resorting to ‘employee monitoring solutions’, to manage their remote workforce. . Our favourite quote: “Surveillance is not a replacement for leadership”.
However, in We Work Harder When We Know Someone’s Watching, HBR reminds us that external accountability definitely can make us more productive.
Spain is introducing new legislation around ‘teletrabajo’ - El Pais has been discussing it, and the Future for Work institute have published research
Teresa Douglas shared this article on LinkedIn about performance review: 4 Different Approaches Companies Are Taking to Performance Reviews This Year.
And in the UK, Only 13% of UK working parents want to go back to ‘the old normal’ .
Slack has a brand new emoji pack to help with remote work, and Slack Connect (here’s a round-up of announcement articles from Angel List).
Listener and community news
Shout out to Chris Coladonato, for joining the conversation about task interdependence and visible teamwork, reminding us how much there is to unpick there… Essential listening, episode 239 - if you work with other people in any way, do check it out. Thanks Andy Brogan for sharing it too.
The IAF England and Wales chapter are planning an online conference at the end of OCtober, so do take a look at that.Annual Conference 2020 - the Power and Practice of Facilitation
Over on LinkedIn, Diego Von Söhsten has been looking at Lessons Learned From Our Early Adopters in Their Forced Shift to Remote Work - interesting perspective on Agile and remote, so well worth checking out this concise read.
Sharath Jeevan is developing a short LinkedIn series on re-igniting inner-drive in our working lives.
Maya has been attending (online) some sessions at the Future of Work summit… You can buy access to sessions you have missed here.
In today's episode, we look at the link between trust and visible teamwork.
She covers:
-Propensity to trust
-What makes up trust
-The difference between cognitive and affective trust (and why building trust is not just done through social interactions)
-Do we need trust in remote teams?
- Can visible teamwork damage trust?
For more detailed show notes, go to
https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/trust-remote-teams-visible-teamwork
This show is brought to you by Virtual Not Distant in London, helping teams with remote transformation and transition,
In today's episode we have two excellent interviews on the theme of economic development and social change, being the bigger picture of remote work and its community impact - do check out full shownotes at https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/beyondwfh-socioeconomic-change.
5:00 John O’Duinn is a Senior strategist at Civic Actions, and author of Distributed Teams: The Art and Practice of Working Together While Physically Apart. 37.58 Tracy Keogh tells us all about GrowRemote, which is a community project that makes remote work local, by going into communities and making remote work both visible and accessible.
Pilar has been working on how the way in which are tasks are dependent on other team members’ affects the visible teamwork practices we adopt - and why.
This episode is brought to you by Virtual not Distant.
Thanks go to Theresa Sigillito Hollema from www.interact-global.net for the inspiration - and she now has her book Virtual Teams Across Cultures on pre-order!
he principles don’t only help us to stay aligned in our teams, but they can help us to feel connected. (For more on Connection and Disconnection in Remote Teams, check out our 7 episode series!)
The principles of Visible Teamwork can be found here, and follow three areas:
Deliberate Communication
Work Visibility
Planned Spontaneity
Understanding the level of interdependence of your tasks will also help you see whether the systems of visible teamwork are going to help you mostly with coordination of the work, or to increase your sense of connection with each other.
Pooled, sequential and reciprocal interdependence.
For detailed show notes, head over to https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/task-interdependence-remote-teams
This podcast is brought to you by Virtual Not Distant Ltd, please see the full show notes over on our website.
What’s Going On
We're reading and discussing:
Covid-19 Just Accelerated What Was Already Happening [Long Read]
Five workplace trends will shape life after lockdown
Mapping “The Future of Work” Startup & Investor ecosystem.
Bill of Rights for Remote Work
Facebook and Google extend working from home to end of year and Facebook employees could receive pay cuts as they continue to work from home, also Google will let workers expense $1,000 worth of office furniture.
We also discuss remote tracking/monitoring apps and trends, Brexit negotiations on Zoom, accessibility of collaboration tools (Making collaboration accessible to all with Microsoft Teams and Accessibility overview of Microsoft Teams - Office Support), and online meeting fashion tips (yes, this is now a thing).
Meanwhile, at Virtual Not Distant, and our community… Bart, has a new book out in Belgium, with the Dutch title: "Voorbij Het Nieuwe Werken, een dialoogboek". ("Beyond the New Way of Work") www.futureofworkBE.org (#futureofworkBE)
Pilar has recently run two round tables for the Spanish energy company Iberdrola, who are approaching remote working from the green point of view, and more for Spanish speakers, take a look at Campo Virtual Latino.
Emotional Contagion
A recent conversation on LinkedIn led to a great dialogue, which was so interesting that Pilar pulled it all into an article: Do Emotions Spread through Collaboration Platforms?
So there you have it, lots going on in the world of remote, even beyond the present dependence on home-based working worldwide. If you have ideas, angles, and articles you’d like us to explore in future episodes, do get in touch
With the sudden “rush to remote”, many teams and managers have sought training in working remotely - however, sometimes taking a different first step towards adapting to the new environment can be more beneficial to your team, in the current situation, and with a view to the future.
In this episode, we give you an overview of four different types of interventions. If you need help with any of them, get in touch at www.virtualnotdistant.com
In this episode, inspired by the academic paper Team Development Interventions: Evidence-Based Approaches for Improving Teamwork published in the journal American Psychologist 2018, Vol. 73, No. 4, 517–531, Pilar goes through four different training interventions that might be suitable for your remote team, right now.
Think of the team competencies you might need to address. For example,rather than training in working remotely, your team might benefit undergoing training in other areas like “communicating in writing” (you’ll probably need to do A LOT of that when working remotely), or “concise communication” - which can be done in writing and audio. “Giving and receiving feedback” (also necessary when working apart from each other as a team) or even “task management”, or spend time together learning how to master three or four functions in MSTeams that will save you time and headaches in the future.
(Pilar mentions her Remarkable tablet.)
- Team Training.
What are attitudes, skills and knowledge we need to work in a team?
(By the way, don’t assume that because someone knows how to use the tech, it doesn’t mean that they know how to use it collaboratively)
If you are losing visibility in the organisation, and are a highly specialised team, you might benefit from training in using everyday language to communicate with others. 2. Leadership Training
In-house training courses are the best option, because they enable peers to talk to each other, network and learn from each other. Sometimes, if there is a very specific issue that a manager has, coaching might be a better option.
“Transfer” is key, to be able to put all new information and learning into practice, as is feedback.
Of course, attending any kind of training also gives you the space to reflect.
Improving Team Dynamics and TeamBuilding in Remote Teams
These intervention have the aim of improving how people work together: co-ordination, nurture trust, discussion of values etc
These help with goal setting, problem-solving, role clarification… in any case, it’s important to know what a teambuilding intervention can help you solve. As we talk about all this, we talk about the work, and how we engage with the work, and collaborate.
These interventions will also surface a lot of hidden information, and a lot of information remains hidden in team members’ heads when we’re remote.
Role clarity in remote teams, can give us role flexibility, making the team more resilient.
Having a facilitator running these discussions can help, giving people the space to think without worrying about team dynamics as much.
4) Team Debrief
These are great learning and teambuilding opportunities (Agile teams do this very well through their retrospectives!) and opportunities to celebrate success. (LINK TO CELEBRATIONS)
They give us an opportunity to reconnect through the work.
These sessions don’t need to be very long, 18 minutes are an average good length, and are the most effective in improving team performance.
These sessions are influenced by the team climate, (here it helps to have a facilitator to create a psychologically safe climate), learning to provide feedback. You might want to think in your team about the kind of questions that help you really learn from the experience.
“Conclusions and agreements need to be documented”.
And of course we can help you with tailored management team-training and team facilitation.
But why not run Team Debriefs in your team, led by different team members each time, so that you can discover new talents in your team, which have emerged recently in the remote space?
Get in touch through www.virtualnotdistant.com
This podcast is brought to you by Virtual Not Distant, a London-based consultancy where we help teams transition to remote working, and operate happily and productively in that environment.
Today we explore hiring remotely, and to do that we are joined by Jo Palmer from Pointer Remote Roles (04.33) to help us understand the unique perspective of the specialist hiring agency, and then by Morgan Legge from Convert (34.30) to look at how this global, fully distributed team finds new colleagues, who will be a fit within their framework of holacracy.
Please find full shownotes over at https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/hiring-remotely
Welcome to the final part of our ‘connection and disconnection’ series with ShieldGEO, brought to you by Virtual Not Distant. Today we look back at these episodes and what we’ve learned from them, during an unexpectedly transitional time for the remote work space.
For today we share a round-table discussion, featuring Pilar and Maya from Virtual Not Distant , as well as Tim Burgess from ShieldGEO.
Please see https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/reflection-connection-disconnection for the full shownotes and links.
This show is brought to you by Virtual Not Distant, a London-based consultancy offering support to remote teams worldwide.
Please see https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/flexible-communication for full show notes
What’s Going On (this topical segment was recorded on 6th May 2020) A recent article from Workplacesless What Happens to HR When Everyone is Suddenly Remote? takes an in-depth look at the ‘emotional labour’ that people-people do and how that has changed, on top of the logistical challenges and uncertainties they’re dealing with. It’s a good tie-in with our special ‘connection and disconnection’ series underway with ShieldGEO, and we shouldn’t forget that HR professionals are at the forefront of supporting coping with these issues for everyone.
Looking ahead to what the workplace of the future might look like, we start with this one from Buro Happold Social distancing in the workplace: the new norm. We’ve never had an opportunity like this to truly rethink how we want to re-create the workplace we want - where we feel safe and effective and productive.
Mapping the way people move and looking at the tech we use (see also Maya’s recent article about Crestron’s thoughts on this) will help, but there will surely be new stress-producing factors and things to constrain spontaneity. We’re going to have think differently about what face-to-face time means, and consciously make the most of it, whatever tech we use to control the environment. And here’s a prescient article Pilar wrote 4 years ago… proving that it’s always a good time to think holistically and creatively about what your workplace could look like, while considering what unique needs it fulfils for you.
There’s even some research emerging now from Global Workplace Analytics suggesting that many workers do want to continue to work from home post-crisis, and they want flexibility and choice more than they want a fixed spot assigned to them in the office. This article about Tata in India suggests the same, a big corporation already deciding that a growing proportion of their workforce will work regularly from home permanently.
All of these environmental shifts remind us that we’re going to have to change the way we work too, becoming more agile and resilient and flexible as an organisation, perhaps less hierarchical, to cope with the new world of work - and whatever changes are coming our way in future.
Which further connects with the important subject of well-being, and we liked this article Simon Deeley (do contact him if you want to learn more about his mentoring app) shared with us, about 9 Steps to Maintaining Your Work/life Boundaries - we get hung up on the physical boundaries but there are so many more things to think about, which can make a difference in your life.
And finally, we loved this statement on LinkedIn from Adam Weber from Emplify that as a company they’ve decided they’re not working Fridays in May - to recognise the additional burdens and stresses on their employees. This is one great example of an organisation helping individuals maintain some boundaries.
This podcast is brought to you by Virtual Not Distant Ltd, a London-based consultancy helping teams transition to happy and productive office-optional working.
In the 6th episode of this special “connection and disconnection in remote teams” series in association with ShieldGEO, we explore what we can do individually, to strengthen feelings of connection with our remote colleagues. After looking at the manager’s role previously, we need to remember we can all do our part, to support our own well-being and that of our teammates.
Our series host Bree Cagiatti and guests new and old explore this topic and its implications.
Please visit https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/self-help-connection for full shownotes.
An organisational change is the perfect time to give employees the option to work remotely. In this episode, our two guests talk about the challenges of introducing remote work in an organisation, as well as introducing a new digital collaboration ecosystem.
For more detailed show notes and to get in touch, head over to www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/adopting-a-new-mindset-remote
This podcast is brought to you by Virtual Not Distant Ltd, a London-based consultancy helping teams transition to happy and productive office-optional working.
Today we return to our special series in association with ShieldGEO on connection and disconnection in remote teams, and into this 5th episode we explore the role of the manager or employer in ensuring their team members remain connected when working remotely.
Please see full shownotes at https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/connection-disconnection-manager for all the links and details of our wonderful guests featured in this episode.
Brought to you by Virtual Not Distant, where we help managers and teams transition to an office-optional approach. For full show notes please see https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/learning-and-sharing
What’s Going On This topical segment was recorded on April 6th 2020
Maya experienced a meeting that was ‘Zoom-bombed’ - one of those new words 2020 will add to the lexicon. This phenomenon has attracted a lot of media coverage, and Zoom has taken steps to secure their own networks - so make sure you’re running the most up to date version of the app. A good example of why transitioning shouldn’t, in normal circumstances, happen without learning and planning…
And Zoom is not the only meeting app out there! Google has rolled out free access to advanced Hangouts Meet video-conferencing capabilities to all G Suite customers globally, and we found this list of hundreds of other possibilities to choose from as well, with different properties and integrations for different industries.
Among the plethora of remote work content, don’t overlook these fine words by Prof Dr. Emerita Gloria Ramsbottom-Lemieux. Surreality meets satire - but we need humour wherever we can find it these days.
Pilar heard about a new co-working space which gives people black beads you can wear, if you want to signify you don’t want to be disturbed. A way to physically manifest an attention status in a visible way… A Slack emoji come to life? Interesting how these shared signals and vocabulary emerge.
Research from HBR’s Idea Watch suggests that people would rather have their job taken by a robot than another human - maybe because we couldn’t be expected tocompete? But we’d rather work alongside a human replacement for any of our co-workers, if they get laid off.
An article in The StartUp on Medium caught Maya’s eye, The Five Levels of Remote Work — and why you're probably at Level 2 - an insightful look at how to get beyond the meetings and chat and replication of the office, to an asynchronous nirvana. A good aspiratiomn for many teams who can work in this way and well worth a read.
Remote Work Tree Rowena Hennigan and Robert Kropp in Spain have compiled Remote Work Tree:
As Robert explained, they wanted to ease the transition by bringing together the best events and resources to help people new to remote working and leadership. They’ve tried to predict a learning path and what users might need, to step through the rich resources they have curated, put together at top speed - to help you avoid content overload.
To counterpoint the wave of content to support people new to working from home, here at Virtual Not Distant we wanted to take time to reflect on the current state of knowledge work in the age of corona and the way things have changed already, and might continue to change in the future.
(If you are new to this and looking for support in suddenly working from home, then we’d advise you to check out this short bonus episode in the first instance, as well as episode 60 of My Pocket Psych podcast. And contact us if we can help with anything specific to keep you going).
While we’ll always advocate for working from home as an option in the mix, the world is short on options right now. Even for Pilar, doing voiceover work in studios is presently on complete hiatus, and work is changing at Virtual Not Distant with a surge in requests from work with Spanish companies - not traditionally keen to embrace ‘teletrabajo’ (see episode 214 for more on this) who are now looking towards long-term shifts in how they collaborate for the future).
And today we talk in depth to 3 experts in remote work and long-term home-based working, all of whom will be familiar voices to regular listeners, and can help us think about the trends and shifts we’re identifying in the way we work together - wherever we are:
Marcus Wermuth from Buffer - connect on Twitter and via his website.
Teresa Douglas, author and long-term remote employee - connection on Twitter and also her website.
Maya Middlemiss - regular show co-host and Virtual Not Distant associate, connect on Twitter and LinkedIn.
You'll find full shownotes at https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/not-business-as-usual
Welcome back to our special series in association with ShieldGEO on connection and disconnection in remote teams, which is receiving fascinating feedback. Today we examine the critical question of whose responsibility is it, to maintain connection and ensure people don’t drift and become demotivated?
Please see full shownotes at: https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/connection-disconnection-responsibilities
In today's episode, we cover the concepts of Visible Teamwork, essential to working as a remote team, after Maya and Pilar talk about what's going on; and feedback from listeners.
For full show notes, visit https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/technostress-and-visible-teamwork
03.10 mins What’s going on… Coronavirus is going on
15.10mins In Non-Corona Related News… 35.10mins Listener feedback, and what’s coming up at Virtual Not Distant 43.26 mins Visible Teamwork
This podcast is brought to you by Virtual Not Distant, helping businesses transition to successful remote working.
Today we interview
6.07 Caitlin McDonald Dr Caitlin McDonald is a digital anthropologist at the Leading Edge Forum, an organisation which works with senior leaders to help them reconsider decisions and outcomes, through research, events, and advisory services.
Pilar participated in recent research for the Forum on Reconfiguring the collaborative workspace, which took a deep anthropological dive into workplace organisational structures and digital tools - in particular the ways we interact differently on and offline.
Recent policy shifts in remote working and travel restrictions will affect many organisations for the first time, and Caitlin was keen to point out that ‘remote under duress’ is not a recipe for success, as we have discussed in this podcast previously. And in urban areas particularly, not everyone has a home environment suitable for work - it could be noisy, shared, unheated, etc. Asking employees to set up their own space doesn’t always work, people need support and resources from the organisation.
We strongly recommend checking out the executive summary of Caitlin’s research here, and you can connect with her on twitter to continue the conversation.
And do keep your feedback coming, we really enjoy it - please contact us, or you can tweet Virtual Not Distant, or Pilar and Maya directly, with any of your thoughts and ideas.
A short impromptu conversation between Pilar and guest Jacqui Walpole, on some of the issues knowledge workers might face from suddenly having to work from home.
You can connect with today's guest over on https://twitter.com/JacquiWalpole and https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacquiwalpole/
For help to make your online collaboration work, and lead your team from a distance, visit www.virtualnotdistant.com
This is Virtual Not Distant's third podcast episode in our special series with ShieldGEO, and you can catch the first and second one if you missed them (and subscribe to them in our main feed wherever you get your podcast).
We’re thrilled with the feedback received on this series from our listeners, including from many of our previous guests (and Pilar’s mum :-) ). We love the way it’s helping us think about the way podcasts themselves build connection, so we’ll return to that theme very soon.
But today, our guest host Bree Caggiati explores what happens when we find ourselves disconnected, from the people we work with and the work we’re doing?
Dr Julianne Hold-Lunstad reminded us that humans have evolved to be social animals, and that kind of collectiveness has helped us survive - so loneliness is a similar biological drive to hunger or pain, we crave its resolution.
But we don’t always follow our best biological imperatives, and Brian Rhea talks about how easy it is as an introvert to avoid meetings and encounters when inconvenient, and therefore to avoid investing in the networks that can support you when you really need it. And Marcus Wermuth reminds us that we all need different levels of interaction with others anyway, especially when it competes head to head with focused working time.
Collaboration promotes creativity, Julianne points out, so it’s worth all of us being aware of its value in terms of our output as well as our mood and well-being. And Richard MacKinnon agrees, that we should not see social contact as subtracting from productivity in a zero-sum game - instead, it’s an important investment in the success and performance of the team as a whole. He reminds us that feelings of loneliness have very little to do with actually being alone - instead it’s all about the perceptions of the quality of relationships and the social connections we have, and it has a direct impact on the engagement of the whole team.
ShieldGEO’s Tim Burgess agrees, and has that employee engagement builds commitment which helps overcome the inevitable bad days and bumps in the road that we all experience at work. And when you work from home in particular, bad days and bad moods can do more extended psychological damage, with the absence of the decompression buffer zone a commute represents. Emotional contagion can impact on your household and community too, spreading ripples outward in unexpected directions.
Julianne’s research has added to the growing evidence that our relationships influence our emotional well-being, but also affect our physical health - a connection which is often poorly recognised and understood. More socially connected people actually live longer, on average, and loneliness has similar mortality risk factors to obesity and air pollution.
ONS data suggests that 2.4m UK adults suffer from chronic loneliness, so we need to deal with this on a societal level, not least as it has measurable economic costs.
So, the next episode in this series (21st Century Work Life episode 227, releasing on 19th March 2020), will start exploring some of the remedies and strategies to try and fix this problem, which goes way beyond the remote work sphere.
But we’d love to know what you think about these vital issues, and anything else. Please contact us, or you can tweet Virtual Not Distant, or Pilar and Maya directly, with any of your thoughts and ideas.
This podcast is brought to you by Virtual Not Distant Ltd.
For full shownotes, and details of Pilar Orti's new book Online Meetings That Matter, please see https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/online-meetings-connections.
And here's What's Going On:
- Coronavirus Forces World’s Largest Work-From-Home Experiment - This article reflects a moving target in a fast-moving situation, as it was published 2nd February, but it indicates an ongoing phenomenon. Virtual Not Distant do not advise waiting for a global health crisis as a strategy for transformation, but it’s great if technology can rise to the occasion and encourage people to try new things - so long as they don’t judge the remote-first approach from the outcome of an ad-hoc reactive solution.
- Google's Plan to Reduce Its Carbon Footprint - For us, this piece triggered lots of reflection about the carbon footprint of digital ‘things’ in general. We think of remote as very ‘green’, but data, tech and storage does have a cost in terms of energy, when you scale up. Or even how they suck power on your own laptop… See also: Why Irish data centre boom is complicating climate efforts.
- Flexible Workers Held Back by Tech Trouble - Some interesting research about how people feel about the tech they use, and when they’re remote they’re typically less ‘supported’ with this than in a colocated office. Do we need better training, or better tech? Possibly both, and there’s a degree of convergence. And we also need a strategy about how we use them to support our collaboration (PSA: Virtual Not Distant can help with this!)
- You really need to lock down your Trello boards... right now - Oops. Public Trello boards are just that, meaning search-indexable. And this researcher from Wired found things in some public boards which definitely should not be there. And in other apps too, it’s easily done - so this is a timely reminder to check that you understand how the apps you use are secured, who you are making content visible to at all times, the implications. It might mean digging into some settings and instructions… which is time well spent.
- https://lp.buffer.com/state-of-remote-work-2020 - This comprehensive annual report has just been released. Please take part in research like this, policymakers need it! Comparative data now shows that the more report you are, the happier you are, on balance - including ‘how remote’ your organisation is (hybrid set-ups are more mixed in satisfaction, and this segment is fastest-growing). The challenges and downsides identified will not surprise any of our regular listeners… But there is SO much to dig into in this research, we urge you to check it out and read it in detail.
This topical segment was recorded on 12th February 2020
Welcome to the second in our special series in association with ShieldGEO, with our guest host Bree Cagiatti, in discussion with an amazing panel of guests:
In this episode we explore how disconnection presents itself, and we started by talking to Laurel Farrer, remote work advocate and founder of Distribute Consulting.
Developer Brian Rhea has identified this too, and is building an app to help — in response to an enquiring tweet which blew up into a huge validation of the existence of a problem of loneliness for remote workers.
Teresa Douglas, author of Working Remotely, is presently researching psychological safety in remote teams.
Tim Burgess, ShieldGEO co-founder, first experienced loneliness and disconnection in his first job, where he worked alone in an office in a new country — not remote then, but deeply isolated.
Asia Hundley (also from ShieldGEO) pointed out the way that excitement can mask such feelings at first in a new situation (in her case, a new country).
Occupational Psychologist Richard MacKinnon says it’s difficult to spot, because people can seem outwardly very happy, while reporting feelings of loneliness only if asked. And Dr Julianne Holt-Lunstad, who has researched this area extensively, reminds us of the persistent social stigma and shame around admissions of loneliness and other emotional needs.
So if you’re feeling disconnected and alone as a remote worker, we hope this episode has been both reassuring and insightful — your situation is not uncommon, and we’ll have more to come in terms of how you can help yourself and your colleagues throughout this series. Starting from self awareness, you can begin to identify where you might be able to make changes in your total set of work-life circumstances, and use that insight to help others too.
Hello and welcome to this multi-guest episode, where we delve into the world of online communities in the context of remote work. This podcast is brought to you by Virtual Not Distant Ltd.
Please see full shownotes at https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/online-communities-remote-work.
Guest interviews:
7.48 Lisette Sutherland - Collaboration Superpowers 28.58 Alex Hearst: Hoxby
48.13 Mark Kilby, Agile Florida
1.06.34 Martin Gilbraith Chair of IAF England Wales
Welcome to our new series of 7 episodes on the theme of “connection and disconnection in remote teams”, in association with Virtual Not Distant partners Shield GEO.
Shield GEO help businesses employ people globally by taking care of all the associated administration, legal and financial - supporting truly global remote work, in a way that’s a great alignment with everything we value at Virtual Not Distant. So we’re very excited to be expanding our podcasting repertoire with this new collaboration.
Our host for this series is Bree Caggiati, and for this inaugural episode she is joined by Shield GEO Tim Burgess, as well as Pilar and Maya of course. The chosen theme began as a conversation initially about loneliness in remote teams - a natural part of the maturing of the remote work conversation, as more and more people open up to the possibilities it offers. But this evolved into an exploration of both sides of the coin: connection and disconnection.
Tim reflected on a research they had conducted with Sydney University students about the remote work community and what their needs were - what questions were being asked online, and not being well answered. The idea of disconnection due to distance emerged strongly there, as part of the context of greater awareness of emotional well-being more generally in the social and business discourse (and let’s remember as well that people in traditional colocated workplaces can also feel isolated and disconnected).
The extent to which hirers and employers are responsible for the mental health of their team is also under the microscope, but perhaps not all managers are comfortable talking about it at any stage (and this too is not an issue limited to remote work). Where do the boundaries emerge, between duty of care, self-sufficiency, privacy, and productivity, in these sensitive conversations, as people emerge from the ‘honeymoon period’ of a new role?
Bree herself is physically isolated from the rest of the ShieldGEO team, being based in Canada while the others are in Australia - making this a truly global, 4-country collaboration, incidentally. Bree has found using a co-working space more regularly has helped overcome isolation. But the issue is very polarising, and early adopters of remote work (especially advocates, and dare we say, podcasters in this space…) are highly self-selecting. Many of us have never experienced loneliness, working in the way we chose - but as more organisations ‘go remote’, it inevitably becomes less about individual choice for every remote worker.
Disconnection can come from many sources in addition to loneliness. It can be related to trust and autonomy, and the visible teamwork activities we consult on in Virtual Not Distant are all about connecting through the work itself by making that manifest. And this is important because sometimes we feel more connected to our colleagues at work, than those in our local communities and social networks. In the mainstream conversation, often technology gets blamed for alienation and disconnection, but actually it can play a really positive role, if we use it in the right way, and remote work can lead by example on this.
Perhaps it’s easy to blame the factor of remote work, particularly working from home, if we feel disengaged from other people generally, but there could be many causes. Work can provide structure and tangibility in our day which might be absent in our personal lives, and maybe we need to better tune in to our own emotional and physical needs, when there’s no manager or colleague to reflect off in our immediate environment. We talk about great remote workers having personal attributes of resilience and flexibility, and emotional self-awareness is a part of this - the ability to understand our own needs for self-care or rest or exercise or space, and ensure they are addressed before a crisis happens. This includes knowing how and where you work best, and constructing that environment around you.
Recruiting for these personal qualities, instilling a culture during onboarding that these issues are for real, these are challenges for any onboarding process. Tim and the Shield GEO team have recognised that in training new hires generally, that there’s a difficulty in taking on board large amounts of complex information, so finding the right time to bring up these issues of how they’re really feeling emotionally needs a lot of thought. But by planting the seeds with new people that the organisation cares how these concerns might at least make it easier for new colleagues to explore more openly when the time is right.
And with so much to explore during this series, we’re really looking forward to hearing from listeners about how these issues are impacting you, what your concerns are with connection and disconnection our remote teams. Please do join the conversation in any way you choose, including anonymously/confidentially if you prefer, via email or our contact form.
This podcast is brought to you by Virtual Not Distant ltd - please see full shownotes and much more, at https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/unexpected-risks.
What’s going on? * What are the trends for Human Resources in 2020? Here are 20 of them, covered in breadth rather than depth - we could group them under themes of transparency, collaboration (“Slack” is a trend now apparently!), and making work visible. Interestingly this is not a list aimed at remote teams, but that’s not immediately obvious. * Good news for collaboration tool deployment: How Zoom Better Enables Patient Care, Employee Development at Moffitt Cancer Center and London Ambulance trials phone video stream platform It’s fantastic to see online meeting tools making a difference, even saving lives, in diverse settings which are so far removed from our knowledge-worker bubble, and here are two great examples from the world of medicine. * Templates in MS Teams - now for medical and all sorts of other organisations and teams there are prebuilt templates, again reflecting the differentiation in use of these platforms, and the need for rapid onboarding and integration of increasingly complex tools for niche uses. * Top 100 Companies with Remote Jobs in 2020 - some surprising ’stealth remote’ employers in this list, and a variety of industries are also reflected. Do you work remotely for one of them? We’d love to hear from you! * Study: 64% Of Comms Leaders Would Use A Virtual PR Agency - A reminder perhaps of how early in adoption we are, with the corollary that apparently 36% of clients think this option is still inferior, and the distinction of a ‘virtual agency’ being a qualitatively different thing is evident. * Professional Development & Networking for Remote - Maya was happily back in the ‘remote work bubble’ at this online networking event with Workplaceless, discussing the challenges of hybrid teams and transitioning - it’s well worth exploring their upcoming events, and certification programme.
Hello and welcome to the first episode of 2020! This podcast is brought to you by Virtual Not Distant Ltd.
Please see full shownotes at https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/onboarding-integration
02.40 Marcus Wermuth Engineering Manager for the Mobile Team at Buffer. You can with Marcus on LinkedIn, Twitter, and via his website. 7 Ways to Set Up a New Hire for Success,” by Michael D. Watkins.
27.43 Mandy Garner, managing editor of Working Mums and Working Wise
33.30 The Role of Bots in Onboarding How to Improve New Hire Engagement and Onboarding for Technical Employees Using AI and Chatbots.
38:05 Mark Kilby, Agile Coach You can hear more from Mark in Episodes 95, 175, 197, on twitter, and his website.
We want to answer YOUR big questions about work/remote work in 2020, so please contact us. Or you can tweet Virtual Not Distant, or Pilar and Maya directly, with any of your thoughts and ideas
Welcome to episode 218 of the 21st Century Work Life podcast, which is actually a bonus episode, made up of my conversation with Laila von Alvensleben from Mural.
mural.co
https://twitter.com/lailavona
LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/lailavon/
https://lailavon.com/
If you're a regular listener, you will know that the last batch of guest episodes have focused on a topic, with contributions from different guests. And the way in which I have been working on this has been by recording full interviews with them, and then finding the bits that went together best. What this has meant is that I've got some longer pieces with some guests that I'd quite like to share with you. And what better way to do this than at the beginning of the year, while we wait for the first episode on our schedule to be released on 16th January 2020.
So remember that this show is brought to you by Virtual not Distant, a London-based company helping managers and their teams transition to an office-optional approach, and my name is Pilar Orti, and I'm the Director. You can find everything we do over at virtualnodistant.com and you're welcome to get in touch with me on Twitter too @PilarOrti
Welcome to episode 217 of the 21st Century Work Life podcast, which is actually a bonus episode, made up of my conversation with Marcus Wermuth from Buffer. Find out more about him over at www.marcuswermuth.com and follow him on Twitter https://twitter.com/mwermuth
If you're a regular listener, you will know that the last batch of guest episodes have focused on a topic, with contributions from different guests. And the way in which I have been working on this has been by recording full interviews with them, and then finding the bits that went together best. What this has meant is that I've got some longer pieces with some guests that I'd quite like to share with you. And what better way to do this than at the beginning of the year, while we wait for the first episode on our schedule to be released on 16th January 2020.
So remember that this show is brought to you by Virtual not Distant, a London-based company helping managers and their teams transition to an office-optional approach, and my name is Pilar Orti, and I'm the Director. You can find everything we do over at virtualnodistant.com and you're welcome to get in touch with me on Twitter too @PilarOrti
Let's go into the conversation, I hope you enjoy it.
In the final episode of the year, Pilar shares a wide range of listener's thoughts, yet again widening the conversation around remote work.
We announce our new podcast collaboration with ShieldGEO and talk a little bit about some new Virtual not Distant services.
Find out more about us over at virtualnotdistant.com
Brought to you by Virtual Not Distant
Looking back at 2019, it’s been a busy year - we’ve a lot to look forward to in 2020, but first it’s time to reflect on a transformational time for remote working.
We discuss research, infrastructure, technology and wellbeing issues and how they have shifted through the year - while we also look ahead at what's to come.
For full shownotes please see https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/remote-now-what, where highlights include:
22.46 interview with Rowena Hennigan, remote work advocate. https://www.rowenahennigan.com/
22.45 tech round-up - what a lot of changes we have seen, in the tools available for remote working
and
59.15 loneliness and mental health in remote - an issue we'll surely hear more about in future.
We have lots more to bring you in 2020, including a new podcast mini-series with a brand-new collaborator to share with you.
We also want to answer YOUR big questions about work/remote work in 2020, so please contact us. Or you can tweet Virtual Not Distant, or Pilar and Maya directly, with any of your thoughts and ideas
And meanwhile, we wish you a very happy end of year break however you are celebrating, and every good wish for 2020 - from Pilar, Maya and Ross at the 21st Century Work Life podcast.
This podcast is brought to you by Virtual Not Distant Ltd, and full shownotes can be found at https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/south-europe.
We bring you 3 guests today, talking about remote work in Portugal, Italy and Spain, as well as further afield - for a different perspective on changing trends and attitudes, in this global societal shift. Is there a North/South divide (or even an East/West one)?
07.57 Felippe Silveira Felippe the co-founder and Executive Creative Director at Mowe Studio. He is originally from Brazil, and travels regularly in Costa Rica and Italy, while presently living in Lisbon, Portugal.
You can keep up with Mowe Studio on Instagram here.
26.20 Giovanni Batista Pozza Giovanni has lived all over Europe and South/central Americas, and as well as running Be Happy Remotely,
You can connect with Giovanni on Linkedin and follow Be Happy Remotely’s community on Facebook.
40.20 Eva Rimbau-Gilabert Spain remains a late adopter of remote, and the research Eva refers to looks at homeworking, indicating 8% uptake (compared to Northern Europe/Nordics, approaching 30%), and the trend is still around self-employment not employees.
You can connect with Eva to further conversation on LinkedIn and Twitter.
This podcast is brought to you by Virtual Not Distant, where we help teams transition to office-optional work lifestyles - find us at https://virtualnotdistant.com
For full shownotes to this episode please see https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/artificial-intelligence,
For now here's our list of 'what's going on' (recorded 30/10/19)
- Zoom is incorporating chat - and reflecting the trend of platform convergence, whereby everything wants to do everything. Do we need this? Or is there room for more differentiation - which has to be good for consumer choice.
- You can now email from within Teams client and Teams mobile… Why..? Slack also tells admins they can welcome people by email - but surely the whole point of these platforms is to move us away from email?
- IT managers thoughts on workplace messaging - new research indicates Slack is still most
- preferred, and most workplaces use more than one. Different functionality, shadow IT, or an experimental mindset… what do you think?
- Banning ‘out of hours’ email - surely this is treating the symptom not the cause? Reducing autonomy can surely only increase stress. But reminds us how important email still is...(Thanks for this link Teresa)
- Judy Rees (episode 60) has curated a great set of articles about online meetings, now published at InfoQ. Bad meetings get in the way of the work being done, but not for the reasons first thought of: ‘technology is no longer the problem, the problem is the people’ InfoQ recognised their own needs in this area and were glad to support this extended publication, to really help teams of any size and composition manage their online meetings better. From the tech to the culture to relationship buildings, this guide covers a great deal, so do check it out, and as well as Pilar you’ll recognise contributions from many of our podcast guests. Judy has training coming up too which will interest listeners judyrees.co.uk @judyrees
- Listener question, from Brigitte: Should she pre-screen job applicants by email, for an online role? Well, if writing email is going to be a key part of their job then you need to know if they can write a good email… Otherwise, or additionally, it makes more sense to use selection tools which will reflect the demands of the job they’re seeking. Please send us your questions!
- Maya is multitasking… and listening to more and more audiobooks, as a way to learn and do research while getting away from the screen. You can exercise your body while resting your eyes, and still enjoy books!
Brought to you by Virtual Not Distant Ltd.
There’s more to remote work than improving life and work for those exploring its potential. Remote work can be a tool for social change - and today’s episode explores different ways that remote work can have broader impact, with a diverse range of stories and approaches.
One quick update before we meet our expert interviewees: Pilar has a new podcast with the International Association of Facilitators - so if you’re interested in stories from the frontline of facilitation and learning and meetings, then do check that out and enjoy.
Now, onwards with the social impact of remote:
04.13 Chris Slemp Chris Slemp is a Customer Success Manager for Modern Workplace, at Microsoft UK, and long-term friend of this show (joining us in episodes 123, 144 and 202)
I asked Chris how remote work can help us build and be part of our community (wherever we want to build that, rather than necessarily at work)?
He reminded us that commuting culture put responsibility on the workplace to provide ‘community’, and hubs like WeWork strive to provide everything the worker needs apart from sleep. But we have options now, and employers can dial it down a bit - Chris after all introduced us to the term ‘office optional’, and participating in office cultural activities (as opposed to work activities) should be optional too, freeing people to engage in their local communities as appropriate.
Chris takes a fluid view of location-dependency and work, reminding us how flexible things can be, and that we all have a right to extend that optionality at other times. We can advocate for that flexibility for all workers, to take advantage of the technology now available to us.
Chris also talked about the way remote work is affecting how and where people choose to live, and the social impact of this, a moving target for the future.
Connect with Chris on LinkedIn (and tell him we said hi!).
Remember that remote does not always mean flexible, and vice versa… check out episode 21 of My Pocket Psych for more on this point, while we meet:
17.06 Mandy Gardner Mandy is the managing editor of Working Mums and Working Wise (specialising in employment for over 50s), and joined us way back in episode 74. So she’s been working with the idea of flexible working for years, since Working Mums started in 2006 (now joined by Working Dads as well as Working Wise, to advocate for and promote best practice around working flexibly for all).
They work with employers to help them improve their recruitment and hiring, and has seen many changes in the flexible working agenda over that time. Employers are more open to the concept now, as the evidence is in to support flexibility. But there are still misconceptions (eg flexible = part time) among bigger less nimble organisations. Career progression remains an issue, as does being explicit about remote in recruitment advertising.
Mandy sees flexibility becoming increasingly normalised into the future, as life grows ever more complex for parents, carers and all of us.
34.01 Nacho Rodriguez Nacho is the founder of the Nomad City conference run from Gran Canaria - a region working hard to attract remote workers, initially as digital nomads and now increasingly as employees. We talked about the conference with Nacho in episode 210, and we’ll have an update soon from Nomad City 2019 (in progress as this episode drops!).
Revitalising traditional tourist areas with remote opportunities brings new blood and fresh ideas, as well as creating opportunities for local people to get involved, and the conference has evolved over its 4 year history to embrace ideas ranging from economic development to onboarding remote colleagues to collaboration tech, as well as an invitation-only summit for experienced advocates and consultants.
On the social impact front, the event includes a job fayre to connect local people with remote employers - opening up new opportunities for all.
Lorraine Charles Remote means no borders - and Lorraine Charles is working with refugees in Jordan and Turkey to facilitate employment opportunities in the refugee population there.
Protectionist labour market laws often restrict employment locally, so technology and the right training can enable broader opportunities for all the population. Location-independent livelihoods provides refugees with resilient futures, and helps stimulate the local economy, in countries which are themselves developing and struggling to deal with an influx of new residents.
Remote work can do so much to change the narrative for employment and make everyone’s lives better - not just for refugees, but parents, disabled people, those who don’t want to migrate to a mega-city somewhere...
But as well as hard and soft skills training, there are needs for better infrastructure, technology and support. Lorraine is actively seeking partners, to help them train refugees, and commit to hiring - can you help, or make a connection? Contact Lorraine via LinkedIn or email, and check out her research paper, or contact us and we’ll put you in touch.
Impact investment is also needed, to create sustainable pathways to growth in emergent markets, while also leveraging the initiatives and expertise of those who have been courageous enough to uproot their lives and start over.
1.02.30 Laurel Farrel Laurel consults and advocates for remote working through Distribute Consulting, and joined us in episode 189 when we discussed loneliness and remote.
She sees the real power and value of our lives in the ripple effects of social change, impacting on equality, the environment and economic development amongst so many other things. Reversing the cycle of traditionally having to bring businesses in to attract employees, remote work can do so much to support declining areas from the US midwest to rural Africa - this article of Lauren’s, Could remote work be economic development’s new secret weapon? may be two years old, but every point remains relevant somewhere!
Local advocates are needed to build trust on the ground, and solve specific local challenges - every community is unique, and solutions must be tailored and bespoke. People need and want different things from where they choose to live, and once that is decoupled from a job place the possibilities can be overwhelming.
Locations need to learn to promote themselves differently, to attract remote workers seeking particular lifestyles, rather than attracting businesses - and this is a win-win for all, as new residents pay tax and spend their income earned remotely. Initiatives encouraging people to relocate include financial incentives in places like Tulsa and Vermont, and ever more creative solutions are continuing to emerge.
As remote work creates more diverse and rich populations, as people are able to choose where to live, completely separately from choosing the work they do. This is changing communities, as well as changing lives.
Don't forget to keep in touch and let us know what you think, at Virtual Not Distant, or tweet us at @Virtualteamw0rk.
Hope this episode inspired you as much our guests inspired us! Please do share your thoughts and ideas.
Brought to you by Virtual Not Distant Ltd - head over to our detailed shownotes for more depth on the main discussion, as well as links to all our other episodes, services and content.
Today’s episode is all about planned spontaneity. But firstly our regular news round-up:
01.30 What’s going on * Owl Labs has released their ‘State of Remote Work 2019’ report. It highlights a huge variety in the meaning and scope of remote work, a reminder that we should not assume it means the same thing to different people * On the other hand, research from Airtasker published by Yahoo tells us that remote workers work more and have poorer work-life balance, and paints a very different picture to the report above. But that just goes to show how hard it is to compare like with like in this fragmented space. What do you think? Here’s the link to the original research. * Co-working - apparently the best low-cost option in San Francisco is a parking space - and why not! It might not work quite so well in London… Lots of interest here, including the idea of co-working becoming unaffordable in city hotspots, and the human connection of this ties in nicely with today’s theme of spontaneity * New co-working options like And Co (UK), and CoCo (US/International) are seeking to reclaim work space on a more flexible and fractional way, so maybe this will be the future? More grassroots and user-centric than the WeWork corporate top-down stuff, maybe that’s what we need to get back to… * Slack released a load of updates this week, including a tool to invite up to 1000 users to a channel. Do we want to be in Slack channels with thousands of users? Well, these tools continue to evolve in response to users, and they’re replacing intranets in large organisations. Let’s hope everyone knows how to manage their notifications! * Looking ahead to an upcoming episode on social change, and the general idea that ‘remote work is the future’, we do need to make sure we’re not excluding whole industries or categories of work. Remote may be the future for knowledge workers, but let’s be careful not to generalise and create divisions. The future is blended and flexible, rather than specifically ‘remote’.
26.44 Planned Spontaneity Please see https://virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/planned-spontaneity - or simply enjoy the conversation.
A Thoughtful Thursday bonus episode, no music, no intro, no segments, just a conversation between founder of Nomad City Ignacio (Nacho) Rodriguez and our host, Pilar Orti.
Some of this conversation will be included in episode 212 on Remote Work and Social Change, but just in case you want to get to a very diverse, thoughtful conference covering many aspects of remote work, and designed for a range of remote workers, we wanted to introduce to you Nomad City, which runs from 7-9th November 2019 in Gran Canaria.
https://www.nomadcity.org/
Nacho explains why the conference was set up, how it's linked with Gran Canaria's broader aims and then he describes the event itself.
You can get in touch with Nacho over at LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ignaciorodriguezcastellano/
and Twitter https://twitter.com/IGROCA
And of course, say hello to Pilar on Twitter https://twitter.com/pilarorti and visit our website www.virtualnotdistant.com
Today Pilar explores the paths that a diverse range of leaders of remote teams have travelled, to reach their present roles. Journeys of learning, self awareness and personal growth… Some inspiring conversations, which we will share with you in full later in the year.
But first...
What’s going on? Our quick round-up of remote work news and conversations:
- Online meetings: A new series of articles curated by Judy Rees, and featuring many of our previous guests, as well as Pilar herself, discussing the social connection aspect of online meetings, and we’ll have Judy on the show to talk about all the issues that emerged.
- Minds at Work contact us about learning and development in remote teams, so we referred them to Buffer and their exemplary approach to managing and funding professional development - growth mindset, rather than training, for a start.
- Breakout rooms - a feature of face to face workshop facilitation since forever, and so far limited to Zoom online. But you can hack MS Teams, or Skype, or anything else, to do breakout sessions if you use different channels, for each room. Reminds us all that it’s not which tool, but how you agree to use it, that matters… Even if it takes a little more prep.
Don’t forget to share with us ‘what’s going on’ for you, and there’s more news, of course, in our newsletter.
Now lets meet our remote leadership guests, who discussed multiple dimensions of remote leadership in a series of in-depth conversations with Pilar (please see full shownotes for details)
Laïla von Alvensleben Laïla is Head of People Ops at Mural, a visual collaboration tool for planning and brainstorming
Marcus Wermuth Buffer Mobile Lead
Tim Burgess Shield GEO
Millie Blackwell
Showcase Workshop
If you enjoyed these insights, do look out later in the year for the full interviews with each of these inspiring guests
For once we are truly working from home, because we’re recording this episode in Maya’s home office! Usually we record from different countries on Skype, but it’s quite fun and very appropriate to do things differently today.
This podcast is brought to you by Virtual Not Distant, a London-based consultancy helping organisations transition to successful office-optional working.
What’s going on? Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker recently unveiled an $18 billion transportation investment bill that includes a tax credit that will give companies more flexibility in offering work from home perks to their employees - more on LinkedIn here.
Employers are not supporting tech learning, at least not as much as their employees would like. This UK research in People Management was disappointing to read. The reasons why are not clear, but the expressed frustration certainly is. Leaving people to figure things out for themselves is NOT the way to implement effective digital transformation!
WeWork have cancelled - sorry, postponed - their forthcoming IPO Pilar and Maya don’t really get it, the corporate co-working movement and replicating the office you’ve left behind, but clearly some people love it… Not enough to fundamentally shift the problems of office space costs, but maybe it’s good to remind us of the many different options in terms of co-working alone.
Work From Home Week - listen to Rebecca Corliss, VP of Marketing at Owl Labs, recapping on this interesting initiative they promoted in July, encouraging corporate partners to experiment systematically with home working. It’s great to learn more about their ‘Meeting Owl’ product as well, a 365 degree conferencing camera that puts the remote participants in the centre of the hybrid meeting, instead of stuck up on the wall somewhere. Work From Home Week was a great experiment which taught participants a great deal, and the blog post shares these fascinating insights. “#WFHW” will be repeated, but you don’t have to wait : Why not have your own ‘work from home week’ within your organisation?
BBC Bitesize have been writing about ‘workplace perks’, and we all went ‘ahhh’ about the concept of ‘Fur-ternity’ leave - offering new pet-parents the option of working from home for a week while settling a new non-human family member. Anything that brings on experimenting with remote working is fine by us, as is any embrace of the diversity and individuality of human motivation.
Pilar has been a panelist this week for a Minds at Work event, which was run as a hybrid event in London plus a parallel remote one, while the two cohorts were kept completely separate. The remote side used Remo, a new tool for remote events, which worked very well - offering lots of flexibility for participants to ‘choose a table’ and talk to each other, then listen to broadcasts in bigger sessions.
Event sessions included finding your community at work, and how that differs in the remote space (do people still meet their best friends or their life partners at work?), as well as the ways we communicate and changing degrees of formality and the evolution of the business conversation generally.
So many shifts, and the question of how to make remote work better are often questions about how to make work better generally… this event and others are really helping to broaden the conversation, and if you get the chance to participate in one in future, why not check it out?
You can do so from anywhere in the world, for example somewhere like Maya’s home office - which she has recently reclaimed from a shared space, banishing her other half to his own home office in another room! She has added a comfortable arm chair for reading and research, and also a standing desk zone (though the way this is being used as a bookshelf reveals that not a lot of standing up takes place every day) - at least the theory is there, and it’s good not to sit too much! Also to change your focal point, by looking at something further away than the screen in front of your nose.
A work in progress, Maya is doing her best to organise the space - small as it is - by function, to create different zones for different activities, which is a powerful way to overcome any feeling of being “stuck in one place” all day, as well as switching up the energy: Pilar does a similar thing moving around her apartment, and both enjoy getting out of the home office and interacting with other people in the neighbourhood too.
And how about if more employers encouraged people to do things in their community, safeguarded the time needed to take a class or do some exercise? Surely everyone’s health AND productivity would improve.
But you can always find ways to connect when remote working, such as apps like FocusMate - which pairs you with an accountability partner to work alongside remotely via webcam. Anything which helps you get things done is worth a try, though some people might find it distracting or want to talk to the other person and get to know them - which is the opposite of the whole idea.
We would love to hear your thoughts about working from home - which is just one aspect of remote working and wholly optional one. Let us know what you thought of this episode, what you think of working from home, and what you’d like us to explore and discuss next. Send us your comments, or catch up on Twitter to join the conversation.
In this episode, we hear from how different people are going about growing their companies. They have different customers, different recruitment processes and different ideas about the size and make up of their workforce. However, they have one thing in common: their employees are distributed over different geographical locations.
What's Going On section links:
Harvard Business School’s research summary “How Companies Benefit When Employees Work Remotely”
Highlights from Flexjobs 2019 Annual Survey. ">Appear.in has changed its name. Find out why here: https://whereby.com/information/brand
Judy Rees and Lisette Sutherland are running a series of workshops on Running Remote Meetings. Starting 18 Sept 2019, book here: https://www.tickettailor.com/events/remotetogether/289398
Info Q is publishing a series of articles on Remote Meetings, and celebrating the series with a session on Mastering Remote Meetings, on 1st October! Details here.
Finally, news from Virtual not Distant: Our online course Leading Remote Teams through Visible Teamwork is cooking in the online oven, register here to be alerted of when it goes live. ">Growing a Remote Organisation
22.56mins. Wade Foster and Jeremiah Smith talk about their first steps in setting up the company and why they decided to set up their businesses. Our guests explain why they started to employ people at Zapier and Simple Tiger.
29.40mins. Pilar explains the nature of employment at Virtual not Distant; Wade explains how they recruit at Zapier; Jeremiah talks about his own process when looking for other people to hire; while third guest Tim Burgess takes on a different strategy when looking for employees for Shield GEO.
43.40mins. So far, hiring for remote seems very similar to hiring for colocated. However, there is one thing that makes a huge difference when you’re growing a remote company: Timezone differences. Tim and Wade discuss their thoughts and experiences around hiring globally and asynchronous (and text-based) communication specifically.
54.00mins. Hiring globally means that you can grow and grow and grow and grow… but that’s not on everyone’s mind.
Today we have such a detailed episode for you, that we’ve had to split it into two, for practical distribution reasons.
This is part two of two
These shownotes for both episodes are available at http://virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/collaboration-dangers) -because it really is just one big conversation.
Collaboration platforms - the dangers Too much information, vs “fear of missing out”? How do we stay on top of all the messages in our platforms, making sure we don’t get overloaded, while not missing anything vital? What if you get back from a holiday or an illness and there are 400 alerts…?
Your team agreement needs to specify what to check, as opposed to what you can let go, or the best way to catch up on the conversation after a break. And your team agreement needs regular review to ensure relevance and that it’s continuing to serve you well. Your team changes, and so does the tool (for example you might want to consider the appropriateness of animated emoji use, non-trivial for any users with dyslexia, or whether our emoji-sets are too culturally exclusive anyway).
Too much text Some of us type better than others do, and might also need to get comfortable with a speed vs accuracy tradeoff. Remember you can dictate, you can record audio, you can record video.
You can use photos, of drawings or even handwriting. Draw your own emojis! While we can’t customise the platforms themselves, and how they look and feel, but our culture and team personality can really emerge quite creatively.
But, if it’s an important communication which might need to be referred back to or found in search, then text - which can be dictated text - is the only thing really searchable/indexable, for now (soon the AIs will be able to search our audio for keywords easily). So do consider that when choosing how best to post.
Episode 153 should we be talking or typing goes into more detail on this.
Always on We need to choose a collaboration platform with good mobile tools, but we do need to remember to ensure those boundaries between work and non-work.
When your collaboration tool is there on the homescreen of your personal mobile phone, you’re never away from it. Richard Mackinnon discussed on a recent Work Life Psych podcast ‘my phone, where’s my phone!’, how truly addicted to our devices we are.
And sometimes we are left anxiously waiting for responses, in the same way as we crave our Facebook likes - is this person confused, annoyed, or just responding asynchronously when it suits them best? The reward-centres of the brain that overthink these things have made the social networks billions, but do we want this effect in our work communications?
Managing hostility This article from Workable about hostile work environment signs and fixes led us to think about how signs of bullying, harassment or oppression become visible (or not) in the online workspace, and an interesting Twitter thread emerged as a result.
Conflict at work might be less obvious to others, but conversely it is easier to provide evidence of when communications are digitised. There are lots of issues here about whether this is done ‘officially’ or not - this article from People Management, Do you know what your employees are saying in private messages? discusses this in depth from a policy point of view, but everyone should remember that nothing in the digital space is truly secret.
It’s important that everyone knows how to discuss difficulties and with whom, and that people get to know their online colleagues as whole people and develop their own support networks. And while there are apps which can help highlight inappropriate communications, (such as the one described here in Venture Beat Valued raises $1.7 million for Slack chatbot to combat workplace harassment), there are dangers in abdicating any of these responsibilities for team wellbeing and safety, to a tool or app.
So many issues to think about, when it comes to our collaboration platforms, whether we call them chats or digital hubs or our online offices… we need to use them well, use them right, because these ARE our workplaces now.
We conclude this episode with a lovely anecdote about two very creative people communcating asynchronously, in an unusual setting… but you’ll have to listen to find this little gem, which reminds us just how many different ways there are to communicate.
Don’t forget to keep communicating with us! About your collaboration platforms, or any other aspect of remote work. You can message us directly, you can tweet Maya or Pilar or the Virtual Not Distant account at any time, to keep this conversation going - asynchronously of course.
Today we have such a detailed episode for you, that we’ve had to split it into two, for practical distribution reasons.
This is part one of two
These shownotes for both episodes are available at http://virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/collaboration-dangers) -because it really is just one big conversation
What’s going on * Buffer are looking at the introversion question too - and how to make this work when virtual teams meet up in ‘real’ life Ten reflections on Buffer's 10th team retreat. I am sure it helps if your CEO is introverted! But there are lots of good ideas in here for every team. * Santander brews up the first uk work cafe for small businesses - is it a cafe, is it a bank, is it a co-working? An incubator? We’re not sure, but we like the idea and look forward to seeing how it develops, the more flexibility the better chance of everyone finding their perfect work space locally, and these days banks need to do more to connect with their communities. * Formatting in Trello - yes you can italicise... but not in the mobile app. Oh well! We all learn something new every day, and this was news to us. * New MSTeams accessibility features, explained at Use Immersive Reader in Microsoft Teams Shared by our friend from previous podcasts Chris Slemp (ep. 202 and others). Text is NOT the optimal communications mode for everyone, and it’s good to see platforms addressing this. * We’re looking for more evidence-based research to support our work with remote teams - Pilar had a shout-out on LinkedIn here with some fascinating replies. Can you add anything? * Speaking of networking, Pilar is starting a face-to-face meetup group in West London, for people in the remote leadership space. No powerpoint or pitching, just coffee and in-depth conversation. Let us know if you’re interested and date (likely October) will be confirmed. * And another upcoming event which might interest London area listeners, from Minds@Work LAB on the 17th September 2019, all about Mentally Healthy Remote Working - so do check that out, * Finally, don’t forget to let us know about any events you know about or are planning, that we can share with our community
Collaboration platforms - how we’re using them now A truly 21st Century work-life phenomenon, it’s time to talk about the tools we use every day. It’s time to talk about ‘chat’ - whether you use Slack, MSTeams, Twist, or other more project-management based tools which also include the ongoing conversation that ties the whole work process together.
Slack was one of the first truly built for business, rather than repurposing consumer tools like MSN messenger and Skype (which was a consumer tool at first, and now Skype for Business is being subsumed into MSTeams).
We enjoyed this paper about How scientists use Slack, which demonstrated the versatility of it and how different types of workers can shape it to their own needs, from conversation to creation. Collaborating on a research paper with international colleagues is a great example of time-agnostic asynchronous remote work.
They also use the reminders tool - and we didn’t know you could set reminders for other people. Very interesting! And there’s a subtle difference when an app asks or reminds people about something, rather than a colleague…
Interesting too how tools like Slack are being used at an organisational level, with hundreds or sometimes thousands of users - requiring very different moderation and interaction approaches, and potential new challenges, and leading Slack to introduce new admin tools for professional users. We’d rather see team agreements and consensus, than controls - but perhaps with scale it’s becoming inevitable.
So these tools are becoming multipurpose communications hubs, not always real-time chat - channels can become discussion forums, co-creation spaces, announcement channels and so on. And as we’re always saying, asynchronous conversation rocks!
Our friends at Buffer experimented with turning Slack off altogether - Slack-off Fridays: What Happened When One Team Experienced a Day Without Slack - there are many other ways to do visible teamwork effectively.
The use of the word chat (or instant messaging, from which these tools evolved) frustratingly suggests an instantaneous response. So we need a new collective noun. What shall we call them? Does “collaboration platforms” work? “Digital hubs”? Where we live and do our work online needs a better name, so please let us know what you think!
Don't forget to continue to download and enjoy part two of this conversation next...
Today’s episode is a solo show, as Pilar was part of two conversations she wanted to share with you straight away. And she also took the opportunity to ask the community managers at Minds@Work to tell you about their next event.
The episode was prompted by a message that Pilar received from a friend of hers. His team is currently colocated, but some of the team members would like to go remote; plus he’s realising that the business might benefit from recruiting in other geographical areas. He’s wondering whether he should turn into a hybrid team, or a fully distributed one.
The benefits of being a hybrid team, within an organisation:
- You have a presence in headquarters as a team.
- Those staying in HQ can still have spontaneous interactions, which could be a point of connection for some team members. You might have a team member who acts as a connector, between remote and colocated; some people are really good at keeping everyone together, regardless.
- A lot of communication is electronic anyway, so it might be easy to follow visible teamwork practices.
">The Drawbacks:
-
Different visibility in the organisation between team members can cause friction, as some people might be missing out on networking and promotion opportunities, and other stuff going on in the organisation.
-
Clusters might form (remote vs colocated) in an unhealthy way.
- Feelings of inequality and isolation. People in the office could also feel isolated; if some members can go remote because they have a comfortable place at home, while others don’t, and so have no choice but to stay in HQ. And remote team members can easily feel like they’re being forgotten about.
Benefit of being fully distributed: Everyone’s in the same boat, which has lots of benefits.
Downsides:
- It could be expensive if the team has different overheads than the organisation: a coworking budget, new equipment, expenses which are difficult to explain in some organisations
- More change to manage. A hybrid team can be more organic, but a fully remote team will need a lot of adapting to.
- Team could lose visibility in the organisation, but you can develop a strategy to avoid this.
13.50 How should you have difficult conversations in a virtual team? After a few Twitter interactions, here are those things you should consider when having a difficult conversation:
Do you and your team member feel comfortable with video, how do you best connect with the other person?
- What role will emotions play? For example, is it important to see the other person’s emotions/reactions; or is the expectation that we don’t want others to see how we react?
- What is the norm in your team? If you always use video, probably video is best. If audio is the norm, the audio might be best. Or you might want to suggest something different to elevate the importance of the conversation… (but which can make the other person more nervous…)
- What are individual’s preference? You need to know yourself and your team members
Think about all this BEFORE you have to have a conversation. Be prepared. (Even share this episode with your team to kick off the conversation!)
If you’ve never worked remotely or managed people virtually, go carefully through the advice you read or are given, there is no one way of doing this.
24.15 Hear about An Event about Mental Health in Remote Working
April Doty and Sarah Bingham tell us about the Minds@Work event Minds@Work LAB on Mentally Healthy Remote Working will take place in London on 17 September 2019 6.30pm BST, and online. (It looks like Pilar will be joining a virtual panel there.)
Pilar mentions a past episode on Open Space, you can find it here: https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/agile-meets-openspace
She also thanks listeners for their feedback on episode 203.
If you would like to be involved in the podcast, fill in this form.
We have two interesting guests for you to meet today, and our first conversation is an excellent example of some of the things you might not obviously know about people when you work with them remotely, as we delve into some of the non-work things which make our associates into whole people.
But we do talk about creativity, 21st century careers, and content marketing too and the way everything is evolving. We’re making lots of changes to our content at Virtual Not Distant - have you checked out the website lately? Plenty of new things to see, we would love to hear what you think about all of it, and changes in the podcast too... including our new section:
03.49 What’s going on! This will be a regular round-up of news, events and issues in the remote space. Right now:
- Pilar is discovering the joys of unplugging, and going properly ‘out of office’ - which you still need to do in remote. Just because you can stay in touch constantly, it doesn’t mean you have to, and stepping out of the conversation for a while brings many benefits.
- This article from the BBC in July made the headlines for not having an office… and it turned out to be our friends from Automattic (see episode 136). They’ve been around since 2005, but for the Beeb ‘Wake Up to Money’ programme this was big news! Good to see the mainstream catching up...
- A great conversation on LinkedIn recently (in Italian, sorry!) spoke up for the potential of collaborative creativity in remote, delving into the difference between individual and group creativity in an interesting way - and they really understand the name of our organisation, which was highly gratifying.
- More on sychronous/asynchronous collaboration, something we talk about a lot - here’s a thoughtful piece on creative ideation in remote, and another great take on this from Buffer - lots to think about, but the main thing is that it’s possible
- Don’t forget to sign up for our newsletter - for a regularly monthly shot of inspiration and ideas
- And do send us YOUR ideas, about what’s going on in remote work!
16.56 21st Century Work Life - with Luis Magalhaes It doesn’t get much more ‘21st Century’ than Luis Magalhaes’ CV, where his portfolio of roles includes marketing, podcasting, dentistry and gaming…
His main activity for the past couple of years though is being Director of Marketing and Editor In Chief at DistantJob. The company promotes remote work as a solution for companies who want to scale and grow, and they specialise in recruitment from a global marketplace. For businesses it means hiring the best person wherever they are located, and DistantJob deals with all the contractual and logistics complications which may arise from hiring outside of their own location and jurisdiction.
Content marketing helps DistantJob target their sweet spot of medium-sized businesses - ready to hire, but not to open international branches - and they test and iterate and keep doing more of the things that work. They develop their content strategy collectively and transparently as a team, and constantly review their own practice and thinking, based on the people they talk to. Everything they learn, and reflects their values and culture in hiring - hiring for themselves and their clients.
DistantJob create 3 pieces of quality original content each week, two articles and a podcast, and it works. Inbound marketing is the ‘karma based economy’: provide valuable information, and people will come to you when they need what you’ve got to offer.
Luis rarely practices dentistry these days, but always loved the intersection of science, medicine and diagnostics - and his evident passion for helping people clearly has parallels here. He also enjoys the synergy of using his hands and brain together, to make things better. Helping people find the best job of their lives has more in common than we might have thought, with fixing their toothache.
Luis also loves videogames, and attributes much to that passion, from writing and creativity, to co-ordination, even the spatial awareness needed for dentistry. He podcasts and writes about gaming from time to time, to try and offset the bad rap they get in popular discourse. He writes fantasy fiction too (and is a best seller in Portuguese, while also releasing his new novel The Silvery Moon this summer in English).
Amazing insights were generated in this conversation with Luis, and reflected and expanded upon by Pilar, about the impact of language and bilingualism on creativity. We should bear in mind the impact of this in our global teams, and remember that real time video might not always be ‘the best’ - remember Allon Shevat’s comments in our last episode.
Check out Luis’ podcast at Distant Job (on which both Pilar and Maya have guested), and check out their blog too. Luis tweets as well.
And talking of content and creation, here’s further insight about SEO and how content gets found in the first place...
59.01 Jeremiah Smith founder and CEO of SimpleTiger A specialist in SEO for software-as-a-service companies, Jeremiah has seen 2 decades of trends in search engine optimisation, which is now being transformed by more intelligence: AI is superceding traditional algorithms, and handling content very differently.
This trend will deepen, and search will get ever more prescriptive, as we provide constant feedback on its success. And Jeremiah reminds us that search does not just mean Google - Amazon is one of the world’s biggest search engines, for example, just specialised in products.
Creating authentic and high quality content which creates a good user experience throughout the customer journey, should continue to be rewarded by search traffic - whether you’re an SME startup or a Fortune 500 company.
Keep up with Jeremiah on Twitter for further thoughts.
What do you think about quality content and conversation in remote work? Do you have a view you’d like to share, on this or any aspect of 21st century work life? We now have a podcast guest application form, and really welcome your ideas and contributions for the show
Maya and Pilar have always enjoyed discussing a range of conversations and ideas about remote work and collaboration, but it’s great that we’re increasingly noticing more fragmentation and variation in the public discourse around this subject. The opening up of niche communities and content in the remote world is encouraging us to transition this podcast towards a tighter focus on remote / virtual /distributed teamwork as the conversation proliferates, and gives us more to dig down into and discover with each episode. We love to hear what you think, via our contact form, and also on Twitter (@Virtualteamw0rk)
At Virtual Not Distant we are all about a deep understanding of the world of remote and how to make it work well. Experimentation is good, but oversimplification is not - and can lead to quickly concluding that ‘remote didn’t work for us’, a lose-lose outcome. So many variables, not least between companies which start as distributed teams versus those who transition to a more office-optional situation further down the line, and also the increasing number of employees who are now working remotely - whether at home or in a co-working - alongside the typical/traditional freelancers and entrepreneurs.
This one is interesting because small and new organisations encourage and recruit for flexibility and less predictability, the wearing of multiple ‘hats’ at work… whereas traditional employees might be less autonomous and need more support. Though not everybody agrees with us!
Maybe for a chaotic startup, a fixed office space can create the only stability to focus on. And we can personalise that space and make it our ‘home’, which is very important for some people. (have a look at the first chapter of “Thinking Remote” for more reflections on the digital vs physical workspace). And developers, why not think about giving us more customisation options in our platforms and hubs, so we can make our digital offices feel like our very own?
Another issue is the relationship between remote work and flexible work, and whether remote work means complete flexibility to work and deliver at the best time and place to suit each person… or do we expect people to be working fixed hours, contactable at specific times? In what other ways can we make the work itself more autonomous, while still being accountable and connected, and how much of this is about managerial expectations as opposed to deliverables and outcomes?
21.30 "Advice" on remote culture... An article we encountered on social media recently made Pilar’s heart sink… We don’t often rip apart articles on this podcast (not since episode 126!), but every now and then you do feel you have to respond.
It’s called “How to build a strong company culture with a remote team” - but there was really nothing in the article about culture.
In fact just as in an event Pilar recently attended, there was an equating of culture with banter and chat, and no correlation of the idea of culture with values or guiding decision-making, perception… Which is a reminder that culture is not something people (outside of our geeky change-management space perhaps) really talk or think about. Culture is not easy to change, it’s often deeply ingrained and internalised, and it’s much easier to focus on behaviour and changing that instead.
But there was a lot to take on in this article. It really felt like the writer had little direct experience of remote teamwork and felt insecure about being able to manage work at a distance. And apparently remote teams need to ‘let their hair down’. Oh dear. Enough said.
A sub-heading in the list (of course, it was a listicle) referenced online “meetings” - complete with the quotation marks, making Maya cringe. Their advice was to use ‘videoconferencing’ - a thing we were talking about a decade ago, so go and get your suit and tie on first. Perhaps this does remind us all that we are still struggling with consistent vocabulary as it evolves in the remote space. What do you call it when you just want to hop on a quick video call with someone in your team? We’d love to know.
Another tip from the Telegraph article suggested you “set rules about the tech you use” - OK, so far as it goes. But nothing about how you use the tech was mentioned, and the very term “rules” suggests a different approach to a team agreement, the idea of building a consensus around how we want to communicate and why. A further confusion between social media and team communications was a bit strange too, and while boundaries are more blurred now between internal and external communications, the distinctions between the two are still critical.
Finally though, one assertion in the article had Pilar and May both raging at their screens. Apparently, “introverts struggle more with remote working”. Introverts “find it harder to initiate conversation” - well, that was bound to press the buttons of two introverted writers/consultants/podcasters who also happen to be professional communicators and remote work advocates. And it betrayed a fundamental misunderstanding of what the introversion/extroversion spectrum actually is.
People who score highly on introversion scales re-energise in private, as opposed to gaining energy from the company of others - while introverts thrive on the company of others for stimulation and energy. There is zero correlation either way with communication skills. Remote working enables people to control their environmental preferences, whether that means creating peaceful space for deep working, or enjoying the bustle of a busy co-working. But introverts are not shy, reserved, or suffering from a communication skills impairment.
45.06 Is it introversion, or a cross-cultural assumption? To explore introversion and its implications in more depth, Pilar spoke to Allon Shevat, who shed some interesting light on the issue by reminding us that behaviour perceived as introvert could be something very different, depending on the cultural backgrounds involved.
For example a question from a business superior might be seen in Western culture as expecting an immediate response - but in Japanese culture, thoughtfulness would be valued more highly than immediacy, and a considered answer a delivered little later more appreciated.
Another colleague might be reluctant to give a negative answer in some circumstances, and prefer to respond privately if the news is bad - a sign of respect and courtesy, over the transparency of sharing bad news publicly which could reflect on the manager or the whole team. (Maya has also had experience of this when working with developers and contractors from the Indian subcontinent, who seemed incapable of expressing anything like, “no, this work is not going ok” or “nope, that cannot be done”, when that was exactly what needed saying...)
Silence or a lack of response also has cultural implications, and can be a way of expressing lack of agreement rather than shyness or introversion. Dissent could also be indicated via a backchannel or indirect communication, in cultures where it simply wouldn’t be acceptable to express a negative opinion about a colleague. Finally Allon reminds us that on international teams, delayed or written responses can simply reflect use of a second language, rather than anything relating to introversion/extroversion, and can lead to disadvantage in synchronous calls or chats.
If you want to learn more follow @AllonShevat on Twitter (and he is the secret mastermind behind another twitter account we also enjoy - but you’ll have to listen to find out which one!)
We discussed many issues surrounding cultural differences in Episode 201 with Theresa Sigillito Hollema and Surinder Kahai if you want more on this fascinating area, and also back in episode 138 with Nancy Settle-Murphy.
All of this reflects the fact that so much more is now going on in the remote workspace conversation - we’ll be digging into the ongoing issue about hostility in the workplace soon as it applies to remote, and other deep-dives into other burning issues are also coming your way. Please tell us if there’s something specific you’d like us to research and explore.
For now, thank you very much for listening!
Welcome to episode 202 of the 21st Century Work Life podcast from Virtual Not Distant, where today we’re revisiting the roles of tech - particularly chat-based platforms - in teams, and the relationship between tech and strategy… Interestingly much of which also applies nowadays within organisations we don’t think of as ‘remote’, and depends a great deal on how we agree to use the tools at our disposal (including our expectations regarding speed of reply)
Don’t forget to come and say hello to us on Twitter, @VirtualTeamW0rk and @PilarOrti… we love to talk to our listeners, and we talk about all sorts of interesting things, like a new feature in MSTeams which Pilar had a strong reaction to… Maybe there are some situations where text is better than a call, even when it’s urgent? Do join in and tell us what you think.
And please bear with us as our website is being updated, we’re bringing you a refreshed look and feel and some great new content - in particular look out for more about our self-paced learning programme to accompany the Thinking Remote book, if you’re serious about improving your remote leadership practice.
21st Century Work Life: Chris Slemp, Customer Success Manager at Microsoft Today’s guest Chris actually introduced us to one of our favourite phrases, ‘Office-Optional’, so it was great to talk to him for the third time on our podcast. Moving from a small consultancy to Microsoft gave Chris and his wife a chance to relocate to Scotland, and his work involves helping people to be more productive with the tools they already own.
To support customers they use a blend of face to face visits but also online, and of course they use Microsoft Teams. Clients include organisations like police forces and local councils and other workplaces we might not think of as ‘remote’, but actually involve people in many locations, including many non-office situations, and reminding us that it’s not only knowledge workers who can benefit from these tools. The work is not location-dependent, so the communication should not be.
From a customer support point of view, it’s essential to understand and relate to roles outside of the IT dept, even if that’s the first point of contact. Technology needs to be a partner, not a supplier, to realise its potential these days, and help businesses solve their problems effectively. We should be driven by the need, not by the tech.
Even within their own team they had to evolve the way they used their own tools effectively, and improving meant an ongoing blend of coaching individuals and moderating and managing the conversation itself. Perhaps the problem is that the tools now look and feel so similar to those we use in our personal lives, where we’re used to pleasing ourselves what we do with them, and we really need a team agreement or a ‘collaboration constitution’ to nail down the way we’re going to do things.
In a flattened organisation, tools enable visibility which enhances influence. Different communications styles may be advantaged by different modes, and we need to learn new ways of engaging effectively. TL;DR - the person posting the right gif might get more engagement than the one with the long insightful text. Teams need different kinds of social glue, and the asynchronous space is still overly text-heavy, to its detriment.
MSTeams is bringing functionality to record and stream voice calls and meetings, which creates automatic transcripts and even translations - AI is making this doable with increasing accuracy, and it means that audio becomes searchable on a par with text.
The future role of AI is a fascinating area, and at Microsoft they are talking deeply about the ethics as well as the enablement it can bring. Intentionality solves a lot of problems, as machine learning frees up a lot of time from administrative tasks, and might help us avoid repeating the mistakes already made in social media. But what about areas like sentiment analysis? Yammer is looking into this functionality, as well as a bot to recognise and respond to FAQs, for everyone who would rather ask than search.
Have a look at Chris’ site http://whichtoolwhen.com/ for more insight, into this and other ongoingly essentials questions. And keep up with Chris on Twitter to join the conversation.
48.08 Tools: Otter.ai Maya and Pilar talk about text into speech, using this AI-driven tool, which also works well with multiple voices too.
Instead of detailed notes on this segment, here’s the full transcript of our conversation instead, courtesy of Otter!
And a brief after-word: We did some research about the privacy angles of using Otter and similar apps… Here’s one take on it from Zdnet which was unsurprising, and the main thing is that you need to read the small print and make your own mind up, whether use of any given tool is inline with your objectives and stated policies as an organisation. This does also remind us why many organisations are choosing to keep their entire digital workspace within a single ecosystem. This is an important issue to which we shall doubtless return.
54:00 Wellbeing: Transitioning to remote as a journey of discovery
At Virtual Not Distant we see this transition as an opportunity to dissect and discuss our teamwork, the ways we interact and work together - has this evolved unconsciously, or is this what we want to be doing? Have we got the courage to really examine this, and make bigger changes if we need to?
This is much bigger than which tool we use and how, and we should be scrutinising this on a regular basis, not just when things go wrong. What do we each value about each aspect of our work? It’s easy to assume others think like we do, and for both physical and digital workspaces to reflect the preferences of a minority.
You can’t really enter into this discussion without some self reflection on what helps YOU do your own best work. If you are very specific and clear about what you do and don’t like, what you value and enjoy about your work, then you can think about how best to replicate this online.
Transitioning to remote is a chance to reassess where we want to invest our energies and attention, as individuals and as a team.
A special episode today and, let’s be upfront about it: a promotional one.
Thinking Remote: inspiration for leaders of distributed teams is a book for those of you managing, leading, or championing your remote team, or transitioning, or considering transitioning to an office optional approach. The book is a collection of articles written by Pilar Orti and Maya Middlemiss giving an overview of different aspects of leading remote teams. And at the end of each chapter, there is a set of leadership reflections, which are questions to help you think through what you have read - or listened to, if you go for the audiobook - and help you take the next steps. The best way to support people at a distance, we believe, is by adopting a coaching mindset, and that is exactly what we've done with this book.
And for some readers it has worked! If you want to read about how, I encourage you to read Teresa Douglas’ thorough review over at her site . She covers what she took from three of the chapters and ends with a sentence that we could only have dreamt of:
‘Thinking Remote’ is a thoughtful, thought provoking work that belongs on the shelves of any leader who manages office optional workers.
The chapter included in this episode was written by Maya, and if you want to listen to a bit more before you buy (or if actually two chapters will do you nicely) then check out the sample of the book on any of the audio retailers, as that is the chapter on Psychological Safety, which was originally written for Online Meetings that Matter - which is taking me so long, but hopefully will come out this October - and will include that chapter again, I have to admit.
The book is available on Audible, through your subscription, also in Amazon to purchase, iTunes and other audiobook distributors; and it's really not pricey, it's going to take us ages to make the production money back - also, check out your local library, because we've also done our best to distribute it to them.
05.14 mins
“Is Work Causing You Stress? Going remote is not a magic pill,” from the section of the book on Remote Wellbeing.
15.32 mins
if you’ve enjoyed that and fancy 12 chapters more, check out the different book formats here.
As mentioned earlier, seeing as we’re here in a promotional episode for Virtual not Distant, Pilar will talk about who we work with. Maybe we could work with you…
We work with curious professionals - this is very important to us, because we’re not the kind of company that likes telling others what to do - we prefer to help them discover what they should be doing. So, we need to work with people who are curious. We focus on helping managers of remote teams - virtual teams, distributed, dispersed, and also hybrid teams, those where some people are colocated (in the same space) and others not. And we look to help those who are transitioning to remote, or as we say, in not the sexiest of ways, but we can’t find another term - office optional. And interestingly, in the next podcast episode you will hear from the person who we stole that term from, Chris Slemp.
We help to introduce remote teamwork practices, we help managers adapt their leadership styles to the remote space, in a number of ways. First off, for you the individual, we have loads of inspirational stuff for you to read or listen to here on our website - and we’re now creating some online courses and we’re going to build that little online academy slowly. And we’ll continue publishing books, blog posts, podcast episodes and we have a monthly mini-publication which maybe you’d like to sign up to.
We also have coaching services available if you are a manager of a remote team and would like some one-one professional development.
Furthermore we help organisations by working closely with HR and Leadership and Development, or the training department. And there we can deliver in person workshops, online workshops too, we can do a little bit of handholding through consultancy, but always adopting a facilitative style. We bring our knowledge - we have some in this very fast evolving space - to help you find out what the best way forward will be that will fit your culture, your set up, and the plans of your organisation - both at a developmental level and a strategic one. We can also facilitate team discussion that leads to a team plan on you will work when you’re not all in the office together at the same time.
We’re also investigating how podcasting, or the creation of audio can help team members feel closer together, and also how it can create a sense of belonging in organisations - so if that’s of interest to you, get in touch.
Thank you very much for reading and listening - wherever you are whatever you’re doing , enjoy.
Today we’re going global! With two great guests, collaborating remotely between the Netherlands and New York.
Don’t forget to check out everything we do, over at the Virtual Not Distant website (including our new podcast guest submission form, and new formats in which Thinking Remote is available). Thank you for all the feedback on our milestone celebration episode all about celebrations! Shout-out to Jeremy and everyone in our community who commented and chatted and twittered about this one, we are so glad that this topic resonated (and we have a related blog post on celebrations ready for you now too).
06.30 21st Century Work-life - Theresa Sigillito Hollema and Surinder Kahai Theresa is the Director of Interact Global, a Netherlands-based consultancy supporting multicultural virtual teams and the organisations they belong to, and no stranger to the 21st Century Work-Life podcast. Surinder is a Professor at the Binghamton University, in upstate New York. They met through online discovery, Theresa was drawn to Surinder’s academic work on remote team leadership, and contacted him to propose writing together. In his turn he was keen to see more non-academic dissemination of the growing body of research on virtual teams, and a lasting collaboration was born.
The interview explores in detail their approach and the rhythms of communication that they developed, and how they learned about each other and their motivations and interests and built the shared purpose and trust needed to write together. They reflect on different styles of leadership and motivation they have both observed in the workplace, and which personal qualities are demanded of a good leader for virtual teams.
Theresa and Surinder agree that a transformational style of leadership combined with a genuine care and regard for the other yields the best balance for success, but that this is definitely more difficult to do at a distance. However, distance can be used to advantage to overlook superficial differences (such as appearance and race, as well as behaviours which can lead to conflicts), to focus on the vision for the work and what you truly have in common.
It’s surely time we started to talk more about the advantages which come from not being together, advantages for the team and the work, not just the preferences of the individuals involved. But leaders can struggle to understand and care, especially on globally distributed teams. Caring from a distance is harder, but it must be role modelled by the leader.
As Surinder says, "I'm a key believer in relationships as productivity".
33.57 Tools: everytimezone.com There are many websites which help us work out timezones, but Every Timezone is a nice visual way of seeing different timezones in relation to each other on a map and slider, so that you can really picture them clearly in terms of being ahead or behind each other.
The paid version is great for remote teams particularly as you can put your team members into their timezones - and don’t have to worry about what the zone is called or whether or not they’re on daylight saving, you just know that ‘Alex Time’ is 2 hours ahead, or whatever. A nice touch, particularly if you are dispersed in different parts of the world, and you can update your location when travelling - where is Alex time this week? Ah yes, Alex Time is presently 4 hours offset.
This version has meeting scheduling tools as well, letting you pick and choose who should be in your meeting and invite them - assuming its at a good time for them of course.
38.32 Wellbeing - Timezone stress Do we overlook the cognitive load, of taking account of timezones in our virtual teams? Recent research from TinyPulse has examined this, and found that it does cause some stress. But a lot seems to depend on whether you have a ‘main’ timezone, relating to a headquarters or centre - which does suggest some kind of a hybrid set-up, in which those who are more than 3 hours away from that can indeed feel distant emotionally from their teammates. And they might end up having to work hours which they find antisocial, indeed they can end up working extra hours to accommodate meetings and things which are outside of their typical day, - as Human Made found in recent research, even the stress of scheduling can make things harder on the outliers in particular.
A day is only 24 hours long, so surely no-one should have to attend a meeting any more antisocial than 8am or 8pm, for example? It’s unsurprising that results from the TinyPulse research suggest that a truly distributed team with no central zone to organise around leads to better relationships for everyone, and remember that people can choose to work in any segment of their own local day.
Your team could also be over-reliant on synchronous communication anyway - remember what we learned from Marcus Wermuth in episode 195 for inspiration here. But it’s vital not to cut off the flow of information from anybody, wherever they are located.
Maybe we need to take a better look at what flexibility really can mean, and what each of us needs in order to do our best work in our best way. What do YOU need? Tell us, via our contact form or tweet @Virtualteamw0rk.
We have reached episode 200! We are celebrating… and we invite you to celebrate with us.
Many of our listeners and guests responded to our call for contributions for this episode, and it’s wonderful to reflect the diversity of teams and people working in various ways virtually and remotely and flexibly, as expressed in the variety of ways we celebrate together. Because 21st Century Work Life is about choice and the way you want to do things.
Maya and Pilar may have celebrated this milestone by connecting with listeners and how they celebrate. Sometimes it’s the smallest things - like the way emojis can convey so much emotion, in so few pixels. (And if you’d like to communicate more with fewer words, send us your favourite emoji as a celebration of this episode!)
Larger teams might create more formal ways of using their regular communications channels to celebrate in a slightly more structured way, such as Morgan Legge (interviewed in Episode 146) at Convert.com who sent us a screenshot of their Slack, where they have created channels for #humblebrag #gratitude and so on - things that are outside of the everyday work but weave the recognition and acknowledgement of each other throughout the working day.
Gant Laborde (Episode 174) at Infinite Red have a #kudos channel for similar effect, and also have internal ‘ask me anything’ sessions to wrap up successful projects - which often take on a celebratory tone. Tim Burgess from ShieldGeo share that they go further and prompt all team members to contribute to a weekly round-up of shout-outs for colleagues - a lovely way to encourage people to reflect on who has helped them and how, and all interesting uses of asynchronous communications from all these teams: you don’t need to be in a special meeting or conversation, to recognise a job well done.
When new people join a team that is also a cause for celebration, and Marcus Wermuth from Buffer (Episodes 188, 195 and more to come!) shared how they have a GIF party in their Slack to welcome new arrivals (because if an emoji speaks a thousand words, how about one that moves..?) Marcus also shared he likes to celebrate work things with his wife, do something out of the routine in the working week, it doesn’t have to be with his team to be a celebration.
Jamon Holgrem ( Episode 183) from Infinite Red does something similar, ‘pelting’ new hires with GIFs in a special channel, while at Buffer they use an app called thread.com for calling out more business-related achievements for specific recognition and attention.
Employees who are around long term can be acknowledged in other ways:
17.57 Teresa Douglas (Episode 193) from Kaplan (author of Secrets of the Online Workforce)
On their 10 year anniversary with the company they celebrate with a professional caricature portrait of their team-mate, reflecting aspects of their interests and personality in a unique way - Teresa got hers last year.
They also celebrate in more ad-hoc ways, including ‘secret’ team happy hours over video where all of the Canadian team got together to celebrate with one another, on the day that all their US colleagues were enjoying Memorial Day - being a multicultural team means you can enjoy each other’s local holidays in creative ways.
Meetings are often the focus of team celebration of course
Alison Jones (Episode 173) of practical inspiration reminded us to look beyond the work in hand, and they have a quarterly team meeting in which they ask each person to reflect on their high spots for sharing and validation - bringing a great positive energy into the meeting from the opening.
(Talking of books - Maya and Pilar’s book Thinking Remote: Inspiration for Leaders of Distributed Teams is now available in audiobook. Message us for your FREE copy before the 1st July 2019, so you can celebrate with us!)
22.09 Vladimir Smolyakov Vivify Ideas
As an Agile company Vivify Ideas use their cyclical retrospectives to present their projects to the wider organisation, in the presence of refreshments and a celebratory atmosphere which also helps share information within the larger group
They also celebrate personal achievements and accomplishments, which is really motivating, to feel that a team of 100 people is behind you and encouraging your work.
25.00 Mark Kilby, Agile coach at Sonatype, (and veteran guest of episodes 73, 95, 175, 197... )
On Mark’s teams they use celebrations to maintain connections and also to reflect the characters of different team members - not everyone is comfortable being called out directly, or indeed doing that calling-out themselves. Some retrospectives might be very celebratory and full of appreciation, and we have to be sure to loop in the right people if they’re not in the room so they are included in the acknowledgement. Mark also shared with us how their teams all went out for, or stayed in, for lunch - including a colleague who joined them from a restaurant via webcam!
In global teams, practicalities can prevent some kinds of celebration
In hybrid teams it’s important that celebrations don’t take on a ‘them and us’ quality, also to acknowledge that not everyone can easily get themselves to a central location even for an epic party, so those at the greatest physical distance could feel excluded.
But it does take a lot of planning to celebrate well together in a dispersed team. Jane Hatton (Episode 180) from Evenbreak used to buy donuts and icecream when their colleagues were colocated, and recognises that this is harder to replicate in remote. Their work meetings online tend to be about work - but, as they’re all friends too, they connect more informally on social media as well, reminding us that we can use the whole internet to support our teamwork relationships!
40:13 Luis Magalhaes at the DistantJob podcast
Luis shared that they use Zoom calls to celebrate birthdays, which felt a bit awkward at first, but with the founder’s determination and persistence some flow was instigated (including a flow of liquid refreshment), and the team now looks forward to these friendly gatherings.
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42.34 And finally we had to celebrate with Ross and Maya, just getting the whole Virtual not distant team on one call for once - complete with outtakes and rustling!
And we also happened to be recording on Maya’s birthday. We all enjoy doing different things on the anniversary of the day we are born, including recording podcasts. Ross prefers to get away offline and go camping, but is planning a party this year for his birthday, and Pilar recently celebrated going out to eat with friends.
We wrap up with some quick celebrations from even more previous guests, including Paul Read’s new online course, Robert Glazer making team-member’s dreams come true, Richard Mackinnon’s 40th podcast episode (featuring Pilar), and let’s remember to celebrate Pilar’s other shows Management Cafe and Wordmaze, and Maya’s Crypto Confidence show.
Finally from Pilar, Maya and Ross - from our three different countries - we’re celebrating all that podcasting means to us, and celebrating each one of you wonderful people who listen to us every week. Thank you!
A special episode bringing you a bit more of our fascinating conversation with Justin Morris, because despite being overscheduled with amazing content for our regular fortnightly show for the next few weeks, we really wanted to look beyond the whole ‘Ethical Walls’ story to explore Justin’s work at Modality Systems, and his unique overview of online collaboration.
Justin and his colleagues help people provision and adopt MSTeams, so that they get the most out of it, and transition to the new more collaborative space which MSTeams represents.
It’s fundamentally a change management process, with a data-driven approach to successfully drive adoption. Indeed the level of tracking and data available within MSTeams is surprising, but as Pilar pointed out this could be perceived as over-intrusive surveillance. Justin explains that these analytics are also available to the user, and as such provide a lot of insight into how we manage our time and productivity.
If we can make the fundamental mindset shift from suspecting surveillance to welcoming analysis, it helps to remind us that the data (and the technology which reveals it) is intrinsically neutral… how organisations and individuals use it, is what adds the nuance and intent. The MSTeams set-up is versatile and flexible, to take account of organisational culture, individual preference, and even local regulation and legislation. But as Justin points out, many people are simply unaware of the trail of data breadcrumbs they leave behind in all online interactions, professionally and personally.
Simply staying abreast of the latest updates, conversations and issues in Microsoft Teams and the digital workplace space is a full time job, but it enables Justin’s unique perspective on the needs and expectations of different organisations and teams - and their level of maturity in respect of the collaboration space, internally and externally (there’s lots more on this in episode 191 with Matt Ballantine and his fantastic cheat sheet https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/collaboration-in-organisations)
Today’s conversation also explores attention and the role of video in the online space: how engaged are participants in video vs audio meetings, and the way some people are still defaulting to what is familiar, rather than exploring what the technology can do. The opposing point of view of a youtuber and a podcaster make for an interesting contrast! And serve to remind us all of the sheer versatility of online team communications today… audio, video, text, multimedia, which do you prefer, when, and for what purpose? Justin and Pilar first connected when he answered her written question with a quick video, which also had the effect of making that interaction public for a wider audience. (You can watch the video here: https://youtu.be/KHq6k1xuxqI )
Justin is a big social media fan - well, he did meet his wife on Twitter, which was a new one for us! So connect with him @justimorris, or digitalteamwork.tv for his videos.
Nearly 200 episodes in, we have seen plenty of our own transformations both at Virtual Not Distant and the 21st Century Work Life podcast - and today we explore how organisations are adapting and changing, as the digital landscape does the same.
First, a quick follow up from previous episodes - we found this great article about one of our frequently-used collaboration hubs, so make sure you check this out: 30 incredibly useful things you didn’t know Slack could do.
And Pilar has been tweeting a lot lately, which was how she connected with today’s guest Euan Semple via his book Organisations Don’t Tweet, People Do. Within this book she found many resonant quotes, including “where possible sharing as much as you can when you are able to do so means that people are more likely to respect you when you say you cannot share some information,” and “Blogging can help people to understand themselves and their work better and by doing so help them to change at a profound and fundamental level” - these words were written in 2013, but resonate so well with our visible teamwork approach in 2019!
Do look out for our anniversary episode up next, where we celebrate 200 podcast episode by exploring celebrations in remote teams! And look out for a special offer just for our listeners then.
09.55 21st Century Work Life: Euan Semple, author and speaker on the impact of technology at work
Euan has been blogging for 18 years, and shares his words on LinkedIn, Facebook and Medium. He started blogging as a ‘memo to himself’ about the impact of technology at work, but found it resonating with a wider audience. Back in the day you had to know how to use Moveable Type in order to blog, but much has changed in the blogging world, and Euan’s career has spanned most platforms in this fast-moving landscape’s history! He now writes and speaks globally on the impact of digital transformation in the workplace.
As Euan says, "It's easier to digitise our dysfunctions than to deal with them." Sometimes we need to fix things at a more fundamental level, before trying to find the right app and fix the tech, and you can’t simply leave it to the IT department to sort out organisational issues. Consumer technology preferences are very personal but organisations make broader choices, and Euan talks about ‘shadow IT’ and how fragmented the work IT landscape has become, with individuals and teams going around official procedures to get things done, and the unforeseen consequences of change.
Many users too are struggling to keep up, it’s not generational, it’s about individual transformation and development, and lots of organisations don’t help people enough - then limit the extent to which they can take initiative for themselves. Euan’s work at the BBC has exposed him to a wide range of platforms and apps and the way they are marketed and implemented, and finds it unsurprising that people sometimes buy overpriced and over-engineered systems and then try to fit the organisation to the platform instead of the other way around.
An ecosystem approach empowers the user and the organisation, putting the tech in its proper place - and we usually get this right more often in personal tech than at work, where we don’t like to question the way things are done. Hierarchies are inevitable in organisations, but decentralisation is an important trend, and designing that ecosystem requires input from those actually using it, a group which may be forever in flux anyway. Euan likes the phrase ‘an ephemeral meritocracy’ - power and influence in organisations should be relevant and timely, rather than acquired for all time. Changemakers can come from anywhere, and any level.
Embracing the advantages of remote work and digital collaboration can also be overlooked, such as the effectiveness of online communication in overcoming introversion and social anxiety. The online conversation can become very polarised, but, it can also be enlightening and amazing, representing the very best of human nature.
And we’re all fully rounded human beings with more to us than our online personas… which is why Euan also drives trucks as a sideline (while listening to podcasts and generating creative ideas of course) - giving him a different perspective on roles and authority and collaboration for sure.
Ever an optimist, Euan likes to leave people with a sense of infinite possibility - there are opportunities everywhere, so grasp them while we can! So do connect with euansemple.com, @euan on twitter (a handle that length is proof of an early adopter!)
42.49 What do you mean by that? Ethical Walls
We spoke to Justin Morris, global strategy director of Modality Systems, to explain this idea:
Sometimes in business there can be conflicts of interest when two parts of an organisation talk to one another, and this might apply particularly in highly regulated industries. This might have been managed physically in the past - such as by keycard access. Now this phenomenon is mirrored in the online workspace in Microsoft Teams, where information barriers called ‘ethical walls’ can be inserted, to stop specific teams and individuals communicating with each other.
Pilar’s initial reaction to this update was instinctively negative - what about trust, integrity..? However as Justin points out in this conversation, there are very real compliance needs in many circumstances, to avoid possibilities of breaches like insider trading or client confidentiality, and organisations have to be able to demonstrate they have addressed the problem structurally to the best of reasonable ability. The flatter hierarchies that Euan talked about above can over-facilitate conversations which are not appropriate to specific kinds of highly regulated work.
Creating a trustless environment actually protects the individuals as well, both from temptation and easy accusations - while such barriers can presumably be circumvented, this would have to be deliberate and overt.
Look out for a bonus episode with Justin shortly for more on this subject, and meanwhile you can connect with him on Twitter and LinkedIn, and his website Digitalteamwork.tv
49.33 Wellbeing: Beyond work-life balance
Knowledge workers have so many tools and devices, it can be difficult to disconnect and unplug. It was easier when we could leave it all behind in the office, as we did a generation ago.
But do we feed that always-on mentality, and risk becoming addicted to our continual conversation with and about work? Does it make us feel valued and connected?
How easy do you find it to avoid checking your phone in the evenings or at the weekend? Are you the master of your alerts - or is it the other way around?
Everyone finds their own preferred balance, but you need to decide for yourself and be intentional about it, instead of letting default notification settings or the expectations of collaborators dictate what you are thinking about and dealing with in your own time?
We need to talk about how we feel as well as what we think, and be conscious about our boundaries.
Don't forget to check out Virtual Not Distant, for our newsletter, blog and services, if you enjoyed this podcast.
In this episode, Maya and Pilar call for a halt to some of the remote madness! Where’s that ‘reset’ button...
But first to follow up on the ongoing Twitter conversation from our last episode, about whether remote is suitable for everyone - thank you Bart and everybody who joined in, and do check out Maya’s recent article about this idea of challenging your own assumptions, on Medium - because it all relates to today’s theme on the flipside: while some people cannot imagine working out of the regular office, those of us who love remote work are in danger of becoming so evangelical about the benefits that we can risk losing sight of the potential downsides. So we need to talk about some of the pitfalls out there.
Don't forget to check out our book Thinking Remote or sign up for the email series https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/books
Starting with conversations -
5.50 Synchronous and Asynchronous Conversations
Most of the tools and apps we use in remote collaboration offer us the ability to communicate in a wide range of modes, and this can increase confusion about whether a conversation is happening in real-time, or encouraging response over a longer time period.
We can have lots of different kinds of conversation in our online teams - check out also Jason Fried’s new book “It Doesn’t Have to be Crazy at Work”, https://www.amazon.co.uk/Doesnt-Have-Be-Crazy-Work/dp/0008323445 from which we draw the insightful quote, that we want to go towards ‘a culture of eventual response, rather than immediate response’ - regardless of what the tool itself can do, this culture respects the time management and thought processes of the correspondent.
If we frame our communications with that intent, we’ll remove the pressure to reply straight away, whether our colleagues are head down in deep work, or fast asleep in another continent. And it will help us make our communications purposeful and deliberate… there’s a place for chit-chat, a place for talking about the work, another for actually doing the work. What are you putting out there?
14.45 And what about the tools themselves?
Back to basics! The tool shouldn’t be leading you into an expectation of how to use it… Even email can get used as a real-time conversation, in a ghastly chain of reply-alls, but that doesn’t mean we should. We have so many apps to choose from, so choose well. If you master your own notifications on your various devices you can take back control… This blog post from 2 years ago, Your Notification Settings are Your Friends will help you, as will this great suggestion from regular listener Teresa The productivity pit: how Slack is ruining work (with a fabulous gif summing up the whole problem).
And don’t forget that a lot the business tools we use can share richer content like audio or video, all of which can be asynchronous. A great way to share an idea, or a screencast, and if you want considered feedback it might be best to give people a chance to think about it, rather than gathering people into a meeting where they’re expected to respond immediately.
If you have a clear communications strategy you won’t be searching for that remark or file wondering whether it was on email or Slack or in a document… and this includes being unafraid to say ‘I’m moving this conversation over to its channel on XXX’ - managing the conversation, so it continues to serve its purpose.
30.10 Speaking of meetings:
Just because you can do something in remote work, doesn’t mean you should.
You can join a meeting from anywhere, like your car or a park bench - but if you need to refer to documents in that meeting, then you probably need to be indoors, at a desktop device. Are you relying on someone else to share the doc, to provide more attention than you are, to the conversation?
How respectful does this seem, to the person you’re meeting with, whether that’s internal or external..?
33.33 Designing the workflow and conversation
The way we create the work in the first place can shape what we need to do to talk about it - if we design ways to make the teamwork visible, then we don’t need to report on it in a meeting, or go and update a task list somewhere else…
Anything which takes you out of the work, to report on the work, is inefficient, and likely less accurate - and if you’re collaborating online then all the information must be available anyway, it’s just a case of data visualisation and smart design of the systems. For example, a Trello board shows the whole team, as well as the manager, what everybody is working on right now and what’s next, without anyone having to go and ask about it, or get others to stop what they’re doing to explain…
We’ve got lots of suggestions as to how and why you should share your work, as part of the natural workflow, without being too noisy about it - and we’ve got lots of information in Thinking Remote
39 30 Because, it can all go wrong sometimes.
Remote doesn’t always make things better:
- Tools can be used for the wrong reasons - or to fix the wrong things.
- Technology can be used to control, instead of to enable and empower.
- Managers can project their own preferences and hangups on to global teams now, instead of just the folks in their office
- We can use tools to track and monitor the wrong things, and undermine the trust that is vital for successful work in distributed teams
- We can duplicate effort and waste time, because
46.10 And finally, we can get silly about what remote/office-optional work actually means day to day.
How cool is your co-working, how exotic is your home office, how much do you travel?
We love that remote work enables you to design the lifestyle which suits you best, and we don’t need hashtags and competitive glamorous Instagram images to define what that should look like. If you love hibernating at home, go for it, and if you love the London vibe and commuting to a central office then that’s great too.
It’s just as exciting -or predictable - as you want to make it. So don’t anyone else dictate your aspirations.
Back to basics indeed!
50:50 What do you mean by that? Visual Facilitation
We asked coach and facilitator, Andi Roberts, to help us explain:
Using visuals to support (rather than take over) meeting processes helps to engage participants and bring different senses into the conversation, and it can help to handover power to the participants.
Visual tools can be prepared in advance to interact with as a template, such as for a roadmap for a process to be completed, or they can be co-created in the moment - flipcharts and sharpies at the ready, as participants draw how a situation makes them feel, or what an outcome would look like.
Enhancing interaction, showing rather than telling, and enabling new ways of expressing… You don’t need to be an artist - if you draw how you feel about something then explain it, you articulate that feeling in a way that might not have been possible directly. You can reach a deeper level of thinking, and ideas which are not always easy to articulate.
It also deepens connections between the participants, which has lasting benefits.
You can connect with Andi on Twitter too, and listen to more in Episode 177.
55.42 Tool: Scrivener
Scrivener is a great tool for long-form writing, such as a book, perfect for organising lengthy and complex content as well as research. It has tools for outlining and planning, whether you’re the kind of writer who does that in advance or when you’re halfway through it. It lets you work with huge documents, either all at once or in sections, and manage the structure as you go along.
It’s good for creating a distraction-free environment in full screen, and less distracting than using a cloud-based word processor - in fact it’s beautifully designed to help you do one thing only: write the book. Yes, you can write a book without it. But the right tool for the job makes a big difference.
Not cheap at $45 but you can try it for free, and it’s a one-off charge rather than software as a service, also you can install it on more than one device - it’s now available for windows and iOS as well as the mac. We’d love to see collaboration tools in the next version please, Literature and Latte!
Welcome, from the team at VirtualNotDistant.com
Can you contribute to our 200-episode anniversary show? We’d like to hear about your celebrations, within your team/community… Please send your words or even audio to Pilar so we can celebrate celebrations together! We love to hear from our listeners and bring multiple voices and points of view onto the show whenever we can.
We have some great conversations on Twitter too, like this one where we discussed changes in Microsoft Teams, some of which concerned us - like the introduction of ‘ethical walls’, to separate people in different teams and prevent them from using the platform to collaborate. What do you think? We were thrilled to get a reply from Justin Morris who helps people professionally with adoption of Microsoft Teams, and he even made a video reply - which definitely helped us to understand the potential compliance and conflict of interest issues.
Pilar has also been guesting on the Distant Job podcast with Luis Magalhaes, where we had a great conversation about visible teamwork - and feedback you might not have expected. Do check it out for a great listen. And thank you for recommending us Bart Van de Rooy on LinkedIn (as part of a very interesting conversation about the pros and cons of distributed working).
We’re keeping an eye on Google Podcasts and their transcript creation ideas (as discussed on the Libsyn podcast The Feed), anything which brings us to a wider audience - do tell us how you catch our show (or if there’s anywhere else we should be).
And don’t miss our monthly newsletter, and our new free email coaching sequence, exploring and developing the ideas in Thinking Remote
16.48 The voices behind the book: Mark Kilby and Johanna Rothman, authors of From Chaos to Successful Distributed Agile Teams We have been waiting for this one to be published for a long time, and you definitely don’t need to be an Agile practitioner to benefit greatly from it. Mark is an Agile coach and long term friend of this show, Johanna’s background is in product development, where she consults and writes prolifically. Software development is often seen as challenging for online collaboration, but the authors felt strongly that there were lots of strategies worth considering, and case studies that many could learn from.
Practical industry issues include timezone overlap, or lack of - and balancing the iteration of the work with the cadence of the regular checkpoints and milestones. Scrum is all about fixed timeboxing and needs some flexible thinking to apply to a team who cannot all work at the same time, it can be done. The Agile approach of experimenting and exploring and keeping what works, applies well to optimising these rhythms.
They’ve also written a great article about how they wrote the book as remote collaborators, “You Have to Say More There: Effective Communication in a Distributed Agile Team”, which resonated significantly for the Virtual Not Distant team, and is a highly worthwhile read on its own. This approach led to a really close collaborative process mostly writing and editing synchronously in real-time, producing a very consistent and unified tone of voice for the book as a whole even though they brought different stories and experiences to each element of the content.
They also delve into the feedback and consultation process, and the LeanPub approach for writing and getting feedback fast - an Agile approach to creating content, that helped ensure the book truly reflected the needs and truths of its audience. And the conversation on tools leads into the bigger one we’re continually having about the tech ecosystem itself - and to another great article from Mark and Johanna For Distributed Agile Teams, It’s Not All about the Tools (because it’s more about the why behind the tool than the what).
The Agile mindset clearly has a great deal to offer to remote teams on so many levels. Do check out the book, available from all the usual places, and of course keep up with Mark and Johanna via their respective websites, where you can also sign up for the newsletter.
1.08.46 Oh no, my teams gone remote! And how will I rally the troops! We all have different mental models of the typical leader. (Pilar mentions one she observed in the TV series Bad Banks.)
One leadership archetype we often think of is the ‘hero’. The charismatic, inspiring orator, delivering team-talks which get everybody enthused to action - but this might not easily translate to the online space. If we rely on that group energy to pump up the motivation with our personal passion, it just won’t work so well (though there are routes to this, for example, high-quality video).
A mindset shift to being an enabler within the team and a champion of the team, relating to our colleagues as individuals rather than a mass to be moved collectively. We have to make use of all the channels and tools we have at our disposal to connect effectively and tap into what motivates each person, as part of our leadership role, and our management practice.
See you next time!
It's Friday and we are Fickle!
Pilar shares her conversation with Theresa Sigillito Hollema on creating task interdependence in virtual teams.
Check out Theresa's culture cubes: http://www.interact-global.net/category/working-across-cultures/culture-cubes/
Over on Twitter, at @Virtualteamw0rk thanks to Tim for his feedback
https://twitter.com/planetburgess/status/1116813859627520001
on Maya's article on accessibility in remote teams
https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/blog/enabling-remote-accessibility
Thanks also to Teresa for her contribution to our discussion of the article on the health dangers of hot desking:
https://twitter.com/teresamdouglas/status/1120413880289771521
And finally, Pilar reminds us that loneliness is not always the result of a lack of human contact:
"I’m never lonely when I’m on my own, but I feel lonely when I’m with people I don’t connect with."
And thanks to Brie for her interaction too!
https://twitter.com/PilarOrti/status/1123649055542927366
21st century work-life has many differences from the traditional paradigm, and one of these differences is the many ways we can use technology to make our work visible to others.
Even when we’re working remotely the internet can remove the walls, and we can decide consciously whether and at what point our work will be of value to others if we choose to share it.
It’s all about visible teamwork – and the way this has evolved from ‘working out loud’, to become something far more deliberate and conscious. We are used to this as an internal concept, how we share with one another (and we’ll explore this in far greater detail when we bring you our special series on ‘Thinking Remote’ and our upcoming training course).
But what about how we share publicly, when our sharing becomes part of our brand expression and content dissemination? Even when we’re recording our podcast, we’re talking about our work with an awareness that there’s an audience, a third party to the conversation, which brings qualitative differences to how we think about and discuss what we are working on…
Someone who has been "working out loud” https://blog.freistil.it/working-out-loud-doesnt-mean-being-noisy-c71010e0d236 in the team for a long time, and since evolved the practice to share outside of his organisation is Jochen Lillich, from Freistil.it. (Pilar actually recorded this last year, but he’s only doing more of it now!).
14.08 The voice behind the blog: Jochen Lillich
https://blog.freistil.it/turning-working-out-loud-to-11-live-coding-on-twitch-7dface39203e
Friestil is the German word for ‘freestyle’, and his blog post explains how Jochen came to be livestreaming his work on Twitch, about as ‘out loud’ as you can possibly work. Twice a week at fixed times he does his coding in public, narrating in real time as he does the work, and also managing a live chat about what he’s doing. It’s like a screencast, but completely live and unedited, radically transparent.
As a gamer, progressing from recording for internal use to livestreaming publicly felt like a natural transition for Jochen, and reflects Freistil’s transparency values – as coding is an unpredictable environment, things don’t always go to plan. The community - whose numbers grow steadily – can even suggest and help out when things get stuck, and Jochen feels strongly that his work has improved as a direct result of this regular broadcasting. Committing to the twice-weekly slots creates structure and accountability as well as a learning environment - an interesting solution perhaps, to the discipline issues some people struggle with when working from home…
As well as weekday sessions, Jochen is also live coding on Saturdays 3.30pm, to reach people who can’t make sessions during the working week. Tune in here if you’re curious to see Jochen in action! https://www.twitch.tv/fullstacklive
_________
So how else could this kind of radical transparency be used to make our work visible?
Maya is the first to admit that as an introverted writer, she couldn’t imagine anything worse than ‘writing out loud’ in this way (and declined Pilar’s challenge to try it!). But Jason Fried from Basecamp has done just this and created a Youtube channel called ‘Getting Real – how we work at Basecamp’ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdx5Dk3EWTe2i8YDA7bfl6g (their podcast Behind the Scenes https://rework.fm/go-behind-the-scenes/ is also a great example of their approach).
Maybe it naturally suits certain industries, like the very open-source based software industry, to work in this way - though it obviously can work for collaborative writing projects. But at what point could ego get in the way and offset the benefits the Hawthorne effect (where we raise our game because others are watching) brings to the situation? Lots to consider…
But sharing this way can only increase informal learning within the organisation, not least as it provides a focus, for watching and conversation (we found evidence for this in “Non-formal learning and tacit knowledge in professional work”, by Michael Eraut, British Journal of educational psychology, 2000, 70, 113-136). It also reflects the blended aspect of organisational community, in which people can move fluidly between roles such as employment, contracting, consumption, being a brand ambassador (have a look at episode 193 when we discussed an article about just this kind of silo-busting).
Certainly in hybrid teams, where remote employees might be concerned about their visibility, livestreaming certainly adds new possibilities for making yourself and your work manifest - both within and without the organisation.
Red flags: obviously there might be security aspects, considerations of intellectual property and personal data. With coding in particular there must be risks of disclosing sensitive content accidentally. It requires very explicit understanding of boundaries – what is part of the public story? It’s not about sharing everything, but sharing meaningfully and appropriately. For more on this, Pilar recommends reading “Show Your Work” by Austin Kleon.
Even the most transparent organisation has some ‘trade secrets’ – and once again, really conscious and deliberate practice must be the solution. But it’s great to see the opening of content like company handbooks online, such as MeetEdgar and Buffer (who share so much! Even salary data! https://open.buffer.com/transparent-salaries/), and it’s an excellent way of communicating company culture to potential new hires.
Start with your own team, if you need to get comfortable with greater levels of spontaneous transparency and visible teamwork… Take a look at our podcasting products, for your team or organisation, as a potential first step. If you don’t want to share your face or your screen, just sharing your voice is amazingly intimate, and reminds us of the variety of ways we can communicate
57.11 Richard Mackinnon: Workplace Psychology Definitions
Today we have 3 more fascinating definitions from the workplace psychology expert Richard Mackinnon:
Psychological Contract – we have legal contracts of employment in the workplace, but it can’t encompass every aspect of what we do. We supplement this with built expectations, particularly with our direct management… But if these expectations are not discussed, it’s easy for the other party to breach this ‘psychological contract’ (eg “if I work late tonight, I can leave early on Thursday”). Explicit discussion matters - exposing the expectations below the waterline really helps avoid misunderstandings and potential conflicts (see episode 19 of My Pocket Psych podcast for more on this)
Stress – What Richard experiences when Pilar asks him to define complex terms in a few sentences! But true stress is when the demands upon us exceed our capacity to deal with it all, and as such it’s highly subjective, and hard to deal with. Identifying the source is a good start, because you can only reduce stress by tackling its cause. See episode 13 of My Pocket Psych for greater detail.
Resilience – from adverse circumstances can come personal growth, and make us stronger… Increased self-awareness, learning from experience, and new perspectives. It’s not about bouncing back to where we were before, but being somewhere new on our developmental journey, a point we only reach as a result of what we have experienced. More on this in episode 16 of My Pocket Psych
This concludes our series of definitions with Richard, but check out My Pocket Psych, on which Pilar is a regular co-host, and worklifepsych.com for lots of additional inspiring content about the way individuals and teams function.
Welcome, to all listeners - our audience is a vital part of this podcast, so please stay involved, we love to hear from you. Don’t forget to tell us about your favourite tools, how you use them, books and podcasts which have inspired you… email, or drop us a quick note, it’s always great to have more listener voices on the show. Remember how easy it is to share audio files, and they bring a new dimension to our sense of connection in the remote space.
Look out also for the 6 part email coaching series, written to accompany Thinking Remote: Inspiration for Leaders of Distributed Teams - you can sign up for the free coaching series, even if you haven’t read the book yet, and thank you to everyone reviewing and feeding back your thoughts on both products, we really appreciate it.
08.02 21ST CENTURY WORK-LIFE: MARCUS WERMUTH Marcus is the mobile lead at Buffer, and joined us in our first episode of 2019 from maker to manager, but we wanted to catch up with him again to talk about connecting across a global team.
At Buffer they try to avoid giving undue weight to location in recruitment, because it can distract from the hiring criteria which really matter and people move around anyway - so geographical factors can always be overcome. But they now Marcus’ team work across 5 timezones from Taiwan to San Francisco, which has made real-time team calls a problem. So they have implemented alternatives, including a useful tool Carrot for sharing updates asynchronously. Communicating in this way has helped them to be more deliberate and intentional, as well as enabling introverted team members to shine in a way that online calls don’t always facilitate. It creates an interesting balance between the other channels of communication, to use this tool specifically for sharing updates on a fixed day each week, but across multiple timezones.
Bringing an entrepreneurial mindset to such temporally distributed work is essential, because micromanagement does not work where multiple timezones are in play. Autonomy, initiative and self-motivation are needed, to get things done as part of a team, while the rest of the team is offline or asleep. Marcus considers that there is no such thing as over-communication in remote - you have to repeat things more than once, and this also fits with his personal principles of total transparency and trust within the team and organisation, very much in line with Buffer’s publicly stated position as well. Artificial harmony (which we have discussed in a previous episode) has to be avoided at all costs, people need to feel safe to say what they really think - a successful team isn’t everybody being happy all of the time, because differences of viewpoint are natural and important. For this reason Buffer have stopped calling themselves a ‘family’ - qualitatively the relationships are, or should be, very different, and blurring boundaries is unhelpful.
Keep in touch with Marcus on Twitter - he’s always happy to connect and expand his network.
35.40 **REMOTE WELLBEING:** THE PERILS OF “PRODUCTIVITY HACKS” We try not to talk about “tips” and “hacks” at Virtual Not Distant on principle, and this article from Fast company Science explains why productivity hacks and resolutions are practically destined to fail usefully encapsulates why - the fact that **change is a process, not an outcome** you can check off and mark as done (and productivity is a long-term practice, not something you can simply apply at a stroke).
of space between stimulus and response. We can learn and develop improved psychological flexibility.
Creating sustainable change in habit and behaviour is challenging, but incredibly worthwhile - so you need to project-manage it as a change process, and allocate the effort and resources, as well as accounting for the potential opportunity costs of making change (such as learning curves or temporary productivity dips as you embed a new practice). It’s not about a new resolution or tool or app, which is going to make the change for you. There are no shortcuts. And while you can change more than one thing at a time, focussing on specifics and ensuring new habits are securely adopted before moving on, can create more lasting transformation.
Change is not a single moment in time, it’s iterative, creative, and needs to be in sync with our fundamental nature - something to bear in mind when working with a team, containing a range of character types and different motivations.
So there is no off-the-shelf “hack” which is going to make it all happen for us, as individuals or managers. Sorry about that...
Pilar also commented on this article in Ep 31 My Pocket Psych, and see also this article from Atlassian, Productivity - hacks or myths.
**44:05** RECOMMENDED TOOL**: VIVIFY SCRUM** Vladimir Smolyakov is the social media manager for Vivify Scrum, which was a platform they built initially to fulfil an internal need at Vivify Ideas for managing Agile software development processes. It works right out of the box to implement the Scrum framework (though it can be used with Kanban type frameworks), with great interactivity and flexibility whether for small teams or large organisations.
It’s composed of various transparent boards users can invite participants to with embedded Scrum tools (backlog, sprint planning, time tracking/estimation, checklists etc), in order to speed up and streamline the project management process. The time tracking operates as a standalone app or browser plugin.
They also offer a Scrum education portal , to provide accessible and engaging information about Agile and Scrum for all of their clients.
The app is offered on a freemium basis, with pro features unlocked on purchase after a free trial.
Vlad and his colleagues actively welcome user feedback, so that they can continue to improve and develop their product - so do email or tweet them with your thoughts.
Welcome back
A small correction to a recent discussion, when we look at Dr. Heejung Chung’s research about gender and remote work – we’re glad to point out that the work we’d referred to as UK only actually had much broader scope, and we strongly recommend checking out the twitter thread with links to the original research: https://twitter.com/HeejungChung/status/1106489489998991360.
We love our Twitter community - and glad to shout out a few more of our friends on this episode, with gratitude for making us think and grow, always. And we have had some great conversations on LinkedIn too – so many ways of connecting in in our 21st-century work.
12.38 21st Century Work-Life: Nick Steenhout
Speaker trainer and consultant on web accessibility
Web accessibility is the practice of making web content and apps accessible to all users, regardless of ability /disability. It covers so many things from colour to responsiveness to keyboard-accessible elements… And for developers, there are so many things which can be done, all of which make sites better for people without disabilities too. And when Google remains the biggest screen reader for every site, it’s definitely a win-win.
After a quarter of a century of the internet, the same accessibility issues come up time and again - and new frameworks still get developed and released without these considerations built-in. It can be an unknown unknown, which nobody addresses due to lack of foresight, through to tagging the idea on as an afterthought… ‘oh, a third-party plugin can handle that’.
But none of it is rocket science (and some good baking analogies help make accessibility very accessible). And advances in tech such as voice recognition, and the cost of assistive devices, make things better all the time. For all of us.
And Nic has a very 21st Century Work Life of his own, living in a 40ft RV – when we spoke he was in national parkland in British Columbia, enjoying the digital nomad life with his partner, despite Canadian winter temperatures and rationing mobile data. He doesn’t find work-life balance to be too challenging, as a wheelchair user on wheels, and has more space in the RV than some city apartments – space guaranteed to be available and accessible, and often with a lovely view.
Check out Nic’s podcast, A11y Rules https://a11yrules.com/
Twitter @vavroom
And his website https://incl.ca/
31.29 What do you mean by that?
Welcome back workplace psychologist Richard McKinnon, with some great definitions for us:
Personality: Your way of looking at the world, the lens through which you make sense of it all. We all have a comfort zone and a preferred pattern of communicating and interacting. But it is plastic and subject to evolution.
Psychological flexibility: A set of thinking and behaviour skills supporting good coping and adjustment to the world around us, resilience in the face of change. The ability to put a bit of space between stimulus and response. We can learn and develop improved psychological flexibility. https://www.worklifepsych.com/psychologicalflexibility/
Locus of Control – Defining how we ascribe our influence and impact on the world, and the extent to which we attribute things that happen to ourselves, or to external factors. Developing a strong internal local of control puts you in charge of what happens to you!
Learn more in Episode 3 of My Pocket Psych https://www.worklifepsych.com/podcast/ep003-psychological-flexibility-paying-attention-to-now/
47.40 Recommended Tool: Calendly
A simple scheduling tool which works with Gcal and other calendars, to enable 2 more people to fix up a meeting when they’re both free.
An easy way to avoid the endless emails back and forth about availability, and you can choose different appointment types to book (eg by length), and it also magically takes account of different time zones neatly for you.
A range of paid tiers gives you access to group scheduling too – plan meetings with groups of people, wherever they are. Which is very powerful for distributed teams, and anyone working with clients and associates anywhere in the world.
Just remember to block off all your unavailable time, so no one fixes a meeting with you!
Just Maya and Pilar’s voices in today’s episode, and a single ‘voice behind the book’ segment: because this marks the official launch of Thinking Remote: Inspiration for Leaders of Distributed Teams.
All these posts are curated from our own Virtual Not Distant blog https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/blog, and Maya selected the initial content following a thorough review. She specifically sought out the evergreen themes discussing principles which are broadly applicable across any team or workplace, and do not relate to tools or projects which are likely to date. The book has four sections:
- Laying the foundations for Remote work,
- Wellbeing,
- How are we doing?
- Looking Out.
And, at the end of each of the 13 chapters there are some leadership reflections designed to get you thinking about the material and relating it to your own experiences and situation. So the book role-models the Virtual Not Distant coaching approach, and actually, it also role models the coaching mindset, which is so essential when running a remote team.
This mindset is also reflected in the accompanying email series and follow-up course for the book, which is designed to help all readers get the material off the page and into their teams and organisations where they can make a difference.
We look forward to your feedback and reviews, because everything we create is inspired by our community here, our podcast listeners and blog readers and social interactors. Everything worthwhile is a collaboration – and we worked with a great editor, Lisa, through Reedsy.com, Manuel did our cover, and Simon designed the interior of our print version, the e-versions have been done by myself on Vellum. Thanks also to Marija for being involved at a distance and thanks to Ross for putting this episode together, as always... To bring this book to you our readers, in as many formats and stores as we can - https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/books
If you are having trouble getting hold of it or if you have any thoughts on it, let us know https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/contact-us
A slightly different show today, with some new sections – we look forward to your feedback. We love reading your comments and tweets, whether about Pilar’s recent blog post on Visible Teamwork https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/blog/hello-visible-teamwork, or what you think of book Thinking Remote: Inspiration for leaders and managers of distributed teams (now available in paperback) https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/books
- so do keep in touch with us! https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/contact-us
In today’s main section, Pilar and Maya discuss some recent articles about remote and office-optional working which have caught their attention, and raised a range of important issues:
Engaging workers as consumers – Deloitte Insights 28-1-19 https://www2.deloitte.com/insights/us/en/topics/talent/using-technology-for-employee-engagement.html
Just as work and life are blended in 2019, workers and clients are no longer a dichotomy, and in a digital world we all relate to brands and organisations in complex ways. But they’re all rounded individuals, whether remote colleagues or clients or both! Technology enables more connection and socialisation, but can also create silos and barriers, especially as private conversations may be less visible online than in the colocated space. There are lots of ways to keep in touch within distributed organisations – including an in-house podcast!
Flexible working can reinforce gender stereotypes - The Conversation Heejung Chung, University of Kent https://theconversation.com/amp/flexible-working-can-reinforce-gender-stereotypes-109158 10-1-19
Reminding us that flexible working still takes place within a wider cultural and business context in which there remains considerable structural inequality, from the gender pay gap to unpaid domestic workload. A very thought provoking article and discussion, from ‘flexibility stigma’ to the difference in remote working culture between the UK and US. Unpicking perceptions from actual phenomena is always complicated, but this stuff is far from straightfoward, and it matters.
The Slackification of work
https://www.fastcompany.com/90236583/the-slackification-of-work
Well, we didn’t know that Slack originally stood for ‘Searchable Log of All Conversations and Knowledge’ – but it has certainly had a big impact on many workplaces. The article raises questions about impacts on productivity and relationship, and there are some interesting perspectives.
This has meant some managers having to get comfortable with conversations they don’t directly control. This always happened, people made their own relationships and connections at work, and the remote space is no different. But there is a distinct qualitative difference between a face to face remark and one that is put in writing in any context… “ephemeral does not mean inconsequential“, sums it up perfectly.
"What do you mean by that?"
We are joined today to define some important terms, by Dr Richard Mackinnon founder and MD of Work Life Psych
Productivity: There are many definitions of this term, which may fit different industries and circumstances, but Richard describes it holistically as doing the right thing, in the right way, at the right time. Framing in terms of impact rather than output, is one way to stop measuring the wrong things, and being busy instead of effective.
Procrastination: Not always correctly used, but this term defines when we delay doing something, and that delay has a negative impact. Why do we do this, tell ourselves stories, and put things off until they become problematic? Just get on and make a start – check out ep7 of My Pocket Psych for more on this!
Habit Stacking: Here’s one way to boost productivity (and maybe even beat procrastination), add the thing you want to do to the thing you already do, as a reminder and trigger. “When I finish eating dinner, I am going to clean the kitchen”. We won’t forget to eat! So connecting the two will enable the building of the new habit we really want to acquire.
Productivity Porn: Reading about productivity, installing new apps, and thinking about how to be productive… That is the opposite of getting things done. Habits require consistency and commitment, and actually doing the work – not forever binging the latest theories and tools instead.
Keep up with Richard at http://worklifepsych.com/, especially https://www.worklifepsych.com/solutions/productivity/, and of course the podcast (where our own Pilar Orti is a regular co-host) at https://www.worklifepsych.com/podcast/
What are you looking for?
Teresa Douglas is the co-author (with Mike Webber and Holly Gordon) of Secrets of the Remote Workforce,
Teresa is researching work friendships in remote teams, because the ways we connect are different online, as we have so often discussed. Are work friends different from work friends, are online friends different from face-to-face ones? It’s great to see someone exploring this, and planning to create specific tools to make things easier for remote workers in future. She would love to hear from more freelancers), as well as remote employees, to ensure breadth within the whole office-optional experience. (Research call-out specific to Spring 2019, but always good to connect anyway!)
https://teresamdouglas.com/current-research/
Or connect with Teresa on Twitter https://twitter.com/teresamdouglas
Today’s episode is all about books!
We’re celebrating World Book Day!
Pilar gives you a few titles that others recommended on Twitter; she then speaks to Maya, who talks through her book recommendation, and the episode ends with an in-depth chat with Theresa Sigillito Hollema on “The Culture Code”.
SEGMENT 1
Here are the books recommended by others on Twitter:
Company of One
Deep Work
The Start Up Way
Brave New Work
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
Where the Action Is
Company-wide Agility with Beyond Budgeting, Open Space & Sociocracy
The Job
(also, don’t forget our very own Thinking Remote)
And here’s a long list of books…
https://inthebooks.800ceoread.com/news/articles/the-2018-800-ceo-read-business-book-awards-longlist
SEGMENT 2
Maya recommends The Truth Machine: The Blockchain and the Future of Everything by and she explains what she liked about it most.
SEGMENT 3
Pilar recommends:
Radical Candor
The Culture Map
Team of Teams
Work Together Anywhere
Help Me by Marianne Power
Smarter Faster Better and The Power of Habit
Under New Management
On Writing Well
SEGMENT 4
Theresa Sigillito Hollema recommends The Culture Code. Her and Pilar have a long chat about what the book covers and how what the author discovered in high performing colocated cultures, can be applied to virtual teams and remote organisations. We’re all people after all!
Don’t forget our very own Thinking Remote. Inspiration for leaders of distributed teams and Pilar’s Hi, I’m Here for a Recording. The ordinary life of a voiceover artist, where she also explains how this podcast was born.
Thank you for listening!
Today’s episode was the direct result of a Twitter conversation, in which Pilar mused about the distinction between collaboration and co-operation https://twitter.com/PilarOrti/status/1095252618941734914, and Matt Ballantine was among the people who responded – thank you to everyone who joined in this fascinating discussion, and it’s great to have been able to continue it on the podcast – how much more 21st Century Work-Life can you get?
And speaking of social media, the warm reception to Thinking Remote: Inspiration for Leaders of Remote Teams has been a joy to read – thank you everyone for the great feedback and reviews, we’re so glad that this Virtual Not Distant publication has struck a chord. If you’ve read it, don’t forget to let us know what you think (and if you’re waiting for the paper version, it’s coming very soon) https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/books
05:01 Voice Behind the Blog, Matt Ballantine, “The Collaboration Cheat-Sheet” Matt Ballantine, cohost of the WB40 Podcast https://wb40podcast.com/, created this amazing ‘cheat sheet’ for some UK government consultation work last year, looking at the meaning of collaboration. https://mmitii.files.wordpress.com/2018/02/collaboration-cheat-sheet.pdf
It’s an amazing document which generates as many questions as it answers, because making change in the first place requires commitment and engagement and very clear understanding of the purpose of changing. Why improve collaboration, and what would that look like? And how much responsibility lies with organisations rather than individuals? If collaboration is not happening, then the problem is probably not technological – so how can you address the systemic barriers and better align the incentives for all?
Matt breaks down these barriers one by one, and challenges organisations to address the issues presented. Looking at issues of trust, access and the way we frame our work social environment creates powerful new frames through which to look at ways to collaborate, and reminds us that our teams and enterprises do not exist in isolation from the rest of the physical and virtual world.
His 7 Team Persona model is a powerful way to consider your team as an entity, in ways you might never previously have considered. It can help you choose the kind of structures and set-up you need for your digital workplace - and the assumptions behind the design of collaboration tools and software are also very interesting to unpick, because the type of team who builds an application might be very different from those who need to use it.
Also a fascinating dissection of the difference between behaviour and culture within organisations, and which you should attempt to change and why. Changing behaviour within cultural context is far easier. Either way, who really owns and takes charge of the change?
Get ready to deep dive down the rabbit hole with Matt and Pilar, and afterwards you’ll want to keep up with Matt’s work at https://stamplondon.co.uk/ and on twitter https://twitter.com/ballantine70
"Good practice when it comes to interaction and collaboration comes from learning how to get there not from being told what best practice is".
51.24 Recommended Tool: Google Docs
Does anyone need an introduction to “Gdocs”? Well yes, because not everyone appreciates the flexibility and powerful collaboration tools built into it. And also because it has improved a great deal in recent years, to now offer word processing capabilities easily on a par with Word or Pages.
Maya and Pilar work on lots of written projects together, and find it a great way to connect and communicate as they edit, comment and even discuss a shared document in real time. You can collaborate with just about anyone, even if they’re not logged in to Google or part of your team (though you might find them anonymised to a strange animal!) And you can even create tasks and tags for other users of the document.
With a range of integrations and add-ons, you might find Google Docs the free and platform agnostic tool you’ve been looking for all along – but if you prefer something different, then please tell us all about it – via our Contact Form or social media @Virtualteamw0rk
In today’s episode we look at how the very traditional industry of accountancy services is adapting itself to the needs of 21st century clients, when we interview our own accountants! And we also bring you a Wellness segment, and a return to perennial favourite ‘Oh No My Team’s Gone Remote!”
Thank you for all the feedback on our recent special episode all about Twitter conversations and themes http://wlpodcast.libsyn.com/twitter-conversations-worth-podcasting-about – don’t forget to join in the conversation, we’re @Virtualteamw0rk. Lots going on, including updates on our upcoming book launch for Thinking Remote: Inspiration for Leaders of Distribute Teams. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Thinking-Remote-Inspiration-leaders-distributed-ebook/dp/B07LDFGVR8/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1545043447&sr=1-1
But now, let’s hear from Jennifer:
5.44 21st Century Work-Life: Jennifer Denning, Founder, Finling
https://www.finling.co.uk/
Specialised in supporting entrepreneurial fast-changing businesses with particular expertise in technology, property, and business services, Finling were a great choice for Virtual Not Distant. They operate from a colocated office (in fact, a single room) in Wimbledon, London, and run face-to-face events to get to know their clients – with whom they work entirely virtually.
They help clients choose and implement the right cloud software, driven by founder Jennifer’s fascination with the evolution of technology to become accessible to SMEs – businesses who now need something beyond traditional high street compliance accounting. Because the world of “beautifully organised and tabbed files” is starting to evolve beyond existence – today we need data engineers in accounting. Change is getting faster, and it’s not always about growth, but the complex pivots of entrepreneurial life. Jennifer’s work with their clients suggested a lot of parallels with what we do here at Virtual Not Distant in fact, bridging HR and tech to provide a holistic and flexible tailored solution.
Working on an ‘open book’ basis with clients, Finling are more like an outsourced finance department than a traditional supplier. This creates an unusually close working relationship based on effective collaboration, often including coaching on use of appropriate tools for secure online sharing and effective process control and discipline – because we all know that going online can expose holes in procedures where they are woolly. Everyone benefits from using software correctly, and getting the right services in place helps their clients’ businesses thrive.
Whilst they work remotely with clients, their core team all work from the central office, (though some specialist contractors are more flexible, including work at home and on-site with clients) This suits their high-pressure high-trust environment of professional client service work. But they use a lot of technical collaboration tools to manage the work, which is no different to what they would do remotely – in accounting, everything needs an audit trail, so you create a task or instruction for someone electronically instead of turning around and asking them. This enables a lot of the work to be made visible without actually talking about it, creating a different quality to the interactions in the office. “Sometimes we’re silent for a long time” – A really interesting perspective into how people share and connect as a team when the work itself doesn’t need explaining
A really interesting conversation all round, in which we also talk about Open Banking, and how new standards are making it even easier to integrate all the financial tools and services businesses use, and work with clients as they expand internationally
You can connect with Jennifer at https://www.finling.co.uk/
42.25 Wellness: Commuting and health
We wanted to discuss this article:
https://www.vitality.co.uk/media/long-commutes-costing-a-weeks-worth-of-productivity/
We often talk about the quality of life gains which office-optional work can bring, especially for those with long commutes – but this research puts numbers on it, in quite a chilling way, including significant detriments to mental and physical health. Particularly as the commute should be unrelated to the work itself.
People with long commutes are more likely to get less than the recommended amount of sleep, more likely to be obese, even more likely to smoke…
The research distinguished between flexible working and working from home, which was interesting, as for productivity gains it does appear to be the autonomy which makes the difference.
Difference to the tune of a full extra week’s productivity per year, in case you need to make a business case for it in your own work.
52.23 Oh No My Team’s Gone Remote! And how will we maintain high levels of trust?
All relationships depend on trust, but building this can be more difficult without the face-to-face interactions of the traditional workplace.
The Culture Map by Erin Mayer (as recommended in our latest newsletter https://mailchi.mp/ea82ed13465e/vnd-nov2017-2916933) defines two categories of trust, and gives us a useful framework for considering our online relationships: cognitive trust is built through work interactions, the skill as well as the will to follow through and deliver. We can have high cognitive trust with people we don’t feel we know well as individuals, yet can rely on utterly in a professional capacity.
Effective trust is how close we feel emotionally, in terms of shared values and character and activities... And this might be very important to some working relationships as well, and how we enjoy spending our time. Or it might not be necessary at all, to work closely and effectively with somebody.
As always in remote teams, building trust – especially the levels of disclosure associated with effective trust – requires a degree of deliberation and planning, if only to ensure the spontaneous sharing and connection has a place to occur online instead of in a shared office.
(If you enjoyed this theme, do check out another episode where we dig into building trust in more depth https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/building-trust)
A bonus episode bringing you some interesting conversations we were involved with on Twitter. Connect with us @Virtualteamw0rk
These are the tweets Pilar talks about in this episode:
https://twitter.com/katerinabohlec/status/1090963791532212225?s=12
https://twitter.com/katerinabohlec/status/1091101706325245954?s=12
https://twitter.com/cagrisarigoz/status/1091268897179869185?s=12
https://twitter.com/NachoEscQuint/status/1091267426518556672
https://twitter.com/theresashollema/status/1091662095521845248?s=12
Maybe Your Sleep Problem Isn't a Problem https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/25/style/sleep-problem-late-night.html?module=inline
Pilar mentions the book 'Why We Sleep' by Matthew Walker
https://twitter.com/pilarorti/status/1091290139899375616?s=12
https://twitter.com/gramsbottom/status/1091042226451476480?s=12
https://twitter.com/erimbau/status/1087997977929662466?s=12
https://twitter.com/lastrushhour/status/1088241920311054337?s=12
WLP189 Loneliness and the Remote Worker and Cultural Homelessness
Remote work can potentially be lonely - but we have lots of voices on the podcast today for you to enjoy, as we explore this multifaceted topic. Let us know what you think, over at https://virtualnotdistant.com or tweet @Virtualteamw0rk.
And wherever you work, Twitter is always there for company – a great community of flexible and remote workers, including Jack Nilles @JackNilles1 author of Managing Telework, with whom we discussed the discipline you sometimes need to stop as well as to start your work. And Teresa @Teresamdouglas, thanks for the shout out in your article “Join the remote work conversation - you don’t have to go it alone” https://teresamdouglas.com/2019/01/22/join-the-remote-work-conversation/”, which connects beautifully with today’s theme.
Loneliness and the Remote Worker
The transition to working from home can have a significant effect on feelings of loneliness, especially if it’s not directly from choice (such as a shift in an organisational policy). And when we talk all the time about how wonderful it is to work remotely, and there’s a danger that we become afraid of talking about struggling with any aspects of it. This might apply particularly if we have exercised our rights to request more flexible working.
A lot depends on what your neighbourhood and environment is like of course, and who you live with – all of this impacts on the extent to which you expect work to fulfill your social needs.
Loneliness is becoming recognised as a significant mental health challenge, sometimes described as an epidemic – but it can affect people in any life-stage or work setting. Whether you’re surrounded by people or not, how connected you feel can vary, which can also be impacted by the work itself. Even being in the office can feel lonely (particularly if others start to work more flexibly).
For leaders of remote teams, it’s important to be aware of these issues, and whether or not people are talking about their emotional wellbeing generally, especially when we can’t “see” their broader context.
Furthermore, we know that remote workers can end up putting in longer hours, blurring the work-life boundaries, and potentially having less time for socialising anyway.
A lot of traditional advice about overcoming loneliness can be unhelpful in the flexible work setting, and whilst there is clearly a qualitative difference between online and face to face interactions, there is always the potential for blending and interconnection – and surely in the 21st century, most of us move fluidly between the online and offline space, in our relationships both personal and professional.
You can connect around communities of interest, like Virtualteamtalk.com – but for some people who are having a very focussed, ‘in your own head’ day, this might even be too much! But, this just reminds us that one person’s isolation is another’s peace and quiet and that our own moods and mindsets vary over time. So the kind of network or support needs to prevent loneliness, that’s going to vary a lot too.
This is a complex and extensive area, and it’s one we’re looking forward to discussing further. What do you think? We would love to hear from you –
- Do you ever feel lonely or isolated as a remote worker?
- Is this something you have discussed or tackled within your organisation?
- Do you agree or disagree with any of the things we’ve been discussing?
Reach out and connect! We’re @Virtualteamw0rk on twitter, or use our contact form https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/contact-us/
_____
As Pilar and Maya both live in fairly busy urban areas, we wanted to understand what ‘remote remote’ work was like – so we talked to Laurel Farrer middle of the woods in rural Connecticut, who shared her perspectives of home working when you cannot even see the nearest neighbouring home, and the idea of informational isolation – how you can get cut off from conversation and opportunity and connection, which costs you personally and professionally.
You have to work harder to really connect online, make it human, when that’s your entire network – and she found she could real relationships and social capital through her online network, by going out of her way to have meaningful conversations.
Thank you for this invaluable perspective and insight Laurel Farrer, Virtual Operations Consultant and Remote Work Advocate and Strategist - if you want to find out more about everything Laurel does, head over to her website laurelfarrer.com, or connect with her on Twitter @laurel_farrer
______________-
52.35 What do you mean by Cultural Homelessness? Katerina Bohlec Carbonell
Katerina is half German and half Spanish, and has lived in various countries throughout her life. Her article on Cultural Homelessness really intrigued us https://medium.com/@katerinabc/are-digital-nomads-culturally-homeless-1e3770c39423 (not least as Maya and Pilar are both living long term in countries other than those of their birth), as did this paper from Science Direct https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0147176710001227.
When your values and behaviour are drawn from different cultures, as a result of a nomadic international lifestyle, you can find it harder to pin down this sense of identity. And whole families get caught up in this, perhaps being raised as ‘third culture kids’, with very different influences at home and with their peers – particularly if their families are military, expatriate or otherwise move around a lot.
But the important thing is that this isn’t necessarily a negative – if you are culturally homeless, it can be liberating, you get to choose what stereotypes to manifest and which behaviours to adopt. It’s very different from physical homelessness, when you embrace the fluidity of migration and create your own culture. Frequently if there is a problem, it’s in the mind of other people – who cannot quickly put you in a category they can easily understand. And this can apply especially if your professional identity is multifaceted too – and lead to some fascinating conversations.
Katerina has been working with teams and studying how people interact to exchange information for over a decade, and researching professional development with digital nomadic groups – she’s always interested in hearing from any interested parties on through her website netnigma.com, or on https://twitter.com/katerinabohlec
01:10:39 Recommended tool: A secret function on so many tools!
The little mic icon to the left of the space bar, in nearly every smartphone application, means you can dictate – from notes to thoughts to social media. Usually about 30 second bursts, which is great for capturing ideas and passing connections, without tapping on the tiny keyboard.
Of course you have to check and edit for accuracy where it matters, especially if you’re sending a reply to someone else. But the standard of voice recognition technology has increased incredibly in recent years, and it’s now appearing everywhere. Even the native voice recognition on the mac (function key twice), or pc ( - a bit more complicated but just as powerful https://www.lifewire.com/windows-speech-control-4119329)
Welcome to our first show of 2019, whenever you are listening to this podcast. And don't forget to check out the full shownotes for this and all our other episodes, at https://virtualnotdistant.com/podcast
Do listen to the end today, for exciting updates about upcoming activities. Meanwhile recent episodes of this podcast generated lots of twitter dialogue which we really enjoyed – thank you so much Dr Gloria Ramsbottom-Lemieux @GRamsbottom on twitter for engaging, it’s also where we met today’s featured interviewee!
And thanks also to Joao Nunes for spotting the glaring typo on our homepage! If you like this kind of attention to detail you might be interested in Joao’s new startup in Portugal, we’d be glad to put you in touch.
06: 15 The Voice Behind the Blog: Markus Wermuth, “4 Things I Learned Becoming A Manager”
Our guest today is Marcus Wermuth, Mobile Lead at Buffer, who wrote an excellent piece about making the transition from being an engineer to being a manager, http://mwermuth.com/2018/09/28/4-things-i-learned-becoming-a-manager/ - and how he uses this experience to help others online with making the leap. (Buffer make a handy social media scheduling and analytics tool, and have a fully distributed global team operating with radical transparency, their blog is at https://open.buffer.com/ ).
He and Pilar discuss how his job evolved through his advocacy for the mobile team’s role, and this changed the direction of his career – because management and engineering are so different, and this should not be the only route to career progression. This meant moving on from activities like coding, and having to look at productivity in a different (and sometimes less tangible or immediate) way.
The importance of continual learning and education is also something which Marcus is passionate about, and how you need to own this as a manager - but whatever your role, you have to keep updating yourself, all of the time. This helps him to help his team, and continually remove obstacles in their way.
And whether you’re a Power Rangers fan or not, you’ll appreciate Marcus’ metaphors for creating a diverse support network – his proactive connection with others in similar roles has created a powerful basis for mutual learning and problem-solving. An interesting side-use for LinkedIn, which would be well worth more people exploring.
These activities have helped him to grow as a manager and develop his coaching mindset, enabling his team to grow through solving their own problems, rather than responding as a programmer by immediately fixing things for them –and encouraging them to support one another too. Building that level of trust and connection in the asynchronous space of a truly global team has challenges, but is worth doing.
Marcus is a thoughtful and prolific blogger, and you can read his wisdom on this subject in Fast Company too https://www.fastcompany.com/90282088/why-being-a-manager-is-a-career-change-not-a-promotion and also on his own site – he has lots more to share in 2019. And he is a powerful speaker as well, with a track record including Nomad City https://www.nomadcity.org/ and others.
39:59 – Recommended tool: Doodle
An app which has nothing to with doodling, so it’s a bit confusing when you first get invited to use it! Instead, it’s a super-easy tool for scheduling an event involving lots of people – always a challenge, to find consensus on a meeting time.
It does this one thing, easily and well – offering people options in their own timezones, showing others’ responses, and emailing everyone to confirm the final choice.
So, skip the reply-all-email-thread-from-hell, and try setting up a doodle poll if you’ve got more than 2 people to try and sync up!
42:40 Remote Wellbeing: How are you doing today?
It’s not as easy to tell, when you’re not colocated, exactly what’s going on for the people you’re working with.
And they can’t tell what’s going on for you either – so we need to be a bit more deliberate about communicating this, and conscious of whether we’re sharing the right amount of context to our colleagues. It’s not dumping your entire emotional history on a team meeting, but sometimes having a framework or process for letting people know how you are, in so far as it affects the work or the team dynamic. If you’ve had exciting news or a terrible day, people can make allowances respectively, but only if they know.
It needn’t be a big deal, to have a way to check-in individually at the start of meetings, or simply to nurture a culture where people can share things which are affecting them personally, in a positive or negative way.
Just remember with remote teams, we don’t have the usual cues of body language to support it, so you might need to assume less and share more, to convey the same degree of relevant disclosure.
50.05 Thinking Remote: Inspiration for Leaders of Distributed Teams
Our new book is ready for pre-order, being a collection of Pilar and Maya’s thoughts from the past few years as published in our blog. We’ve curated these into a programme of learning and leadership reflections for each section, to help you relate the material to your own situation and develop a coaching mindset to support your remote colleagues.
It’s one more tool for the knowledge worker considering or enjoying office-optional work, particularly if you lead or manage others, or you aspire to do. We also offer workshops, coaching, in-house training and consulting.
We can’t wait to hear what you think of the book.
And don’t forget about our unique in-house podcasting service! If you enjoy listening to this podcast, why not create your own – either for your organisation, or even for your team, your very own ‘team radio’, a superb tool for learning-out-loud together.
See you next time!
Our final podcast of 2018 – Pilar and Maya reflect on trends and changes through the year, and what we’re looking forward to in the months ahead, at virtualnotdistant.com.
2018 has been a year of many changes in the workplace and in this podcast too, as we moved to the successful new magazine-style format in May.
And the year has brought many other changes, including in workplace culture - we discussed this article: https://www.smu.edu.sg/news/2018/11/20/new-study-culture-determines-digital-transformation-success which reminds us that organisational change has to be driven from the top, with a clear vision and championing.
We’ve looked at flexible schedule experiments around the world in previous episodes (such as ep 179 https://virtualnotdistant.squarespace.com/podcasts/values-driven-culture ), and it’s good to see change happening. Even in Spain (where Maya lives and Pilar originates from… long overdue a bit of flexibility! Follow https://twitter.com/erimbau for more). Approaching work differently has so many benefits, from wellbeing to the environment – so long may this trend continue.
We also talked about coworking trends which have continued to evolve through this year, and discussed this post https://allwork.space/2018/11/millennials-no-longer-topdog-in-coworking-environments-age-demographic-shifting/amp/ - yes, coworking is not just for groovy young startup types, and the diversity of spaces emerging in our cities reflects the way different people need different things (in terms of social contact, light, space) to do their best work – work which ranges from art to tech to the public sector. Flexibility is for everyone, and the space itself may even be impermanent https://www.onofficemagazine.com/architecture/item/5058-meanwhile-spaces-buildings-in-transition.
Pilar and Maya have both extended their own thinking and practice about virtual working through 2018 too, and some unexpected advantages of remote collaboration tools – such as automatic digitisation of conversations and decisions made on chat platforms. We talked about trustlessness, a thing Maya has been looking at a lot with her blockchain hat on – remote teamwork relies on trust, but, you can create systems and tools to minimise dependence on unproven trust, by baking-in visibility and openness. Perhaps we’ll come back to this in 2019!
Certainly visibility and working out loud will continue as a theme, and we’ll keep sharing ideas to make this richer and more interesting (ie not completely text-dependent). Pilar likes sketching, and a picture can convey such a lot – without any need for huge artistry, it just abstracts the thinking to a different level.
We’re really distilling our thinking for office-optional team leadership, is to promote this 3-pronged model: deliberate communications, working out loud, and planned spontaneity. Look out for more on this in the new year!
As well as ecosystem and tools for remote working – Maya thinks of it as a software or app stack, (hopefully not in a top-heavy, Jenga-like pile!), and balancing innovation with her self-confessed shinything addiction. She talks about the very 21st century approach of connecting tools via APIs and getting developers to build bespoke integrations too.
Of course some software providers are more flexible than others, and we know that larger organisations and teams within them may have less discretion over their choices… At the very least the space is both expanding and converging at the same time, which is definitely interesting.
And another trend we’re seeing as larger organisations move to office-optional working, is a greater need for wellbeing and other kinds of support – for homeworkers who are not self-employed entrepreneurs, but people used to a more structured environment, to whom there are both moral and legal duties of care due from an employer. From ergonomic seating to mental health, all these things will need to be better engaged with in 2019.
What do YOU think will be the important issues for the new year, in office-optional working? Apart from Maya and Pilar’s new book of course, Thinking Remote: Inspiration for leaders of distributed teams https://www.amazon.co.uk/Thinking-Remote-Inspiration-leaders-distributed-ebook/dp/B07LDFGVR8/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1545043447&sr=1-1
Let us know what you think, we’re @Virtualteamw0rk on twitter, to keep the conversation going… Flexibly, of course.
And for now, our warmest greetings for the season, and happiest wishes
Following yesterday's episode, Pilar saw a few tweets she wanted to share with you, after she reached out to @erimbau to ask her about this article (article in Spanish, tweets in English!):
https://mba.americaeconomia.com/articulos/entrevistas/eva-rimbau-de-la-universidad-oberta-de-catalunya-un-3-de-los-empleados
Here are the quoted Twitter threads:
On telework:
https://twitter.com/erimbau/status/1072804504045871105
https://twitter.com/erimbau/status/1072813925241159681
https://twitter.com/erimbau/status/1072813433962287104
On attitudes to flexiwork:
https://twitter.com/erimbau/status/1073177103447875584
Today’s unusual episode brings us an interview originally recorded for another show, but it’s a great fit for our audience here, with whom we often share and discuss interesting research findings from the changing world of work.
Journalism and scientific evidence have always had an uneasy relationship because results don’t usually fit neatly into soundbites. Headlines can be very misleading. Libsyn’s podcasting podcast The Feed recently cited the statistic that “28.4% of all podcasts have ads” – and it was easy to overlook the detail that this referred to 28 of top 4% of all shows. https://thefeed.libsyn.com/132-all-the-pandora-and-podcasting-questions-and-information.
These misunderstandings are far from new, and once a popular myth displaces the reality it can persist for decades – the Freakonomics podcast recently mentioned the way the ‘Kitty Genovese’ case study about the Bystander Effect is frequently cited as being about a trend of societal decline, whereas it’s really a universally consistent bias of human behaviour in groups (that the more people there are around, the less likely each individual is to step up and go to the aid of another).
Good research is reported badly, completely distorting the message. Learning to read for the detail and critically evaluate the real stories and details behind the headlines and tweets is vital, and there are good resources for this, like the BBC’s “More or Less” podcast.
When it comes to distilling the evidence behind business and work research, we really enjoy the valuable content created by non-profit Science for Work - which is why we’re glad to share this interview with executive coach Mark Seabright with you today, writer of this post.https://scienceforwork.com/blog/effective-virtual-teams-big-picture/
This article addressed a 2008 meta-analysis, examining elements of both theory and practice in virtual teams. Perhaps unsurprisingly, social factors and task factors were both identified as important, in determining performance outcomes, a result which wouldn’t greatly surprise us in 2018 either.
But a meta-analysis can only draw on the data already present, which can leave lots of holes in the bigger picture. Science For Work (scienceforwork.com) have many other evidence summaries which help to fill the gaps and highlight areas where additional research might be needed. As Pilar and Mark discuss, what’s missing can be just as interesting as what is present in the results!
Terminology and time can also affect how research is viewed, never more so in the fast-moving space of virtual team collaborations – and comparing studies carried out even a year apart can be tricky. Consistent definitions are a challenge.
But an evidence-based approach does not mean taking your favourite bit of evidence, and following up with some cherry-picking confirmation bias! Rigorous research requires you to look at what’s really happening, even when it’s messy and complex, and comparing the perspectives of a range of stakeholders (including viewing organisations from the inside and the outside).
And perhaps unsurprisingly Science For Work note that many of the management challenges we were concerned about 20 years ago are far from resolved – the same issues, about how we communicate and collaborate, resolve conflict, etc, remain to be solved - regardless of the tools or the tech involved, or whether the team is remote or colocated.
Good practice and principles also remain unchanged – and that includes scientific empiricism, when it comes to testing the effects of changes in our own organisations, and evaluating and critiquing the results.
Science For Work are an international remote team themselves, and endeavour to apply all they learn within their own organisation. They focus on the social cohesion factors, and despite all being academic psychologists they try not to get too bogged down in the task detail and debate.
They’re perhaps an unusual group, of voluntarily-collaborating experts, and Mark’s comments offered some intriguing insights into how they collaborate. They pay attention to the getting to know the whole person they are working with, and establishing agreed norms about how to use the different tools to communicate – many of the things we talk about regularly in our own client work at Virtual Not Distant, which is very reassuring.
And research is still needed in so many areas – humility and team effectiveness correlation is one thing that Pilar and Mark identified as a gap, so please let us know if you have any good evidence-based research about that!
Meantime we'll be back soon with our 2018 wrap up, and a little look ahead to the new year.
Today Pilar interviews her colleague and co-host Maya, who is wearing her ‘non – Virtual Not Distant hat’, and speaking in her role as CEO of BlockSparks OÜ. This business has some unique 21st Century Work-Life aspects, which we felt it was time to discuss.
06.30 21st Century Work-Life: Maya Middlemiss, CEO of BlockSparks ÖU – “your creative communications partner for the blockchain world”
Apart from Maya’s passion for remote working and location independence, she’s really excited about blockchain technology and cryptocurrency. Earlier this year she was ready to formalise her status of freelancing with a small group of trusted associates by forming a limited company - but despite being a Brit living in her adopted home of Spain for a decade, she decided to constitute the company in the small Eastern European country of Estonia.
Estonia offers a unique e-residency programme specifically aimed at location-independent entrepreneurialism, and an entirely digital identity. And once Maya had set herself up as an e-resident of Estonia, it was easy – with the help of business service specialists LeapIn, to set up BlockSparks as an Estonian limited company. Later in the year she did visit Estonia to open a proper business bank account, but she ran the business for several months without visiting her new e-domicile. She wrote a blog post about the experience, and the rationale behind this decision https://www.blocksparks.io/why-blocksparks-chose-estonia-for-our-business-incorporation/
An Estonian location based on digital identity was a great fit with the BlockSparks business activity of providing marketing communications services for blockchain and cryptocurrency startups. So of course we had to get Maya to briefly define and describe how blockchain works – though she only had a few minutes, and if you want to understand in greater depth you can check out her own podcast, The Crypto Confidence Show, https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/crypto-confidence-podcast/id1435700693 to dig into the details.
We did touch briefly on some non-currency application for blockchain, for example for storing academic records – imagine being able to prove that the person you were hiring actually had the qualifications they stated they had, because the record was embedded permanently in a publicly-accessible, tamper-evident distributed ledger? This is just one example of the innovative projects being tackled using blockchain technology, that Maya is so excited to be writing about.
You can find out more at https://www.blocksparks.io/ and follow them on Twitter at @BlockSparks
42.52 Oh no, my team’s gone remote! And we’re going to spend all of our time in online meetings!
Working away from the office isn’t the peaceful isolated place it used to be, with the array of communications tools at our fingertips. So there’s a real danger we can end up in endless meetings and video conferences, instead of doing the work.
If we’re clear about when we are around to talk and interrupt each other versus when we’re engaged in deep concentrated work, we can communicate as we go along – saving our meetings for important strategic matters and decision-making. And if we use our collaboration tools appropriately, we can make our work visible and shared whilst we’re doing it, instead of having to report on it in our face-time.
Even when we have our meetings, we do need to be able to question whether we all need to be 100% attentive, all of the time. If we trust each other and our motivations and roles, we can connect and attend when it’s needed and relevant to the work – rather than trying to replicate the way we work in the colocated space at all times.
50.29 Tool: Remarkable tablet
Pilar is in love with her new tablet, which combines the free-flow creativity of handwriting with being able to store and search that digitally afterwards. It has an e-Ink screen (like the kindle), making a change from looking at backlit screens, and she uses for editing and note-taking, as well as brainstorming and note taking. It also lets you draw beautifully.
Recent software updates include optical character recognition, which has provided the only ‘missing link’ in the creative workflow, and made her fall even more deeply in love with it. Maya wonders whether it software would be able to read her own writing though, when frequently she herself can’t… How interesting that the range of preferred tools continues to diverge and offer something for everyone.
See you next time, and do keep in touch with us at Virtualnotdistant.com!
Former co-host of this show Lisette will be familiar to long-term listeners, who might have wondered where she’d got to – well, wonder no more! She was busy writing “Work Together Anywhere”, which gave us a great excuse to catch up in our featured segment today.
And don’t forget to join us over on twitter (@PilarOrti or @Virtualteamw0rk), where one discussion this week has been all about what we call that bit on the screen where our colleague’s head appears. Not as obvious as it sounds! Can you add any suggestions? https://twitter.com/PilarOrti/status/1053025198188965891
Speaking of social media, we were so happy to be included in Geoff Watts’ video about his top 10 agile podcasts – he’s a great entertaining Youtuber and podcaster, and we’re in some great company here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYYxiqUdpp0&feature=youtu.be
The Voice Behind The Book: Lisette Sutherland, author of Work Together Anywhere
It’s been a long time since we had a ‘virtual coffee’ with Lisette, so this was a great trip down memory lane for us both! We don’t always have this degree of intimacy with our interviewees, at least not to the extent that they admit they started writing their book as an excuse to talk to people who might hire them for a job… But the director of Collaboration Superpowers soon realised there was a genuine demand for a practical ‘how to’ handbook, to underpin the workshops they delivered.
Written over a span of 5 years in the end, the book project morphed from a neon coffee table design vision to a practical, highly-navigable and structured guide, to help readers solve their own problems by being able to find the information they need most in the moment. Lisette’s insight into the collaboration process with her designer and editor will be valuable to anyone embarking on challenge of bringing a book into the world.
As well as the practical stuff, Lisette’s work with Happy Melly (and long-term quest for aligning work and personal fulfillment) helps keep the focus on why working flexibly and remotely is so rewarding. In her extensive career helping teams work better together online, she’s seen some changes, including improved acceptance and technology – but sees that there is still a long way to go, and lots of work to do.
But she also reminds us that nothing beats a direct conversation, when working remotely. We shouldn’t be afraid to get on a call – or to try something completely new and different. There are so many blended and creative ways to communicate now, from video messages to picking up the phone, so don’t think about a dichotomy between text and ‘real’ connectivity.
Above all Lisette reminds us to keep learning, stay humble, and continually evolve our practice and mindset – so our work can stay fresh and at its best. However many years of remote work experience we might have, we can still grow and develop. We never said remote was easy – but work in general isn’t easy. With the right tactics and information, we can make it better. And there is no universal formula or single right way of doing this stuff. Personalities, energies and motivations combine differently on every team, however they are located.
As well as the book, you can enjoy Lisette’s podcast https://www.collaborationsuperpowers.com/podcasts/ (and don’t forget our own archives, talking to Lisette, through to the end of 2017!)
Recommended Tool: Loom
A powerful way to share little videos, recording your screen in real time along with narration – and it’s a great way to share learning and ideas in remote teams. It’s available as a chrome plugin, free, and super-easy to share and distribute. There’s no need for an account to view the videos – in fact you can see one right here https://www.useloom.com/share/91a03bf43a0a49908368e3b1bc0530f7
Wellbeing: Are you a Lark or an Owl?
It’s been a while, and we should not take wellbeing in remote work for granted. And today Maya and Pilar reflect upon is the tradition of the ‘work day’, and how we can still end up following a habit from the industrial revolution…
Could we be more productive, fulfilled and effective, by listening to our own energy levels and circadian rhythms?
We talk a lot about the tools we have to collaborate asynchronously with colleagues in different time zones, so perhaps we could use them to work more flexibly with each other, and ourselves? To create a culture where we share stuff like ‘I am going for a walk to clear my head’ or, have a special Slack status to signify a siesta?
Team leaders can take the initiative and make sure that true temporal flexibility is part of your “work day”.
To mix things up from our usual magazine format we have just one long substantive interview for you today, where we really dig into the detail about how one organisation manages their communications using Slack. We’re sure you’ll find it interesting to go really in-depth into this example, and reflect on how you select and use tools within your own organisation.
And a quick shout out to listener Stephan for recommending our show to someone on Twitter, and in turn we recommend an episode in the show Reasons to be Cheerful, episode 55, (https://pca.st/0IN0) where they interview the founder of Perpetual Guardian in New Zealand, where they have been experimenting with the four day week (which we mentioned in episode 179 https://virtualnotdistant.squarespace.com/podcasts/values-driven-culture but didn’t talk to them directly).
Why not let us know what you think, we’re easy to reach on Twitter, either @PilarOrti or @Virtualteamw0rk
Meantime, on with the great big chat:
08.25 Voice behind the blog: Jamon Holmgren Jamon is the cofounder and CTO of Infinite Red https://infinite.red/, and author of the post “5 Slack Channels Every Company Needs.” https://shift.infinite.red/5-slack-channels-every-company-needs-dd0f103e0f9d
With a team of 25 fully remote colleagues, Infinite Red have been building apps since forming from a merger in 2005. (We interviewed Gant Laborde earlier this year https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/wlp174-problem-with-remote-work about a great blog post he also shared with the world). But Jamon remains conscious that their setup is unusual, that society is still not ready for remote universally – something those of us immersed in this space can easily overlook. So they had to find their own ways of getting things done, as they created their team and found ways to collaborate effectively.
Infinite Red use Slack very extensively to segment their conversations, through channels which evolve organically (and get archived after use), and also guest channels for external collaborators - in fact, they insist that their clients use Slack, as part of their terms of operation, either in shared workspaces or via guest channels.
Jamon and Pilar discuss how in a larger team, Slack can evolve from being an asynchronous collaboration platform to more of a real-time communication tool, with higher expectation in terms of response time. To manage this requires some forethought and alignment of expectations, such as use of threading to control the signal to noise ratio, especially in important channels – whilst other channels can fill the need for more casual chat. For Infinite Red this led to the creation of the 5 channels which were the subject of the blog post in question:
20.56 The 5 Channels Roll call: For checking in, rather than checking up on, saying “hi” when you arrive at the office. They use it for really brief greetings and signalling - it’s a little more personal and connected than just indicating through your status when you are working or not, or popping out for lunch or into a meeting. It creates a good snapshot of where everyone is at at any given moment, particularly in a team spanning multiple timezones.
Kudos: For recognising the accomplishments of co-workers, in as authentic a way as possible. A good way to make different aspects of the work visible across the organisation (though private praise matters too). They also use to reward effort and endurance as well as obviously positive outcomes, and try to keep it spontaneous and genuine.
Chitchat + Funny: These are actually two channels at Infinite Red, split from the default Slack ‘Random’ channel. Separating them in this way allows all employees join in chat without needing to dive down the rabbit-hole of memes and GIFs (and some ultra-geeky stuff that is really only funny to developers anyway) - and recognises that people bond over different kinds of content and humour.
Announcements: Some things need a destination of their own, things which have an impact on the company as a whole: team updates, role changes, policies etc. Responses in here should be threaded, to allow for rapid skimming and updating of these important messages, without diving into the discussion of it. They advise everyone to have visible alerts for this channel, and people can check-off that they’ve read each item with an appropriate emoji.
Scheduling: For longer term scheduling type topics, eg discussing planned absences and use of shared resources, they have this dedicated channel for “determining how we’re going to spend our time as a company”. So as well as syncing plans, they work out loud at a high altitude in here - stating what they’re working on in any given week, to create that overview of the big picture for everyone on the team to see.
Jamon recognises that he is the power user and evangelist when it comes to Slack, and that perhaps every team needs one, to keep the channel usages on track and consistent (whilst also being dynamic and evolving), leading by example at all times.
Of course they do have other channels - so be sure to check out the article!
42.40 Podcast Pilar and Jamon also discuss the podcast, Building Infinite Red https://building.infinite.red/
This project enables Jamon and his co-founders to work on something cool together outside of their client work, and share and reflect upon what they’re doing and how they make decisions. It lets them be quite straightforward and authentic, and develop their thinking out loud together – in the spirit of podcasting, as a conversation between people in a synergistic and fun way to evolve creativity.
Season 2 launches soon (but there are already 13 to get stuck into from last time). Thanks Gant Laborde for tipping us off to this one.
47:25 Academy Finally, we also discuss their Academy.
It’s in Infinite Red’s DNA to share their learning with the world, as they’re all from an open source background. So the Academy offers online and on-site workshops and on-demand resources, and it’s all based on things they have tried and tested and used with their own clients acadmey.infinite.red They also teach workshops at conferences
https://twitter.com/jamonholmgren (especially if you like jokes, apparently)
Jamon@infinite.red
A bit of a different show for you today. We share a glimpse behind the curtain, in the production of the 21st Century Work Life podcast, and also tell you about our new in-house podcasting service.
3.08 Helping organisations create their own podcast. Having an in-house podcast not only shares information and updates, it’s a great way to ensure continuity in connectedness and communications, making sure the teamwork flows at every level. It’s especially helpful when transitioning to a more flexible way of working.
It helps everyone learn about each other’s roles, and how we all respond to the same challenges and issues at work. And whilst there can be barriers to approaching people to chat for the first time over purely online tools, if you’ve heard that person’s voice it can really help with overcoming that. Speaking is so much more rich and intimate than a typed chat message, and a podcast is also a great way to learn and keep up with information from the organisation, without always sitting in front of a screen.
With help from Virtual Not Distant – at any level from initial consultation through to full management and production – you can easily design and create your unique in-house radio show.
(And if Maya can launch the Crypto Confidence Podcast https://www.blocksparks.io/category/podcast/, this is proof that anyone can learn this stuff and get it done. Not an in-house show, so if you’re curious about blockchain or cryptocurrency stuff, or Maya’s “other hat”, then do check it out)
BTW special hats are not essential for creating YOUR podcast, and the entry-level hardware and software is very accessible. We’ll help you every step of the way.
Learn more here. https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/inhouse-podcast/
15.20 Learning Out Loud – Creating a Podcast For Your Team If you really want to learn something, or simply to grow as a team and create something together, then why not make a podcast about it? Sharing the process, improvising, having a go… It’s a great experience, and you can do it entirely remotely or in a colocated space, as you choose.
The process of planning and chunking your content, of structuring the episodes and putting it all together, is incredibly insightful. And at the end of it, you’ll have a set of episodes you can use for training, on-boarding, or presenting your work externally.
And of course Virtual Not Distant will be there for everything, from facilitating the initial discussion to helping you produce and share it however you like. Find out more! https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/learning-out-loud
24.40 Behind the Scenes: How We Create The 21st Century Work Life Podcast In this segment we are joined by Ross Winter, our very own Podcast Polisher, who helps us sound at our best every time. https://podcastpolishing.com/
As we’re all in different countries, we work through Trello, sharing checklists and links to content, so we all know what our different roles and deadlines are.
And once the recordings are in, Ross does his thing – cleaning up the audio and adjusting the levels, making sure we all sound like we’re in the same conversation. He gets rid of our clips and clicks, our hisses and pops, to make it all sound professional. And he also magics away the background noise, that always happens however carefully you prepare the environment – every room has echoes and reverb, laptops have fans, and so on. It makes the sound a lot cleaner and sharper, once all this is removed.
Once he’s finally cleaned it all up, he can compile the episode itself, from all the different recordings and music/effects, mixing and editing to put it all together and create the finished podcast.
It all ends up a single audio file which Maya then listens back to, in order to create the shownotes (that’s what you’re reading now). Rather than a transcript, these are intended to act as a kind of teaser for the show, as what we really want you to do is listen – for all the reasons above, the podcast itself is the aim of the game. It also has to work as a standalone bit of content for itself.
We make sure those notes are tagged into the podcast syndication tool, as well as published on this website, for the date the podcast goes live.
52.27 Recommended tool: Alitu
We welcome Colin Grey, to introduce this great tool for getting started with podcasting. Alitu https://alitu.com sounds like ‘Ross-as-a-service’ – an automated way of transforming your raw audio into a clean and podcast-ready file.
Not everyone wants to learn to edit and produce their episodes, nor invest in professional outsourcing. And now there is a middle ground, which can help make podcasting truly accessible and affordable to anyone - you just need to get your content out of your mouth, and into a mic! Alitu will then do all the work to convert it to a finished show, even uploading it to your host of choice.
Colin also runs thepodcasthost.com, where he teaches podcasting, from all the geeky technical stuff to extensive resources to help people learn about podcasting from choosing equipment to planning a schedule. There’s a free newsletter and a ton of great resources, so if you’re curious about this space at all, do check it out! @thepodcasthost
Pilar shares her thoughts after attending a "jamming session" in London with other facilitators.
Reflections on how much to control the flow of conversation, the different expectations from an "online session", the imbalance that can occur between participants, moving the responsibility onto participants for staying engaged (if they want to be engaged!) and knowing why we're recording a session.
Let us know your thoughts over at www.virtualnotdistant.com
A packed show today, where we look at some of the issues concerned with leading and connecting over distances – as we must in the virtual workplace.
Stay tuned for further developments, including our powerful new tool for ‘learning out loud’ – developing a team podcast together.
Meanwhile, on with our own podcast!
3.07 The Voice Behind the Book: Kevin Eikenberry, The Long Distance Leader rules for remarkable remote leadership (coauthored with Wayne Turmel) Kevin and Wayne have been in the leadership business for 25 years (congratulations on the milestone anniversary!) – so they’ve seen many changes, in the way the workplace looks and feels.
Acknowledging that some very senior people are now having to lead in a very new environment, where they don’t see their teams all the time, they wrote the book to explore the new skills and techniques this world demands… Whilst affirming that leadership in essence has not changed.
Kevin walks the talk, his hybrid team is spread across the US, rarely all meeting in person. He and Wayne collaborated remotely on the book too. And of course their work with clients is all remote, enabling them to identify common areas of conscious and unconscious incompetence in the remote leadership space.
Some great insights in this interview, about how we model everything as leaders, from use of technology to intentional communication.
Kevin has many new projects in the pipeline, so watch this space!
Kevineikenberry.com, remoteleadershipinstitute.com – ‘if you can spell my name, you can find me online’.
29.01 Recommended Tool: Proposify Maya’s latest shiny thing, is a tool for creating proposals. A bespoke app for compiling costs and deliverables quickly and effectively, and making them look nice. Lots of great templates, but they’re fully customisable
It’s a premium browser-based application with user access control, it also offers tracking and analytics – so you can see if your client has opened the document, even how long they spent on each section.
And it has signature boxes, so you can use it for contracts and agreements – which would work well for internal use too.
A final bonus is really good quality customer support. This tool does have a learning curve, but they do help you to get the most out of it. Https://proposify.com
34.33 Oh No, My Team’s Gone Remote - How will team members know I value them? Appreciation can be hard to squeeze in to a busy and productive work environment. We manage what we can measure – outputs, sales, milestones… So the softer indicators of a thriving professional environment, such as pride and respect and affection, can get overlooked.
Even in a colocated team, gratitude and acknowledgement might get squeezed into little looks and moments – and these can be too easily omitted from the kind of tools we use to get things done online. If you make them a part of your regular practice of ‘working out loud’, they’ll become part of your working day more naturally – check out https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/wlp170-working-out-loud
For more on the implications of this.
In this reflective piece, Pilar shares some practical ideas for making use of remote collaboration tools to express thanks, publicly and privately, for a job well done – and all that our remote colleagues bring to our working day.
For more on this check out: https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/blog/appreciation-in-virtual-teams
And the tool, Canva, which Pilar recommends for creating visual ‘thank you notes’, is something we explored more fully here: https://virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/wlp173-publishing-books
Please tell us what you think, why not tweet us at @Virtualteamw0rk and share your thoughts.
Transitioning to an office-optional approach, creates new opportunities for everyone to contribute – including the vast talent potential on offer from people with disabilities.
Let us know what you think about this important topic, @Virtualteamw0rk, or our contact form https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/contact-us/
05.08 Interview: Jane Hatton, Evenbreak
Jane is the founder and director of Evenbreak, a job board founded in 2011 specialising in matching talented disabled candidates with inclusive employers. In 2018 it remains twice as hard for a disabled person to find a job, as a non-disabled person – so Evenbreak are working hard to narrow that gap.
Being a small social enterprise employing only disabled people themselves in a team distributed all over the UK, they work with many large UK employers - who are able to attract candidates they might not reach via any other means, but also position themselves effectively as inclusive hirers.
They also work hard at education on both sides, making sure disabled people know about the potential opportunities, but also that employers appreciate the wealth of skills and resourcefulness evident in the disabled community. Jane’s book "A Dozen Brilliant Reasons to Employ Disabled People" https://www.amazon.co.uk/Brilliant-Reasons-Employ-Disabled-People-ebook/dp/B077YBF66J helps organisations start to appreciate everything disabled people have to offer.
Our interview also discusses changes in apps and assistive technology, such as voice recognition tools like Dragon, which are helping to level the playing field for colleagues with disabilities. And of course we look at the role of truly flexible working in helping everyone access the right professional role –whatever their needs and abilities.
Getting the culture right from the leadership level, is what is needed – to ensure motivated, productive wellbeing throughout an organisation.
Connect with Jane Hatton: Janeh@evenbreak.co.uk, Evenbreak.co.uk, 0845 658 5717
33.57 Recommended Tool: Mindmeister
There are many mindmapping tools out there just now, and Maya has experimented with a lot of them – and right now she is spending a lot of time in Mindmeister https://www.mindmeister.com/, a good browser-based tool, that is good for collaboration.
It has simple intuitive tools too – a mindmapping tool shouldn’t create any friction, just let you think out loud, and get down thoughts as they flow, so it’s important that the tool itself doesn’t get in the way. You can get more fancy with adding links and notes, but for quick brainstorming it’s easy to get started. And there are nice mobile apps too – it’s great on the iPad.
It also integrates with Meistertask, if you want to use it to assign to-dos and get creatively beyond ‘the list’ to generate your ideas (this can be liberating for writing types especially!) Those integrations are paid options, but the free version lets you do quite a lot, and get a feel for whether it supports your own work.
38.06 Oh No, My Team’s Gone Remote! How are we going to cope with all this change?
Change is hard for human beings - in energy and time. And it affects different people in different ways, leading to a complex ‘emotional cocktail’.
Concentrating on all the new things to do, as we transition to an office-optional way of working, can mean we forget to consider: what do we want to keep? What is important to each of us about how we work and collaborate and relate to one another, that we want to ensure we don’t leave behind? And what might we decide to STOP doing?
Being conscious about what we want, let’s us try out new things and create new rhythms for ourselves and our teams, instead of letting too much be emergent and unplanned.
Remember that fear of change, is often worse than the change itself.
Don't forget to let us know what you think.
https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/contact-us/
Today’s episode brings you just two in-depth sections – we like to mix things up for you, and some subjects deserve a deeper dive. So we’re pairing a great interview about culture in a distributed organisation, with a discussion about the time we spend at work.
What do you think about the format? Please tell us, in our listener survey! https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/hello
04:35 Work-life: Interview Robert Glazer
Robert is the founder and CEO of Acceleration Partners, the global independent affiliate management /performance marketing agency. Their business is ranked by Glassdoor on the 2018 Employees’ Choice Awards honoring the Best Places to Work for U.S. small and medium size businesses, and in June, just before our interview, was named #2 top CEO for SMEs in the US! His team made a very touching video testimonial as part of this: https://www.accelerationpartners.com/blog/robert-glazer-ranked-2-on-glassdoors-highest-rated-ceos-list.
His take on distributed teams and local hubs was fascinating, and the win-win for team lifestyle needs meeting the business case for addressing client needs, makes total sense.
It was also really insightful to learn about their hiring and onboarding process – refined over 10 years – for recruiting great new colleagues and bringing them into the team with systematic intentionality, when you can’t rely on some of the ‘osmotic’ processes which happen in the colocated space.
He has written about how their core values drive hiring and contractor choices, https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-create-positive-environment-so-employees-can-prosper-glazer/, and he attributes much of their success to living their core values – and cutting them down from 7 to the really fundamental 3:
Own it
Excel and improve
Embrace relationships
Find out how they use them in every stage of management, and also how Robert’s personal values inform and are fully congruent with those of the organisation he leads, and then you can also check out their leadership tools such as Friday Forward http://www.fridayfwd.com/ (weekly newsletter avaialble), and his own site https://www.robertglazer.com/, where updates for the new book (working title: ‘Outperform: building capacity in yourself and others’) will be forthcoming.
You can also read what Entrepreneur.com thought of Acceleration Partners https://www-entrepreneur-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.entrepreneur.com/amphtml/317460 and Harvard Business Partners https://hbr.org/2017/09/as-your-company-evolves-what-happens-to-employees-who-dont.
33.15 Discussion: time at work – international experiments
Long-hours culture is broadly acknowledged as a bad thing, but different organisations around the world are looking at different ways to shake this up.
Japanese executives are being encouraged to take a lie-in on ONE morning a month – ‘shining Mondays’ – a government initiative, being trialed with public sector employees… In a country where ‘death by overwork’ has its own word. Let’s hope this carries over into the wider working environment too – but uptake of this and similar initiatives seems to demand broader cultural change, in a country where people can get fined for taking 3 minutes extra over lunch…
And in Australia and New Zealand, experiments with 4 day work weeks are yielding great results – when people have the freedom to get their work done in a more compact working week, their stress reduces and productivity increases.
Closer to home, in Sweden – they’re looking at compressing into a 6 hour day: creating shorter shifts for hands-on nursing care, one industry where this really does cost the employer more directly in more shifts… But being offset by more preparation work, and less sickness absence, as well as public sector gains like job creation. The article was inconclusive in the end - but I know I’d rather be cared for by a nurse who has had enough rest first.
Links: https://www.eurofound.europa.eu/publications/report/2017/working-anytime-anywhere-the-effects-on-the-world-of-work
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/aug/03/japan-overworked-employees-monday-mornings-off
https://www.sciencealert.com/this-4-day-work-week-experiment-went-so-well-company-keeping-it-perpetual-guardian-engagement-balance
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-38843341
This week the tide is turning. We're talking ‘bout a revolution – bring on remote work! It’s making the world a better place.
Don’t forget to tell us what you think, at https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/hello - and we really enjoyed your feedback on the previous episode, continuing the great ‘home-workers dress code’ debate… Are you Team Pyjamas, or vehemently opposed to such a travesty? Have your say – Tweet us with your views, (but please do fill in the survey too!)
As online meetings are such a vital part of working from anywhere, we talk about that too, reflecting a great discussion at Virtual Team Talk – where we cover everything from tools to tech to body language. What do you think?
12:57 The Voice Behind The Book: John Elston John Elston is the author of The Remote Revolution (and has joined us before to talk about gig teams). The subtitle of the book is “How the Location-Independent Workforce Changes the Way We Hire, Connect, and Succeed”, which John felt better resonated with the values and content of his writing, and speaking directly to the decision-makers in work location policy – to help them identify the qualities of a great remote employee.
John has truly walked-the-talk as a location-independent team member, drawing inspiration from the rich variety of places he has lived and worked for decades. He shares his journey through the practicalities, the concerns and the pace of change… And how 21st century workers can leverage this to create a work-life style unique to them, whether that means telecommuting from a home office or travelling the world. Being truly nomadic is not for everybody – but knowing who you are and what you need for personal fulfillment, has a deep impact on what you bring to your work.
And he reminds us clearly that none of this should scare the HR department either – because when you liberate your teams to take responsibility for their own choice of workplace, you are rewarded by loyalty, synergy, and productiveness. Drawing on his own experience of this epiphany as a CEO illustrates the transition very powerfully, the kind of transitions that we work through with our consultancy clients at Virtual Not Distant.
https://www.johnelston.com/
(John also references Basecamp’s Jason Fried’s classic work in this space, “Remote”)
38:44 Recommended tool: Zoom How would we manage at Virtual Not Distant, without Zoom? Well, we’d use another video meeting tool, there are many out there, but we love Zoom for some of its unique features:
Firstly breakout rooms, really help mirror the face to face experience when delivering workshops – it’s great to be able to put people together in groups and switch up the energy.
The ‘hide yourself’ feature is also cool – we don’t usually sit in meetings with colleagues in front of a large mirror! So the ability to hide your own camera feed whilst talking to others, is a nice touch.
Overall, it’s just a nice easy user experience, where everything simply works, smoothly and intuitively. A typical freemium model, but, you get all the features right out of the box for shorter meetings – you only pay when you want to use it for longer.
No, we aren’t sponsored by Zoom either! We just know what we like. https://zoom.us/
43.23 Oh, No! My Team’s Gone Remote! And once everyone starts to work from anywhere, it's going to be a disaster… Does the idea of ‘working from anywhere’ conjure up all sorts of concerns, from concentration to communication? Will we get too dispersed and fragmented, and as a manager will that mean a lack of control?
Perhaps there’s an underlying sense that, to be a true “remote revolutionary”, you should be able to do any kind of work, from any location, at any time… but choice can be daunting: Where should I do my work today? That’s already used up some of my concentration and decision-making bandwidth.
But the reality is that transitioning to an office-optional work policy is all about finding the best fit, for each individual, in terms of how people can best do their work. We talked about this back in episode 169 Asking whether your task needs concentration, contemplation, communication and collaboration might help (along with this blog post)
Pilar is taking flexible working to the shores of Eastern Spain this week! A good viewpoint from which to reflect on facilitation, and the differences involved in this practice, from training and coaching.
We hope you agree, and we’re always curious to hear your feedback, but right now we’re asking you about it especially in a survey – please could you spare 5 minutes, to check out http://virtualnotdistant.com/hello.
07.12 21st Century Work-life: Andi Roberts PCC, CPF
The letters after Andi’s name stand for Professional Certificate of Coaching, and Certified Professional Facilitator (Pilar met Andi at an International Association of Facilitators meeting – so the networking is great, in these supportive professional communities, but more importantly they benchmark competencies and experience in both cases).
He explains that the expertise of the facilitator is to manage the process, of the meeting or project – not to be a subject matter expert, but to really understand and make the most of the human dynamics. His skills in training and coaching are valuable to combine and offer in combination, to ensure a client’s complex needs are comprehensively addressed. Listening, asking powerful questions, and knowing how to give feedback, are overlapping skills which can be engaged.
Andi has some great reflections about the different attributes of online and face to face facilitation engagements, and how to plan and make the most of hybrid projects – supporting change management over time, and making flexible use of emerging collaboration tools.
We also really enjoyed his thoughts about how leaders grow and develop changing skillsets within a team, and how the facilitation and coaching needs evolve with those different levels.
Check out Andi’s website at http://masterfacilitator.com/, and especially the Leadership Development model at http://masterfacilitator.com/leadership-development/. And of course you can connect with Andi at https://twitter.com/andi_roberts, where he is very active and engaged, demonstrating amazing networking skills in the new economy.
You can also explore the organisations behind Andi’s professional accreditations here: https://www.iaf-world.org/site/ and https://www.coachfederation.org.uk/.
27.09 The Voice Behind The Blog, Richard Chapman https://thefieldoffacilitation.wordpress.com/about/.
Richard recorded this segment for us to introduce the excellent set of resources he has created and shared on his blog, The Field of Facilitation, based on his more than 20 years of experience working with teams.
This comprehensive toolset is free to use under creative commons licence, reflecting Richard’s passionate belief in the importance of effective conversation and conversation to drive change, and the vital role of facilitation in enabling this.
It is a dynamic resource, and Richard welcomes feedback and suggestions to keep it updated and valuable to the community.
30-32 Article review: The First Rule of Working from Home: Never Wear Pyjamas!
https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2018/apr/11/rules-working-from-home-never-wear-pyjamas
Maya and Pilar discuss this article from a fashion(!) editor at The Guardian…
Whilst overlooking the mild irritation at the way working from home still has to be singled out as quirky and strange – even requiring its own dress code and instructions apparently – we enjoyed chuckling over this article, especially the lady who puts on party dresses to work from home to make herself happy. Because, why not!
The reality here at Virtual Not Distant is often more ‘webcam smart’ – as formal as you need to be from middle up! But of all the things to think about when planning an office-optional approach, this is probably not a big deal to get hung up about.
Really connecting with our core consulting work at Virtual Not Distant, today is all about virtual teams – we talk about the idea of ‘virtual distance’, and how there are many ways that distance and closeness can be created.
Also coming soon, look out for Pilar’s book, Online Meetings that R.O.C.K. – expanded and advanced and taking longer than expected due to fantastic insightful feedback from beta readers, find out what changed about the ‘C’! It’s going to be worth the wait.
07.15 What do you mean by that: Virtual Distance, with Dr Karen Lojeski
We really enjoyed this conversation with Karen Lojeski, founder and CEO of Virtual Distance International, and author of The New Rules of the Virtual Workplace.
Virtual Distance describes what gets lost, when the human is translated through a machine. Karen’s original research found out that this could be measured and understood – and that it definitely impacts on relationships and collaborations to a measurable extent.
But it is NOT dependent purely on physical distance – that is merely one dimension in a complex system, involving operational and affinity distance as well. When virtual distance is high we damage innovation, trust and performance. And it doesn’t only apply at work…
After all these are human factors, the technology is much less important. As Karen explains, "We often mix up the notion of the computer as a tool with the computer as somehow being smarter than the person and it just couldn't be further from the truth."
We are so much more complex and significant and interesting, the machines don’t come close.
Check out both of Karen’s inspiring books on virtual team leadership.
39.05 Recommended tools: Voicedream
A little while ago in episode 173 we discussed the medical affliction we affectionately described as ‘homeworkers bum’, a syndrome exacerbated by work which involves lots of reading and research.
It’s not easy to read whilst doing anything but sitting down, but Voicedream is an app which reads written text aloud. It’s not perfectly ‘human’ of course, but this is a technology which is rapidly evolving and will surely improve. But for now this is a nice app which can sync with Pocket (which we discussed in episode 172), so it helps you get through your reading queue more quickly, even when you’re out for a walk.
42.36 Oh No, my team’s gone remote, and I know we’ll grow more distant, but I don’t know how!
Instead of our usual talking head format, Pilar gives us a little exercise to complete, to help us plan or reflect upon the virtual distances within our teams – and perhaps lead to improvements in how you work together.
Here’s the diagram you will need, to work through the exercise whilst thinking about YOUR team. You can find Pilar’s diagram for this at https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/virtual-distance.
How do the different expectations and behaviours impact on your work, and how interdependent are your activities? You can score yourself on the many different dimensions of virtual distance, to see how you’re doing.
If you do this as individuals within a team, how do your ratings compare? How do you think they will evolve over time, if you are transitioning to new ways of working?
And can you see how little of the whole picture has to do with physical distance?
Remember to review, reflect and learn, from your exercise into virtual distance. Please let us know how it went for you, and make sure you’re subscribed for future episodes.
In today’s busy episode we look at the networks and constellations that surround us in our work, the human kind and the virtual respectively. Some great guests and conversations come your way, as we connect with unique expertise in the remote working space.
And special thanks to previous guest Gant Laborde for sending us some great new connections, as well his own podcast Building Infinite Red - we love to hear your feedback, so please connect with us over at Virtual Not Distant!
3.04 The Voice Behind the Book – David Burkus
It’s always a pleasure to talk with David Burkus, award-winning speaker, business school professor, and author of “ Friend of a Friend: Understanding the Hidden Networks that Will Transform Your Life and Your Career”. David is an old friend of this podcast, and joined us back in episode 137.
His latest book looks at the fundamental principles of network science, based on 50 years of experimental evidence, to analyse universal truths you can make use of in any setting. It’s definitely not yet another book about how to ‘do’ networking – but by better understanding the principles in play, you can enrich the way you connect with others and grow your social capital, whilst maintaining authenticity in your interpersonal relationships.
And as we keep saying, it’s not about the platform or the tool – but you can use various modes of technology to supplement your networking. Getting out of your comfort zone matters too – truly effective networking is always unscripted.
Finally, you need to know that David is a past master at networking a book launch, building a great marketing ecosystem and bonus product selection around the content, and being very clear about how people will benefit from it. (Sign up on the title link above, to observe this in action). And as he does point out, writing a book about networking is a great way to grow your network!
Make sure you check out David’s website for more information, and his TEDx talk, ‘How to Hack Networking’.
27.17 Satellite, Cluster and Nebula Teams: What do you mean by that?
And again it’s great to welcome another returning guest (from episodes 77 95 and 117!); our good friend from Virtual Team Talk Mark Kilby is an agile coach and author, and explains he needed better ways of describing different configurations of team set-up.
Satellite teams revolve around a central hub – like a main office, where most are colocated.
Clusters happen in larger organisations, with groups coalescing in different locations. Clusters may be near (perhaps even by floors in a building), or far distant from each other, perhaps by many time zones.
Nebulas are truly out in space – genuinely diffuse clouds of people, remote, collaborating and communicating completely virtually.
Mark and Joanna Rothman will explain more in their upcoming book “From Chaos to Successful Distributed Agile Teams”, and we’ll welcome then back to be future ‘voices behind the book’ to hear more.
33.19 Tools: Linoit
Lino.it is one of the simplest online planning tools, completely browser-based and no account necessary (though there is a mobile app). The beauty is in just being able to share a link and have everyone jump in and start collaborating. It’s very simple and frictionless to use.
It’s great for brainstorming, thought-dumping, idea capture – using virtual post-it notes, which you can move and pin and cluster at will, with intuitive drag-and-drop ease.
And it’s free – what’s not to like?
36.10 Oh no, my team’s gone remote... And I’m afraid we’ll lose visibility within the organisation!
Just as it’s important to stay visible to each other as you transition to an office-optional setting, you may also need to initiate and engineer opportunities for connection and collaboration between your team and the rest of the organisation, indeed, your wider industry and world.
You can become more conscious of your networks and connections, and use the tools and opportunities you’re given, both to make your own team’s activities visible, but also to pick up on what else is going on, and further potential for collaboration. How can you map your network, and see who is already connected to whom, formally or informally? As with much in the remote working world, intentionality is important.
It’s all about relationships and networking after all. Celebrate your accomplishments, intentionally bridge the distances, and keep your networks and constellations strong.
A shorter number of longer sections for today, including an extended featured interview looking at some of the difficulties behind the kind of working we love best. Don't forget to tell us what YOU love best, by tweeting @VirtualTeamW0rk, or visiting virtualnotdistant.com.
04.28 The Voice Behind The Blog : Gant Laborde
Today’s “voice” is Gant Laborde, author of an article entitled 5 Things that Suck about Remote Work - The Pitfalls of Remote Work + Proposed Solutions
https://shift.infinite.red/5-things-that-suck-about-remote-work-506b98dd38f9
We often celebrate all that we love about remote and flexible working, but it’s important to reflect on the challenges. Some of them come from other people and their attitudes and expectations… and their lack of respect for your boundaries, especially when you’re first transitioning and figuring things out. Gant has some good suggestions for tackling this, and for talking about how you work to those who don’t get it.
Other challenges come from ‘office only’ things you might miss out on, because everyone else’s grass is greener sometimes. Our interview discusses some ways of bringing the sociability of working life back into remote working, and dealing with temporal disconnects – which don’t only come from being in different time-zones, but have cultural and lifestyle roots as well, and bring additional challenges to internal and external meetings.
An ‘open source’ mindset, with an eye on the future and evergreen value, really helps in making effective communications – and the extra effort of this additional thinking and planning adds compounded value down the line.
The same goes for using tools smartly, combining different modes of communication, and mixing up synchronous and asynchronous messaging… But we need to remember that written words can be misinterpreted when removed from their non-verbal context. Humour can be misjudged… and what is that silence supposed to mean..?
Try an emoji or two, to put that emotion back in, and close the loop. And don’t forget to find ways to celebrate the ‘wins’ as well - large and the small. Every remote team needs to think about this, create the right channels and opportunities –you can’t leave it to chance (as we keep saying).
There’s an interesting backstory to the branding of Gant’s business and blog too; enjoy the interview.
http://gantlaborde.com/ @gantlaborde
https://infinite.red/
39.25 Recommended Tool: Retrium
retrium.com
A tool for retrospectives or review sessions, Retrium is also useful for idea generation – we talked to one of the co-founders of Retrium back in episode 129: https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/retrium-distributed-business.
Pilar uses it in retro-style meetings, as it’s purpose-built to take you through the phases – starting with individual idea generation, (with others ideas masked), then ‘big reveal’, where you see everyone else’s contributions and start to collaborate together.
43.14 Wellbeing: Communications addiction
Alerts and notifications are cleverly designed to feed our deep psychological needs - we all crave that little rush of dopamine when someone ‘likes’ your content or sends you a message. It’s creeping from the social space into the workplace though, and we need to be aware of its addictive potential. Remember you can control your notifications, rather than having them control you. Have a listen to:
ReWork podcast https://rework.fm/dont-like-this/ , and also our own blog post
https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/blog/notifications-settings.
And to think people worry about lack of social contact, when they transition to remote!
Fickle Friday episodes include a mini-rant by Pilar. Today's episode is all about adapting generic advice to your context, and why I'm starting the "unmuting movement".
Today we return to our regular format, and bring you a featured interview with Alison Jones, a wellbeing segment, a handy tool, and our thought-piece “oh no, my team’s gone remote!”
If you have an interest in remote and flexible working, there’ still time to sign up to Virtual Team Talk’s “Internal Affair” – where you’ll also get a little free taste of Virtual Not Distant team coaching activities too.
And visit us at VirtualNotDistant.com soon.
05:27 Featured Interview: Alison Jones, Director of Practical Inspiration Publishing.
Alison is a publishing partner for businesses with something to say. She specialises in helping experts and business leaders channel their knowledge into book format, making it easier to send ideas out into the world.
Her book ‘This book means business: clever ways to plan and write a book that works harder for your business’ helps people do this, along with her specialist coaching skills and publishing and marketing background.
Alison helps people create the whole platform and infrastructure around the book as a smart marketing tool for the business it reflects, and to gain maximum personal and professional development benefit from the intense creative process of giving birth to their book. She offers a range of services from online advice, mentorship, coaching through to full traditional publishing services. She successfully blends a range of remote collaboration and communication techniques to connect with her writers and bring them together online, to help them create their unique publications, and works with her fully remote team in the same way.
Pilar took Alison’s “10 day business book proposal challenge” last year, and the result will be hitting book stores very soon in the form of “Online Meetings that ROCK” – so if there is a book brewing in your subconscious, this could be your moment.
Connect with Alison on Twitter @bookstothesky, and via her websites Alisonjones.com, Practicalinspiration.com and Extraordinarybusinessbooks.com
22.21 Wellbeing: Homeworker’s Bum!
A humorous but real affliction, not just for homeworkers but anyone who spends too long sitting in an office chair. If your rear end is taking on the shape and rigidity of your furniture, you need to get up and MOVE!
When you transition to office-optional working, make sure you don’t lose the built-in opportunities for physical movement. Try quantifying it with a device or app, and if you aren’t moving enough then you need to consciously plan to stand up, make your day more dynamic.
29.02 Oh no my teams gone remote: and I don’t know how to deal with the silence!
Communication changes when you move away from a centralized office space, and becomes more asynchronous. This can mean waiting for a response.
How are you, when it comes to dealing with silence?
Do you find it unsettling? Do you project your expectations and uncertainties into it – when it could be that someone simply hasn’t seen your comment yet, or is considering their reply.
Silence is only uncomfortable when we are unsure what it means. You might just need a clearer agreement about expectations and how you communicate.
36:48 Tool: Canva
Making graphic designers out of all of us – content needs pictures to go with the words, and you can make them simply and easily in a browser app. Web banners, twitter cards, thank you messages - they’re all straightforward to create in Canva.
Be careful, as it’s quite fun, you can get carried away if you like visual things and experimenting! You can share designs and collaborate with colleagues too. The paid team version is quite an investment, but you can do a great deal with the free tool.
We’ll see you again in two weeks, and meanwhile we’d love to hear what you think of our content – get in touch, or tweet us @Virtualteamw0rk
These are some of the questions we didn't get to answer during a recent webinar on Leading Remote Teams.
How do you cope with different cultures when working remotely - eg. a team I'm working with has people in Germany, Switzerland and India and can have a clash of cultures which are difficult to express remotely.
What about cultures reluctant/not familiar sharing about their opinions on private/professional stuff?
How do I manage the time different in collaborating with a virtual working in diff time zones?
Sometimes, outcomes don't come out as planned and then things start getting quite negative, how can we build trust among remote team members? How can a manager develop trust and make employees feel trust too? (managers don't know whether the members are slacking or work really hard yet get stuck)
Can you talk about HOW teams can "bump into each other" when working remotely across many locations?
My insight from this is that there are a lot different type communication needs: performance review, informal, strategy. My experience is that my remote team use one meeting to update on all and as a result they are un-structured and always over run. How many types would you define?
Any tips on encouraging participation during online/web meetings?
How do you cope with negative reactions/responses to feedback and support plans being offered, which can be evidenced?
In a multi-jurisdictional virtual team not all will necessarily have access to the same degree of technology - how best to lead.
We use Office365 in our company, however we do not use the share document facility. this is a great idea. Will look to implement this and I can see great value in the way Pilar described this.
How does Trello fit in with GDPR?
How can you connect to remote team members at private level when you do not have the opportunity to get to know them privately (for Business trips freeze or other reasons)?
Can you remind me what the sharks are?
To see the sharks, head over to www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/questions-leading-remote-teams
Intro
Today we look at working on the move - we have some great perspectives on this, from professional networks to remote conferences to Gig Teams. Look out for our new fortnightly schedule, as we continue to bring you information-packed magazine-style episodes.
And there’s lots going on at Virtual Not Distant, so do come and visit us – virtualnotdistant.com, check out our range of specialist services and activities. And if you’re curious about or involved in the world of virtual and remote collaboration, why not join us for a free online event: Virtual Team Talk’s “Internal Affair” on 18th-19th June – find out more and register at virtualteamtealk.com.
03.54 Interview: Mike Jones – TAP International
Mike is the co-founder and CEO of Tap International, who help professionals broaden their networks by spending time in remote locations on ‘talent development experiences’ of 1-3 months, where they enjoy professional development and networking in amazing places, whilst learning from cultural differences in a fully immersive way.
Liberated by technology (and participants usually already have everything they need to maintain normal work patterns and flow), the Tap International vision is to fulfill the millennial dream of travel and experiential learning, by combining this with career development and networking. And the founders walk the talk, travelling with the groups and being truly location-independent, drawing on their professional networks to curate opportunities.
Employers get to attract and retain the best talent, with enhanced social and professional skills – and their programme can be used as a hiring perk or performance reward. The whole team benefits from the experience gained by the lucky participant.
Discover more, and start rummaging for your passport, at https://www.tapinternational.co/
https://www.instagram.com/tapinternational/
27.20 Running Remote: Conference in Ubud, Bali
Check out the podcast segment for a generous booking discount code, and don’t forget to send us a virtual postcard from the beach:
https://runningremote.com/
29.19 Tools: Pocket
A neat little clipping/read later service, which lets you capture anything you want to read, from any device – to read at any time. With offline access and stripping out of ads, it’s a very handy app, especially when you’re travelling and want to catch up on all your interesting reading. It’s also ideal for flexible freelancers or anyone who works on a range different projects and tends to come across important nuggets of information and learning when you’re in the middle of working on something else.
You can follow people, tag and categorise, and share with other people – or use it as a very simple bookmarking service. But you do need to make time to read the things you have put in your Pocket!
https://getpocket.com/
39.55 What do you mean by that? John Elston, author of ‘The Remote Revolution’, introduces us to the concept of gig teams
Comprising a multifaceted group of individuals, a “gig team” is greater than the sum of its parts – a collective who recognise their synergy and complementary skills, and approach projects and freelance gigs together to offer a range of services to fulfill the diverse needs of their clients. They market themselves and apply their skills as a team, to tackle complex projects in a range of settings.
A truly 21st Century work evolution, top gig teams can pick and choose assignments that motivate and inspire them. Colonising coffee-shops in a city near you, gig teams are travelling the world and setting it to rights, one gig at a time.
38.30 Oh No – My team’s gone remote! How can we continue learning together?
Learning and growth as a team need not be compromised by working in a remote or flexible setting.
Learning is about mindset, not location. With the right mindset, it’s a continual process, of acquiring new information and putting it into practice by changing what we do. So it’s important that we capture experiential learning points, and make time for the essential reflection stage in the learning cycle, where we integrate the learning points into our own behaviour.
In the online space, that means allocating resources – time and attention – to ensure learning points are captured, and successfully cascaded through the organisation. Pilar suggests a range of options for structuring this, both on the practical level, and also in creating safety within the team to be vulnerable and accept input. Change can bring many benefits, but you need to make space to accommodate it.
In our fast-moving world of work it can be hard to carve out time to learn and reflect – but these are the moments of greatest growth, wherever your team is located.
Whew, this has been one of our most packed podcasts ever – see you in two weeks time!
Lots going on at Virtual Not Distant right now! Don’t forget the upcoming webinar, there's still time to book for the 6th June – all about confident and successful leadership in remote teams https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/blog/webinar-remote-teams-how-to-lead-them-confidently-and-successfully
Look out too for announcements about our in-house podcasting service, and also for Pilar’s podcast about podcasting – how meta is that?
Imposing 'meaningful work' can lead to staff burnout
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/01/170117140228.htm
Maya and Pilar discuss the potential mismatch between organisational and individual motivation – you can’t tell people what is important to them. And you can’t generate intrinsic motivation with a flowery corporate values statement. Long before you get burn-out and resignations, the phenomenon of ‘existential labour’ suggests a painful phase of faking it, in the face of an expectation that you should always be passionate about what you do.
But people find meaning in their lives in so many different ways, and there are many times people do work which pays the bills and is “fine” – why should they have to put on an act for their employers, that their behaviour is stemming from their values if it isn’t? Even to the point that the employee winds up feeling conflicted and confused, about what they really feel. Social determination theory suggests we should find plenty of meaning in autonomy competence and relatedness – and this could be quite enough to provide a wholly satisfactory working life, do we absolutely have to have purpose as well?
Maybe we shouldn’t idealise work, the work which most of us do every day. We talk about ‘the lottery test’ – would you carry on working? Most of us say yes would – but let’s remember that this is a thought exercise, not a real-life test!
What do you think?
Motivation in Virtual Teams
https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/blog/motivation-in-virtual-teams
Giving this popular post a 4th birthday outing, this post digs in to the social determination theory we touched on in the media commentary.
And it’s interesting to see how whilst the tools we use at work can change so much over that time, the way they are used for different purposes as the software landscape evolves has changed too – and the way users adapt them to their own needs and preferences, which might not be what the developers intended!
As work changes, the ways we collaborate and connect changes too. And so does the way we give each other feedback, find our motivation, and receive validation for our work.
But the fundamental principles of leadership haven’t changed. Helping people fulfil their needs for autonomy, competence and relatedness through their work, remains the best way to lead a healthy happy team.
Recommended Reading:
Pilar reflects on Daniel Pink’s excellent book Drive, and his commentary on self determination theory. He talks about mastery rather than competence, which doesn’t reflect how motivating the journey can be – but purpose remains the most important of all. Purpose is truly an internal motivator, it can’t be dictated to you by a manager or mission statement
We have a packed show for you today, looking at strategies and tactics for successfully “working out loud” – We hope you’re enjoying our new-style podcast format, we’d love to hear what you think, do tweet us @VirtualTeamW0rk, or just pay us a visit at https://virtualnotdistant.com
And don’t forget, booking is open for our great FREE webinar in June, in collaboration with Trainingzone - https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/blog/webinar-remote-teams-how-to-lead-them-confidently-and-successfully - helping your team transition to remote, and helping you as a team leader to transition from supervisor to ecosystem DJ or spider! All will be revealed in the webinar… So secure your space today.
And before our main interview, a point to ponder: If only we could do exit interviews before people decide to leave – maybe even instead of? We could learn so much from a ‘pre-mortem’. A great conversation took place about this in https://virtualteamtalk.com, so do come and join us there if this kind of learning exploration interests you.
6.25 Featured interview: Jochen Lillich, Founder and CEO of Freistil IT.
Our guest today is the voice behind this blog:
https://blog.freistil.it/working-out-loud-doesnt-mean-being-noisy-c71010e0d236 -
He manages the distributed team at Freistil IT, who are web hosting experts, large complex sites for needing active management. So they have to find ways to share and communicate effectively and continually. They use a lot of tools, especially Slack (see below), – but needed to find ways to manage the information overload and noise. Jochen blogs to build relationships and trust, to go beyond the transactional nature of business, but internally they use more real-time ways to communicate.
Aside from daily standups, one of their most used tools is a Slack channel called DIRECT – which stands for Decisions, Insights, Results, Emotions, Contacts, Troubles – where they continuously share things which might affect either the team or the work.
Jochen talks to us about being intentional about sharing on distributed teams, the fact that you need to do more of it, more consciously, than you might imagine.
Enjoy the interview and the original blog post, and if you want to learn more about how the team at Freistil work together, their operating manual is freely available here: https://runbook.freistil.it/
20.58 – Wellbeing: How do we “step away from the screen”?
It isn’t easy, because screens are everywhere. How do we unplug, in a world of 24/7 connectivity? This is not just an issue for remote workers either. We can start by being more aware of it, and how our use of screens affects us.
One strategy both Pilar and Maya use is to read on a dedicated non-backlit e-reader (you know the brand we’re talking about – but don’t forget you can email any document to it, it isn’t just for reading books bought from that same monopolistic retailer). It really is worth investing in a separate device for this even if you have the apps on your tablet or phone, and you’ll notice the difference in sleep quality when using it at night particularly.
Or there is always that really strange static format of paper itself. Just from time to time, and do remember to recycle!
How do you maintain healthy screen habits, and protect your eyes and your sleep? Tweet us at @VirtualTeamW0rk #remotewellbeing
26.28 Oh NO: My teams gone remote! And our relationships will suffer if all we do is type...
This is a valid concern. Typing might be great for introverts, and sometimes it’s good to think through what you want to express first... But the lack of real-time feedback has real drawbacks. Remember we can use video and audio to add context and depth to our words, we don’t have to depersonalise all of our asynchronous conversation.
There’s evidence that emotional or controversial topics are much better received in audio than written form, and this does support the way that online comment threads and email conversations can quickly deteriorate:
https://www.inc.com/minda-zetlin/you-should-never-ever-argue-with-anyone-on-facebook-according-to-science.html
Perhaps we should pick up the phone a little more often, when we’re shifting to a remote workplace. Especially if we need to have a difficult or emotion-laden conversation - it’s often far too quick and easy to fire off an email. Of course this is more challenging across timezones, but with a bit of imagination there are solutions we can use.
Written communication is best for concrete information sharing, but not for complex or loaded conversation. Which is why, as a team, you also need to communicate about communications: come up with explicit agreements about how you connect and how you have different kinds of conversation. And as a leader, be sure to model the kind of behaviour you’d like your team to adopt – including a nice smiley profile picture to accompany your instant messaging chat.
What do you think? We usually suggest you tweet or email us, but there is a phone number on our contact page!
33.28: Recommended tool: Slack (slack.com)
Slack is an instant messaging app for business collaboration, for use in closed groups and teams. It’s easy to manage, with channels for different conversations, and very granular control over notifications.
A lot of the functionality is free, and it’s straightforward to set up and use on multiple devices, from tiny teams to big communities. If you’d like to take your first steps with Slack in a safe and welcome team, and you share our passion for remote working and flexibility, check out Virtual Team Talk (link in intro).
Maya recently discussed her history through the evolving world of online team chat in this blog post
https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/blog/upgrade-tools
We are continuing to mix things up with our new format, and today’s podcast also revisits some earlier recordings and articles - we have so much great content in the archives at https://virtualnotdistant.com, so don’t forget to visit us there soon!
In the introduction, Pilar talks about podcasting with Richard McKinnon who we featured back in October 2017 when we talked about psychological flexibility.
https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/psychological-flexibility
Pilar will shortly be hosting a webinar with him on this important subject - are our emotional states in control of us, or can we master them?
And we’re pleased to announce that booking is now open for a free webinar in June in collaboration with Training Zone - we’re keen to ensure our podcast listeners get early access to this valuable resource, so you can learn more and register here: https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/blog/webinar-remote-teams-how-to-lead-them-confidently-and-successfully
10.25: Article discussion: Why Microsoft's new culture makes its stock a buy
Pilar and Maya discuss this piece in Forbes https://www-forbes-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.forbes.com/sites/petercohan/2018/04/09/why-microsofts-new-culture-makes-its-stock-a-buy/amp/ about the change in culture at Microsoft in recent years.
We often talk about culture at Virtual Not Distant, but it’s often hard to correlate such a qualitative phenomenon with impact on the bottom line. However, it appears that Nadella genuinely has made the difference, by driving a growth mindset and a shift in how customers are valued - during a time, in his 4 year tenure, of incredible change in the office software environment.
Pilar and Maya both have Nadella’s book, ‘Hit Refresh’, on their reading lists now, and you can learn more about that publication in two HBR Ideacasts, episode 596 Sept 28th 2017 and episode 585 July 13th 2017.
17.07 - Audio blog: Finding The Right Work-Environment Fit
Pilar revisits the Work 2.0 Conference of 2017, where she first heard the term ‘shoulder-bag workers’. You can read the full blog post here https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/blog/four-cs-teamwork, where she explores in detail the how the work environment impacts on performance in both the physical and virtual space, and listen to Pilar’s event podcast here: https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/work-2-conference. It’s good to reflect on what has changed over a year, and whether we’re still talking about the same issues.
Welcome to our new format, magazine-style show! We hope you like it, and don’t forget to visit https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/, for more great content, and information about our wide range of services for remote teams.
Today’s episode is all about staying healthy, whilst working flexibly.
03.40: Feature interview: Paul Read, the Teapot Monk,
Paul teaches TaiChi online at teapotmonk.com, and has a new course specifically aimed at addressing the health issues remote workers may experience. Listen to the interview to find out how to win a voucher to access the course for free.
learntaichi.online and Teapotmonk.com
https://www.udemy.com/a-beginners-guide-to-managing-stress-with-tai-chi/
27.15 "Oh no, my team's gone remote!" - and I’m starting to feel like I never switch off...
In a world of push notification and multiple screens, how do we manage our boundaries, especially when managing others working remotely?
33.30 Recommended tool: Trello
Based on the Kanban workflow, Trello's deceptively-simple app of 'virtual post-it notes' is very powerful and versatile - and it's definitely Pilar’s favourite. Find out how she uses it in every aspect of her work.
We look forward to your feedback on our new format, and would love to hear about the subjects you'd like us to cover.
Tweet @Pilarorti and @VirtualTeamW0rk with your thoughts
The last of our audio blogs, as next week we'll launch the new show format!
In this article, we are reminded that people on remote teams also get sick, but that sick-leave might be more difficult to take.
These links might be of interest to you:
https://fitforwork.org/
https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/psychological-safety
This is the audio version of one of our blog posts.
You can read the post here:
https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/blog/sickness-remote-teams
A short update on how we're getting on with the new format, followed straight by the audio version of one of our blog posts.
Some people don't like to brag about their achievements. Some managers don't want to disturb their team members and so, they rarely check in. This results in missed opportunities for recognition and development.
To read the post, visit:
https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/blog/sharing-success
Be honest: how often do you find the time to give and receive feedback in your team? In remote teams, it's very easy to avoid these kind of conversations, when they are some of the most valuable input we can receive from our team members. In this audio blog post we recommend a few ways in which you can embed feedback systems into your team's communications.
This is the audio version of one of our Virtual not Distant blog posts.
You can read the post here:
https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/blog/feedback-in-remote-teams
In this episode, Pilar explains why the structure of the podcast is changing and the plans we have for the content. Also, you can now find the podcast in Spotify and as an Alexa skill. Plus, we're thinking of launching an in-house podcast service for companies making the transition to remote, looking for creative ways of keeping the workforce connected.
Do send us suggestions for content or any questions you have about remote work or other workplace trends/terminology.
At around 11 minutes, you can listen to the audio version of the blog post, "Now that I'm Remote, Can Anyone See How Hard I'm Working?"
If you're done listening and prefer reading, here's the link to the blog post: https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/blog/presenteeism-in-remote-teams
Should technology replace trust? Are there ways of using technology so that we don’t have to rely on trust to get the work done in remote teams? How much do we need to trust each other and how much should we show our work? We try to answer these questions in today’s episode.
visit www.virtualnotdistant.com
Are we going back to the good ol’ days of clocking in and out by using timetracking software?
Can managers not go remote because their work is too important?!
Is there fear that people use collaboration platforms to have private conversations? Or that they will contact anyone in the organisation, at any level?
We mention this article from HBR
https://hbr.org/2017/11/what-managers-need-to-know-about-social-tools
And this episode from HBR Ideacast
https://hbr.org/ideacast/2018/02/make-tools-like-slack-work-for-your-company.html
Is middle management less prone to trust?
Is there a fear that organisational dynamics might change in a way we don’t like?
The difficulty of making sure we achieve results without risking team members not feeling trusted.
How shall we make that work visible in a way that people don’t think they’re having to justify their work?
Can we trust that people know how to be productive outside the office?
There are different ways of showing how we’re working – justifying our work in hours is one.
The difficulty of sharing our work in progress, or narrating our work – some of us don’t like to show unfinished work.
This article from Science for Work summarises some research done about trust in virtual teams:
https://scienceforwork.com/blog/virtual-teams-trust/
Turns out documenting the work and our conversations helps us be more effective without relying on trust!
Does time tracking software have a place in remote work? Pilar talks to Rob Rawson, CEO of Time Doctor.
visit www.virtualnotdistant.com
In the introduction, Pilar mentions this article:
The CEO of Kronos on Launching an Unlimited Vacation Policy
https://hbr.org/2017/11/the-ceo-of-kronos-on-launching-an-unlimited-vacation-policy
and refers to this video by Crossover:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbRa2csUJA8
And these episodes of Management Café, the podcast for managers.
#5 The Psychological Contract
https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/management-cafe-5-psychological-contract
#12 Borrowing from Self-Management
https://managementcafepodcast.com/2018/02/04/self-management/
Pilar speaks to Rob Rawson, CEO of Time Doctor.
How does Time Doctor work and who uses it?
Does this mean we don’t trust people?
Are some people more trustworthy than others?
Is trust a barrier to going remote or to employ virtual workers?
Is the software promoting presenteeism? Do companies where there is a lot of communication need this kind of software?
Should we trust people more or less depending on their salary?
Can this software help employees who want to start working remotely?
What about security issues?
Can the software be used to increase productivity?
How Rob uses the time tracking software to track his time and see who he needs to hire.
The benefits of hiring remotely.
How Rob’s management style has changed – from allocating tasks to allocating roles.
How communication has evolved.
How their weekly meetings are run: action points and discussion points are jotted down during the week in a live document, which is then used during the meeting.
Should the conversation be equally distributed amongst people in meetings?
Rob and Pilar disagree about the fact that you can’t build as strong relationships in a remote team as in a colocated one.
Check out the Running Remote conference
https://runningremote.com/
And Time Doctor
https://www.timedoctor.com/
Penny Pullan, author of “Virtual Leadership” talks to Pilar about how project teams operate in the virtual world and the skillset that individuals need to lead them.
visit www.virtualnotdistant.com
Penny is the author of Virtual Leadership: Practical Strategies for Getting the Best Out of Virtual Work and Virtual Teams
Penny's story, how she was thrown into the deep end of virtual work.
What does leadership look like in a virtual team?
All those involved in a project will need virtual leadership skills.
Setting up the team.
Freelance teams and organisational project teams.
What's the connection to the project manager?
Spaghetti teams!
Let people know your preferences.
Sort yourself out before starting to work with others: what are your strengths, your preferences, your values, etc?
What virtual identity do you want to have?
Some reflection questions to help your leadership style.
Making sure people are being treated equally...
How to deal with competing commitments in the office when you have are leading a virtual team.
Visual facilitation and narrative to engage people in meetings.
Learning how to use a tablet and pen for drawing and annotating.
If you need help with drawing, check out Graphicsmadeeasy.co.uk
How Penny helps people learn visual facilitation.
Makingprojectwork.co.uk
There are many valid reasons for resisting going remote in your team, but today we cover those reasons based on myths and common misconceptions about personalities suited to remote work and communication.
visit www.virtualnotdistant.com
We start with the one piece of often misquoted research, something that really frustrates Pilar in particular:
1) 93% of communication is non-verbal.
The assumption of this is that therefore, virtual teamwork will never work as well as collocated.
However, this statistic, which comes from Mehrabian’s work needs more context.
It relates to emotional content and is more pertinent to situations where there is a disconnect between what is being said and what the listener is perceiving is going on.
This article explains it all:
https://www.businessballs.com/communication-skills/mehrabians-communication-theory-verbal-non-verbal-body-language-152/
2) The only way of generating ideas and innovating is by being in a room together shouting out ideas.
Therefore if we can’t do this as a remote team, we will never be able to generate new ideas and be creative.
Well, guess what, brainstorming doesn’t always work anyway!
https://www.inc.com/melissa-schilling/the-science-of-why-brainstorming-in-groups-doesnt-work.html
3) Only introverts are suited to working from home. (We know that virtual teams don’t always have people working from home, but we thought we’d tackle this one as it also gets us going…)
Well, what is an introvert anyway?
And some “extroverts” make remote work anyway, they just know they need social interaction and make sure they get it in some sort of way.
We challenge the fact that there is one type of personality that works best from home.
https://www.fastcompany.com/3046450/do-you-have-the-right-personality-to-work-from-home
https://www.forbes.com/sites/karlmoore/2017/06/01/why-i-never-work-from-home-i-need-my-extrovert-breaks/#4b7cc2897711
We like this other article because it looks at personality traits or characterisitcs that might go best with remote work.
https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/289370
What factors in the workplace affect where we choose to work with others? Dr Kerstin Sailer and Ros Pomeroy from BrainyBirdz talk to Pilar about what they’re finding out in their experiments.
visit www.virtualnotdistant.com
What factors in the workplace affect where we choose to work with others? Dr Kerstin Sailer and Ros Pomeroy from BrainyBirdz talk to Pilar about what they’re finding out in their experiments.
What does the experiment in the workspace that Ros and Kerstin run involve?
An experiential approach.
You can find out more about the experiment here:
https://brainybirdz.net/2017/07/10/experimenting-with-workspace/
Understanding patterns of behaviour.
So, when people have the choice to pick where they work from, what have you found affects that choice?
Spatial visibility
Daylight
Furniture
Personality Type
Team Dynamics
Perception of Task
Prospect and refuge; intimacy, visibility.
Ros mentions the software DepthmapX
How do organisations use this information?
How can data inform decision-making? How can collaboration be improved?
What are the different kind of areas we need in the workplace?
For more information on Brainybirdz go to brainybirdz.net
We continue talking about co-working, this time with Bernie J. Mitchell, who tells us about engineering connections between members of co-working spaces.
visit www.virtualnotdistant.com
From freelancing to supporting freelancers.
The journey from visitor to key staff member
Bernie's role in WorkHubs is connecting people.
"Helping people finding their voice with each other."
"Finding ways of connecting people without engineering it too much."
What things haven't worked - (guess what, pure socialising is not the most important).
Focused meetups.
Bernie shares how he arrived at the most efficient mode of communication within the community.
Involving the community in the running of the space.
What does co-working mean to people?
Learning about their members' stories: why they do what they do and how they ended up doing it.
Do online platforms help co-working communities? What has Bernie tried?
Bernie mentions:
https://included.co/
https://www.loomio.org/
https://fizzle.co/
Coworking Europe
Have coworking spaces lost their initial purpose? Maya and Pilar discuss three recent articles about co-working: the diverse types of co-working spaces available, the move of corporations into the co-working space and whether blockchain might well bring back the original spirit of co-working.
visit www.virtualnotdistant.com
We love co-working spaces because they allow people to choose to work in spaces that inspire them.
To drive the conversation, Maya and Pilar have focused on three articles:
Part 1
https://styleblueprint.com/everyday/coworking-spaces/
We talk about the different type of coworking spaces, how some of them mirror what you would expect what you go into a corporate office.
Now we can find a place to work in that suits us. We can even belong to a coworking space that matches our values/personality, while working for an organisation where we don’t feel so attached to their physical space.
There are even now women only coworkind spaces…
http://www.wired.co.uk/article/the-wing-allbright-women-coworking-spaces
Part 2
https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/307085
Big businesses are taking over some co-working spaces for their own employees. So should we still be calling them “co-working” spaces?
IBM has taken over a space for 600 of their employees, vs Microsoft that has provided co-working passes to some of their sales force.
Mingling of employees with entrepreneurs: is it about checking out the competition? And are we in danger of new businesses getting mentored into the traditional way of doing business?
Part 3
How are Cryptocurrencies Changing Coworking?
http://newworker.co/mag/how-are-cryptocurrencies-changing-coworking/
Maya explains what how blockchain works.
Is blockchain the way in which technology can reignite the original spirit of co-working?
Other episodes in the 21st Century Work Life podcast on co-working:
Episode 83 The Spirit of Co-working with Alex Hillman
Episode 30 Co-working at Impact Hub
Episode 158 (to be released on 22 February 2018) Building Community in Co-Working Spaces with Bernie Mitchell
Pilar talks to Dom Price from Atlassian about how to maintain a playful, collaborative mindset in a growing organisation.
visit www.virtualnotdistant.com
Introduction
Pilar mentions these other podcast episodes that might be of interest:
https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/trello-and-coffee (with Brian Cervino from Trello)
https://www.collaborationsuperpowers.com/evolve-rituals-include-remote-colleagues-2/ (with Dom Price, today’s guest)
The Conversation
The role of Work Futurist. His job involves looking at macro-level trends in the workplace to understand the complexity of the future world of work. (Although much of it is guess work...)
How Dom takes the "less hippo, more elephant" approach into his interactions with other companies/organisations.
What Atlassian does and where its employees are based.
From 500 to +2,000 people and the change that this brings.
How Dom’s role emerged and how Atlassian developed its own way of staying agile.
They have now opened up their internal ways of working:
https://www.atlassian.com/team-playbook
“We don’t want to be famous for how big we are, but for how awesome we are.”
How and why the playbook was created and opened up.
“As we scale, we want to feel smaller, not bigger. More creative, not slower.”
As the company has grown, it has become more distributed in many ways. A shared language and way of working has become essential.
Building the awareness in companies of the need to remain adaptable and the dangers of “transformations”.
Preventing hierarchies from emerging as your company grows and how the fear of failure could be driving this.
How you operate has nothing to do with size, it’s all to do with attitude and mindset.
If we have to add something in, what other things can we stop doing?
“Collaboration is about being willing to be wrong.”
“Organisational structure can give you a comfort blanket that’s not real.”
How remote working is evolving at Atlassian and how so many assumptions were challenged after acquiring Trello.
Dom’s article on remote working:
https://www.inc.com/dom-price/why-ending-remote-work-in-name-of-collaboration-is-bs.html
@DomPrice on Twitter
There are some questions we ask ourselves when designing our physical collaboration space. We can use most of these questions to design our online collaboration space too.
visit www.virtualnotdistant.com
Pilar attended this event:
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/experimenting-with-workspace-an-interactive-experience-tickets-41004688126#
The importance of the location of toilets in the workplace
https://workdesign.com/2016/03/why-restrooms-matter-in-the-workplace/
Culture
What’s the culture like in your organisation?
Competitive, collaborative?
Will you design the workspace to support this or to challenge it?
Identity
What can you do to remind people they belong to your organisation/team when they log onto the workspace?
Check out this episode about How Zappos Lives its Culture, in the Happy Melly podcast
https://www.happymelly.com/zappos-lives-its-culture/
Do We Need to Keep People Together or Keep them Apart?
Do you need spaces where people can mingle and bump into each other?
The coffee machine as an “attractor”.
Google Docs and Trello are places where people can “bump into each other” when they’re doing the work.
Some final questions for you:
What’s your culture like, competitive, collaborative, something in between and what’s the use of the space encouraging?
How do you make the digital space unique to your organisation or team?
Have you got spaces where people can feel connected to each other and spaces where they can feel they have sole ownership of their work?
Have you got places where people can bump into each other and feel connected to other people through the work?
Pilar’s updates:
Online Meetings that Rock
https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/book-on-online-meetings/
Podcasting as an internal communication tool when introducing agile working. What do you think?
Other podcasts that Pilar is involved in:
Management Café
My Pocket Psych
Fernando Polo describes his company’s journey towards salary transparency, and tells us why they’re moving towards self-setting salaries at Good Rebels.
visit www.virtualnotdistant.com
Pilar mentions this article about millenials and their attitude towards salary transparency: https://amp-businessinsider-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/amp.businessinsider.com/millennials-are-breaking-the-one-big-salary-taboo-reasons-why-2017-12
She recommends this episode from Ted Radio
https://www.npr.org/programs/ted-radio-hour/567499335/transparency
And also episode 137 from the 21st Century Work Life podcast with David Burkus.
We start at the beginning of Fernando’s journey, when he joined the company during a very difficult period.
The present Good Rebels structure, company make-up, locations, etc.
Fernando mentions the book “The Future of Management” by Gary Hamel.
How he shifted his mindset, from a hierarchical mindset to self-management after reading that book.
Fernando’s own book, which he co-authored with his brother: “Lidertarios”.
The journey begins: according to the values of openness, engagement, commitment, etc, they decided to transform the company from a family owned business company to a co-operative partnership, there are now 12 partners, “and growing”.
The titles the company uses internally, eg Knights.
The company is structured as Client Squads, autonomous client teams.
The “Hubs” are centres of excellence to spread best practice throughout the company, eg data hub, technology hub, creativity and design. They have Hub co-ordinators, who are voted in.
“Rebel ships” and “Basecamps”. Using a language that allows for remote operations and remote client work.
More on the role of the co-ordinator. How difficult it is to define the role of a manager, or similar – a good one, that is!
Basecamps, not “implants” in client offices.
Manifestos, instead of rules and procedures.
How Good Rebels work with a client remotely. Offices in big cities are less used to working with agencies remotely than those in small cities.
First steps towards Salary Transparency, stemming from the value of Radical Transparency.
“The Outlook” was the first meeting to be opened up to all employees.
The “In Progress” ranking and what happened when this was opened up. (Hint: not pretty.)
The “In Progress” has now been split into two: feedback mechanism and self-setting salaries.
The question of privacy laws when publishing salaries (internally).
“Transparency builds honesty.”
It’s difficult to have inequality when you have salary transparency.
How this affects recruitment.
No longer about “owners and employees”, but more about a group of entrepreneurs. Your salary depends less on your relationship with your boss.
https://www.goodrebels.com/why-an-open-salary-policy-will-make-our-good-rebels-stronger/
Research around salary transparency. https://www.worldfinance.com/strategy/pay-secrecy-could-soon-be-a-thing-of-the-past
The potential to reduce gender gap by introducing open salaries!
Not all organisations are ready to introduce open salaries – just notice the long journey Fernando has been talking about…
A new way of deciding / formula who gets a raise in the company.
A system that takes into account that some people know better than others the quality of the work of others.
Twitter: https://twitter.com/abladias
Current research suggests that having text-based debates can diminish our perception of the other person and that audio-only conversation can build more empathy than that involving also visual elements. What does this mean for virtual teams?
visit www.virtualnotdistant.com
Pilar and Maya discuss the article: Why You Should Never Ever Argue with Anyone on Facebook According to Science
https://www.inc.com/minda-zetlin/you-should-never-ever-argue-with-anyone-on-facebook-according-to-science.html
Is the phrasing “according to science” trying to prevent us from questioning the findings?
Do Emojis communicate emotion or belittle it?
And what happens when we add contradictory emojis?
Are managers nervous about giving negative feedback and causing conflict or upset?
Maya gives an example of how easy it is to misinterpret a text message’s intentions.
Are even full stops conveying emotion?!
If you are nervous about how a message will be received, when possible, get on a call. Moving onto voice/video call also signals that the conversation is important.
Pilar mentions this previous episode 115 on Managing Up in Virtual Teams with Eva Rimbau-Gilabert
https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/managing-up-in-virtual-teams
How polarization can easily turn into the wrong image of someone.
When did we need to start asking for an appointment to ring someone up?
So how does this influence how we communicate in virtual teams?
For example, should we stop “working out loud” in writing? Not always, we just need to be mindful and this article by Jochen Lillich Founder and CEO of freistil IT.
has a great description of how.
https://blog.freistil.it/working-out-loud-doesnt-mean-being-noisy-c71010e0d236
Yale Research on Voice and Emotion: Five Experiments and What it Means for Speakers
https://rogerlove.com/yale-research-on-voice-and-emotion/
(Pilar mentions the podcast Evidence Talks, which looks at evidence-based practice in organisations.)
“Empathic accuracy”.
Empathy is only a part of business, using video does have some benefits, like keeping the team conversation fluid and a sense of team unity.
But as always, it really depends.
The context in which the experiment was run was different to that we experience “in vivo”.
Pilar mentions episode WLP136 https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/happiness-at-automattic
And the article on hiding your own face from view during video calls
http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/videoconferencing-workplace-productivity-1.4053566
Maya’s been in the virtual space for ages, before Facebook!
How switching on video can actually help us to focus when in a distracting environment.
Our backgrounds during video calls.
Laura Roeder, founder of Meet Edgar, talks about how her company is structured and the role that clarity and transparency play in ensuring the right culture-employee fit.
visit www.virtualnotdistant.com
What is Meet Edgar, why it was set up and how.
https://meetedgar.com/
Bootstrapping it, decisions around funding in the company. How Meet Edgar was/is funded and why Laura decided not to raise any venture capital for the business.
How this funding model influences how people make decisions in the company.
Apart from salaries, the company's financials are shared throughout the company, so that employees can understand why profit margins need to be high, where the money is coming from and where it's going.
Company make-up and structure; the need for manageable timezones. Mainly working with others synchronously, but working from home. Products, Customer experience, Marketing, Operations.
The company has set working hours, there is some flexibility but you're expected to be "at work" during core hours in the normal workday.
You know when you're online, you know when you can schedule meetings with them.
Slack is main hub, or use Zoom or Slack's call feature for video calls.
Have a rule: You should be on video as much as possible, seeing someone just adds a strong extra layer of communication, seeing facial expressions, and whether someone is paying attention or not.
"If we're not typing, we want to be talking on video."
Regular meeting rhythms. Every Monday, company wide meeting; each department has a Monday planning meeting and Fridays are for retrospectives.
Set up early in this way from the beginning to be able to scale.
Ideal is that developers, writers can spend their time doing what they love to do, not managing or being part of other structural roles.
The online employee handbook is a great tool for recruitment, letting prospects know if the fit is right, especially for a remote company when people can't come and visit.
https://meetedgar.com/careers/
What does "we're really collaborative, etc,we have free beer" what does that mean for the day to day?
http://handbook.meetedgar.com/
Clarity around what it's like there.
Shares so that it can help others.
https://lauraroeder.com/opening-up-our-internal-handbook-add655179251
Documenting the handbook is time consuming, but small details are very helpful for people. Eg if you are offering to cover learning, what expenses are appropriate?
Non-believer in Unlimited Vacations, because it can be unclear.
Clarity and transparency and what values mean to employees. What does following values mean for my behaviour?
The Culture Guide:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/12mv0roRKL5qULoV_JUcDC8OD6lnF0YlVktuyMlFka7A/edit#heading=h.ssrcdfb4qpvk
"Advocates", the managers. What are their responsibilities in Meet Edgar? The manager should be at the bottom supporting their team. They are advocate for their area, their team and team members.
What does having a great conversation look like?
Learning hands on and training for managers.
Studying books together as a company.
"We don't have to do it like everyone else does, let's just use our common sense, let's think about how we want to work together, how we want to be treated at work and let's base our policies around that."
Laura's own journey as CEO and how fascinated she is with the way in which companies can be structured.
Connect with Laura:
lauraroeder.com
Laura Roeder on Twitter: https://twitter.com/lkr
meetedgar.com
Pilar has a go at translating this great summary of the world of work, written by the Spanish organisation Future for Work Institute.
You can have a look at the original article here:
http://www.futureforwork.com/noticias/nuestra-primera-navidad-juntos
Don't forget to visit www.virtualnotdistant.com for more on remote work.
Happy 2018!
Pilar and Lisette review the last year and look forward to see what 2018 might bring.
visit www.virtualnotdistant.com
“Leadership in Remote Teams” online course 12 – 23 Feb 2018 www.virtualnotdistant.com/open-workshops/
Why Lisette won’t be joining us for the first two months of 2018.
The difficulty of saying “no” and how difficult it is to hear it.
Last year’s episode was episode 104 www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/2016-headlines
This was the article predicting 2017
10 Workplace Trends You'll See in 2017
http://www.forbes.com/sites/danschawbel/2016/11/01/workplace-trends-2017/#6954cfed3457
What we’ve seen happen in 2017
Skype for Business seems more popular while individuals seem to be moving away from Skype.
How “co-working” means different things to different people.
If you find it isolating to work from home, you need to be proactive in reaching out.
The shift in mindset is slow…
The use of technology in recruiting.
“Experiences” as rewards.
The gig economy. If you would like to know more about this, check out episode 19 of Evidence Talks.
What’s been happening in 2017 in our own work lives
Virtual not Distant
Ross Winter took over the podcast polishing
https://podcastpolishing.com/
Maya Middlemiss has joined the company!
www.mayamiddlemiss.com
Pilar and Lisette co-interviewed, and they also recorded an interview that will never air!
Join us for Virtual Team Talk
http://www.virtualteamtalk.com
Online learning communities
Lots more podcasts have been created.
Pilar’s doing lots of podcasting, including Word Maze.
Tom Petty and Ueli Steck died…
Lisette delivered a TedX talk!
2017 Developments in the World of Work
Are we working longer hours if we work from home – so what about employment law?
Office 365 – the integration of tools
More conversation around what is an office space for?
ONE SIZE OFFICE DOESN"T FIT ALL
https://www.standard.co.uk/business/will-the-traditional-office-exist-in-the-future-a3693196.html?amp
At Deloitte, 83 per cent of the consultancy firm’s 16,000 UK employees use agile working — working from home or elsewhere when it suits them, and the business.
Companies are also embracing the idea of collaborative working, in which they share office space with each other. Regus, which provides shared and serviced offices, has 300 sites in the UK serving 250,000 businesses including Uber. Clients can pay-as-they-go from £15 per person per day.
https://www.wired.com/story/why-wework-is-buying-meetup/
Unlimited Vacation
https://hbr.org/2017/11/the-ceo-of-kronos-on-launching-an-unlimited-vacation-policy
Distributed agile
Thanks to Heidi Araya - @HeidiAraya on Twitter
“Building career lifestyles”
Pilar appeared in this Spanish podcast http://www.futureforwork.com/podcasts/equipos-virtuales-pero-no-distantes
What We Look Forward to in 2018
Coaching online also works!
https://scienceforwork.com/blog/workplace-coaching/
Talk of how much home and work life should overlap or not.
Online meetups and conferences – what will happen in that space?
What will be different?
An article about trends to look for in 2018: https://www.inc.com/christina-desmarais/22-trends-to-look-for-in-2018.html
Automation
and of course the books “Collaboration Superpowers” and “Online Meetings that Rock”!
Maya Middlemiss shares her experiences as a freelancer and joining Virtual not Distant and Management 3.0.
visit www.virtualnotdistant.com
Check out our new open course Leadership in Remote Teams, starting in February 2018. We also deliver in-house.
https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/open-workshops/
Find out more about the VIRTUAL not Distant® framework from this episode with Pilar on the More Time More Profit podcast
https://www.moretimemoreprofit.com/podcast/069/
Maya is a freelance writer, who’s moved on from running a virtual company to joining two teams (and more!) online.
Check out our About Us page to see Maya and Ross, our podcast polisher.
Connect with Maya www.mayamiddlemiss.com
She also contributes to this: valencia-property.com/denia/
She tells us a bit about her work – adopting different voices as a freelance writer and keeping the “heart” of it.
The need to build up your repertoire of tools when joining virtual teams.
How free are freelancers?
Accountability, trust and measuring output, when most of your work is not measurable…
The face to face component – the social and 360 degree aspect.
From manager to employee.
How do you sense how much you can adapt something in a team so that it works for you?
What helps during the onboarding process and as a freelancer.
(Last time Maya was onboarded, it was the 20th century!) She shares the experience of being a freelancer for a mainly full-time, colocated company. And the early internet days!
Looking out for the unspoken during the onboarding process.
Observing the culture – being deliberate about communication.
Piece on security https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/blog/virtually-secure-is-not-enough
We talk about this article https://work.qz.com/1118489/your-job-as-an-employer-is-to-make-sure-every-voice-is-heard
The separation between people who are embracing technology and those who don’t. And also different levels of comfort with change.
The new open course: https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/open-workshops/
What can Maya see when she looks out of her new window?
Pilar hops on the microphone for this Fickle Friday episode:
Reflections on one of my jobs today as a voiceover. No personal stuff, no quick round robin of how everyone was feeling or any "chit chat". And yet we did a cracking job. So, why do we insist on sharing so much when we work with others in a team?
(And to find out more about Pilar's work as a voiceover artist, check out "Hi, I'm Here for a Recording. The ordinary life of a voiceover artist.")
In this episode, Pilar talks about the fears that arise around the use/overuse of technology when we introduce a remote setup.
visit www.virtualnotdistant.com
In this episode, Pilar talks about the fears that arise around the use/overuse of technology when we introduce a remote setup. In the second part of the episode, she talks about the new open course run by Virtual not Distant.
Check out this new, two-week course (though you’ll only need to commit about 30-60 minutes a day) on leadership in remote teams. With voucher code. https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/open-workshops/
https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/blog/sickness-remote-teams
This episode will be of use to team members, managers and those responsible for supporting the shift to remote work / agile working in organisations.
What are the fears of tech overload?
- That all our interactions will be online and we will lose our human connection.
- That we won’t be able to switch off.
- That learning to use new platforms will be stressful and take up too much time.
Human connection and overload
Move away from email onto platforms/tools. (We’ll talk about tool overload later.)
Different people have different relationships with email. The problem is that our inbox tends to mix our team communication with our organisational/external communication.
We haven’t trained ourselves in using it and we haven’t agreed how to use it.
Most emails don’t have a personal picture, but collaboration platforms do. Sense of connection.
Tool overload
Agree on what will be used for what.
What is “urgent”? (Saturday email from Santi.)
As you get to it, send messages to say things have been updated.
Adjust your notifications.
It’s your responsibility to check.
Hypercommunication until you get into a rhythm.
False sense of security with Office 365. (Still lots of choices and updates.)
Make yourself comfortable / Create comfort for those in the office to work remotely with others
Practical aspects:
Devices, wireless, adjustable desks, screen behind you (separate home)
I use a Kindle to read, dictate emails into phone and use pen and paper!
In office, create a space for meetings and necessary equipment – simple equipment!
Work Life Balance Fusion Interference (episode 120 with Lisette)
https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/work-life-what
Our Open Course
12 – 23 February 2018
https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/open-workshops/
VIRTUAL framework
Lots of questions for you, make the material your own
Become a tech DJ, navigate through tech.
First time we run it so we have a discount for you: 15% off just enter code PODCAST at checkout.
Pilar talks to Elise Keith, co-founder of Lucid Meetings. We talk about why “training how to run meetings” often fails and why you should take a holistic approach when trying to improve meetings in your organisation.
visit www.virtualnotdistant.com
Pilar mentions the new course on Leading Remote Teams, which will run from 12 – 23 February 2018. More information here: https://virtualnotdistant.squarespace.com/open-workshops/
In this episode, Pilar talks to Elise Keith, co-founder of Lucid Meetings, a company providing a software product to help meeting leaders prepare and run their meetings, as well as offering consultancy/training on improving meetings in organisations.
What does “scaling effective meeting habits” in an organisation refer to?
Understanding what the purpose of each meeting is, what are you trying to achieve?
There are lots of different types of meetings!
https://www.lucidmeetings.com/glossary
Should we stop calling “meetings” meetings? Specially in the online space.
“The perverse psychology of meetings”. When someone has a problem with a meeting, they rarely have a problem with a meeting.
Why learning to run a meeting doesn’t mean you’ve learned how to guide a conversation.
How and why Lucid Meetings was founded.
http://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/why-were-focusing-on-meetings
We need a shift in perspective not “training on running meetings”.
How Lucid Meetings’ is evolving, from helping them run better meetings, to helping then have better conversations. How the templates in the software support this.
The software as the “bad guy”.
The Effective Meetings Results Programme – a more holistic approach to improving meetings in organisations and why our approach to meetings NEEDS to be holistic.
https://www.lucidmeetings.com/effective-meeting-results-process
Elise’s favourite meetings.
www.lucidmeetings.com
Follow on Twitter https://twitter.com/lucidmeetings
A short rambling by Pilar on how the word "learning" is usually used to mean information-absorption or acquiring new skills, rather than the broadest meaning, whereby we are constantly adjusting our behaviour and changing how we do things.
Plus, how assumptions landed Pilar on the wrong side of town to her friend.
Working out loud takes effort and energy – and it becomes really hard to do when we are struggling with the work or when we are afraid of breaking the “good vibe” of the team or of not being a “positive team member”.
visit www.virtualnotdistant.com
Links mentioned in the updates:
Our listener Steve recommends:
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/secret-behind-happy-productive-companies-brian-de-haaff
Pilar’s family friend was a pioneer in 2009 of “Mobile phone-based telemedicine system for the home follow-up of patients undergoing ambulatory surgery.”
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/19566396/
The article that inspired today’s conversation:
The 6 Exercises We’re Doing to Help With Artificial Harmony from the Open Buffer blog
https://open.buffer.com/artificial-harmony/
The benefits of Working Out Loud.
(For more on this check out episode 48 https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/working-out-loud )
We recall a conversation on the Virtual Team Talk Slack.
Having a channel/group/section for disagreements.
Building relationships so that we can then have candid conversations. Pilar recommends the book Radical Candor by Kim Scott.
Direct messaging vs open conversations.
Making the transition involves changing how we communicate, including talking about when we should make our conversations public.
There is value in talking about how we will disagree with each other and even in giving permission to disagree.
If we’re not disagreeing, do we care?
Language matters: does the way in which we express our values discourage disagreement and healthy conflict?
Having a place for team members to share “stuff” that’s not easy to read or talk about.
If emotional support is important for you, decide how you will reach out.
It’s better to communicate, even if we communicate badly. In remote teams, it’s easy to disengage.
Morgan Legge from Convert.com shares the company’s journey adopting a “holacratic approach”.
visit www.virtualnotdistant.com
What Convert does and what the original team looked like.
www.convert.com
Why the company decided to go down the Holacracy route: “to give people the freedom to make decisions that would grow the company in the direction that it needed to grow.”
They haven’t yet formally adopted the constitution – Morgan explains what this would mean.
SO 21st Century that we can find enough information online to digest it and start to implement change. Where did she find the information?
“We’re kind of making it up as we go along, and we’re ok with that.”
Who makes up Convert? Distributed over 9 timezones.
Holacracy – a structure about the work, not the people.
How does that look like in practice.
The “tensions” between the current reality and where you want to be.
The freedom also leads to you failing or succeeding in a very public way.
Roles and assigning tasks. (The company uses the software Asana to do this.)
Morgan gives an example of how a task can be assigned (as a request) to another role, but you can’t hold onto how they manage it. They can also give it back to you.
To be able to do this, you need to know who to reach out to in the company. What are circles in Holacracy?
If you want to find out more, go here: https://www.holacracy.org/constitution
Morgan’s shift from a more traditional setup to a “holacratic” distributed organisation. The similarities and the change in mindset.
Recruiting for the company – the hiring process and what they look in a person. How do you find someone who can take the responsibility that comes with the freedom?
Values and being yourself at Convert. Morgan’s piece: https://medium.com/optimize-everything/how-convert-turned-down-over-100-000-in-revenue-and-profited-7211ba33bc52
There are many ways of learning from others in our remote team: through asking for feedback and running activities where we can learn from each other.
visit www.virtualnotdistant.com
A few updates:
Lisette is looking for beta readers and there will be a range of ways in which to give her feedback on her book. To do so, sign up to her newsletter: https://www.collaborationsuperpowers.com/
Why are companies still asking people to work from home without providing them with the support they need?
Are there two “camps” of organisations working with remote teams: those that have been doing it for decades (and will not change their ways) and those making the transition who can see the potential of integrating a wide range of tech into their communications.
The main conversation:
Asking for feedback. Lisette shares how she’s gathering feedback on her TedX Talk.
The kind of questions / directions we can use when asking for feedback.
Using Google Docs to gather feedback and turn it into a conversation.
Latte and Learn sessions.
https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/blog/learning-remote-teams
Learning from each other asynchronously.
Happy Melly’s weekly challenge.
Using online apps/tools to capture thoughts as they come – and then sharing them so that others can build on them.
We are really talking here about building a learning culture, so that people get used to trying things out, sharing their experiences and focusing on improvement.
Nurturing curiosity – it’s something that can be developed given the time, space and structure. And encouragement, of course…
Is asking “which tool when” the right question to be asking? And how is a training programme for remote team managers different to that for office-based managers?
visit www.virtualnotdistant.com
We welcome Maya to Virtual not Distant. You can read her first contribution to our blog here: https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/blog/presenteeism-in-remote-teams
Thanks to guest Chris Slemp, who tells us about his new venture/conversation-starter: Which Tool When? http://whichtoolwhen.com/
You can find out more about what Chris does, how he views the world of collaboration and why he advocates for an “office optional” approach by listening to episode WLP123 Building a Collaboration Environment
https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/collaboration-environment?
To read the article on which this episode is based on, head over here:
https://www.trainingzone.co.uk/deliver/training/how-to-design-a-development-programme-for-managers-of-remote-teams
There are three steps to developing the programme:
1) Getting yourself ready by assessing how culture will affect remote work, what technology is available to managers and their teams and what support people will get, how and when.
2) Develop the content, bearing in mind that you might need to cover self-awareness (in relation to communication preferences and tech preferences in particular), working out loud, designing for spontaneity, creating/adapting a team charter and technical training on tools.
3) How will you deliver the training? There needs to be an experiential component to the programme, including participating in video meetings and taking part in thorough asynchronous conversations.
Can we help? Check out our services.
https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/services/
visit www.virtualnotdistant.com
We meet Sandra Lewis, founder and CEO of Worldwide101, a company made up of premium virtual assistants.Please note, that Worldwide101 has rebranded as BOLDLY.
Sandra talks about how she set up the company, after noticing the number of freelancer websites popping up.
She talks about how she assembled the team, the importance of values and of loving to work remotely.
How the company is organised: a small management team plus +100 virtual assistants, working in the US and Europe.
Not micromanaging makes working across timezones easier. They ensure this works by recruiting highly qualified people.
The difference between premium virtual assistants and regular virtual assistant companies.
How do you match clients and VAs?
A stable team, but one that’s growing… How they recruit.
If you would like to join the team, get in touch with Sandra.
https://boldly.com/jobs/
How long does it take to assess whether a potential team member shares Worldwide101’s values and why does it matter? And when do you realise if someone is suitable?
Not everyone really understands what it’s like to work remotely…
Is it still more acceptable for women to work remotely and have flexible schedules than men?
How Sandra works from home and how her approach has changed over the last few years.
Communication within the management team and amongst team members. Using a range of options to stay connected. Providing a company where people can continue learning.
visit www.virtualnotdistant.com
Why does everyone want to be “busy” all the time and why are so many of us rushing around? Join Pilar and Lisette for today’s virtual coffee.
Thanks to our listener Louise for her feedback on the article we discussed in episode 140 on sensors in the workplace.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/barclays-bank-sensors-a7901566.html
Pilar mentions two other shows:
Management Café and Evidence Talks
If you have any articles or topics you would like to know more about, let Pilar know and she can cover them in the next season of Management Café.
https://managementcafepodcast.com/
Pilar and Lisette discuss these articles:
https://blog.trello.com/hurry-worry-time-urgency-plaguing-team-productivity#.WarItKCkK7g.pocket
https://www.wsj.com/articles/no-headline-available-1386352891?tesla=y
Looking out for signs of “work martyrdom”
https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/blog/presenteeism-in-remote-teams
The rhythm of collaboration platforms.
We mention the characteristics of those tasks we’re always procrastinating on:
Task attributes that make us more likely to procrastinate on a certain task:
Boring
Frustrating
Difficult
Ambiguous
Unstructured
They lack personal meaning or intrinsic rewards
(Extracted from the Smart Passive Income podcast, episode 258 https://www.smartpassiveincome.com/podcasts/the-productivity-project-with-chris-bailey/)
The importance of paying attention to the link of body-mind-environment.
https://qotoqot.com/blog/improving-focus/
Join Virtual Team Talk! www.virtualteamtalk.com
Here’s that poster Pilar talks about:
visit www.virtualnotdistant.com
In today’s episode, Richard A. MacKinnon explains the concept of psychological flexibility and how we can change our behaviour to be values-led rather than emotion-led.
If you enjoy this episode, check out the ten episodes of the Management Café podcast and Evidence Talks.
http://www.worklifepsych.com/
Richard on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/WorkLifePsych
Psychological Flexibility – it can be developed. The fact that professionals are being trained in this skill shows that we are acknowledging the wholeness of people coming to work.
Emotions! Values! Can we talk about these at work?
So, what is psychological flexibility?
A set of skills that support each other (thinking and behavioural skills) that allow you to step aside from troubling thoughts and emotions and not let them take over the situation.
Values-led action rather than emotions-led action.
Are emotions heightened when we go remote?
Letting our values guide us. Checking assumptions before we let our emotions guide us. Behaving in alignment with our values.
“I don’t need to be angry.”
We’re not talking about not having emotions.
“Defusing” thoughts and emotions to identify the thoughts.
The concept of “rigid self” – here comes the “flexibility” in psychological flexibility.
Letting go of thoughts.
Showing up.
Get moving in the direction of your values
When working at home, we run the risk of disconnecting from our values as well as from our organisation.
Discomfort in change.
What else does WorkLifePsych do?
http://www.worklifepsych.com/
Check out episode 81, also with Richard, this time talking about his work at the Future Work Centre.
https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/futureworkcentre
Further reflections after yesterday's episode on how employees are being tracked so that customers can get better service.
I also came across this article to complement our short discussion on the nature and future of education:
Who's Building the Infrastructure for Lifelong Learning by Linda Gratton. http://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/whos-building-the-infrastructure-for-lifelong-learning/
Visit www.virtualnotdistant.com
In this episode, Pilar and Lisette discuss five articles that have caught their eye in the last few months.
(1) Scraping data from LinkedIn to get insights into your employees. Hmm…
“The law's authors could not possibly have envisioned such a scenario when drawing up the bill. (You’ll hear that often - this isn’t the first time an ancient law has been crowbarred into a modern dispute.)”
Are laws falling behind the world of work? (And the world!)
https://www-bbc-co-uk.cdn.ampproject.org/c/www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/technology-40932487
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2017/08/court-rejects-linkedin-claim-that-unauthorized-scraping-is-hacking/
https://www.hiqlabs.com/legal
(2) Are we going too far with sensors in the office?
The fine line between being watched and gathering data in the office to improve the use of space.
Communication – do employees know why they’re being monitored?
https://qz.com/1002705/herman-miller-creator-of-the-aeron-chair-wants-to-make-your-desk-more-like-a-fitbit/
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/barclays-bank-sensors-a7901566.html
(3) VR in the workplace, coming soon?
http://www.dogheadsimulations.com/doghead-blog/2017/9/4/how-to-apply-vr-collaboration-to-your-business
(4) Flash Organisations, the future of work?
Platforms that help freelancers create teams and organisations on a per-project basis.
https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/07/12/business/economy/flash-organizations-labor.html
(5) Free online courses from top universities. The future of education.
https://medium.freecodecamp.org/ivy-league-free-online-courses-a0d7ae675869
Before contacting me to appear in the podcast, or on behalf of a potential guest, please listen to this episode.
- If you are a listener, go ahead just sent me a note, we don;t have to record a full episode, anything will do. Just email me and we can talk. Or go to virtualnotdistant.com and use the contact form.
- If you've just come across the podcast and think it might be good to appear in it, make sure you like the tone; make sure you will enjoy talking to me (not everyone does!) and make sure what you have to offer is in line with the show. The show is broad, but it does have a few themes running through it.
- If you are contacting me on behalf of someone else, if they've asked you to contact me, great. If not, same goes, make sure they are the right fit - not that on paper they sound like the right fit, please listen to the show first. And before we start scheduling the show, make sure they ok with appearing in it.
So there you go, in a nutshell, podcasts seem like a great way of promoting yourself and your business, but to podcasters, they are more than a vehicle for exposure. They are a creation; there is continuity; and each host and show has a very particular style and audience.
So, if you want to hop on the microphone with me, go ahead, feel free to use the contact form over at virtual notdsitnat.com
Just touching base with you today while I catch up with the backlog of conversations. Here's a little blog post that was quite popular last month: "How to Stop Worrying about Whether People are Getting the Work Done at Home". If you prefer to read the blog post, here's the link:
https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/blog/how-do-you-measure-results-in-remote-team
In this episode, Pilar explains the benefits of having regular update meetings with your remote team.
visit www.virtualnotdistant.com
Pilar mentions this article by Amy Edmondson and Bror Saxberg Putting Lifelong Learning on the CEO Agenda.
http://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/organization/our-insights/putting-lifelong-learning-on-the-ceo-agenda
(We cover Psychological Safety also in Episode 9 of Management Café.)
If you would like to be a Beta Reader for “Online Meetings that Rock”, sign up here https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/meetings-book/
08:00mins
The kind of team Pilar is talking about: Those with a decent timezone overlap.
Don’t Cancel your Regular Team Meetings!
Conversations not Presentations
Nurturing Connections
Technology becomes Your Friend
Soon They Will be Everywhere!
Check out episode 136 on how Automattic uses video to engage with customers.
https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/happiness-at-automattic
There’s reference to episode 557 of HBR Ideacast “Restoring Sanity to the Office” with Jason Fried, founder of Basecamp.
https://hbr.org/ideacast/2016/12/restoring-sanity-to-the-office.html
He mentions that the reason why meetings are often seen as interruptions is because they involve “Talking about something right now that generally has very little to do with what's happening with our work right now”.
What Do You Want to Get from the Meeting?
If you just want to reconnect with team members, voice this or else your silence can be misinterpreted.
Can’t Make the Meeting or Don’t Want to be There?
Also check out Episode 119 Making Video Meetings Comfortable
https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/comfortable-virtual-meetings
And https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/blog/audio-meetings
In this episode Pilar talks to Nancy Settle-Murphy about the challenges of working with people based in other countries.
visit www.virtualnotdistant.com
In the introduction, Pilar shares the different reasons why people might not be acting on feedback, or asking for clarification:
Avoiding losing face
Seeking harmony
Unconditional respect for authority
Lack of trust
She mentions this previous episode with Hugo Messer on working in global teams: https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/across-continents
You can also listen to Nancy and Pilar’s previous conversation on “Facilitating Virtual Meetings”, https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/facilitating-virtual-meetings
A hierarchical view of the world: My way is the only way. How much is Headquarters imposing a way of working?
“Assumptions in a way are shortcuts to finding a solution.”
Should we be making generalisations and assumptions about how people work because they belong to one culture? Maybe it’s our best first guess…
What areas of working life might be affected by geographical cultures?
Decision-making; how trust is built.
Hierarchy and decision making. It’s not as simple as it looks.
We talk about this article by Erin Meyer, on the HBR July 2017 issue:
https://hbr.org/2017/07/being-the-boss-in-brussels-boston-and-beijing
In podcast form: https://hbr.org/ideacast/2017/07/how-authority-and-decision-making-differ-across-cultures.html
Nancy recommends Erin Meyer’s “The Culture Map”
http://amzn.to/2vJAP9V
(affiliate link)
Tool confusion even in the same company.
How different people give feedback.
Not your way, or my way, but a third way, that is beneficial to the end client/user/product.
What happens when the people who we expect to change their ways, actually change their behaviour?
The importance of informal communication to get used to people who exhibit emotions. How do different people like to interact informally?
How ready are people to talk about their personal life at work? Be aware of questions that could be seen as intrusive.
Cultural differences are worth talking about.
Connect with Nancy on Twitter: https://twitter.com/nsettlemurphy
And check out her website: https://www.guidedinsights.com/
https://www.guidedinsights.com/articles-guides/
In this episode, Pilar talks to David Burkus, author of “Under New Management”, an overview of those organisations experimenting with new ways of leading teams and managing people.
visit www.virtualnotdistant.com
If you would like to be a Beta Reader of “Online Meetings that Rock”, please click here: http://bit.ly/betameeting
David Burkus is the author of Under New Management: How Leading Organisations Are Upending Business as Usual. Grab the book now!
We reflect on what a long way technology has come and how we’re so lucky to have seen how it has evolved.
David’s work as Professor. His location is fantastic for going to and from speaking engagements!
How much David takes from the classroom to your work as author and speaker and viceversa? What do business students expect to learn? What are their attitudes towards the world of work?
David talks about the sports’ “team captain” as the analogy for the leadership roles business students are likely to adopt when they enter the world of work.
David refers to this article: “Let’s Hear it for B Players”, HBR June 2003
Pilar refers to this episode of Radio Free Leader.
http://davidburkus.com/2017/07/0820-how-the-best-leaders-make-everyone-smarter-with-liz-wiseman/
How David decided which practices to include in Under New Management. They needed to have a few examples, influenced by academic research and covering a broad type of companies.
David’s realization about how the book should have been written.
We talk a bit about the topics in the book and how best to approach the book practically.
How come nothing like “remote work”, “working from home” has been included in the book?
What he discovered about the best organisational leaders as he interviewed them.
David also teaches creativity, we talk a bit about that. (He’s written the book “The Myths of Creativity”.)
Pilar recommends the book “Impro”, by Keith Johnstone
David’s collaborative writing process and his plans for a third book.
David’s journey as podcaster and how he numbers his episodes by season. Still, he’s been podcasting for eight years now! Check out his podcast:
Radio Free Leader http://davidburkus.com/category/podcast/
We talk about the world of podcasting and how it’s evolving.
David has been reading: “Stealing Fire” by Steven Kotler and Jamie Weal
“The Marshmallow Test” by Walter Mischel
Kindle and local libraries.
Connect with David through his website: http://davidburkus.com/
Have we got a treat for you today. In this episode, both Lisette and Pilar talk to Tish Briseno, Happiness Engineer at Automattic, the company behind WordPress.com.
visit www.virtualnotdistant.com
Tish shares what her job as Happiness Engineer entails and how she interacts directly with customers through video meetings. This really helps her to feel connected to the work and see the results of her work. (Plus, she loves seeing all the different blogs around.)
How does someone start working for Automattic? Tish shares her own story and the onboarding process.
Communication across a company with over 560 distributed employees. How do people talk to each other and collaborate in a company with no physical office and how is the organisation structured? (To find out more about why Automattic ditched their San Francisco office, check out this article: https://qz.com/1002655/the-company-behind-wordpress-is-closing-its-gorgeous-san-francisco-office-because-its-employees-never-show-up/
Most of the long-form, thorough communication in Automattic takes place through the P2 blogs. Tish shares how she’s learned to write posts aimed at others in the company and how she receives feedback from colleagues.
The role of the Team Lead at Automattic.
The autonomy of the job; staying connected with people in her team and acting on her own initiative.
Read more about Tish’s work on her blog: https://tish.blog/
Connect with Tish on Twitter: https://twitter.com/iSocialTish
In this episode, Pilar talks about the importance of thinking holistically about introducing “remote” into an organisation: how will it change a company’s culture? How will it challenge people’s identities?
Visit www.virtualnotdistant.com
It’s the summer, and things have slowed down, which I really appreciate. London is quieter, the internet is quieter, which means I have more time to think and to write. But I’ll tell you about the writing a little bit later.
Today’s episode: well, I’d like to dedicate it to people in organisations who are in charge of implementing remote working (or some other way of working that involves working away from the company’s premises) or indeed, if you are championing this kind of work in your organisation. Last year, the Work Foundation predicted that 2017, this year, would be the tipping point for 50% of the UK’s population to go “mobile”. And indeed, it’s really felt like that this year. (To hear more on the Working Anywhere report, have a listen to episode 72.) More organisations – both in the public and private sectors – are introducing “agile working” which means different things to different people, but which always integrates some sort of remote work.
So there is a lot of potential for individuals to organise their lives around their work, for getting rid of unhelpful processes and work habits that we’re used to in the collocated space that get in the way of people doing great work, of concentrating on the work that needs to be done, rather than worrying about whether people look like they’re working at their desks, all those things that we talk about on this podcast…
At the same time, I worry that this change is being introduced without understanding the profound change that it will have on people’s lives and ways of working… In some cases, the change is happening because organisations want to retain their employees by giving them more autonomy and flexibility, but in some cases, it’s being introduced to reduce the real estate bill, and for some employees, it might not be a welcome change. So, I thought I’d have a reflective episode on all of this: whatever the reason for the change, it’s worth remembering that remote work is not just supported by giving people laptops, it needs a lot more support…
So I think the first thing to consider is that introducing remote work should give employees more flexibility around where, when and how they do their work. It’s a shame to enable remote working and then restrict this freedom. And this involves seeing whether there are more options beyond 1) working at the same desk every day and 2) working from home.
It’s worth remembering that people working from home, especially if it’s for the first time, might need help and practical support. Some will love it, they will be happy to check emails on their sofa and work on the kitchen table. Others might have a dedicated room they can use as an office. But some people might just not have the space, or they might have conflicting schedules at home which means that they long to get out of the house to have some time to themselves. If the ability to do this by going to work is removed, we might be taking away something valuable to them.
So, if your reason for introducing remote work is reducing office space, then make sure your people have the necessary alternative spaces where they can get their work done.
If, on the other hand, you are introducing remote work to give your people flexibility, make sure that no-one feels like they are expected to start working away from the office – just because they can, doesn’t mean they should.
We really need to remember that not everyone wants to work from home, that not everyone CAN work from home. However, some people might be able to use alternatives, like coworking spaces, or maybe there are spaces within your organisations’ building where they feel most inspired, or where they just feel more connected to the work. There might be ways of rearranging the space you already have to create different types of spaces to accommodate more people (rather than the one fixed desk per person); there might be ways of partnering with other organisations to offer your employees spaces that are more convenient for them – think broad, think beyond fixed desk space or home, there might be more alternatives… (I talk more about this in episode 131, Office Optional)
Sometimes having people work away from the office – away from their desks – is met with resistance from managers, from colleagues, and I think this is often because we’ve lost our connection with the work; its nature; its purpose.
It might be necessary to stop and reflect on what is the work we do? What do I do at work? Why do I need to work with others? I can’t give you an answer to any of this because it will be really specific to your work and situation.
It could be that what you do at work is answer questions from visitors to your website. That type of work can be done from anywhere where you are comfortable at a computer. But you might feel like you need to be with others, for troubleshooting, for moral support, because the work itself is actually quite monotonous, or unrewarding, and being with your colleagues is what keeps you engaged. How will you make sure those people in the organisation who need that social contact continue to get it?
At an organisational level, you need to have an idea of the kind of work people do and whether it’s location-specific or schedule-specific; that will help us decide whether the work can indeed be done from anywhere and how.
In addition to this, you need to understand the environment you want to offer your people, and make sure that introducing some kind of remote set up is not going to remove what you most value.
But in order to do that, you need to be able to break down the experience your people have at work and what they need to be happy at work; not just how much more productive they’re going to be because they’re not going to have interruptions when working separately from others – if that’s the case.
Sometimes transitioning to a remote setup, or even just a more Office Optional approach can seem like turning everything upside down, but it could well be that in looking at our work, we realise that we’re already using technology in a number of ways and that we might need to preserve many of the ways in which we currently work. And then we might also see that the work we do actually can take a lot of flexibility regarding when and where, and even how we do it, even though at first it looked like there was only ONE way of doing the work, the way in which we’d been carrying it out until now. But finding this out will take time and some thinking.
It could well be that “going remote” starts to throw up questions about how the whole organisation is working. This is where the whole discussion around introducing remote work in an organisation can start to get quite broad. There might have been an emphasis on team members sitting together, on different functions being located on different floors, increasing the separation between different parts of the organisation and maybe even, without realising it, nurturing a culture of competitiveness. This might have been deliberate, or actually, it might have been a practical decision that had unforeseen consequences.
Now that we understand that tools, processes and environment can affect workplace culture, we can’t overlook that introducing “remote” can have positive and negative consequences.
Going remote could mean that you think about how to enable connections between everyone in the company, regardless of function; knowing that collaborating across functions can lead to innovation, and that to get things done in a company it often helps to know people outside of your team. Instead of thinking how you can enable people “bumping into each other” in the corridors and breakout areas, think about how you can enable this through technology.
As people get used to using technology for every day communication and to enable collaboration, why not incite people to broaden their network, beyond their team members?
On the other hand, remote can lead to isolation and even more separation between different parts of the organisation, as communication can become more segmented because exchanging a few words around the coffee machine, or in the queue to get your food becomes quite difficult. Unless you plan for it, informal exchanges between people not working directly with each other can become less frequent. This is something we need to think about:
how will the company work as a whole, rather than just how will people work in virtual teams?
If you want people’s networks to strengthen within your organisation, you need to plan for that.
So, on the point of reducing silos, I’ve been talking for a while here now- it might be a good point at which to introduce a new voice.
Those of you who have been listening to this podcast for a while might remember that a few episodes ago, in episode 127, Brie Reynolds joined me to talk about career progression in remote work and her own work in FlexJobs. I preparation for the interview, I downloaded the 2017 State of Telecommuting in the US Employee Workforce. As a result of doing that, I then got an email through inviting me to request an invitation to the TRaD works Forum.
With a lineup of speakers from Dell, Gallup and Harvard Business Review, I thought it would be interesting to have someone tell you a little bit more about the event – one, in case you are interested in attending, it’s an in-person, in the flesh event taking place in Washington DC at the end of September and two, I always like to share events I come across about the world of work. So here’s Mike Gutman, Director of Marketing from Flexjobs telling you a bit about the company, and a bit about the event.
Well, thank you Mike for adding a different voice to this solo episode. And the url for that event is trad.works and of course, check out flexjobs.com or their sister site remote.co
I think that the focus that the event has on making remote “scalable” and something that is seen as an organisation-wide programme reinforces what I was saying earlier, so that’s another reason why I wanted to include the segment here.
So, back to introducing remote in an organisation, I’ve mentioned understanding the type of work we’re doing and its flexibility, as well as understanding the Culture of the organisation and the effect that can have on how remote is implemented, as well as the other way around of course.
And it will also work the other way round: Going remote will have an effect on culture, whether we like it or not. If the transition is planned and deliberate, we can strengthen those aspects of the current culture that are helpful; but if we leave it to chance, we could well end up with a culture of people disappearing at home behind their computers or, at the other end, we could end up with a culture of people constantly checking up on others.
In addition to culture, there is the question of individual identity. Just something like not coming into the office every day to be with colleagues can challenge someone’s identity. For example, if you are someone who prides themselves in being the person others turn to when they need cheering up and you think that your optimism and ability to help others to see things in a positive light is the main thing you bring to your team, you might have trouble adopting to a new way of working when you spend a lot less time in person together, and where connecting with others takes that little bit more effort.
Or, if you are a manager who sees themselves as approachable, and enjoys having “lightning coaching chats” in the corridor with people and always being available when people spontaneously ask if you’ve got five minutes, it might take a while to take the more deliberate approach to these conversations that is necessary in the remote space. And in the beginning, it can feel that the essence of what makes you special and valuable, that approachability, is being overlooked or even undervalued. These are all subtle consequences of starting to work in a more location-independent way, and they are usually overlooked…
Some people, some teams, even some companies will be able to adapt to a location- independent, even schedule-independent way of working quite quickly. But in other places, we might actually be asking people and teams to change how they see themselves, not just how they work. And that is hard and takes time.
So to wrap up this short episode of the 21st Century Work Life podcast,
I suppose what I’m advocating for here is a deeper approach to changing the way in which we work when going remote or mobile.., that goes beyond training people in the new technology and making sure they have the right equipment and set up. Although maybe I still need to highlight the importance of doing all that too – I run the danger of taking for granted that that will indeed be the very first step…
So let’s remember that we also need to provide the right equipment, some way of people to assess whether they are being productive in the new set up, whether they’re adapting ok, how work is affecting other parts of their lives, etc. Then keeping an eye out on culture, work satisfaction etc, especially if you have introduced new tools, as these might well change the dynamics and quality of how people communicate and collaborate… This is not something that will take a month or two to implement, it’s something that is worth introducing slowly, monitoring, evaluating, adapting, because the short-term effects might be different to the long-term effects.
It’s a change programme, so as well as looking after the tech, you’ll need to look after the people… I’m probably preaching to the converted, but I just hear more and more stories of managers, specifically managers, being told that people can now work from home, without providing them with the support necessary to make the change successfully. We’ve developed strong habits around how we do the work, about what working feels like and looks like; while some people can adapt incredibly well, for some people, it challenges the core of how they see themselves as professionals and how they view the world of work.
To sign up as a Beta reader for Online Meetings that Rock, click here:
http://bit.ly/betameeting
In this episode, Pilar talks to Syrus Lowe about his work in the theatre, in role-play companies and presenting.
The diverse things that Syrus has been doing over the last 12 months.
Being involved in the live streaming performance of St Joan at the Donmar Warehouse.
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/theatre-dance/reviews/saint-joan-donmar-warehouse-london-review-gemma-artertons-joan-radiates-a-gentle-simplicity-and-a7486861.html
How the nature of auditions has changed and how the industry is becoming more demanding.
Syrus’ work as a role-play actor, facilitator and his masterclass.
https://www.roleplaymasterclass.com/
Giving feedback and training actors to give feedback in role-play sessions.
Syrus’ article about unconscious bias: Syrus Lowe: Confusing me with another black actor is no laughing matter
https://www.thestage.co.uk/opinion/2017/syrus-lowe-confusing-another-black-actor-no-laughing-matter/
Using an actor’s public image to advocate for equality and other issues. The difficulty in managing public and private persona.
Syrus’ work as a presenter.
How City Hacks has evolved… and some interesting news!
Check out the youtube channel City Hacks London
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtICc4-FCa7Xt-SN3yYJpQg
https://www.roleplaymasterclass.com/
Next classes in London 19th August and 20th September 2017
@SyrusLowedown on Twitter and Instagram
In this episode, Pilar and Lisette talk about the kind of mindset remote team managers can embrace that will make their lives easier.
Lisette tells us about her experience running a webinar in Japan.
This is the article Lisette and Pilar use to guide us through the conversation.
Six Traits of Leaders Who Successfully Manage Remote Employees
https://www.forbes.com/sites/markmurphy/2016/06/10/6-traits-of-leaders-who-successfully-manage-remote-employees/#a69d5b14032e
Do we really want to be indefatigable?
The manager as “company evangelist” or advocate? How much do you need to love your company?
Should we always be “positive” or will we start to sound like PR machines? Authenticity comes into play.
Being approachable and available.
Physical distance and Psychological distance.
Writing letters! And writing, are wired for communicating through writing?
In this episode, Pilar talks to Olivia Jones, a freelance copywriter based in London about being freelance and dealing remotely with clients.
Check out Olivia’s blog: http://goldenpulse.co.uk/
The transition to freelance and deciding what area to focus on. Working with freelancers in other countries when she was a project manager. How being a project manager has helped her to go freelance.
How can you figure out if a client is going to be a good person to work with and what the barriers might be to fruitful collaboration.
What is copywriting?
How Olivia initiates the conversation with a client. Would anything they say put her off?
Olivia’s creative process; how she creates the right work environment for herself.
Olivia’s health and fitness blog and the opportunities it creates.
http://oliviathecopywriter.co.uk/
Working remotely with clients. (She might sound like one, but Olivia’s not a “millennial”.)
Freelancers are always learning!
Olivia on Twitter @imissolivia
In this episode, Pilar advocates for an Office Optional approach, where the office becomes one more place where we can work from and how the nature of how we work in those spaces needs to change.
Why “Office Optional” is a slightly better term than using some of the words that suggest there is a large physical distance between team members.
(There is a complementary blog post to this episode: https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/blog/office-optional )
When will sitting next to each other benefit our work?
How “agile working” and “flexible working” are being used as terms that refer only to the physical space where we work from.
If we don’t have an option to use an office and we are missing sharing a physical space, why? Pinpoint why and see whether there are ways of working to fulfill those needs. (eg. Push to talk, set times at the computer etc.)
How some companies use their often unused spaces to bring external ideas into the building.
Check out the article:
Smart Office Buildings: What Features do People Really Want?
http://www.worktechacademy.com/smart-office-buildings-features-people-really-want/
Pilar mentions the Work 2.0 Conference, here’s the link to episode
https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/work-2-conference
Why companies might want to encourage people to use the office.
What do people look for in an office building?
As always, please send your thoughts and questions through https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/contact-us/
In this episode, Pilar and Lisette discuss a few articles that have caught their eye over the past weeks.
(1) Pilar and Lisette discuss a worrying new statistic: one in five employees in the UK are afraid to ask their managers to move onto flexible working. What's going on?
Articles about flexible working:
http://www.bmmagazine.co.uk/news/one-five-employees-afraid-ask-flexible-working/
https://www.fastcompany.com/3059295/inside-three-companies-that-are-innovating-flexible-schedules
https://cms.aviva.com/media/upload/Aviva_Working_Lives_Report_2017_INTERACTIVE.pdf
(2) We talk about Apple's new headquarters. The dangers of silos vs a great place where people want to work. Can buildings adapt as fast as they need to?
The article about Apple’s New HQ
https://hbr.org/2017/06/why-apples-new-hq-is-nothing-like-the-rest-of-silicon-valley
(3) Article on the perils of being the only remote worker. The need to have empathy with those who are remote when most of us are collocated.
https://www.hanselman.com/blog/TragediesOfTheRemoteWorkerLooksLikeYoureTheOnlyOneOnTheCall.aspx
(4) Some random updates.
Pilar recommends using the microphone on your smartphone’s keyboard to reduce typing into it.
Pilar’s new book “Hi, I’m Here for a Recording. The ordinary life of a voiceover artist.” is out now “https://pilarwrites.com/2017/06/25/the-ordinary-life-of-a-voiceover-artist/
Lisette recommends an editor: The-editrice.com
Pilar talks about taking part in the 10-day Business Book Proposal Challenge: https://alisonjones.leadpages.co/proposal-challenge/
In this episode Pilar talks to David Horowitz, co-founder and CEO of Retrium about why he created a tool to guide teams through retrospectives and how he’s growing a distributed business.
How we fall in and out of love with tools.
The origins of Retrium. Pre-build facilitation techniques in a package.
https://www.retrium.com/
(If you would like some inspiration on running retrospectives or review meetings, check out episode 19 of this podcast. https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/retrospectives)
From idea to finding a co-finder and building a business.
Recruiting in a distributed team. Finding the right people for a remote team.
What helps people gather as an online community?
What helps a person create connections in a community? Do people need to be good at “being remote”?
What can you tell if a person is a good match for your distributed company?
Retrium’s latest hires and the role that social media can play.
The importance of culture in remote teams and distributed businesses. (Yes, it does play a role, it is still important!) Emergence of culture and defining culture.
Let’s talk about Retrium!
How has the product developed and how has the initial vision changed and remained the same? How do you decide which facilitation tool you incorporate?
From team improvement to organisational / across-teams improvement.
How do you use a facilitation technique in a way that can lead to change?
The four different types of retrospectives in Retrium.
Retrium is also being used by all kinds of companies, not just within Agile.
How Retrium uses Retrium.
The Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjKivZc6adZJgYbj2KJTFbg
https://www.retrium.com/
The ebook “Become a Retrospective Rockstar” https://www.retrium.com/ebook/become-a-retrospective-rockstar
In this episode, Pilar and Lisette talk about their recent experience being involved in a day online event on working in virtual teams. This might be of interest if you are involved in organising a virtual event for your team or community.
visit www.virtualnotdistant.com
Lisette’s update, she’s found the perfect editor!
The Internal Affair and Virtual Team Talk
The diversity of opinions even in a group that shares a passion for making remote work, work.
What happened at this event?
Why it was an “internal affair” and not a “conference”.
How we organised the event collaboratively, asynchronously.
Pilar’s experience facilitating an audio-only session and how she discovered what she needs as a facilitator.
Thoughts from the chats on building culture asynchronously and taking an “office optional” approach.
“The company behind Wordpress is closing its San Francisco office because their employees never show up.” https://qz.com/1002655/the-company-behind-wordpress-is-closing-its-gorgeous-san-francisco-office-because-its-employees-never-show-up/
Pilar shares her impressions from a talk she attended by Sinead Lynch, Chair of Shell UK: we don’t need slides when we have something to say!
In this episode, Pilar talks to Brie Reynolds, Senior Career Specialist at Flexjobs, about taking control of your career when working remotely.
www.virtualnotdistant.com
Flexjobs has been around now for ten years, enabling people to find telecommuting jobs and other flexible jobs. Brie works there as Senior Career Specialist.
Brie's job is to help people find those jobs and she does so in a variety of ways, including organising webinars where representative from companies looking for new employees can interact directly with job seekers. Can you imagine the cost of doing that in the collocated space?
In this episode,
Brie shares how she built a team of writers at FlexJobs
How and why she moved from full time to part time https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-leaning-out-actually-helped-me-lean-learning-from-brie-reynolds
Why she created a course for people who are recovering from a layoff.
https://www.linkedin.com/learning/recovering-from-a-layoff/
She talks about career progression in remote work.
And we hear her response to an article by Jack Welch. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/working-remote-kill-your-career-jack-welch
Connect with Brie on Twitter
And be check out the great resources for working remotely on Flexjobs.com
And Remote.co
In this episode, Pilar and Lisette analyse a recent article by Patrick Lencioni where he recommends to stay away from working as a virtual team.
Visibility in Virtual Teams from the website. Scroll down the Inspiration page. https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/inspiration
Other podcasts:
Management Café
Evidence Talks
1) Lisette's holiday
Why it's so important to keep down stress levels.
David Burkus podcast Radio Free Leader
episode The Art and Practice of Breakthrough Thinking with Judah Pollack
http://davidburkus.com/2017/05/0816-the-art-and-practice-of-breakthrough-thinking-with-judah-pollack/
(2) Catch up on Agile conference and Work 2.0
Aginext http://2017.aginext.io/
For more on Work 2.0 listen to episode 125 of this podcast.
https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/work-2-conference
https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/blog/four-cs-teamwork
(3) We recap the five dysfunctions of a team and analyse this article.
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/virtual-teams-worse-than-i-thought-patrick-lencioni
(4) How Microsoft is supporting their mobile workers
https://www.wework.com/blog/posts/city-as-a-campus-the-future-of-work
(5) Two more tools from Lisette that look promising.
Telepresence Robot Ohmni
Pukka Team
Welcome to a special episode of the 21st Century Work Life podcast, where I share with you my main reflections after attending the Work 2.0 conference last May 2017, in London and where I bring in the thoughts and opinions of other attendees. Don't forget to visit
www.virtualnotdistant.com
Thank you too to everyone who very kindly agreed to taking part in this episode, it means that listeners get a much more varied view of the world of work, and it’s always great to hear different voices.
Work 2.0 consisted of the Future of Work conference and the Wellbeing conference. I attended mainly sessions on the Future of Work track – but I also managed to pop into a couple of sessions of the wellbeing track. I won’t go into the content of everything I heard, but I just wanted to give you an idea of what the main themes were.
The first thing that I noticed when looking through the programme was the focus on Activity Based Working. Now, I hadn’t really heard of this in the context of organisations, but it’s basically about designing the office so that people can choose where they work from depending on what they’re doing – the activity they’re doing.
https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/blog/four-cs-teamwork
https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/favourite-tools
I really enjoyed the presentation by Dr Nicola Millard from BT who talked about people needing to do four types of activities. Those involving Collaboration, Communication, Concentration and Contemplation. I love this last one, it really acknowledges that part of our work is to think.
Dr Millard presented a few numbers, including the percentage of people at companies who work from the office. Some interesting differences and I’m very biased in the numbers I took down: UK, 48%; Spain 53% and Germany 61%. This is a similar distribution to the recent Eurofund study on working from anywhere.
Another interesting number: 82% of high performance companies provide anytime/anywhere collaboration tools, which also raises the question, probably for the less high performing companies, do we know what the tools are for?
And talking of tools, while I was wondering around the exhibition floor, I came across the team from Sapenta, an ‘All-in-one’ software for getting work done.” , where they are paying attention to Contextual Communication.
Guest segment: Colm Digby from Sapenta
www.sapenta.com
Other stuff I jotted down in my notebook (thank you Podcast Website for the freebie last year at New Media Europe, by the way) :
Shoulder bag workers
Isolationists in a company,
Echo chambers forming around teams where there is no cognitive diversity.
Getting the balance right of We/Me; yes, we need people who are different, but there also needs to be some commonality, as we tend to gravitate those we can identify with.
The first panel session was around How workplace design can meet the needs of tomorrow, and because it was in the main hall, it was difficult to take questions from the audience, the whole audience was there, so the organisers used Slido, www.sli.do an app where people can post their questions and they are then shared on the screen, and other people can vote on the question too. I’ll share some of these questions with you in a second, but what I found most fun is that it can quickly become the way in which audience interacts with organisers or presenters, so at one point someone posted, Hey, we can’t hear at the back. It was really quick adoption of tech to suit the user, don’t you think?
Guest Segment: Paula and Eduardo from Schneider Electric
David Fano from wework.com really highlighted how we’re moving away from the workplace as somewhere where we go to work and start to focus on the place where we create relationships – this comes very much from the coworking space point of view, where you go to be with other people out of choice.
Technology has given us this choice and I’ll bang on another drum to say that Flexible working is not working from home – a lot of the time it is, because some people like that, but sometimes it’s about not working in close proximity with your team, but you might well be with other people. Or you might even be with other people inside your organisation, or with clients, but there is an element of choice in how or where you do that from.
It’s time to share a story with you – I was just going to share it with you myself, but I thought I might as well bring the person who told it into the episode.
Guest segment: Katharine Metters from Posturite
www.posturite.co.uk
I have to say, that’s the most extreme story I’ve heard about not supporting your employees when you need to work from home. I would have loved to know more about why on Earth somebody needed a photocopy in their home to do their job in this day and age, or why such person was being forced to work from home… Anyway, I hope you chuckled, or cried…
Ok, let me share now a more thoughtful approach to designing how people work, and a wonderful example of how tech can be used to fuel that intrinsic motivation that lurks inside all of us.
Case Study from Heathrow’s Innovation Department on their Enterprise Mobility Programme.
Neil Usher, who was Workplace Director at Sky.
I really enjoyed hearing about taking into consideration the diversity of the workforce, depending on the type of work they need to do and how they go about doing it.
There was also a separation between different types of workspaces that people might need access to: primary workpoints, like desk or a teamtable; alternative workspaces, I imagine, like a café or a quiet office from which to make a call; and ancillary spaces, like amenities, place to eat.
Long are the days when everyone just has a desk at the office. In Sky, there are 3,600 people but only 2,500 desks.
Guest Segment: Andrew Spence @AndySpence on Twitter
http://www.glassbeadconsulting.com/hr-transformer-blog/
The company we were talking about that does sound insulation and other stuff is Echophon Saint Gaubin. http://www.ecophon.com/uk/products/
In this episode, Pilar and Lisette share their favourite online tools and why they work for them. Can you add any to the list?
visit www.virtualnotdistant.com
How important are tools? Get out your pen and paper - or your favourite note-taking app!
Lisette mentions HuddleWall (though she hasn't tried it out yet).
TRELLO
We talk about Trello!!!!! (Planner is the Microsoft 365 version.)
Find out more about Trello and the company behind it in episode 68. http://virtualnotdistant.com/trello-and-coffee/
SOCOCO
To find out more about Sococo:
#118 What Virtual Coworking can Teach Virtual Teams https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/lessons-virtual-coworking.com
Join Virtual Team Talk www.virtualteamtalk.com
IDONETHIS
For narrating the work. What do you prefer: to know about people's tasks or their thinking process?
Take diversity into account when selecting your tools.
Spying vs Working Out Loud
Narrating the work shouldn't be linked to Performance Management, or else it becomes something else...
Pilar mentions Work Rules by Lazlo Bock and the episode 82 Work Rules Without Pants
http://virtualnotdistant.com/work-rules-without-pants/ SLACK Signalling status.
If you're using an online conversation system rather than email, customise your notifications.
Pilar mentions this article by Oliver Burkman: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/apr/14/turn-off-notifications-break-free-distraction-oliver-burkeman Pilar has an article on Your Notifications are Your Friends
https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/blog/notifications-settings
"Under New Management" by David Burkus and the link of notifications and stress.
ZENDESK
Lisette describes how the Happy Melly team uses ZenDesk Inbox to manage team emails.
TOODLEDO
For prioritising and scheduling tasks.
WUNDERLIST
For a beautiful ping when your task is complete.
KUBI
Telepresence!
Episode 87 on Hybrid Teams https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/hybrid-teams
PERSONIFY
For presenting online in front of your slides.
FACETIME and WHATSAPP
POCKETFor saving articles.
You can send PDFs to the Kindle. Send it to your Kindle email address and put "convert" in the subject line.
KUDO BOX
Say thank you via Twitter!
In this episode, Pilar talks to Chris Slemp about working out loud with teams, creating a collaboration environement and I how remote work has the potential of changing the structure of society.
visit www.virtualnotdistant.com
A little bit of an intro from Chris.
https://medium.com/@cslemp/leaving-a-global-company-to-change-the-world-b083839a2d0e
How Carpool works and how they track how communication flows through an organisation.
http://carpoolagency.com/
The "collaboration environment" and building the ecosystem.
When the reality and our perception of what's going on is different - the importance of data. An anecdote.
Will people misbehave in social networks?
Working with clients as a remote company.
Working Out Loud within the team and with the client. Role-modelling transparency and collaboration through a tight relationship with the client.
The transition of Carpool to remote and the differences in the generations - not the ones you would expect...
http://425business.com/the-anywhere-office/
The opportunity to change the world and the structure of society through changing how we work.
Having "culture conversations".
This isn't about the tools it's about thinking differently about how we work.
"Office optional".
Video: do teams need to use video?
Using video as a broadcast mechanism in organisations. An example. Going live on Workplace by Facebook
https://www.linkedin.com/in/cslemp/
Twitter: @cslemp
Steve Holyer shares why he works as Product Owner coach (amongst other things) and the importance of allowing teams to find how they best have fun together.
visit www.virtualnotdistant.com for information on our training, coaching and consultancy services
A short description of "Agile" and why Steve coaches Scrum Product Owners.
The ever-changing role of the Product Owner.
Working with distributed agile teams and what happens when they start to play hard during retrospectives. How retrospectives help teams work better together.
Agile Retrospectives: Making Good Teams Great by Esther Derby and Diana Larsen. https://www.amazon.com/Agile-Retrospectives-Making-Teams-Great/dp/0977616649/
Working collocated and working distributed.
When retrospectives get hacked.
Finding out what "fun at work" means for your team and working within that.
Pilar mentions "The Science of Great Teams", a study by Sandy Pentland.
How this playful team continues to work together.
www.coachingcocktails.com
Creating a live community meet-up online, using Zoom.
The virtual fish bowl.
Pilar mentions another recent episode from this podcast with Paul Thoresen.
Twitter @zurcherart
www.pobydesign.com
The programme of the Work 2.0 conference, in London, 25 & 26 May 2017, gives a good overview of what companies are addressing when they plan for the future of their workforce. In this episode, Pilar shares some of the session titles that have grabbed her attention.
You can find the programme here: http://www.terrapinn.com/conference/work2/index.stm
Pilar will be covering the conference in a future episode. If you would like to attend the conference, we have a 15% discount for you.
www.terrapinn.com/virtual use the code: WXWW
Pilar talks to Paul Thoresen about developing teams, trust, and using surveys in organisations.
Visit www.virtualnotdistant.com for information on our training, coaching and consultancy services.
Paul on Twitter https://twitter.com/surveyguy2
Paul on Medium https://medium.com/@SurveyGuy2
Paul talks about what he learned during his attendance to the
Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology' conference in Orlando. http://www.siop.org/conferences/17con/
- The importance of change management for organisational psychology professionals, most of what we introduce in organisations is going to involve change.
- Experimenting vs piloting; they're different things.
Look for Episode 9 of the Evidence Talks podcast with Paul
http://www.futureworkcentre.com/what-we-do/education/evidencetalks/
- There's a lot of research at the moment around teams. Paul recommends us to check out the work of Suzanne Bell https://twitter.com/TeamsLab
Teams and groups; not everyone forms a team and that's ok!
Sentiment analysis.
- The importance of propensity to trust and swift trust.
(Check out episode 117 in this podcast, A Question of Trust and the blog post https://virtualteamtalk.com/2016/11/05/trust-in-teams-1/ )
How we can show we have integrity, competence and benevolent in virtual teams?
Paul mentions this article from Science for Work:
Teams Going Virtual: Why Focusing on Trust Matters
http://scienceforwork.com/blog/virtual-teams-trust/
- Paul explains the Rocket Model. http://www.therocketmodel.com/
To create strong teams, you need the processes around it.
Dissecting the team.
- Using surveys in organisations.
"Survey readiness checklist" - Dialogic OD
- Paul's work. Social media as a support mechanism for freelancers.
Cozy Calendar http://www.cozi.com/calendar/
virtualteamtalk.com
Pilar mentions this episode from HBR IdeaCast, broadcast on 14 July 2016 "We Can't Work All the Time" https://hbr.org/ideacast/2016/07/we-cant-work-all-the-time.html
Challenging the identity of the person who sees themselves as a different individual at work and at home.
Work-life balance doesn't always mean work-family balance.
You might want to check out the 27 March 2017 episode of Business Daily. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p04xd4jy
Are customising your notifications the key to achieving separation of work and non-work activities?
Work-life balance
Work life integration
Work-home interference
https://www.eurofound.europa.eu/publications/report/2017/working-anytime-anywhere-the-effects-on-the-world-of-work
Does job insecurity contribute to stress if you work from home?
Unusual suspects who want flexibility in the work: Lisette and Pilar!
Don't forget to visit www.virtualnotdistant.com
In today's episode, Pilar talks through the things we can tweak as individuals, to make our virtual meetings comfortable. 19:25mins
Virtual meetings are gradually becoming one more way of talking to those you work with. And if organisations want their employees from different departments to network with each other, to increase the chances of innovation, they should be encouraging the use of video meetings.
Talking to others through a screen might feel a bit unnatural if you're not used to it, so here are five things to look out for to help you feel at ease.
(For episodes on running virtual meetings, check out episode 107 Facilitating Virtual Meetings with Nancy Settle-Murphy and episode 13 on Collocated and Virtual Meetings
(1) Pay attention to your background and any windows behind you.
(2) Remember that you have a chat function.
(3) Remember that you can mute yourself. (Don’t wait for others to get so fed up with you they mute you!)
(4) Do you need to see yourself?
Pilar mentions this article http://www.hrdive.com/news/study-videoconferencing-is-more-effective-when-you-cant-see-yourself/439772/
(5) Better to have an audio conversation than an annoying video one.
In today's episode, Pilar and Lisette share their experiences in virtual coworking and highlight those elements that can be applied to working in a virtual team.
Check out www.virtualnotdistant.com for coaching and training for managers of virtual teams or to help with the transition to remote.
Check out www.collaborationsuperpowers.com for the Work Together Anywhere Workshop
Updates
- Lisette shares her experience hiring virtual freelancers - and she has great tips!
- We share this article which suggests you're better off hiding your image from yourself during video meetings
http://www.hrdive.com/news/study-videoconferencing-is-more-effective-when-you-cant-see-yourself/439772/
-
Amazon has created 5,000 new US remote jobs
http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/local/amazon-to-hire-5000-at-home-workers-in-massive-hiring-binge-of-30000-part-time-employees/429755118 -
Pilar has been listening to the Leading Wisely podcast with Ricardo Semler and guests and she's loving it!
http://podcast.leadwise.co/
Lessons from Coworking in Virtual Team Talk's Sococo space
-
Easy to communicate your mood.
Finding a way to allow for serendipity
Guiding people on how to use the space
A visual component for sharing mood and status -
No physical commute but a change in mindset.
Webcam covers.
Use what tech you've got.
Flexibility + communication = autonomy! -
Emotions are part of who we are.
Show your willingness to interact. -
What are you working on?
-
Mix up your communication: chat/audio/video
-
Relatedness and identity, without removing autonomy.
Join us for Virtual Team Talk
What contributes to team members trusting each other in virtual teams? In today's episode, we present a range of thoughts, questions and suggestions to help maintain trust in virtual teams.
visit www.virtualnotdistant.com
“If we don’t have the trust, eventually you don’t have a team, you have a bunch of individuals that are sort of working together, but not really working together towards the same purpose.”
(Mark Kilby)
History of Virtual Team Talk and this project
06:50mins
"What level of trust does my team need, right now, to be effective?"
Calculated Trust: You follow the rules because the cost of not doing so is greater then the value of breaking the rule.
How Trust Emerges
13:10mins
Self-Awareness: What helps us to build trust, how does my behaviour impact how others trust me
You can read the blog post about the first meeting we had in virtualteamtalk.com
In this episode you will hear the voices of Mark Kilby, who’s an agile coach working in a company called Sonatype, which is 95% distributed. They have developers all the way from Thailand to Alaska, working from home.
And Melanie Pürschel who is developing software for remote teams and she’s currently working on the Team Mood Tracker. As a psychologist in IT she’s interested in how to support teams through technology.
And thanks to Terrance, Jochen, Kayt and Kevin for their thoughts and contributions to this project too.
16:34 mins Individual behaviours that help us trust someone or distrust them
06:50mins
"What level of trust does my team need, right now, to be effective?"
Calculated Trust: You follow the rules because the cost of not doing so is greater then the value of breaking the rule.
How Trust Emerges
13:10mins
Self-Awareness: What helps us to build trust, how does my behaviour impact how others trust me
You can read the blog post about the first meeting we had in virtualteamtalk.com
In this episode you will hear the voices of Mark Kilby, who’s an agile coach working in a company called Sonatype, which is 95% distributed. They have developers all the way from Thailand to Alaska, working from home.
And Melanie Pürschel who is developing software for remote teams and she’s currently working on the Team Mood Tracker. As a psychologist in IT she’s interested in how to support teams through technology.
And thanks to Terrance, Jochen, Kayt and Kevin for their thoughts and contributions to this project too.
16:34 mins Indiv
Trust and conflict.
Can you be yourself? Can you trust others to call out unsuitable behaviour?
Managers who want harmony all the time.
Do we trust/distrust certain professions more than others?
How is trust built in cross-functional teams?
27:04minsBuilding trust in new teams and the question of control
36:33mins Designing pairing opportunities to “do” something, the sense of camaraderie, purpose, alignment, can be brought out.
38:49mins Norm formation and trust emergence.
Trust as a broad corridor.
41:18mins Reliability
“Is there anything else we should be talking about?” is a really important question. That can be turned into a process, something that we integrate into our meeting processes.
Trust is about understanding people’s behaviour when it doesn’t match our own.
48:10 Traits of people working remotely.
Work life and Home life
To screen or not to screen?
Some of the resources we talked about:
Blog post on discussion on trust https://virtualteamtalk.com/2016/11/05/trust-in-teams-1/
Live broadcast of this topic: https://virtualteamtalk.com/2017/02/14/we-continue-talking-about-trust/
http://www.retrospectives.com/pages/Anatomy.html and search the page for "Making the magic happen"
Drexler/Sibbet Team Performance Modelhttp://community.fansshare.com/pic118/w/high-performance-teams/1200/14499_drexler_sibbet_team_performance_model.jpg (104KB)
https://runbook.freistil.it/operations/
https://hbr.org/2017/01/the-neuroscience-of-trust
http://www.leadershipnow.com/leadingblog/2016/09/the_10_laws_of_trust.html
NOBL newsletter http://us9.campaign-archive2.com/?u=e80c7e00182317ea114b75362&id=997a473a8c&e
http://ldslights.org/brene-browns-formula-for-trust/
This is the full version of our live broadcast earlier in the year. For an edited version of the conversation, with other thoughts and reflections, and show notes, check out episode 117.
visit www.virtualnotdistant.com
In today's episode, Lisette and Pilar continue their conversation about how the collocated space can evolve by adopting virtual teamwork practices.
(Don't forget to visit www.virtualnotdistant.com to check out our services and more blog posts and podcast show notes.)
Quite a long catch-up today, but it's all related to our theme...
How Sococo is now the first place where Pilar looks for Lisette when she needs to speak to her online and how the different rooms can induce a different mindset. (Hello, Terrance!)
(Join Virtual Team Talk to experience virtual co-working and be part of a group of people championing great ways of working remotely with others.)
Lisette met Voranc and Ralph in person at a Management 3.0 retreat and it confirmed how much of a bond they'd already built just through online communication.
Pilar went to a launch party of a game she voiced and she noticed how strange it feels to watch photos of people working in the office together.
We talk about this recent article in Quartz about the mandate from IBM to bring remote workers into the office, with some dodgy research. https://qz.com/924167/ibm-remote-work-pioneer-is-calling-thousands-of-employees-back-to-the-office/
Pilar's article in response: https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/blog/ibm-back-to-the-office
24:00mins
Ways in which the Collocated Office can change by absorbing practice from virtual teams.
Feedback
Ongoing feedback vs performance management.
If we only come into the office sporadically, will we take the opportunity to seek feedback when we are in the same physical space together?
What works in virtual, might not work in collocated and vv (the processes, the tools).
(We have a really old episode on Feedback, episode 5!)
Celebrations
Don't forget to get together to celebrate group and individual successes!
(We have a really old episode on retrospective-style meetings, where we talk about celebrations, episode 19.)
Meetings
The virtual space accomodates the number of people at a meeting better than the office. eg you might have a large room and only a few people turn up, you can really feel it in the physical space, not as much on a video meeting tool.
Starting on time and ending on time.
Is physical presence enough? Is there more acknowledgement of who is there in virtual meetings?
Can each person make the decision of whether they want to be present to contribute or just to be informed?
Recordings and summaries.
The end of presenteeism?
In today's episode, Pilar talks with Eva Rimbau-Gilabert about a recent piece of research on how "managing up" tactics differ between collocated and virtual workers (those in close physical proximity to the manager and those working away from the office).
The research that Eva shares was conducted by Sebastián Steizel, who is Professor of Organisational Behaviour at the University of San Andrés (Buenos Aires, Argentina) and Eva was director of the thesis.
http://www.tdx.cat/bitstream/handle/10803/369313/Sebasti%C3%A1n%20Steizel%20Tesis%20Doctorado%20.pdf?sequence=1
Eva Rimbau-Gilabert's Twitter handle: @erimbau
06:20 Different tactics that people use to influence their boss and how they differ in use between virtual workers and collocated workers.
Ingratiation
Rationality
Assertiveness
Coalition
Intermediation
Upward appeal
13:00 The use of technology and how this changes when people try to influence their boss.
Synchronous vs asynchronous.
16:54 The importance of synchronous communication to give team members the space to express the importance of what they're raising.
18:55 Networking within the organisation.
23:03 The question of career progression.
25:42 More on advantages and disadvantages of synchronous and asynchronous communication. And a summary of the tactics mentioned right at the beginning.
30:00 Initial stages on research on wellbeing of teleworkers and how leadership behaviour can influence psychological wellbeing.
35:11 Final thoughts on the diversity of remote teams and the degrees of "virtual"
Pilar introduces the concept of Cognitive Tunneling, after a couple of things that happened yesterday to her. And she recommends "Smarter, Faster, Better" bu Charles Duhigg, once again...
visit www.virtualnotdistant.com
In this episode, Pilar and Lisette talk about how having a remote set-up and a flexible workforce affects how we work in the office. 55mins
visit www.virtualnotdistant.com
What is "remote" anyway?
Even people working across different floors perceive themselves as being distant from each other. Another great advocacy point for adapting the office to remote working. It will benefit teamwork that happens across floors, not just those working outside the building.
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/SupportingDistributedTeamwork.pdf
- Where is the information rather than who has the information. http://blog.idonethis.com/remote-company/
This doesn't just make us more productive, it also stops hierarchies forming around who holds the information. Not to mention that people can leave on holiday (or leave the company) without leaving gaps of information in the team.
Can some behaviours around availability and reflection become more acceptable?
It seems to be more acceptable not to be available when you're working away from the office than when you're physically present there.
What symbols and signals can we use in the office to ask people not to disturb us? How can offices be designed to offer an environment for focused work?
Isaac said: "Listening to your "learning in virtual teams" podcast. Really enjoying your thoughts on taking time to let things "sink in" during the working day. That is what I like the most about my work from home days. I am super productive (I control my distractions) and because of that I feel ok taking the extra time to "process" what I'm experiencing. In the office, "processing" time is often seen as wasted time."
http://www.onofficemagazine.com/interiors/item/4663-airbnb-s-low-tech-and-flexible-portland-office
-
Autonomy and autonomous decision making. Be careful if you start enabling people to have flexible work schedules: are they also being given the autonomy usually associated with that?
-
The question of transparency.In virtual we have to make more communication open and thinking process explicit. Can this translate to the office? https://thefutureorganization.com/balance-employee-freedom-organizational-control/
We'll carry on in episode 116!
In this episode, Pilar talks about what happens when people speak different languages in the office, how many people still reject having online interactions and the difficulties of working out loud in virtual teams.
Get in touch with your thoughts through www.virtualnotdistant.com
When speaking a different language in the office is a problem. Finding out whether it's a sign of something else going on. Having informal conversations and avoiding directives.
Pilar mentions this Today programme http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08g2ty8 which talks about how The Care Quality Commision in the UK has issued a warning about two online doctor services, which can also prescribe medicines. If you want to read more about this particular issue, go here: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/mar/03/cqc-warns-online-doctor-services-may-pose-risk-to-public
Leaving the whole unreliability of some services to one side, and the state of the health service, why are we not embracing online video interactions?
A video call might be great for a status update team meeting; a phone call might be the best way of checking the status of a decision before we move on with our work; an online collaboration platform might be the best way to explain a problem you need help with.
When you first begin to work in this way, it might seem strange because you might need agreement on some of these decisions, but as long as the tech is working (and I know that sometimes that can be a big IF), at one point you won’t even realise that you’re switching between tools – you’ll just notice that you’re switching conversations. And if you’re in the same location, plan for time in the same physical space: no-one is forbidding you. But plan for that and try to pick the right environment or locations.
How does the tool affect your team interactions?
Blog post on the benefits of working out loud
https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/blog/a-problem-shared-is-a-problem-identified
The difficulties of working out loud.
Get in touch with your thoughts through www.virtualnotdistant.com
In today's episode, Pilar and Lisette share some of the ways in which they learn about themselves, their work and their colleagues.
Online Learning does not mean watching videos!
(1) Overview
What do we mean by "learning"? Kolb's cycle.
Involves change.
A lot of our learning is experiential.
Experience (concrete experience)
Reflect (reflective observation)
Theorise, generalise (abstract conceptualisation)
How could it work next time? Plan. (active experimentation)
From "How do I use the tool?" to "How do I approach you?"
Just in case (most formal learning) vs Just in Time (most informal learning)
(2) Informality Spectrum
Social aspect of learning - learning from others through their point of view; building empathy
From chatting over coffee to structured events.
(3) Specific examples of learning through Virtual TT
Trust - learning about topic but also about turning knowledge conversations into content. Formal - learn about trust; informal, learn about others, myself
Lean coffee and mentoring - formal / self-directed by your own topic
Informal/directed by others by observing, listening, empathy
Organise events - learn about the people and dynamics.
As we work with others, we adapt and learn about ourselves, about those we work with and the world around us.
Sam Mednick introduces herself. She's an audacious journalists and also a member of the Happy Melly team.
Sam talks about what it's like to work in Happy Melly One. It seems difficult to separate happiness at work from happiness in life in general. It's ok now to admit that what happens in life affects our work and viceversa.
What makes trust possible in this virtual team? Sam talks about sharing values and having honest conversations and touching base with each other on video.
Pilar mentions "Faster, Smarter, Better" by Charles Duhigg and psychological safety.
Executive Coaching and current challenges executives face.
The nature of coaching, it need not be remedial.
Check out Sam's website: Blueprint Coaching.
Sam's podcast series around Courageous Conversations
Sam shares what has helped people to have these difficult conversations. (Yes, step by step...)
Sam's "appointment with herself". Why does she do it and what is this "high-level meeting"?
What drives Sam to conflict zones? What does she actually do when she gets there? How does she find the stories?
How does Sam organise her time to manage to juggle all the different things she does?
Sam's journey through radio and how it's different to podcasting.
Check out Serious About Happiness, the podcast Sam hosts.
Feedback in virtual teams - "permission" to give and ask for feedback. Are we afraid to ask for feedback?
Sam tells about her experience getting feedback in Happy Melly.
visit www.virtualnotdistant.com
We talk about protecting our work when working outside the office. INTRO and Catch-up
Duncan featured us! http://banoffeesolutions.co.uk/archive/podcasts-for-remote-working/
Programming and Data Science blog by Duncan Thomson
We recommend that you watch The Newsroom
Join us for Virtual Team Talk.
Sococo has a new "meetings" feature, which makes it easy to organise meetings in the space and also to tap someone on the shoulder to let them know you want to talk to them, and they can easily refused.
The Main Conversation We're looking at security from three points of view. From the organisation: Can I trust the people? Can i trust the tools? And for both organisations and individuals "Am i/Are we safe?"
Having a policy.
Remember that people can look over your shoulder and read your emails...
Can employees from the external tools we use read our data?
Business Daily Protecting Your Online Data, 1 Feb 2017
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p04qnwh4
In Business How Safe Are your Secrets Aug 2016
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07myxkw
What's the deal with IT? Are they lazy or are we not making the case for choosing our own tools?
Beware the hackers: Usb sticks being left on the pavement outside offices; emails from people in our organisation, that are not really from anyone we know...
Jailed by Skype!
http://metro.co.uk/2017/02/03/judges-will-soon-be-able-to-jail-people-over-skype-6426263/
http://snip.ly/5rn3f#http://leavingworkbehind.com/introduction-to-digital-security/
In today's episode, Pilar talks to Caroline Crampton, Assistant Editor of the New Statesman magazine.
Get in touch through www.virtualnotdistant.com
Caroline explains her role as Assistant Editor of the New Statesman, where she works mainly on the print version of the magazine.
What does a "hybrid publication" look like? How does it sustain itself?
Caroline talks us through the different tasks that make up her role and gives us a brief history of the New Statesman.
Caroline's podcast with Anna Leszkiewicz, the SRSLY podcast. Why she started the podcast and how she engages with her listeners through live events.
Listening for pleasure or professional interest: work/life integration
From podcast listener to podcasting and Caroline's Podcast column in the New Statesman. http://www.newstatesman.com/culture/podcasts/2016/10/why-it-s-time-start-writing-about-podcasts-culture
Caroline mentions one of her latest posts: http://www.newstatesman.com/culture/podcasts/2017/02/who-tells-your-story-how-hamilton-fans-are-coming-together-through-podcasts
Caroline's No Complaints newsletter; how and why she shares the articles she comes across during her research and work http://carolinecrampton.com/
A short, on the go episode inspired by a recent conversation from a manager who had been told that people "could now work from home".
Find out what works, don't rely on your experience when you do it on ad-hoc basis.
You can't just say, "Ok, you can now work from home". You need to lay down a new infrastructure.
It's a change programme!
In this episode, we talk about the four areas of teamwork you should address in your remote team.
Introduction: What Caught Our Eye? RSI and general health when working with so much tech.
More or Less 3 Jan Does Sweden Really have a Six Hour Day?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p04n7vlg
Pilar mentions Companies Without Managers, the episode from In Business that talks about the Buurtzorg model.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03045tx
We talk about the introduction of Slack threaded messages and the importance of revising your communication norms; pros and cons for teams and communities.
https://slackhq.com/threaded-messaging-comes-to-slack-417ffba054bd#.gx6t5ndmt
Lisette mentions this episode 46 from The Future Work podcast
https://thefutureorganization.com/forget-work-life-balance-its-all-about-work-life-integration/
If you would like to join Virtual Team Talk: https://virtualteamtalk.com/
Zoom's cash injection: http://blog.zoom.us/wordpress/2017/01/17/ceo-announcement-zoom-partners-with-sequoia-in-100-million-funding-round-releases-zoom-4-0/
The Main Conversation:
Simulating the office online, how we create the team agreement.
What's infopresence?
Culture in virtual teams. What is normal behaviour for our team?
Diversity in teams.
Reference to the earlier episode on Communication in Virtual Teams.
http://virtualnotdistant.com/communication-remote-team/
How do we avoid basic misunderstandings by creating team agreements.
Hosting pain-free online meetings where everyone contributes.
"We're going into a new medium but we're not adapting."
Giving and receiving feedback in remote teams.
(You can listen to Lisette and Pilar's first ever conversation in Collaboration Superpowers episode 4.)
http://www.collaborationsuperpowers.com/4-humanizing-remote-work-pilar-orti/
"All mediums are not created equal."
We also refer to the last episode on facilitating virtual meetings:
http://virtualnotdistant.com/facilitating-virtual-meetings/
Showing appreciation.
Find out more about Working from Anywhere: http://www.collaborationsuperpowers.com/
In this episode, Pilar Orti talks to Nancy Settle-Murphy about how she facilitates online and hybrid meetings.
Having conversations in public when you meet someone for the first time.
Being a coach/trainer/facilitator
Who does Nancy work with?
Hybrid meetings. Nancy talks about one of her clients and why they decide to hold hybrid meetings. Involving people calling into the in person meeting in activities. Using the technology wisely.
Making online team meetings work. Does splitting responsibilities in a meeting translate into how the team operates outside of meetings? Should roles be assigned by the manager?
The changes that Nancy has seen throughout her 22 years working as a virtual meeting facilitator.
Are there more international teams now in corporations? It's the ability to collaborate asynchronously that's evolved and changed how we operate.
The assumptions we make when we're using the same language.
"The hope is that we mean the same things when we say something, but in the virtual world we need to find shared understanding and that takes time."
The absence of visual cues is still a barrier to understanding in virtual teams. The need to take the time to understand silence.
Making assumptions about others. Nancy shares an anecdote.
Why are more people not using video?
- Bandwidth, infrastructure (national, company-wide)
-"Bad hair days"
- Screen-sharing takes priority
- People don't want to be caught out multitasking.
- Lack of tools and technology. Lack of choice.
Should outsiders challenge the team to use video? Or rather, when should we encourage the use of video?
The stage of the team, the kind of conversations they're having or need to have.
Ask thoughtful questions that will get people talking.
Have a note pad where you take notes down.
Creating a team photo with names and faces.
Be aware of who's participating.
Consciously allow time for reflection. Avoid only rewarding the people who speak first.
Ask questions to pull people in. Not "Anne, you haven't spoken in a bit." Ask them a question relevant to them, so they're pulled into the conversation. (This only happens if you know the people around you.)
Team Building through the work
Building trust amongst team members in project teams. It's difficult to build trust if the only time you come together with your team is a weekly call. Figure out who needs to deepen their relationship and design interdependent tasks. They will need to have deeper conversations between them. Don't just design by location.
Allow for smaller teams to emerge.
Pilar mentions Team Genius
Build and identify the influencers and stakeholders outside of the team that team members need to be talking to.
The changing role of the manager and official team leader.
The importance of making the norms explicit. "Shared operating norms"
Establishing presence
How do we schedule meetings
Use of IM and email and other tools
Levels of responsiveness
http://www.guidedinsights.com/articles-guides/
Get in touch with Nancy
http://www.guidedinsights.com/contact-us/
An "on the spot" recording about the importance of autonomy at work.
Pilar shares a great customer service experience and a really good read.
In this episode Pilar and Lisette review some of the latest news in the world of work and offer some guidance on how to review your communication infrastructure in your virtual team.
Pilar introduces this episode and she mentions this book (well, she mentions Tim Harford but can't remember the title!)
Messy: How to be creative and resilient in a Tidy-Minded World
She mentions this episode from Evidence Talks about the Right to Disconnect law in France.
http://directory.libsyn.com/episode/index/id/4994834
Let us know what you think of this format:
http://virtualnotdistant.com/contact-us/
The Conversation with Lisette and Pilar Oh, man, the book... What Lisette has learned about her writing process.
We talk about Trello's aquisition by Atlassian and the comments in Michael Pryor's blog post.
http://blog.trello.com/trello-atlassian
Are we getting used to tools being free?
Pilar has discovered a new feature in Zoom which could help more people jump on video calls.
Listeners: Does it bother you to see yourself on the screen during video calls?
Pilar is co-hosting a new podcast.
http://www.futureworkcentre.com/what-we-do/education/evidencetalks/
How CEO's can lead the transition from office-based to virtual and encourage people to use tech mindfully.
http://digitalworkplacegroup.com/2016/06/16/im-working-weekends-but-ignore-my-ceo-habits/
France's new law, the right to disconnect. Do we need legislation to encourage conversation?
https://www.theguardian.com/money/2016/dec/31/french-workers-win-legal-right-to-avoid-checking-work-email-out-of-hours
Have a listen to the More or Less episode: Does Sweden Really Have a Six Hour Day?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p04kt3p6
The Teaching Bit - Building a Communication Infrastructure for your Virtual Team around 30mins mark
Pilar talks about the PIC framework to help you build a communication infrastructure for a virtual team and how you can cross-check it with self-determination theory of motivation, to make sure you're not dampening intrinsic motivation.
Personal information
Information - documents
Collaboration
When you're designing processes and choosing tools, and role-modelling behaviours , also keep an eye out that you're not squashing any of the three components of intrinsic motivation: autonomy, competence and relatedness.
Tools mentioned:
Linoit http://en.linoit.com/
Trello
Do get in touch!
http://virtualnotdistant.com/contact-us/
In today's episode, Pilar chats to Curtis James, who observes people at work and gives visibility to those jobs that are often invisible.
visit www.virtualnotdistant.com
An incredibly short introduction. Pilar is actually back after the conversation, to add some comments.
Remember to check out these other two podcasts: Management Café and Evidence Talks.
The Conversation with Curtis James 03:45mins Curtis's journey working in organisations.
http://www.wearefieldwork.com/
Impartiality when working in an organisation, documenting the workforce.
How Curtis documents the workforce. How they recreate smells; exhibition workshops.
"All companies are going to have good and bad stuff happening in them. The very fact that they're embarking on this kind of work is something that they should be proud of, because it's about being transparent, and this should be the beginning of finding new ways of working."
The importance of having collaborators during this type of work.
What Curtis has learned about himself and how he's changed as a practitioner. (How he's allowed his work to change him and how he's changed to change the work. )
How BeyondWork and Fieldwork sit alongside each other.
Beyond Work Radio.
How do we end up doing what we're doing?
http://www.thisisbeyondwork.com/work-journal/2017/1/6/beyond-work-radio-show-4http://www.thisisbeyondwork.com/work-journal/2016/12/8/beyond-work-radio-show-2
Working outdoors.
Looking for "those whose jobs are often invisible".
The multiple reasons why workers are treated badly.
Fulfillment vs Happiness.
http://virtualnotdistant.com/on-happiness-at-work/
Further questions you could ask after knowing whether your people are "happy".
Call to action: share what you do at work and ask others too!
Pilar's Conclusions 42:30mins Don't send people on training, when they don't want to go!
(I found following the potato funny.)
Happiness at work and work life balance.
Introduction If you work in a virtual team, or are a remote worker or are just interested in making the world of work as great as it can be, join us in Virtual Team Talk.
A new podcast on evidence-based practice in organisations http://www.futureworkcentre.com/what-we-do/education/evidencetalks/
Virtual Coffee with Lisette and Pilar 05:30mins
30 Nov Entrepreneur on Fire http://www.eofire.com/podcast/lisettesutherland/
The virus that goes into your calendar.
Using online conferences as development opportunities for your group or team and being mindful of how to use the chat space.
Using an external event as an internal development opportunity.
Lisette recommends this app to recruit for virtual teams http://www.indivizo.com/ and she has some questions to ask yourself if you're recruiting.
Has much moved on in the world of work?
Companies That Got Rid Of Performance Ratings Aren’t Doing So Well, Sadly
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/long-live-the-performance-review_us_5772ca2ce4b0eb90355c8b05
The 'T' word... And we need to ask ourselves, what kind of leaders are people looking for in organisations? Do they feel like THEY are being listened to?
Didn't like this headline, though article is good: How Microsoft Used an Office Move to Boost Collaboration
https://hbr.org/2016/10/how-microsoft-used-an-office-move-to-boost-collaboration
Quite liked this article too:
http://digiday.com/agencies/ad-agency-hot-desking/
Daily commute of two hours – reality for 3.7m UK workers
https://www.theguardian.com/money/2016/nov/18/daily-commute-of-two-hours-reality-for-37m-uk-workers
10 Workplace Trends You'll See in 2017
http://www.forbes.com/sites/danschawbel/2016/11/01/workplace-trends-2017/#6954cfed3457
Some headlines we'd like to see in 2017.
We go back to our list of Words We'd Like to See Disappear in 2016 to see if any have disappeared...
http://virtualnotdistant.com/2016/
Pilar talks to Mauricio Salatino about working in Open Source software and a working remotely within an organisation.
Introduction Asynchronous feedback and assuming positive intent.
Online course on leading remote teams: http://virtualnotdistant.com/training/leading-remote-teams-course/
In person course in London and Birmingham 2017
The Conversation with Mauricio Salatino Starts 11:05mins Mauricio lent Pilar the Hardback edition of Open Organization, great book. We talk about it.
(Affiliate link.)
Reading a book about the organisation you're in and seeing that indeed it does reflect the culture you're part of.
What Red Hat does broadly.
How do you get involved in an open source project? Turning a hobby into a full-paid position.
The open source mindset and being trusted to represent your company in public.
Sharing your work in public.
Mauricio's specialisms - creating software.
Working in a remote set-up.
Different kinds of meetings.
Working hours.
Cv? What cv? Do we really need a cv in the 21st Century?
How freedom decreases with scale, as more people are affected by our decisions. "What you can produce with seven people is different to what you create with forty."
Step by step approach to creating an organic team process. The value of "self-discovered beaurocracy"
https://salaboy.com/
In the first of our Wicked Wednesday conversations, Pilar goes over to @WorkHubs, a co-working space in central London, to talk to Philip Dodson and Bernie J. Mitchell from @WorkHubs, about building a freelance community.
Introduction After Pilar's conversation this morning in the Virtual Team Talk online coworking space, Pilar reflects on some of the things that might stop us from having high quality communication with other virtual team members.
https://virtualteamtalk.com/
Tapping People on the Shoulder
Working in the same space at the same time.
Moving onto video
Moving onto Direct Messaging
Informal channels
Dealing with Noise
Sign up to our newsletter or seven part email series. http://virtualnotdistant.com/inspiration/virtual-signup/
The Conversation with Philip Dodson and Bernie J. Mitchell If you enjoy this conversation, check out the podcast with Bernie and Phil: Straight Outta @WorkHubs
16:00mins Origins of @WorkHubs - from a desk to a place wehre you can develop - the The Write Club
Why a coworking space is better than Googling
From organised events to talking to people informally
Bernie reflects on what it's like to be a freelancer; creating an ecosystem for freelancers
The value of values and using values to guide our decisions
Those things that don't work out...
Artwork as a way of developing
Not everything is for everyone...
What's next for @WorkHubs
In today's episode, and given their latest travels, Pilar and Lisette ask themselves whether they can really work from anywhere and the kinds of questions to ask ourselves if we're making the transition to remote team.
Get in touch: http://virtualnotdistant.com/contact-us/
A little bit more from a past guest, Michiel Klonhammer from LearningStone about how the world of work is changing.
Lisette appeared on Entrepreneur on Fire!
Remember to also listen to the Management Café podcast.
Would you like to join us for some Virtual Team Talk? https://virtualteamtalk.com/
Virtual Coffee with Lisette and Pilar 06:50mins Updates. Lisette's trip to the US and the live Happy Melly event.
Pilar's thoughts on the experiment 'Flipping the Online Classroom' and our unidirectional relationship with the screen. On the other hand, creating a podcast like Management Café which is all about delivery of information is a struggle.
We recorded the day after the US Elections, so yes, we talk about that (briefly).
We talk about this episode of The Future of Work https://thefutureorganization.com/diversity-inclusiveness-important-today-tomorrow/ noticing that EY is extending flexible work to the whole of their workforce.
Why Lisette and Pilar would make terrible digital nomads.
Being on the go vs being in your home office / designated workspace.
Understanding what you need to do your best work, especially if you or your team are about to make the transition to working away from the office.
What context suits you best?
Understand the WHY.
(Pilar mentions episode 96, about travelling while working http://virtualnotdistant.com/yonderwork/.)
What do YOU need, logistically, to do your work?
Work Holidays.
Questions to ask if you want to work remotely at your company.
The 9/80 schedule.
Check out this episode of the Collaborations Superpowers podcast to find out more about the 9/80 schedule. http://www.collaborationsuperpowers.com/58-how-the-980-flextime-schedule-works/
What kind of expectations do people have when they start working as a virtual team?
When you make the transition, you get to have all the conversations in your team about how you work together that need to be had in any case!
Do a pre-morterm!
The spectrum of remote work: working from home right to traveling the world.
Join Pilar and 18 guests to reflect on how the world of work and our attitudes to work are changing.
visit www.virtualnotdistant.com
Thank you to everyone who has ever appeared on this podcast and a special thanks to all those involved in this special episode:
- Michael Herman www.michaelherman.com Episode 95
- Vanessa Shaw www.thehumansideoftech.org Episode 45
- Ryan Behrman Episode 44
- Mandy Garner www.workingmums.co.uk Episode 74
- Kristin Messina www.yonderwork.com Episode 97
- Pilar mentions this article: https://www.theguardian.com/money/2016/nov/18/daily-commute-of-two-hours-reality-for-37m-uk-workers
- Michele Bonazza www.sketchtogether.com Episode 57
- Mandy Garner www.workingmums.co.uk Episode 74
- Melanie Purschel www.teammoodtracker.com Episode 88
- Jurgen Appelo http://jurgenappelo.com/ Episode 4
- Lisette Sutherland www.collaborationsuperpowers.com every other episode!!!!
- Craig Wealand www.inglespodcast.com Episode 66
- Mariano Tufró www.leadershipminds.co.uk Episode 18
- Lindsay Price www.theatrefolk.com Episode 28 and http://www.theatrefolk.com/podcast/devising-physical-theatre/
- Craig Wealand www.inglespodcast.com and www.enclavedepodcast.com Episode 66
- Phil Hayes www.managementfutures.co.uk/books Episode 8
- Marta Texidor https://twitter.com/martatmdv Episode 12
- Dave Blum aka Dr.Clue www.drclue.com Episode 94
- Richard A. Mackinnon www.futureworkcentre.com Episode 81
- Mark Kilby www.markkilby.com Episodes 73 and 95
- Andy Cleff www.andycleff.com Episode 99
Share your thoughts through our Contact Form.
In this episode Pilar talks to Andy Cleff about virtual teams, running experiments and how the tension between creativity and control. A Thoughtful Thursday conversation.
visit www.virtualnotdistant.com
Introduction
Yes, you can become emotionally connected to people you've never met in person. Pilar writes here about her recent experience leaving a virtual team. https://pilarwrites.wordpress.com/2016/10/07/its-not-the-tech-its-the-people/
Come and join us in Virtual Team Talk https://virtualteamtalk.com/
Pilar mentions the book 'Radical Collaboration', which Andy talks about later.
If you are based in the UK or Ireland and you would like to give your opinion on products and get paid for it, click on:
https://www.sarosresearch.com/participate/join-saros-research/?id=100243
08:00mins The Conversation with Andy Cleff
What does play mean in the context of software development. The concept of serious play.
For how long can we continue working as a team if the work becomes too intense?
Andy's change in mindset from collocated to distributed and even hybrid.
"The need to build human connections is really amplified when we're distributed, remote or hybrid."
I hope when I'm back to collocated fully whatever I've learned in the distributed space, I bring back with a new appreciation for that environment.
"Containers" for virtual teams, it's important that they have their own space, pretty much like collocated teams might personalise their space.
Running experiments - how a Book Club can help to learn to deal with conflict.
The book Andy mentions is 'Radical Collaboration'.
When experiments fail...
"I sold the solution, not the problem..."
What needs to be in place for a team to want to be involved in experiments.
Does it all start with education?!
A wonderful story to wrap up our thoughtful conversation.
www.andycleff.com
@justsitthere https://twitter.com/justsitthere
In this episode Pilar and Lisette talk about whether we should have Happiness Programmes and Happiness Chief Officers in organisations. What do you think?
Introduction Pilar recommends Episode 561 of The Art of Charm, with Dan Ariely
http://theartofcharm.com/podcast-episodes/dan-ariely-payoff-episode-561/
and
Episode 552 of The Art of Charm, with Charles Duhigg
http://theartofcharm.com/podcast-episodes/charles-duhigg-smarter-faster-better-episode-552/
Pilar mentions Reinventing Organizations by Frederic Laloux
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Reinventing-Organizations-Creating-Inspired-Consciousness/dp/2960133501/
Interested in an online course on leading remote teams? Check out this one next March 2017 http://virtualnotdistant.com/training/leading-remote-teams-course/
Thanks to Saros Research!
If you want to give your opinion on products and get paid for it (and you're based in the UK or Ireland), join Saros: https://www.sarosresearch.com/participate/join-saros-research/?id=100243
The Conversation with Lisette 11:15mins Pilar's update on how different organisations are "going TEAL".
Should companies be obligated to provide “happiness” for their employees? And should we have people with “Happiness” in their titles?
http://www.economist.com/news/business-and-finance/21707502-companies-try-turn-happiness-management-tool-are-overstepping-mark
Wellbeing is different for everybody, we need to take responsibility for what is good for us.
Do we really understand what we mean by employee engagement and happiness, and is it worth investing in these kind of programmes?
http://www.futureworkcentre.com/knowledge-centre/employee-engagement-emperors-new-clothes-2/
The problem with “happiness programmes”.
Other articles you might want to read around this:
Difference between American and British:
http://www.vox.com/first-person/2016/10/4/13093380/happiness-america-ruth-whippman
On hiring: http://workdifferent.com/how-to-team-happiness/
On stopping doing things instead of doing different things:
http://www.inc.com/jeff-haden/how-to-be-instantly-happier-7-things-the-happiest-people-refuse-to-do.html
Let us know what you think. Tweet @PilarOrti or @lightling or send us a message through the Contact Form.
Not a proper episode this week either, but Pilar would like to recommend a couple of episodes from another podcast. Another proper episode next week.
Episode 561 of The Art of Charm, with Dan Ariely
http://theartofcharm.com/podcast-episodes/dan-ariely-payoff-episode-561/
and
Episode 552 of The Art of Charm, with Charles Duhigg
http://theartofcharm.com/podcast-episodes/charles-duhigg-smarter-faster-better-episode-552/
And of course, visit www.virtualnotdistant.com for more episodes and blog posts, from the Inspiration page.
In today's episode, Pilar talks to Kirstin Messina about Yonderwork, a company enabling remote workers to travel around the world as a community.
Introduction If you fancy joining Virtual Team Talk, you can apply here: https://virtualteamtalk.com/
Fancy contributing to the 100th episode? Tell us how you think the world of work is changing... or not. Get in touch here: http://virtualnotdistant.com/contact-us/
Don't forget to listen to (or read the scripts) Management Café. https://managementcafepodcast.com/
Thanks to Saros for sponsoring this podcast!
https://www.sarosresearch.com/participate/join-saros-research/?id=100243
09:15mins The Conversation with Kristin Messina What is Yonderwork and who joins this community?
http://www.yonderwork.com/
How does Yonderwork facilitate the experience of working remotely in another country.
Who are the Digital Nomads?
Having a community that you can plug into, both on a personal and professional level is what we are really looking to provide people with.
Why Kristin set up Yonderwork, with her husband.
Why do we need to choose between lifestyle and the work we do?
How do they choose the locations to take the community to? Next stops: Buenos Aires and Santiago de Chile.
Are different generations up for this?
The One Million per Work Flexibility: http://www.workflexibility.org/
The criteria for a location to take the community.
Their remote team.
Checking the internet speed in cafés!
How Kristin put her team together.
How can companies enable people to work location-free?
What kind of questions do they ask people who want to sign up to the community?
Can't wait to join YonderWork. Click here!
If you're interested in running sessions which are completely relevant to the people attending them, this is the episode for you. Pilar talks to facilitators Michael Herman and Mark Kilby about their experience working together.
Introduction Loads of announcements today:
Open course on leading remote teams: http://virtualnotdistant.com/training/leading-remote-teams-course/
Join Virtual Team Talk. https://virtualteamtalk.com/
8th December workshop in London on Managing Remote and Virtual Teams.
http://www.thehubevents.com/events/managing-remote-and-virtual-teams-141/
Remember you can listen also to Management Café podcast, about leading teams.
https://managementcafepodcast.com/
The Art of Podcasting - a masterclass on finding your voice and podcast format.
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-art-of-podcasting-tickets-28290435454
This podcast is sponsored by Saros Research.
If you want to give your opinion and get paid for it.
https://www.sarosresearch.com/participate/join-saros-research/?id=100243
The Conversation with Michael Herman and Mark Kilby 12:10mins A virtual Openspace on Openspace: http://openspaceworld.org/wp2/osonos/
How Mike and Michael's Co-Facilitation Partnership came about. Agile meets OpenSpace
Creating an event to encourage deep conversation, not creating best practice presentations.
We're working more and more in a distributed way: What does this mean for the world of work.
OpenSpace is if nothing else responsing to change and customer collaboration in creating the agenda about what's going to happen.
You can listen to people's experiences of the audacious salon here:
http://virtualnotdistant.com/audacious-salon/
http://virtualnotdistant.com/hybrid-teams/
Practicing the Back and Forth.
Some people who were there in person on day 1 wanted to join in remotely over day 2.
How much preparation do you need to run an open-space event? Intentional choices about technology, shifting expectations around technology.
A bit of a summary of Open Space Technology.
What happens if nothing happens?
Are agile and openspace the same thing?
Sometimes we only need to point out to people what they could do.
Find Mark on Twitter @mkilby and
remotelyagile.info
markkilby.com
Find Michael here:
michaelherman.com
His wiki: http://www.michaelherman.com/cgi/wiki.cgi?WorkSpace
If you would like to join Virtual Team Talk, go here: https://virtualteamtalk.com/
In today's episode, Pilar and Lisette discuss whether it's important to talk about values in a company and what happens when our values are misaligned.
Updates
Lisette and her book.
Pilar and her book.
Who we should look for to give us feedback on our books.
Would you like to join us for Wicked Wednesdays? Send Pilar a quick note and she'll keep you posted. http://virtualnotdistant.com/contact-us/
What we praise speaks values.
Discovering and sharing values in a virtual team.
How values are reflected in our behaviour.
Role-modelling behaviours.
How explicitly do we need to share our values and do we need to spell out our values as a company?
The relationship between sharing our values and dealing with conflict.
This podcast is sponsored by Saros Research.
If you want to give your opinion and get paid for it.
https://www.sarosresearch.com/participate/join-saros-research/?id=100243
Lisette refers to this article: http://seapointcenter.com/team-values/
Values and change.
In this episode we discover the field of cognitive artificial intelligence, including the importance of understanding human emotions. Pilar talks to Brennon Williams, CEO and Founder of Iridium Systems and Robotics Corporation – ISR.
If you have any feedback, get in touch: http://virtualnotdistant.com/contact-us/
Brief Introduction Interested in adapting your workshops to an online environment? Check out the new course Flipping the Online Classroom.
Do get in touch with feedback or to join Virtual Team Talk. http://virtualnotdistant.com/contact-us/
Thanks to Saros Research for their sponsorship. If you're based in the UK or Ireland and like giving your opinions on products and get paid for it, then head over to Saros' website, using this link: https://www.sarosresearch.com/participate/join-saros-research/?id=100243
The Conversation with Brennon Williams
Brennon refers to Daniel Kahneman's work. (Thinking Fast and Slow)
What is Cognitive Artificial Intelligence and where does it appear in our lives?
What part do emotions play in this? The importance of context in understanding.
"In developing this sort of technology, I learn more about myself."
How Brennon ended up in this field and setting up IRS. http://www.isrcorp.co.uk/
How Brennon built his team by bringing in the "Chiefs" first.
What did his team do the first time they met face to face?
The importance of trust. "Great people love their job, they love what they do and will always try to do more that's expected. You've got to give people that trust and that freedom to expand and work at their best, wherever that is."
Will Brexit affect the sector that Brennon works in?
The development of AI in the future of work and the benefits to society.
Security and privacy.
Read more by Brennon: http://www.brennonwilliams.com/blog/2016/2/12/what-is-cognitive-artificial-intelligence
In this slightly shorter episode than usual, Pilar and Lisette talk about Digital Detox. How about you? Do you take breaks from your tech?
Visit www.virtualnotdistant.com
We catch up after almost a month of not podcasting together!
Lisette tells us about her honeymoon (not a virtual one!) and her book developments.
Pilar talks about.. podcasting. Check out GuideDoc if you like documentaries.
https://enclavedepodcast.com/
Lisette went on a digital vacation. Read Lisette's post here: https://redbooth.com/blog/digital-vacation
Professional and personal life are led through the same devices.
Finding a sense of balance between on and off screen time.
The need and addiction of being connected to others. FOMO.
(Tell us if you take these digital vacations or digital detox!)
How some people have an out of office that says that all emails received during time off will be deleted, email again.
Who should set our own boundaries.
A digital holiday or just a holiday?
Pilar talks to Dr Clue about how the adventure of a treasure hunt can bring team members closer together and how this adventure is being taken online.
Introduction
Some links Pilar mentions: The Management Café podcast blog: https://managementcafepodcast.com/
Mentoring programme starts Weds 14th September http://virtualnotdistant.com/virtual-not-distant-mentoring-group/
Episode 86 with Mandy from Sococo: http://virtualnotdistant.com/collaborative-workspace-sococo/
You can join us for Virtual Team Talk by applying here: https://virtualteamtalk.com/
If you would like to give your opinion on products and get paid for it, head over to:
https://www.sarosresearch.com/participate/join-saros-research/?id=100243
The Conversation with Dr Clue 07:20mins
Check out www.drclue.com
How a treasure hunt is created.
Seeing your city with new eyes.
The team experience of the treasure hunt.
Why do teams go on treasure hunts?
New teams, teams in flux, mergers and acquisitions.
The role of appreciation and trust.
The tension between competition and collaboration. Our competitive nature.
Tribes in organisation.
Moving the treasure hunt online, using Sococo.
What's the difference between the in person treasure hunt and the online version?
"Teamwork doesn't necessarily mean holding hands every second."
Levels of trust in teams:
- Sincerity
- Reliability
- Competence
- Caring
- Transparency / Vulnerability
"Competence doesn't mean perfection."
Why you want conflict in your team.
http://drclue.com/trump-trustworthy-5-criteria-judging-trust/
http://drclue.com/hillary-clinton-trustworthy-5-criteria-judging-trust/
We're taking another week off but we're using this episode to introduce you to the Management Café podcast, a new show by Pilar Orti (a solo show, ahhhhh!) where she will cover an aspect of managing in the 21st Century.
This here is episode cero, but episode one is already out and it's on Great Team Communication. You can subscribe now to Management Cafe, through your podcast app or on the blog www.managementcafepodcast.com
Pilar and Lisette have plenty of thoughts and advice on how best to make the transition from office-based to virtual, in organisations and teams. Introduction
Pilar's homage to Federico García Lorca, in case you like this Spanish playwright. http://www.spainuncoveredpodcast.net/lorca-podcast/
Grab the PDF with questions to help you identify the tools and processes you might want to keep while making the transition to virtual here: http://virtualnotdistant.com/your-transition-to-virtual/
Mentoring Group starts 14th Sept. More details here: http://training-for-virtual-teams.teachable.com/courses/mentoring-group
Flipping the Online Classroom bit.ly/flipsept
Let us know if you want to join Virtual Team Talk. http://virtualnotdistant.com/contact-us/
Subscribe to the Management Café Podcast https://managementcafepodcast.com/
If you would like to give your opinions on products and get paid for it, in the UK and Ireland, register with Saros through this link. https://www.sarosresearch.com/participate/join-saros-research/?id=100243
Virtual Coffee with Lisette: From Office-Based to Virtual Team 09:02mins
Pilar recommends The Fizzle Show
Should you read emails while you’re on holiday?
When should you stop making up stuff for yourself to do?
19:20mins
Virtual teams as the excuse to create a new form of team, that operates differently.
Virtual gives us an excuse for change.
Being clear and honest about why we’re making the transition is really important and it will inform how the change is brought about. Is it because the company needs to cut costs or is it because the employees are asking for it?
Are we seeing that pockets in the org are already doing and do we want more of that and help them do it better?
Different parts of the organisation will need to come together to collaborate to make this work.
Should the transition be fast, so that we just get on with it?
Or do we want to take more time to make the transition so that it’s less painful?
See what tech you’re already using and evaluate whether you want to ditch, change or sustain.
http://virtualnotdistant.com/your-transition-to-virtual/
26:00 mins
Visibility
How do you share information?
How do people find out about company news?
How do you share availability?
Identity
How do you review your team process?
When do you feel most connected?
When and how do you gather together?
Results
How do you make decisions as individuals?
How do you make decisions as a team?
What do you need to make decisions?
How do you solve problems?
Trust
When do people talk honestly to each other?
How is work delegated / taken on?
How do we share our values?
Upgrowth
How do you receive feedback?
How do people learn from each other?
How do people learn from their experiments (or “trying things out”)?
Appreciation
How do you show appreciation?
How do you celebrate?
How do people know they’re contributing to the team?
Leadership
When do you innovate?
When do people take the initiative?
How is change introduced?
30:20mins
Set up the home office and put processes in place – don’t make a big, elaborate plan but you need to set some targets.
Start small with small experiments.
Get people go equipment – a webcam, noise cancelling head set, pay for a coworking space.
Do an assessment of where things are now and what will people need.
How do you want your people to feel about the transition if it’s been made for them? Do you want them to feel supported or made to work in unsuitable conditions from home?
These are not “work from home days” when you work at home in order to focus and have some quiet time. You need to think of working from home but still communicating with colleagues.
People are thinking You’re giving me unsuitable conditions and You’re disconnecting me from my colleagues – even before we’ve made the change, let’s take a day when we work from home, but when we do need to be working together and see how it feels. Do it little by little before you have to go full on?
Even try from the office itself using laptops.
Breaking the psychological contract. You are changing what people expect from them employers.
Turn this into an obvious opportunity to make things better.
How much choice can we give people within those restrictions? Sense of autonomy – we don’t like to feel like someone else is being in charge of our destiny.
People might feel like they have to do the same amount of work but in worst circumstances.
39:50mins
The separation between home and work life. This might be difficult to do for people when they’re working from home. You’re asking people to stop that split.
Beware that when you start working like this, you need to define your working hours and space differently.
(Rant about coworking spaces and real estate…) Use coworking spaces, they can help to make the transition!
http://virtualnotdistant.com/spirit-coworking/
Online communication. Pilar mentions The Open Organization
Different platforms / email lists depending on the complexity of the conversation.
- Will you need some form of quick, immediate communication? (like Instant Messaging)
- What should you do if you can’t get hold of someone? (telephone, email?)
- Will you need to have conversations real-time, that others can access later? (eg video conferencing with recording available)
- How will you have short, sharp conversations as a group? (maybe through a collaboration platform)
- How will you have in-depth conversations one to many? (does the collaboration platform allow for blog post type postings/)
- How will you have one-one in depth conversations?
It’s not about the technology it’s about the right technology thoughtfully applied.
Are you restricted by the IT department? How should you involve them in the decision to go virtual? How should the IT dept and other staff be communicating?
Should you push back so that the old infrastructures get changed? Make sure they understand why you want to introduce those tools?
Yes, we know it has been done for ages without using all these new techs, but do we want to continue operating in that way when we can now make it easier?
Involve everyone in the process and have transparency. It will show that you care if you involve everyone in making the decision.
Start small and start now!
Can you visualise the mood of your virtual team? Yes, you can, with the tool today's guest is creating. Pilar talks to Melanie Pürschel about how she's building the Mood Matrix.
Introduction
Pilar is running with Judy Rees a course on delivering your workshops online. More info here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/flipping-the-online-classroom-delivering-your-workshops-online-six-90-minute-classes-tickets-26919136863
More information on the Mentoring Group for Managers and Leaders of Virtual Teams here: http://virtualnotdistant.com/virtual-not-distant-mentoring-group/
Thanks to Saros Research!
If you would like to get paid for your opinion on products, register with Saros through this link: https://www.sarosresearch.com/participate/join-saros-research/?id=100243
The Conversation with Melanie Pürschel Melanie explains what the Mood Matrix is.
How will the experience be in a team using this tool?
It works well as an early warning system.
The Mood Matrix shows how the mood is changing. You then need to use the information to continue the process with the Team Mood Tracker.
The next questionnaire starts to help you decide in what field of the team process you need to make changes.
The most important factors for virtual teamwork we should look at to understand where we could change something if the team's mood is changing. We also need to look out for the team's mood being split.
Some scenarios when you might want to move onto the next stage of tracking your team's mood.
Consider the bio-rhythm of people when implementing the matrix.
How Melanie developed her matrix through research, started back when she was at university.
The subject of anonymity. Personal and team level results.
Mel's own journey and her recent partnership building the product.
(Pilar refers to Hugo Messer's story in a previous podcast episode.)
Get in touch with Mel if you're at all interested in the product and if you have any suggestions of what tools it might integrate with. Who would find this tool useful? http://www.teammoodtracker.com/
In today's podcast, Lisette and Pilar try to figure out best practice in meetings in hybrid teams.
Introduction Leila's post: How to Give Feedback that Really Hurts. http://virtualnotdistant.com/feedback-hurts/
Pilar recommend the platform MeetingSift for hybrid meetings.
New podcast coming soon, you can subscribe here for email updates: https://managementcafepodcast.com/
Mentoring Group for managers and leaders of virtual teams, starts September. http://virtualnotdistant.com/virtual-not-distant-mentoring-group/
New course on running workshops online: Flipping the Online Classroom. (Also starts in September!)
Thanks to Saros Research for sponsoring this podcast.
If you would like to share your opinions on products and get paid for it and you are based in the UK or Ireland, follow this link
https://www.sarosresearch.com/participate/join-saros-research/?id=100243
Virtual Coffee with Lisette: Hybrid Teams 06:31 mins Our updates
The peanut butter conversation.
Lisette's ELMO moments...
The importance of buffer time in virtual meetings.
Here's the ELMO card and a link to Leila using the Supercards! http://virtualnotdistant.com/greatmeetings/
Pilar's been working with Sam and Yoris from Happy Melly One on a feedback system, using a Trello board based on the Learning 3.0 Canvas.
Problems/Issues
Possible Roadblocks
Expected Results - what do we want to see?
Stories/Experiences
Options and Considerations
Ideas
What should we try immediately?
19:35 mins Our Conversation
A few more reflections on the Audacious Salon at Agile 2016. (You can hear all about it in Episode 85.) http://virtualnotdistant.com/audacious-salon/
Lisette's 100th episode! http://www.collaborationsuperpowers.com/100-greatest-hits-volume-2/
Bear in mind noisy rooms - if you're in an open office, bear in mind that your ambient noise will go straight into somebody's ears.
Permission to speak for remote team members during a meeting. You can read people in an office space or if everyone is virtual, you learn to read each other. How are we going to structure the discussion so that we know when we want to speak or when we need to move on?
Think about how you're going to keep the conversation going and open with the technology you've got.
When one person is remote... we have to redefine how we work together.
"When one person is remote, the whole team is remote" is really about putting everyone on an equal footing.
What are the problems in the real time meeting in a hybrid team? When should we have hybrid meetings?
Try not to make the remote participant as if they were in the room, they are not, and therefore your process needs to change.
Use online tools to capture ideas - you can then carry on the discussion asynchronously with your online records.
Find a new rhythm and revisit how you work.
Find a new way of operating together which involves adapting your practices. Breaking down your current ones and deciding whether it's going to be useful in the new context.
Think about how you're allocating tasks. Decide whether you want cross-over between collocated and remote or separate tasks and projects to remote teams and collocated ones.
Link to blog post on Sococo blog: https://www.sococo.com/blog/use-cases/agile/the-audacious-salon-at-agile-2016-distributed-agile-delusion-or-evolution/
Why does the agile community seem resistant to adopting working in distributed teams? The agile practices are perfect for this way of working!
In today's episode, Pilar talks to Mandy Ross from Sococo about how the tool is helping team members stay connected through technology.
Introduction
Link to episode on Coworking in Sococo: http://virtualnotdistant.com/online-coworking/
Pilar recommend the Kellogg Insight podcast episode on Managing Conflict in Virtual Teams because it focuses on multicultural teams, though they also take a broader view. http://insight.kellogg.northwestern.edu/article/podcast-tips-for-managing-conflict-at-work
Check out the Mentoring Group http://training-for-virtual-teams.teachable.com/courses/mentoring-group
Thank you to Saros Research for sponsoring our podcast!
If you would like to give your opinion on products and get paid for it, use this link to register with Saros: https://www.sarosresearch.com/participate/join-saros-research/?id=100243
The Conversation with Mandy Ross from Sococo Sococo, what it is, what it looks like, what it was designed for. How this workspace works.
"At a certain point after you work all the time in Sococo, the technology disappears and all that's left is the relationships between the people that are there."
The history of Sococo.
How the Cloud presented a threat and an opportunity... The mindshift when going opensource.
Let Mandy know if you want to test out the mobile version of Sococo. @SococoMandy
The importance of a fan base when you want to make an important change to your product. (Shout out to AgileBillKrebs)
The early adoption system on mobile app stores.
Mandy's job: Director of Marketing and Agile Coach
Mandy's work history.
Sococo in Japan.
What kind of companies are using Sococo and in what ways - agencies working with freelancers, customer services, HR, dev-ops.
Pilar reports back straight after her experience as a remote participant in the Audacious Salon. Part of the Agile 2016 conference, the session was an experiment with a very important aim: finding the right questions to ask about distributed agile.
This episode is not really a summary of the session (we will talk about that in episode 87) but a reminder of some of the things we should look out for when collocated and virtual people meet in real time.
For more on remote agile, visit remotelyagile.info
In today's episode, Pilar and Lisette talk about what factors affect motivation in virtual teams - and indeed most teams.
Introduction It's a short one today.
Maybe this mentoring group for managers of virtual teams is for you... http://virtualnotdistant.com/virtual-not-distant-mentoring-group/
Would you like to join Virtual Team Talk?
And, of course, many thanks to Saros Research. If you'd like to share your opinion and get paid for it (and you're based in the UK or Ireland), follow this link.
https://www.sarosresearch.com/participate/join-saros-research/?id=100243
Virtual Coffee with Lisette: Motivation in Virtual Teams 07:00 mins *Our Updates*
Lisette is going to be on Entrepreneur on Fire!!!! (Yes, you read right!)
Meanwhile, Pilar is getting ready to launch two podcasts in August: En clave de podcast with Craig Wealand and 21st Century Management
Some stuff that's happening in the Virtual Team Talk Group. (Wink to Mark Kilby and the Sketchtogether guys.)
Lisette mentions this popular interview on her Collaboration Superpowers podcast: Leslie Truex's interview on Be a Work at Home Success
27:40 mins Our Conversation
This is the article by Liz Ryan (@humanworkplace on Twitter) that inspired today's episode: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-kill-your-teams-motivation-without-really-trying-liz-ryan
"Management should be a profession, not a promotion."
Should managers be responsible for motivating their team members or should they just get out of the way?
You need to know the individual.
Self-determination theory and Daniel Pink's adaptation of it.
What is at the heart of what motivates us to do a good job?
"Motivation is a function of your environment."
Technology plays an important part in motivation, as it is a key component of your environment.
The role of leadership and management in being visible. Our own relationship with hierarchy. Managers beware...
If you want to find out more about Dan Ariely's work on motivation. https://www.ted.com/talks/dan_ariely_what_makes_us_feel_good_about_our_work?language=en
Visibility of our work in organisations.
Barriers to making decisions and how to ask others for help.
In this episode, Pilar talks to Alex Hillman, founder of Indy Hall, "a community of people who choose to work together, more productively, to make our work, our lives, our cities and communities better".
Introduction Thanks to Mark and Bernie for their feedback on the Brexit episode.
If you would like more info on the Mentoring Group for managers and leaders of virtual teams, check this out: http://virtualnotdistant.com/virtual-not-distant-mentoring-group/
Listen to this episode on The Coworking Weekly Show, where Alex Hillman, today's guest, reflects on how the coworking spirit can be adapted to make the broader way of work a better place. http://listen.coworkingweekly.com/episodes/27649-ep20-ten-questions-about-the-future-of-work
If you enjoy giving your feedback on products and would like to get paid for your opinions, register with our sponsor, Saros Research.
https://www.sarosresearch.com/participate/join-saros-research/?id=100243
11:50mins The Conversation with Alex Hillman from Indy Hall
Thanks to Bernie J Mitchell for introducing us!
Indy Hall - the story... http://www.indyhall.org/
Coworking - the verb, not the physical space.
Finding opportunities to be around each other.
First steps in coworking... Finding like-minded people.
Coworking that goes beyond the building. And what is the role of the person/s in charge?
"Organisations have many examples of when people need to be working together in order to accomplish their goals, but they don't work together and in some cases, they work against each other [...]
Then you have examples in coworking places when people don't need to work together, but they do."
The role of trust in the workplace.
Opportunities / successes and trends happening worldwide in the world of coworking.
"Coworking" can mean different things to different people.
Do photos of your coworking space have people in them?
Where are the shared spaces for non-start up organisations or artists?
"Real estate is straight forward because it's concrete. Community is complicated because it is not."
The People at Work Summit.
Would you like more of Alex? These are his two podcasts:
The Coworking Weekly Show: http://listen.coworkingweekly.com/
Stacking Briks https://stackingbricks.simplecast.fm/
And his reversed audiobook: https://theindyhallway.com/ten/
More from Alex:
@alexhillman on Twitter
dangerouslyawesome.com
coworkingweekly.com
In this episode Pilar and Lisette talk about what they enjoyed most and learned from "Work Rules" and "The Year Without Pants".
A short introduction today with some housekeeping and a big thanks to Saros Research!
If you want to give your opinions on products and get paid for it, follow this link:
https://www.sarosresearch.com/participate/join-saros-research/?id=100243
Virtual Coffee with Lisette: "Work Rules" and "The Year Without Pants". 04:50mins
Lisette tells us about her terrible morning commute.
Pilar talks a little bit (just a little bit) about post-Brexit and a little bit about the last Spanish elections.
(You can listen to Pilar's rant about Brexit here: http://wlpodcast.libsyn.com/yes-i-too-am-talking-brexit)
17:58mins
We start to talk about "Work Rules" and "The Year Without Pants".
(Please note these are amazon affiliate links.)
"One of the nobler aspirations of a workplace should be that it's a place of refuge where people are free to create, build and grow."
Laszlo Bock in 'Work Rules'
"There's nothing wrong with tradition until you want progress. Progress demands change and change demands reevaluation of what the traditions are and how they're practiced."
Scott Berkun in "The Year Without Pants"
"Your right to swing your arms ends just where the other man's nose begins."
Zechariah Chafee Jr
"The key to balancing individual freedom with overall direction is to be transparent."
Laszlo Bock in 'Work Rules'
When is an idea a good idea?
Separate development conversations from appraisal conversations.
The difficulty in getting feedback when you are remote.
And the big question: can you be as great a company when you operate remotely as when you are co-located? The jury is still out.
visit www.virtualnotdistant.com
Hello and welcome to this extra episode of the 21st Century Work Life podcast, I’m Pilar Orti. If you’re a regular listener and managed to listen to last week’s episode, you might know that I was not going to release an episode this week, as I needed to catch up with myself and also, I’m in Madrid at the moment, where my set up is not ideal for working and also, not great for recording, so excuse the audio quality of this impromptu podcast.
So today it’s Monday and I never release an episode on Mondays and this week I wasn’t suppose to release any anyway. But, Brexit happened and, almost against my reserved nature, as in, I’m very careful with what I release on social media, and a podcast is considered social media, almost against my reserved nature I do want to share my reflections on this whole… let’s say, situation. But I’m not just talking about Brexit, also about the political situation in Spain and also about the importance, more now than ever as the political class is crumbling, the importance of creating a world of work that makes people’s lives better.
As I said, three parts to this episode and the first is Brexit.
On 23rd June, 52% of 71% of the UK’s British nationals aged 18 and over – and you do the math, voted for the UK to leave the European Union.
So, the first thing I’d like to say is, if you’re British and are ashamed of being British right now, of which there are many, I’ve heard it first hand and second hand, don’t be. Because 48% of the population voted remain. Not just that, I was actually incredibly touched by how much people, in my circles, put themselves out there showing support for the Remain vote and even asking others to do the same. And remember, foreigners residing in Britain like myself, couldn’t vote. So these were British people making it very clear that they wanted to remain in the European Union. More about that later.
In contrast to the couple of posts I saw during the campaign by foreign residents in the UK saying they didn’t feel welcome, I’ve been really touched by people speaking against the xenophobic vote. And hang on, I’m not saying that everyone who voted to leave was xenophobic, but there was a proportion of the vote that certainly was.
So, I’m not angry at the fact that people voted Brexit. In fact, pretty much like the lovely Bernie who writes a newsletter every Sunday (as opposed to myself who is just incapable of doing one every month) I was actually very surprised at the amount of people who turned up to vote – 72%! Considering that the turnout for the last set of local elections was under 40% and I think the same for the last general elections, not bad at all.
So, I’m not angry at that. I’ll tell you what I’m angry at. Two things in fact. This morning on Spanish radio I heard one of the journalists say, “ There’s something I don’t understand. David Cameron calls a referendum to see if people want to leave Europe. And then he campaigns to stay. So why did he call it then?” Ah, of course what this very insightful Spanish journalist didn’t know was the context in which the referendum was promised. The UK Independent Party was promising to do quite well in the last general elections, until Mr Cameron and friends, because I very much doubt that Cameron has been ruling the country on his own, they decided that they couldn’t let their votes go to UKIP. UKIP had done really well in the European Elections, when their flagship promise in their manifesto was to get out of Europe. So, as the Tory votes, and politicians, started to migrate (ha ha, I thought I’d use that word), as the Tory votes began to migrate to UKIP, Cameron needed to do something drastic. And that something was promising a referendum. I need to say here too, that a few years ago, I heard Cameron say on Radio4 that Britain would never leave Europe. It wasn’t a reporter summarizing what he’d said, it wasn’t even a soundbyte. I heard the interview live on Radio4. Liar.
So I’m angry at that. At the fact that someone or someones wanted to be in power so badly that they promised something they knew would throw the country and our relationship with the European Union down the drain.
The other thing I’m angry about of course, is that I’ve lived 26 years in London. (And yes, only London, which is an entity in itself). I’ve lived 26 years in London and yet I couldn’t vote in a referendum which, let’s face it, is going to affect me more than it’s going to affect many people who could vote. And no, I didn’t ask for a British passport in 26 years. What for? Didn’t need one. Now we shall see. Everyone is asking me, what will you do? Will you become British? I don’t know. We’ll see what the options are and then we’ll see. In all honesty, if I could become a Londoner, I’d do it tomorrow.
Which brings to me to a couple of other reflections from the past few days. If you’re in Europe, you might have heard that there’s been a petition on the internet for London to become independent. That’s nice. Whereas I understand the anger of Londoners, which is probably the place in the UK where there are indeed more Europeans and the numbers were more or less 70% in favour of remaining, whereas I understand that I also say, come on… Think about it, what would happen if London left England? (And I’m saying England, because if we did move towards making London independent, it would be more or less at the same time as Scotland and northern Ireland left, yes, they’re pretty angry too…) But if London left England, the rest of the country would probably not do so well. So really? Do you really want London to be independent? Well, maybe you do, it depends on how pissed off you are…
And there’s of course that other petition asking for a new referendum if either vote won by less than 60%... Over a million signatures in like 24 hours… a lot of which were fake…. If you believe the Twitter stream of the Petitions Committee, about 20,000 came from North Korea and about 40k from the Vatican. What a laugh. Not just that – I came across the petition on Facebook , by the way, everyone in my stream was so angry with the result…, anyway, I came across the petition, went to the website and of course the website was down. When I finally was able to read it properly, I thought, 60%... say this petition went ahead, how are we going to get form 48% to 60%? Say there’s another referendum, then Remain wins, by 55% to 45% and then… well, you need another referendum, because we didn’t get to 60%... and meanwhile, no one is paying attention to the nhs, to education, to Syria, Turkey, the threat from Isis and oh, immigration. Oh, and Donald Trump. OMG.
So I didn’t sign the petition because I thought, well, we’d never get to 60% remain. But, oh, was I wrong. Was I wrong because I thought people had brains. And here’s the third thing that’s getting me angry. Well, not really angry because there’s no point in getting angry. So today I came across a new word: Bregret, what people who voted Brexit are now feeling. I’ll give you some anecdotal examples. On Facebook, when I made the point about the petition putting us in perpetum referendum, someone said, well, four of my very informed friends had voted Brexit but they never thought it would really count if the majority was so near 50%. Well, you should have informed yourself a bit better, didn’t you. Or another one, Oh, I only voted Brexit because I wanted to scare off Cameron. Well guess what, a vote is not a suggestion that you are behind something, a vote counts people.
And now the Bregret is also increasing as you know, and you’ll be surprised at this, apparently the Leave campaigners were lying. According to an article in El Mundo, which I think has been taken from the Independent, Johnson and Farage were lying about what Brexit would mean for the NHS and immigration.
Yes, my friends, this is the problem with democracy, An informed vote counts as much as an uninformed vote. And this goes too for parents of expats in Europe wanting to vote Brexit and children of immigrants in Britain voting Brexit.
Aside from all this, and the other repercussions like the mess that Labour is now in, Scotland and Northern Ireland now threatening with having referendums themselves to leave the UK.
While I’ve mentioned Labour, I know that Jeremy Corbyn has been given a really hard time about not backing Remain earlier or more vigorously but, you know what, his words after the results were the most sensible. This result reflects the divide in society in the UK. It reflects inequality. It reflects a system that focuses on the short terms and doesn’t look at the long term consequences. In one way, it’s no wonder that most of London voted to stay. Those that have been pushed out of London because of the housing prices are probably not that happy. Luxury flats continue to pop up all over London in all sorts of areas. Why are we obsessed with having luxury flats? How can normal people afford to live in London??? And that’s just a small example. In a way, I can’t even blame some of the British for being scared of uncontrolled immigration – did you know that you can get the leaflets that come through your door from Hammersmith and Fulham in, I seem to remember, 17 languages? And you can choose to have the website translated into over 20 languages? Another anecdote, a friend of my husband’s went to take the UK citizenship test and apparently, you had access to a translator. What? In the Netherlands you need to pass a Dutch test if you want to become a national.
I know I’m privileged and have never had problems with the language but, you really don’t want immigration without integration, because this is what you get. The UK has always been so tolerant, so welcoming and so afraid of being intolerant that they’ve gone too far in that direction, forgetting that unless you have integration of all the different nationalities, you can’t live as one.
So I’m with Corbyn and many others, thinking that this Brexit mess is unfortunately a symptom of a lot of what’s going on, on many levels and in many different places. Some of it is completely irrational (like those people voting Brexit without knowing it would have consequences like, oh, leaving the EU…) but others, well, there’s a lot that the UK and the European Union need to be looking at, before the whole thing crumbles.
Now before I move onto Spain, where does the world of work come into this? Ok, pause and disclaimer. I can only talk about this form my point of view. From a knowledge worker, middle class European. (Ha ha, I’ll say that again) European. In fact Western European, because the differences between West and East are still quite noticeable.
The political class seems pretty much rotten. I’m not saying that they horrible individuals but they’re a little bit out of their depth, some more than others. They’ve got challenges they never thought they’d come across. A flood of immigrants running for their lives, kids who feel like foreigners in their countries of birth but who are looked as foreigners also in their countries of ethnic, who finally find a place to belong to under the wings of terrorists. And economically, let’s face it, we’re not doing that well…
So, ok, I’ll speak for myself. I don’t feel like I can do much about who’s governing the country I live in. We seem to be constantly let down by every political party. So where can we gain a bit of control? Well, I think at work. It’s no coincidence (even though I know it’s not the direct result) but it’s no coincidence that the whole rise in self-management is happening now. Maybe finding more autonomy at work is really what we need. I’m not going to go as far as saying that we have to have a purpose (although some of you will say that that is important), but that at least, we have some sort of control over our destiny.
This is where I bring back the world of work. I feel like we need to think of companies and organisations as places where we can belong to; places which we can shape through our actions. It will need a change of mindset, but to me, it seems the only way forwards for now. Make a difference at work and through work, because making a difference in society seems to be getting harder and harder. But work is connected to society, who makes up the world of work if not?
This was the end of the script, I adlibbed after that. I talked about how people looked miserable in Spain in the voting queue on Sunday and how many of my friends just didn’t know who to vote for.
Wherever YOU are, whatever you’re doing, please enjoy.
In today's episode, Pilar talks to Richard A MacKinnon from the Future Work Centre, about the World of Work model and taking an evidence-based approach to making changes in our organisations.
Introduction
Pilar talks about her experience in in-person conferences (she gets very tired...).
How proxemics inform our online communication - see Sococo screenshot.
Changing the Context of communication in virtual teams, to allow for different people to engage.
If you want to join us in Virtual Team Talk, fill in this form. https://markkilby.typeform.com/to/l9kVcd
Today's episode is kindly sponsored by Saros Research!
Click this link to register: https://www.sarosresearch.com/participate/join-saros-research/?id=100243
The Conversation with Richard A. MacKinnon from The Future Work Centre 19:40mins What does The Future Work Centre do?
Pilar met Richard at the E-Resilience Conference. Hear more about this in a previous episode.
http://virtualnotdistant.com/eresilience-conference/
The problem with 'top tips'.
"The public has a real appetite for science."
Think Like a Scientist! http://www.futureworkcentre.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Lies_damn_lies_and_statistics.pdf
The World of Work Model: http://www.futureworkcentre.com/who-we-are/world-of-work/
"People don't get up in the morning with the goal of making bad decisions."
On employee engagement: http://www.futureworkcentre.com/2016/04/employee-engagement-emperors-new-clothes/
Next seminar on 22 Sept 2016, London: http://www.futureworkcentre.com/events/evidence-matters/employee-engagement/
Insight into Action events: http://www.futureworkcentre.com/events/insight-into-action/
Beware of 'confirmation bias' and 'action bias'.
Annual performance reviews: what's the evidence to say they don't work?
Events at the Future of Work Centre
New research area: Management and Leadership
Get in touch with Richard: info [at] futureworkcentre.com
Follow on Twitter @fw_centre
Website: http://www.futureworkcentre.com/
Pilar and Lisette talk about the farewell process in a virtual team. 48:27mins
Introduction Pilar had a full on day, which she shares with you... Nothing incredibly exciting, but very varied!
Thanks to Saros Research for sponsoring the 21st Century Work Life podcast!
Click on this link to register with Saros: https://www.sarosresearch.com/participate/join-saros-research/?id=100243
Virtual Coffee with Lisette: Exit Interviews or Farewell Chats 08:45 mins. Lisette and Pilar talk about the Virtual Team Talk Internal Affair - our first shared experience as a community.
What need to happen when someone leaves your team?
What do you do with the information you gather from the chat?
When might be the best time to have the exit interview?
Pilar makes reference to this article Making Exit Interviews Count HBR April 2016
Short Introduction For more information on the mentoring group for managers and leaders of virtual teams, check out the Virtual not Distant Academy.
Today's episode is sponsored by Saros Research!
If you want to give your opinions and get paid for it, and you're based in the UK or Ireland, follow this link:
https://www.sarosresearch.com/participate/join-saros-research/?id=100243
The Conversation with Steffan Sudrek
Helping organisations develop capacity in teams to that change can be sustainable.
Teams can't just self-organise, they need to be ready. Steffan shares his process helping build capacity in teams.
Taking responsibility in teams - how can we build that capacity?
Steffan mentions the Integral Facilitator Programme.
Integral coaching - Steffan gives us his definition.
Systemic coaching.
Why Steffan got involved with "A Practical Guide to Distributed Scrum”, which he wrote in collaboration with the IBM Scrum Community.
Steffan's Webs:
www.provokingleadership.com/
www.surdek.ca
Twitter: @ssurdek
In today's episode, Pilar and Lisette talk about how Virtual Team Talk was born and why it's so important to have a space to interact with your competitors. (Yes, you heard right.)
Introduction Episode with Izabela Russell: http://virtualnotdistant.com/new-media-europe/
Episode with Mike Russell: http://virtualnotdistant.com/new-media/
Our appearance with Izabela on the New Media Europe podcast http://newmediaeurope.com/2016/virtual-team-talk-pilar-orti-lisette-sutherland/
Link to webinars in June, from office-based to virtual team: http://virtualnotdistant.com/office-based-virtual-team-webinar/
Virtual not Distant Bitesize - why it's important not to take part in every conversation in Slack or other team communication platforms.
sponsored by Saros Research
If you would like to share your opinions on products and get paid for it, then head over to
https://www.sarosresearch.com/participate/join-saros-research/?id=100243
Check out the blog post: The Dangers of Working Out Loud http://virtualnotdistant.com/the-dangers-of-working-out-loud/
Virtual Coffee with Lisette: Virtual Team Talk, a space where competitors can collaborate 10.00mins Our updates: Lisette is selling loads of supercards! Check them out! http://virtualnotdistant.com/greatmeetings/
Our Blab on 6 June 7pm BST on Remote Productivity Habits: http://bit.ly/e-productivity
Link to the team audit, for managers and leaders of virtual teams http://virtualnotdistant.com/teamaudit/
18.00mins Pilar and Lisette rehearse their talk for New Media Europe, telling the story of how they met and how Virtual Team Talk is evolving.
Why did two competitors start working together?
The challenge is finding something that people can do together.
The importance of creating experiences together.
Creating the opportunity for spontaneous interactions.
Finding ways of getting to know how people work before going into full-blown, high stakes collaboration.
If you want to join Virtual Team Talk, join us, get in touch!
In this episode, Pilar talks to Julian Wilson, CEO of Matt Black Systems, about how the company made the transition to self-management. The journey was worth it, but also a bit painful... 1hr 07 mins - long, but worth the listen.
visit www.virtualnotdistant.com for your 7-part email series on leading virtual teams.
Introduction A brief one, seriously!
Pilar recommends some books and podcasts, and you can find the links below...
If you would like to find out more about the Buurtzorg model, why not check out these slides. http://www.kingsfund.org.uk/sites/files/kf/media/jos-de-blok-buurtzorg-home-healthcare-nov13.pdf
If you're making the transition to virtual, check out our new webinar: http://virtualnotdistant.com/office-based-virtual-team-webinar/
Today's episode, as always, is sponsored by Saros Research. If you're based in the UK, how about giving your opinions and getting paid for it?
Click here and swiftly register: https://www.sarosresearch.com/participate/join-saros-research/?id=100243
The Conversation with Julian Wilson, from Matt Black Systems 08:10mins As "Management" has been given a bad name by the terrible (but very visible) bad managers out there, companies and people are turning to self-management as a way to improve companies and worklife. But should we be pursuing self-management as an end in itself?
In this episode, Pilar talks to Julian Wilson, CEO of Matt Black Systems, (a design and manufacturing company in the aerospace sector) who, in the journey to improve the company, ended up with a self-managed business. Yes, if this is the right structure for your company, this system will bring all kinds of tangible and intangible joys, but we prepared for some pain along the way...
It's 2003 and the company is in trouble...
"We measured the machines and the processes but we didn't measure the people."
Lean manufacturing didn't quite work. The problem didn't lie with the tool, but with the culture.
How do you change the culture? Micromanaging didn't work, standardising operation procedures didn't work.
Julian gives us a specific example of how they made savings in Purchasing.
How the company cut down on administrative staff.
Should you give admin tasks to people who don't like doing them, so that they get done faster?!
"I wouldn't do it like this again."
Changing culture is difficult; you're changing habits.
Why are we not trusted at work to do things and make decisions like those we take in our personal lives?
When you trust people and de-centralise, you will come up across some problems.
Recruitment - who stays, who goes and who is recruited?
Do businesses need to grow?
Julian is setting up a new organisation, based on the Buurtzorg model.
Further reading and listening:
How to Become a Soulful Organisation - RSA https://www.thersa.org/events/2015/01/how-to-become-a-soulful-organisation
Global Business podcast: Companies Without Managers http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02nrwfk/episodes/downloads
The Story Behind Morning Star's Success https://thefutureorganization.com/self-management-the-story-behind-morningstars-success/
On 21 April, Pilar attended the E-Resilience Conference, organised by the Switched On Culture Research Group. In this podcast, she shares her thoughts. Short introduction, with reference to:
RSA Fellow's Reinventing Work Network 24 May London: http://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/rsa-fellows-reinventing-work-network-the-metrics-of-reinventing-work-tickets-24564810008?aff=eac2
Link to the blog post on how moving to virtual can change our identity: http://virtualnotdistant.com/virtual-challenges-identity/
If you're looking for the link to the Virtual not Distant ® 7 part email series, here it is: http://eepurl.com/bViJ85
Thank you to the organisers of the conference:
Dr Christine Grant,Dr Almuth McDowall,Professor Gail Kinman,Dr Cristina Quiñones-García and thank you to Anna Meller for letting me know about it!
Find out more: https://alwaysonculture.wordpress.com/
07:20 mins Some of the things that Pilar found most "interesting":
David D’Souza, Head of CIPD London.
"The Future of Work."
David talked about many things, including the question of why people, instead of growing at work, are becoming lesser beings than they are at home?
Are we discriminating when we introduce "remote"?
The question of ethics:
"Just because we can, doesn't mean we should"
Jean François Stitch, PhD Student at Lancaster University.
"Virtual Interactions at Work, Wellbeing and Performance: The Importance of 'Person-Environment Fit’".
The Person-Environment Fit with relation to email overload.
Whether you feel overloaded by email or not really depends on how you view email overload. Interesting, eh?
Dr Richard A. MacKinnon, Insight Director, The Future Work Centre.
"Technology at Work: A Systems Perspective."
Understanding your own preference is key:
"General advice about the use of tech is pointless."
Alison Maitland, author of Future Work.
"Leadership and Self-Leadership in the Digital Age."
"The industrial age work model remains intact..."
"Future work is a place where flexibility is the norm and not the exception and where autonomy replaces permission."
Does it matter if our work eats into our personal life, if we don't experience work-life conflict?
Advice to those leading virtual teams or teams with mobile working:
Be open to change yourselves.
Let go of control.
Coach and support, rather than micromanage.
Focus on relationships, not just tasks.
Carve out time for individuals.
Use the time in the workplace to build relationships.
Work in different places to gain different perspectives.
Take responsibility for each other's wellbeing.
Find time away from your team members! (That's Pilar's advice...)
Dr Emma Russell, Kingston Business School.
"Individual Differences in Dealing with Email at Work."
Should countries bring in legislation to reduce email?
How people under the different Big Five personalities react to checking email?
The importance of self-awareness.
"We should be given control about how to deal with our in-coming email because on size does not fit all."
The 21st Century Work Life podcast is sponsored by Saros Research!
https://www.sarosresearch.com/participate/join-saros-research/?id=100243
Join us for Virtual Team Talk! Use this contact form to tell us you'd like to join us. http://virtualnotdistant.com/contact-us/
Today's episode consists entirely of Pilar and Lisette's virtual coffee and they talk about the best things and the worst things about working in virtual teams.
We have a few updates, but not too many.
We talk about our online co-working space Virtual Team Talk,
Sqwiggle closing down,
should you take photos,
how Oleg Konovalov sent us his book Organisational Anatomy: A Manager's Guide to a Healthy Organisation (Towards the Twenty-First Century Organization)
and Lisette is reading the biography Elon Musk: How the Billionaire CEO of SpaceX and Tesla is Shaping our Future,
Lisette mentions this interview with the guys from RLoop. http://www.collaborationsuperpowers.com/83-a-self-organized-team-of-remote-redditors-competing-for-spacex-hyperloop/
You never know who's listening...
To join Saros Research, use this link: https://www.sarosresearch.com/participate/join-saros-research/?id=100243
19:05 Updates seamlessly evolve into the main body of our conversation.
We don't need permission to do a lot of stuff in virtual teams - we can self-organise, interact with people in other parts of the organisation... Flattening of the hierarchies. But this also has its down side... We tend to over-communicate.
Our oh-so-different communication styles.
Retrospective and reviewing our team process: the most important thing is to have the conversation.
Rules??????
Freedom and cost - two ups!
Freedom increases motivation. Pilar refers to this article Stop Motivating Your Employees!
Tele-pressure and techno-stress!
The pressures shift - from management to peers.
Pilar talks to Mandy Garner, editor of workingmums.co.uk about howWorkingMums supports and spreads good practice regarding flexibleworking and other areas of work.
http://virtualnotdistant.com/workingmums/
Introduction If you are making the transition from office-based to virtualteam or hybrid team, join Pilar for coffee over this short webinaron making the transition.
http://virtualnotdistant.com/office-based-virtual-team-webinar/
Saros Virtual Team Practice 04:55 To give your opinions on products and get paid for it, usethis link to visit the Saros website.
https://www.sarosresearch.com/participate/join-saros-research/?id=100243
The Conversation with Mandy Garner, editor ofWorkingMums.co.uk 12:45 mins Workingmums celebrates its tenth anniversary thisyear - Congratulations!
The history of Workingmums - and how it's evolved over the lastten years!
Who are the businesses receiving the Best Practice Awards? Thesector within which organisations are operating is taken intoaccount.
Who champions flexible working within an organisation?
How does shared parental leave work in the UK?
The site Workingmums.co.uk goes beyondadvocating for mums to find flexible jobs, it's a site advocatingfor flexible working for everyone" mums, dads, people with caringresponsibilities, returners...
Here are some articles you might want to check out:
http://www.workingmums.co.uk/mums-divided-on-sharing-parental-leave/
http://www.workingmums.co.uk/creating-dementia-carer-friendly-workplaces/
Check out the 2016 Best Practice Report
http://www.workingmums.co.uk/workingmums-co-uk-publishes-2016-best-practice-report/
Link to Workingmum's Advice and Support section: http://www.workingmums.co.uk/advice-and-support/
And you can now read Mandy's piece on the WorkingMums website: http://www.workingmums.co.uk/supporting-virtual-teams/
If you are making the transition from office-based tovirtual team or hybrid team, join Pilar for coffee over this shortwebinar on making the transition.
http://virtualnotdistant.com/office-based-virtual-team-webinar/
We talk about using Sococo for online coworking, the exploration of behaviours and boundaries and why it works for us.
We don't have many links to share with you today, just our guest's Twitter handles and an invitation to join Virtual Team Talk.
Mark Kilby Twitter: @mkilby
Darlene Pike Twitter: @darlenepike
Lisette Sutherland Twitter:@lightling
Pilar Orti Twitter: @PilarOrti
Sign up to find out about our online coworking experiments: https://virtualteamtalk.com/
Today's introduction is very, very brief, so there's not much to say here. If you would like to download the Work Foundation's "Working Anywhere" report, here's the link:
http://www.theworkfoundation.com/Reports/398/Working-Anywhere
Today's episode, is also sponsored by Saros Research.
https://www.sarosresearch.com/participate/join-saros-research/?id=100243
Working Anywhere: A Winning Formula for Good Work? What is "mobile working"?
How does the UK compare to other countries?
Here's the link to the article in Forbes about what the numbers are like in the US.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2016/03/31/at-these-125-companies-all-or-most-employees-work-remotely/#7c6c67cb4d94
“We believe from our work here that we are almost at a tipping point in mobile working and by sharing our findings we can enable a benefit-driven approach; a formula for good work while working from anywhere.”
The benefits of mobile working in organisations.
“Personal circumstances and the nature of the job determine the potential for individuals to work flexibly and or remotely”.
The barriers to mobile working.
“The most successful forms of mobile working will be achieved when the benefits to the organisation and the individual are aligned and enshrined in formal and agreed ways of working.”
What is technostress?
"A YouGov survey of UK business leaders for Vodafone found that 25 per cent “felt that their employees remained rooted to the concept of having their own desk space”, 23 per cent “felt flexibility led to employees taking advantage”, and yet 77 per cent “measure success by results rather than time spent in the office”38. There would seem to be a measure of disconnect here between leaders’ perceptions and their employees’ demands and indeed employee performance when mobile working is enabled. Reviewing successful (and unsuccessful) practice by senior staff will be important in enabling change."
What do managers feel about mobile working? Does seniority affect adoption?
What do we need to look out for when introducing flexible working?
"Today in the UK, few working- age individuals don’t have a smart phone or equivalent mobile device through which they connect to their friends and family wherever they are and whenever they want, or need, to communicate. Why would they not demand the same flexibility in their working lives?"
Introduction 25 April 6.45pm BST RSA April Reinventing Work Network: How are YOU Reinventing Work? https://blab.im/pilar-orti-rsa-reinventing-work-network-what-are-you-doing-to-reinvent-work
Have you got any book recommendations?
People at Work Summit https://www.peopleatworksummit.com/
Facilitator's Guide to Participatory Decision-Making
The Participant Principle
Webinars: April on Leadership and Motivation in Virtual Teams
May: Coaching in Virtual Teams
Follow this link to our Webinar page: http://virtualnotdistant.com/webinars/
Virtual not Distant Bitesize Today we look at How to generate ideas from your team when you already have a point of view.
To join Saros, click here https://www.sarosresearch.com/participate/join-saros-research/?id=100243
Virtual Coffee with Lisette: What We Learned from Team of Teams Lisette's first chapter might be with us soon, "in the flesh"!
Lisette's Supercards! They're super useful in a meeting! Check out the video, with Leila. http://virtualnotdistant.com/greatmeetings/
Get your free gala dinner at New Media Europe conference by using this link to book. (Bring your fancy pants!)
We took part in the New Media Europe podcast and Izabela made us think loads!
Join us in Virtual Team Talk.
Pilar connected with someone immediately - by audio! She met Alex Hillman from the co-working space IndyHall
UK Podcasters Conference: https://blab.im/mike-russell-uk-podcasters-online-conference-ukpod-2016
We talk about Team of Teams!
"Radical sharing of information with extreme decentralization of decision-making authority."
Lisette heard about the author on Tim Ferriss' podcast.
Lisette summarises Team of Teams.
Adaptability, transparency and leadership.
Transparency also has its dark side...
"The role of senior leader was no longer that of a controlling puppet master but rather that of an empathetic crafter of culture."
The relationship between transparency and experimentation.
Pilar's blog post on Team of Teams: http://virtualnotdistant.com/team-of-teams/
In this episode, Pilar talks to Izabela Russell, co-founder of New Media Europe about what it takes to organise a conference and her search for the range of ingredients that make up entrepreneurs. 48:54mins
Introduction
Twitter list for guests of the 21st Century Work Life podcast. https://twitter.com/PilarOrti/lists/guests-podcast
Check out Sococo. https://www.sococo.com/ - the tool that brings proxemics into virtual relationships.
People at Work Summit, Pilar will be speaking there on 22 April. https://www.peopleatworksummit.com/
She'll also take part in the UK Podcasters Blab marathon, also on 22 April! https://blab.im/mike-russell-uk-podcasters-online-conference-ukpod-2016
12th April Reinventing Work Network - Creative Gatherings
Virtual not Distant Academy
Leadership and Motivation in Virtual Teams - Webinar http://virtualnotdistant.com/leadership-and-motivation-in-virtual-teams-webinar/
Saros Virtual Team Practice @11:50 mins To give your opinion on products and get paid for it, follow this link to register for Saros.
First of all, if you are in London over the weekend 18/19 June, join us for Virtual Team Talk at New Media Europe. If you use this link to book, you'll get free access to the dinner!
The Conversation with Izabela Russell, co-founder of New Media Europe @15:40mins.
Episode 16 with Mike Russell (Izabela's husband) about New Media and Music Radio Creative. http://virtualnotdistant.com/new-media/
It all began with UKPodcasters...
Link to the UKPodcasters website. http://ukpodcasters.com/
How do you market a conference? Connections!
The structure of New Media Europe:Day #1 Inspiration (Lisette and I will inspire you!) , evening gala, New Media Europe awards and Day #2 Information and Practical advice.
Who is the conference for?
How did Izabela end up "doing this"?
Organising a conference, the importance of connections.
What is the New Media Europe Show podcast focusing on? The personality of entrepreneurs! http://newmediaeurope.com/2016/category/podcast/
(Lisette and Pilar will soon be on that podcast!)
Izabela's Twitter @IzabelaRusell
We're taking a short break, but here's a virtual rhyme while you wait.
Productivity Hacks
Today I had a good day,
I got my task list done;
I made some phone calls,
Cleared my desktop.
(I almost had some fun!)
I made quite a good slideshow,
I wrote a new proposal,
Reviewed a pending budget
And finished a report.
I did all this by lunch time,
Still in my dressing gown.
What made this day so brilliant?
The internet was down.
We're taking a short break but here's a short poem for you!
The Café around the Corner
I have my lunch and feel my tummy swell.
I ate too much (I know ‘cause I can’t move)
If I stay on my couch, it won’t vode well,
So I need to get up, regain my groove.
Although my organism’s full of food
And I still have a pizza to digest,
A visit to the café’s what I need:
A change will be as productive as a rest.
When I arrive, there’s not a seat in sight;
And people seem so busy on their phones…
The noise is deafening, the music loud;
I miss the comfy silence of my home.
The truth then hits me: Human kind is not for me.
I’ll just go home and have a cup of tea.
Today we go straight into our Virtual Coffee, wrapping up our conversation of whether remote can scale.
Lisette's Supercards!!! Check them out here: http://www.collaborationsuperpowers.com/supercards/
Use cards during video meetings to soften interruptions.
Saros Virtual Team Practice "Even a few minutes of fuzzy chat form a lasting connection."
To give your opinion on products and get paid for it, follow this link.
(Only UK and Ireland.)
Virtual Coffee with Lisette: Why We Need Changing Mindsets Adventures in Virtual Co-working in Sococo. If you want to join us, sign up to the Virtual Team Talk blog and we'll let you know about the next one. [We just publish updates on our events, so you won't get too much stuff from us.]
Lisette and I will talk Virtual Team Talk at New Media Europe!
Collaboration Eats Competition for Breakfast!
If you're going remote START! Start now with small experiments. All sorts of things will emerge - you don't know what the indirect effects will be.
Pilar mentions this article on the Happy Melly blog. http://www.happymelly.com/how-trello-can-help-your-team-self-organise/
Great article, awful title: http://www.15five.com/blog/infographic-should-you-allow-remote-work-at-your-company
Pilar was on OuiShare podcast, with Bernie! blab.im/bernie-j-mitchell-ouishare-radio-pilar-orti-coworking-and-remote-working-and-a-whole-lot-more
Lisette's favourite Future of Work podcast, with the Gap: thefutureorganization.com/forget-work-life-balance-its-all-about-work-life-integration/
In this episode, Pilar talks to Brian Cervino, the Community Manager of Trello, about how this online tool is helping people work together and how it's used within Trello itself to create a healthy company culture. 48:37 mins
Introduction Pilar thanks all guests and talks a bit about trust and transparency in companies.
Here are some links to posts on Trello by Pilar. How I'm Using Trello for the 21st Century Work Life podcast.
Tips on using Trello from Trello's blog.
VirtualTeamTalk blog
Leila's post How to Disengage Your Employees
Virtual not Distant Bitesize - sponsored today by Saros Research
07:30mins The Dark Side of Using Collaboration Tools.
To give your opinion on products and get paid for it, click here through to Saros.
The Conversation with Brian Cervino, Community Manager at Trello
13:50 mins How Trello evolves.
The story behind Trello.
Location - people working in office and remote.
Trello Business Class and The Freemium model.
The concept of PowerUps. "Calling all Developers".
How Trello uses Trello!
https://blog.trello.com/how-15-minutes-each-week-keeps-our-distributed-team-connected/
How others are using it http://blog.trello.com/curriculums-collaboration-and-reinventing-the-classroom/ ?
http://www.happymelly.com/how-trello-can-help-your-team-self-organise/
Brian's music.
Making coffee and creativity.
Tweet Brian @briancervino
Do send us your feedback through Twitter or the Contact Page on Virtual not Distant.
Pilar and Lisette pick up where they left off last week. We look at how the world of work will change when remote scales: what will happen with physical workspaces and how companies operate when 100% virtual.
Introduction
Today's episode is a continuation of the conversation Lisette and Pilar started in podcast 65.
So this introduction is very short.
Saros Virtual Team Practice Remember to check in - not to check up on...
To register with Saros to give your opinion on products and get paid for it, click here.
Virtual Coffee with Lisette: We Talk about the Future Workplace 21 mins Pilar and Lisette talk about how Virtual Team Talk is going. Sign up for updates to the Blabs here: https://virtualteamtalk.wordpress.com/
Can communities build faster online than face to face?
Lisette's first chapter is on its way!!!!
Here's the report by the Work Foundation on Working Anywhere. www.theworkfoundation.com/DownloadPublication/Report/398_Working%20Anywhere.pdf
AirBnB's Flexible Workspace. http://www.onofficemagazine.com/interiors/item/4663-airbnb-s-low-tech-and-flexible-portland-office
To find out why Buffer ditched the office, have a look at https://open.buffer.com/no-office/
Article on why Automattic work in the way they do.
Lisette mentions "The Year Without Pants".
Pilar mentions "Rework".
In this episode, Pilar talks to Craig Wealand about how he uses different types of technology to engage with his students learning English.
Introduction Join Lisette and Pilar for Virtual Team Talk on 29 February, 7pm GMT. Check out the dedicated site for our Blabs here: virtualteamtalk.wordpress.com/. If you have any questions about working in virtual teams or would like to suggest any topics, get in touch via http://virtualnotdistant.com/contact-us/
Pilar shares two points very well made in the HBR article "Can Your Employees Really Speak Freely?"
Virtual not Distant Bitesize - sponsored today by Saros Research 10:55mins Are you reviewing your team process or as well as your project progress?
To help Saros with their qualitative research, click here: www.sarosresearch.com/participate/join-saros-research/?id=100243
The Conversation with Craig Wealand 17:40mins The difference between preparing materials online and face to face.
Craig's celebrity moment.
How to write content for an anonymous student.
Taking a language course online - and how the tech landscape has changed.
Using Facebook.
Free content as part of the business.
Our view on pop-ups.
Craig won a podcast award!
How the podcast has evolved.
How Craig got sponsorship for his podcast.
Speakpipe.
Practicing Spanish on Blab!
Here's the link to the Blab that Craig and Pilar did, for International Podcast Day, in case you want to practice your Spanish!
Virtual Buddies.
Collaborate with your competitors!!!
Craig's contacts: mansioningles.com - free online courses to learn English!
inglespodcast.com
@mansiontwit
In this episode, Pilar and Lisette talk about what needs to change in our way of working and how our mindset would need to change.
Introduction 00:30 Pilar introduces the episode and asks for your input, as we still need to record Part 2 on this topic.
07:50 Pilar reads her virtual rhyme Tool Overload.
Saros Virtual Team Practice 03:50 mins Choose a tool that can be rolled out across different devices and operating systems - you never how people are going to access them.
To register with Saros Research, follow this link.
Virtual Coffee with Lisette, talking about whether "remote" can scale 09:50mins Lisette is currently running her Work Together Anywhere workshop, so they talk about the irony that most people seem to prefer to take training about online work, in person.
12:15mins Playing with space during learning and meeting, both on and offline. Changing the dynamics by changing the space and tool.
(They mention Zoom and Sococo.)
16:25mins We talk about Virtual Team Talk, what's going on there?
Do groups have to be private to encourage meaningful conversation?
21:40mins You must read Team of Teams!
What will the new status symbols be in the virtual workplace?
Have you watched The Good Wife?
Letting Go!
Can instant communication suggest more direct control?
Look out for episode 53, on Workshift.
43:50mins Why Lisette's Twitter handle is @lightling (Pilar's stays as @PilarOrti)
In today's episode, Pilar talks to Joanna Penn about writing and self-publishing in the 21st Century and being an indie author.
Introduction Check out the recordings of the Working in Virtual Teams webinar series. http://virtualnotdistant.com/webinars/
Check out Pilar's books: www.pilarortigarces.co.uk/p/e-books-by-pilar.html
Virtual not Distant Bitesize 04:50mins Today's bitesize is dedicated nurturing team creativity in virtual teams.
Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.
Saros Virtual Team Practice Follow this link to register with Saros Research.
10:35mins "We like to share refreshments at a team meeting and set a calendar reminder 15 minutes warning before a hangout, so everyone can get their coffee and biscuits ready wherever they are."
16:10mins Working Out Loud - extracts from "Co-Writing a Book" the book by Joanna Penn and J Lyons. Learning about each other through sharing our work process.
The Conversation with Joanna Penn
We're in the Renaissance of the creator.
20:15mins Joanna puts "authorpreneurship" in context.
Indie authors are a natural evolution as we change the way in which we work.
The long tail and low-cost of self-publishing.
The author is no longer a lonely creator...
Audio and foreign sales.
We talk about how much we love the Kindle!
I couldn't run my business without technology.
If anyone wants a great piece of software to write books in, use Scrivener.
Joanna mentions Dragon Dictate.
Joanna's fiction work and how she has changed as a writer.
You are the wrong person to trust your work.
The shift in mindset from a hobbyist to professional.
Joanna's virtual collaboration with J. Thorn.
The future of writing.
Self-Publishing Success Course
Check out Joanna's blog and podcast for information and inspiration! www.thecreativepenn.com/
In today's episode, Pilar and Lisette are joined by Hassan Osman, who shares how to make the most out of email. Take out your notebooks (virtual or otherwise) as this episode is packed with practical advice.
Introduction Not much to say today, we go almost straight into the Virtual not Distant Bitesize.
Leadership in Virtual Teams Webinar - the last in the Working in Virtual Teams series.
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/6102097491496619777
Virtual not Distant Bitesize
04: 00 Match the Tool to How and What You Want to Communicate.
Choose different tools and processes for:
Urgent communication
Progress updates
Chit Chat
Saros Virtual Team Practice
10:20 We share the virtual team practice of Saros Research
http://www.sarosresearch.com/participate/saros-latest-news/2016/01/28/christmas-in-july-calendar-curiosities-in-qualitative-research/
Virtual Coffee with Lisette and Hassan Osman 12: 25 How Lisette and Pilar met through Hassan.
Don't Reply All - why Hassan wrote this book.
"It's not the quantity that bothers me, it's the quality."
24:00 Bad email practice.
Don't write long emails.
Don't keep the same subject line for emails on end.
Don't bury your actions and questions within your email.
TLDR - what does that mean?
And finally, don't reply all!
Five tactics to get the best email results.
How the use of email has evolved.
How about checking out Hassan's other book on the Kindle?
Influencing Virtual Teams.
Or his Udemy course? How to Manage and Influence Your Virtual Team
Or his blog: www.thecouchmanager.com
EOM.
You can also check out Pilar's previous conversation with Hassan.
In today's podcast, Pilar talks to Maya Middlemiss about qualitative research, how her virtual team members communicate and how things have changed since she first started working from home 15 years ago.
Introduction 00:40 Don't miss the next Virtual Team Talk. Sign up here to receive notification of our monthly sessions and links to the recordings.
https://virtualteamtalk.wordpress.com/
The blog post Pilar talks about, where she rants about the fact that some companies just don't get flexible working: http://virtualnotdistant.com/flexible-working-is-not-working-from-home/
This is the link to check out the webinars: http://training-for-virtual-teams.teachable.com/
Virtual not Distant Bitesize 09:28 Why using video in your meetings is important and what to do if you're restricted to audio.
The Conversation with Maya Middlemiss 15:40 Pilar talks to Maya...
Insight into market reserach
Maya talks about what Saros Research does, a UK-based business with virtual clients and people spread in three countries.
sarosresearch.com
"We work around our family life."
Testing chocolate.
How her virtual team communicates on Slack.
The process of recruiting for qualitative research.
Is it still important to have a local base for clients?
Working with big and small companies.
Christmas Party in Google Hangouts.
"I have a very bad habit of getting distracted by the newest shiny app."
How work and clients at Saros has changed.
"People used to talk about work life balance like they were two different things."
Maya's writing a book to help people buy research recruitment, covering the ethics, working with different audiences, etc etc. Based on her own experience.
Advocating for participants in medical and medical-related research, speaking at the Consumer Health and Wellbeing Conference.
The importance of participants understanding confidentiality.
Constant exposure, reaching out - even through podcast sponsorship.
We talk about conflict in virtual teams, the different kinds of conflict, how to prevent destructive conflict from happening and what to do if it does surface.
Introduction If you are in London on 1 March 2016, join us here:
http://www.eventbrite.com/e/rsa-fellows-reinventing-work-network-event-tickets-20142987217?aff=eac2
Find out about our webinars on working remotely: http://virtualnotdistant.com/webinars/
Our Blab next Tuesday on Resolving Conflict in Virtual Teams: https://blab.im/lisette-sutherland-resolving-conflict-in-virtual-teams
Virtual not Distant Bitesize
06:35 Today's short section looks at the different roles that managers take in virtual teams, that have been linked to reducing conflict.
If you want to find out more about Quinn's leadership roles, visit http://www.comindwork.com/weekly/2015-04-20/productivity/managerial-leadership-roles-quinn
Virtual Coffee with Lisette, talking about Conflict in Virtual Teams
14: 55 Our usual updates.
Read about Lisette's disaster here: http://www.lisettesutherland.com/2016/01/dead-in-the-water-virtual-vulnerabilities/
We went to Las Vegas with Revolve Robotics, watch the discussion here: https://vimeo.com/151339115
Hybrid teams - read about Hugo Messer's experience on being teleported to Las Vegas. http://blog.ekipa.co/how-i-got-teleported-to-las-vegas/
Isolation in the office.
We're doing our first webinar together! http://virtualnotdistant.com/your-remote-workspace-webinar/
Feedback from listeners!
Different types of conflict: task, process, interpersonal.
What's the most appropriate mode of communication?
What is "normal"?
Group norms, should we challenge them? How shall we create common agreement? Creating the space for conversations.
Informal time together and time on our own. And one-one time.
The importance of reaching out.
Questions you can ask yourselves as a team to evaluate how good you are at dealing with conflict. David Clutterbuck "Coaching the Team at Work."
What can we do so that disagreement doesn't turn into conflict?
The Feedback Wrap.
Appreciation!
Pilar's post on Maslow's theory and custard creams. http://www.unusualconnections.co.uk/maslows-theory-in-practice-or-why-you-need-custard-creams/
There has to be some disagreements, but they need to help the work.
Do we bring another person into our problem?
Assume positive intent.
If you want to join the Slack Virtual Team Talk, let Pilar know through the VirtualnotDistant.com contact form.
Introduction 00:40 Pilar's been busy over the last month, so there are quite a few updates here, lasting about 15 mins.
Meet the Virtual not Distant collaborators.
Link to the new series of webinars on Working in Virtual Teams.
The Virtual not Distant Academy is here: http://training-for-virtual-teams.teachable.com/
The first webinar is on Communication in Virtual Teams.
Join us on 26 Jan for the next Virtual Team Talk Blab: https://virtualteamtalk.wordpress.com/
Virtual not Distant Bitesize
10:30 - 14:45 Say 'No' to Collaboration.
How much time do YOU spend on collaborative activities?
Pilar recommends 'Team of Teams'.
The Conversation, with Judy Rees 19:35 The history of the RSA Reinventing Work Network, a space for people who want to change the way in which organisations are structured. Judy and Pilar (well, mainly Judy, as she is the guest today) talk about what has happened so far in the network.
If you're in London on 19th January, join us for our next event: http://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/rsa-fellows-reinventing-work-network-walking-the-talk-of-self-management-tickets-19799133742
You can watch the RSA talk with Frederic Laloux which inspired the creation of this network. https://www.thersa.org/events/2015/01/how-to-become-a-soulful-organisation/
Everyone has a piece of the puzzle, it's your job to find the others.
32:45 How does an open space work? Judy talks us through the format we're using in the next meeting.
Lean coffee - open space online.
'Blended' networks - taking the face to face discussion online to deepen conversations and strengthen the network.
42:25 How Judy helps virtual teams to communicate better - by helping them get to know each other better! Team building in virtual teams.
Clean language and the use of metaphor.
How aware are you of the metaphors you use?
We begin to trip over our metaphors!!! (How about you?)
The first step is to understand each other - what do we do next?
Getting to know others helps you to get to know yourself.
Judy's e-course Virtual Leadership Secrets: http://learning.ly/products/virtual-leadership-secrets
Check out Judy's new website - Pilar particularly enjoyed this post: http://judyrees.co.uk/why-im-giving-up-listening/
This episode is best enjoyed when consumed after last year's episode WLP10 on The World of Work in 2014. http://virtualnotdistant.com/the-world-of-work-in-2014/
(Remember to sign up to Virtual Team Talk to be alerted of future Blab events.)
https://virtualteamtalk.wordpress.com/
The Intro Lisette and Pilar reflect a bit on the last year, on their personal highlights.
The First Bit - Has anything changed? We review some of the highlights of the world of work in 2014 and some of our predictions that never happened...
"We can't change the world of work if we don't change the conversation."
Pilar refers to the article: Flexible working - does it work for senior leaders? https://www.i-l-m.com/Insight/Inspire/2015/October/flexible-working-senior-leaders
Words We'd Like to See Disappear or Used Differently
"Community"
"Collaboration"
"Engagement"
"Remote working is not as good as working in the same room"
"Leadership"
"We don't have time for that..."
Don't ask Lisette about her book...
(Pilar refers to this podcast episode on Dictating Your Book. http://www.thecreativepenn.com/2015/11/02/dictate-your-book-monica-leonelle/)
A rise in... Self-Management and The End of The Annual Performance Review.
Suggested Reading http://www.personneltoday.com/hr/end-annual-appraisal-whats-next-performance-management/
http://leanchange.org/2015/08/the-marriage-of-agile-and-organizational-change-management/
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/sep/17/efficiency-up-turnover-down-sweden-experiments-with-six-hour-working-day
http://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/case-studies/2015/may/home-care-nursing-teams-netherlands
http://www.personneltoday.com/hr/end-annual-appraisal-whats-next-performance-management/
The last but one episode of 2015 - I'm all on my own today while the Virtual not Distant website is being re-designed.
Join myself and Lisette next week for our first official Virtual Team Talk.
https://blab.im/pilar-orti-virtual-team-talk-1-what-will-virtual-teams-look-like-in-2016
Pilar thinks we need to change conversation and stop talking about the behaviour of leaders and begin to think about the behaviour of people.
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/place-leaders-capital-l-self-managed-organisations-pilar-orti
These are the articles that prompted the reflections in this podcast.
http://www.agileconnection.com/article/rethinking-workflow-virtual-teams
http://talkbusinessmagazine.co.uk/2015/09/17/5-ways-the-workplace-will-change-in-the-next-5-years/
http://blog.idonethis.com/remote-work-tips/
http://www.inc.com/jeff-haden/the-7-million-startup-with-zero-managers.html
http://www.nicholasassociates.co.uk/the-10-modes-of-virtual-team-working/
Get in touch! Virtualnotdistant.com
In today's podcast, Pilar talks to the founders of Sketch Together, a real time whiteboard for virtual teams. They talk about how and why they created the product and how they manage to continue working closely together, even though they haven't seen each other for two years!
Introduction Pilar clarifies what she means by virtual teams and virtual work.
Join Lisette and Pilar on their next live Blab: https://blab.im/pilar-orti-more-talk-around-virtual-teams
Interview with Michele and Nick from Sketch Together How Sketch Together was born. How Michele and Nick started working together.
"If you have multiple people and everyone can interact at the same time, people contribute more."
What Sketch Together is and how it works.
Their own creative process.
"We're hard-core remote workers."
https://sketchtogether.com/blog/using-your-webcam-to-reduce-isolation-in-remote-teams.html
Push to talk.
https://sketchtogether.com/
In today's episode, Pilar and Lisette talk about the different types of virtual teams you can find.
Update from Lisette and Pilar.
Different types of remote teams. Different teams have different problems and diff solutions.
Full time everyone's remote. eg happy melly, Sketchtogether
Sococo and push to talk
Some remote-some in the office
Few teams remote from diff locations
Global offices
Freelancers vs part time vs full time
Geographic definitions: near vs far located
In this episode Pilar talks to Michiel Klonhammer from LearningStone, a platform designed for trainers and coaches to use in their blended learning programmes.
The Intro
Remember there is a Blab next week, LIVE, with Lisette 7pm GMT 11am PST
The Problem with Virtual Teams... https://blab.im/pilar-orti-the-problem-with-virtual-teams
RSA Reinventing Work Network 1 Dec http://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/rsa-reinventing-work-network-power-to-the-edge-the-role-of-leadership-in-self-managing-organisations-tickets-19076627707
Virtual not Distant® the course starts again on 15 Feb 2016!
If you want to try out the LearningStone platform and learn about using games to develop your team, get in touch: http://virtualnotdistant.com/contact/
The Chat
A cloud application for coaches, trainers and training agencies.
What is LearningStone and what does it do?
How to use an online space to complement face to face training.
What is Blended Learning?
Synchronous vs asynchronous and how the popularity of social media helps to introduce online learning platforms.
The international nature of corporate training.
Some best practices, ideas and considerations when using an online platform and blended learning.
"Offering blended learning also means dealing with the people in your group, just like you would in the training room."
How blended learning can change the business model of training agencies.
Moving from a trainer-led model to a more participant-led model.
You can sign up to the platform to try it out: www.learningstone.com
If you happen to be in London on 2 December , 6 PM-8PM at the Impact Hub at Kings Cross. https://www.learningstone.com/en/form/fill/114020
For more information on virtual teams, visit www.virtualnotdistant.com
In this episode we look at the different types of people working virtually and why they're going remote.
Pilar talks about the collaboration/competition theme that comes up later.
Virtual Buddies.
Pilar has joined Happy Melly One!
First time we talked about doing a Blab - join us for our next one. https://blab.im/pilar-orti-working-in-virtual-teams
When competitors collaborate...
What Pilar is doing for Happy Melly One.
How security and spying concerns are blocking collaboration efforts in corporations.
Lisette recommends the book Team of teams.
When systems squash creativity.
What different kinds of remote workers are there?
Telecommuters
Telecommute, why is the word "commute" still there?
Freelancers
"Freedom is a currency."
(Lisette is full of good quotes lately...)
Business Owners
Digital Nomads
The Telecommuter Shopping Assistant (Lisette's dream)
Visit virtualnotdistant.com
Pilar Orti talks to Emily Klein and Jason Morwick about Workshift, how organisations can transition to a flexible way of working.
"Workshift provides a detailed blueprint for organizations transitioning into the virtual workplace where employees are always connected, and work is no longer a destination."
Show Notes
Pilar is taking part of NaNoWriMo again!
(She mentions her books Visibility in Virtual Teams, Thriving through Change, The A to Z of Spanish Culture and Your Handy Companion to Devising and Physical Theatre.)
Here's the link to the Blab on 26th November 7pm GMT with Lisette, where we will talk about virtual teams:
https://blab.im/pilar-orti-working-in-virtual-teams
Workshift, the book: Who, why
Workshift: The stages.
How does an organisation know whether they’ve skipped a stage and are trying to make the change without laying down the foundations?
How Workshift can happen “au naturel” (organic employee driven). (Mobile phones, people working on trains.)
How do we know what to measure to make sure that Workshift is working – at the organisational level, at the team level.
When or why does Workshift fail?
When do we know we’ve successfully made the shift?
“Middle manager resistant to telework.” Is this still the case?
Three key scheduling challenges: rigidity, unpredictability, instability.
Challenges for employees: Balance between those in the office and those remote, or those doing both.
Career progression, finding new opportunities: facetime – expected, extracurricular.
How things have changed since 2012 when Workshift was written?
More about Flexwork Global: http://flexworkglobal.com/books/
Getting in touch with Emily: emily [at] flexworkglobal.com @flextimeglobal
Getting in touch with Jason: jason [at] flexworkglobal.com @JasonMorwick
If you want to find out more about Emily, Jason and Workshift, here are two more articles from their website:
Operating within the law:
http://flexworkglobal.com/2013/09/home-office-safety/
Writing the book between four people:
http://flexworkglobal.com/2013/05/4-ingredients-for-virtual-collaboration-success/
This episode is a bit of a time travel, as we recorded the Virtual Coffee in 10th Sept. But still very relevant of course! And we have a guest talking about an event from last week, so we're not completely catching our breath.
03:20 Pilar speaks to Gerard Beaulieu about the NASAGA conference. You can see a video of Gerard talking to someone at the conference here: https://youtu.be/aUjCp2OT0ao
16:55 Pilar and Lisette talk about whether there is just Too Much Tech.
Lisette's 50th episode! http://www.collaborationsuperpowers.com/50-greatest-hits-tips-and-advice-that-you-need-to-hear/
The Feed Ep 54 http://thefeed.libsyn.com/054-itunes-myths-and-misinformation-for-podcasters-video-vs-audio-podcasts-in-itunes-and-bagpipes
Pilar mentions this article: http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/feb/23/reading-writing-on-paper-better-for-brain-concentration
The damage that really hard work at the computer can do.
Lisette mentions her interview with NASA. http://www.collaborationsuperpowers.com/collaboration-space-exploration-nasa-sservi/
We talk about The Circle by Dave Eggers.
Using technology to control employees. How addictive is tech?
(Finally Lisette explains why sometimes she uses knitting as an example when she talks about learning a new skill.)
Can you listen to too many podcasts...???
What happens when you love your work and you have constant access to people and information?
Digital distraction vs digital overload.
Find your own neuroses...
"Quantification motivates me..."
We talk about this article by Tony Schwartz: http://www.15five.com/blog/struggling-disconnect-digital-lives/
Limiting the number of decisions you have to make throughout your day by creating routines.
Have we adapted yet to the rise in tech? Do we know what's really useful?
We recommend (again) this episode from The Future of Work podcast: http://www.thefutureorganization.com/forget-work-life-balance-its-all-about-work-life-integration/
Lisette recommends Flux https://justgetflux.com/
BOSE QC20 Noise-cancelling headphones
Today, Pilar talks to Kevin Koekkoek, maker and designer, who uses 3D printing to help ceramic artists and create jewellery.
This episode covers:
Shapeways and other online platforms where you can order your designs. http://www.shapeways.com/designer/3dkev
How 3D printing is used in ceramics. (You can read more on that here: http://art.cherryjeffs.com/art-blog/3d-printing-exciting-new-opportunities-for-artists-and-designers)
(You can listen to the episode on CreateSpaceLondon here: http://virtualnotdistant.com/createspace-london/)
Desktop 3D printers. What are they like, the 3D printing process.
Using 3D printing to make jewellery.
3D printing is a tool. You need to use the right tool for the right job.
3D printing in nylon.
Limitations with 3D printing and things to watch out for.
Using 3D printing for prototyping in ceramics.
How much is 3D printing evolving?
Traditional 2D printing companies (e.g. HP, Canon) are breaking into the 3D printing market.
(Pilar mentions the community 3D Hubs, which we talk about in Episode 32 http://virtualnotdistant.com/cinter/)
FabLabLondon http://fablablondon.org/
Make : Shift : Do http://www.craftscouncil.org.uk/what-we-do/makeshiftdo/
CreateSpaceLondon Winter Fair 12 & 13 December http://createspacelondon.org/
We recommend Orange is the New Black!
Kevin's details: www.3dkev.com and https://twitter.com/3dkev
We're 25! visit www.virtualnotdistant.com/world-of-virtual-teams/
Here's the first time Lisette and Pilar met: http://www.collaborationsuperpowers.com/humanizing-remote-work-pilar-orti/
Updates.
We mention the podcast with Andrea and Ryan: http://virtualnotdistant.com/meetups/
Lisette went to the Happy Startup Camp. http://www.happystartupsummer.camp/
What is "happiness at work"?
Lisette bought some noise-cancellation earphones.
Pilar talked to lost of people, in different parts of the world.
We decide to do a live Virtual Coffee with Lisette - join us https://blab.im/pilar-orti-virtual-teams-part-of-21st-cent-wl-podcast
How has our view of remote working and virtual teams changed over the last year?
"Things can go wrong in virtual teams, but they can also go wrong in co-located teams."
"We need to find the right location for us as individuals. Remote working is not just home-working."
Technology can help us work in whichever way you want: it can bring you closer to people but also allow you to work separately from them. Customise your tech!
You make your own virtual experience, in the same way as (most times) you make your own luck.
Who is Leila Machiavelli? http://virtualnotdistant.com/trust-in-virtual-teams/
A reminder that people are behind technology. Resisting vs Internalising technology.
Making mistakes.
Working with technology can help us to create a new culture in our team.
How travelling has shaped Vanessa. "Learning about myself through other people."
Changing cultures within the same country.
"Not knowing what you're assuming or what you're expecting is one of the major pitfalls of professionals relocating."
What drew Vanessa to the agile mentality and how it can be linked to multiculturalism in teams.
Why agile helps navigating digital disruption and cultural shift.
Unnovation workshops. http://www.humansideoftech.org/workshops/
Vanessa mentions her co-facilitator Jenni Walford's website http://provokarte.com/public_html/
Link to Vanessa's interview on the Culture Matters podcast http://culturematters.com/036-how-technology-has-a-human-side-vanessa-shaw/
Link to Vanessa's interview on Collaborations Superpowers http://www.collaborationsuperpowers.com/helping-tech-better-vanessa-shaw/
Vanessa Shaw on Twitter https://twitter.com/humansideoftech
Vanessa's website http://www.humansideoftech.org/#
www.virtualnotdistant.com
Pilar introduces the virtual icebreaker that her and Lisette played during the virtual coffee and why games are useful for teams.
Pilar and Lisette play "Budding Authors" a virtual teambuilding game from www.virtualicebreakers.com
PIlar suggests ways in which to debrief the games.
Lisette's progress with the book, how she's showing different types of remote workers.
The power of Twitter: Pilar mentions Elsie Escobar, Tony Reeves from Creative Huddle.
Join Freelancers Café, a new Blab - https://blab.im/pilar-orti-freelancers-cafe-1-cappucino-freelance-talk-and-coffee-smell
What do we mean by 'Working Out Loud'? We mention John Stepper and Jacob Morgan.
"Working out Loud starts with making your work visible in such a way that it might help others."
How can you work out loud?
Lisette talks about Sococo - you can watch her interview: http://www.collaborationsuperpowers.com/be-a-high-functioning-connected-team-in-a-sococo-virtual-office/
Intention of work and summary of work.
Do we want to work out loud or just feel connected?
Working out loud at an organisational level. The danger of narrating your work becoming a marketing process within an organisation.
Working out loud at an organisation level. Lisette talks about her interview with Magnus Karlsson http://www.collaborationsuperpowers.com/ideaboxes-a-management-system-for-innovation-magnus-karlsson/
Can it help with problem-solving?
Where do we begin?
Tell us if you work out loud!
Get in touch: virtualnotdistant.com
Podcasts about Podcasting and related.
The Audacity to Podcast
The Feed
The Fizzle Show
Rainmaker
Authorpreneur
Podcast Answerman
Podcasters Group Therapy
Podcasters Round Table
She Podcasts
Smart Passive Income
New Media Europe
and of course, shout out to Collaboration Superpowers!
Pilar talks to Elsie Escobar about why she podcasts and what community management involves. Pilar also recommends a series of varied podcasts.
00:30 Pilar talks a bit about Blab and recommends a long list of podcasts, related to business and other stuff. For a list of podcasts on podcasting, check out the special on International Podcasting Day, on Weds 30th Sept.
Duck Tape Marketing
A History of Ideas
TED Talks Business
The Recruiting Future podcast
Criminal
The Fizzle Show
Coroner Talk
The Future of Work
Tech Tent
The Reality Check
More or Less
HBR Ideacast
15:00 Conversation with Elsie.
Why Elsie started podcasting. Storytelling in podcasting.
From yoga podcaster to podcast advocate with Libsyn and She Podcasts.
She Podcasts and building a community. Digital media as a way of making your voice heard.
Elsie mentions Malcolm Gladwell's book The Outliers.
Will women's attitude and relationship with technology be different in future generations?
Podcasting School for Women. From self-awareness to launch!
Podcast Movement. (Pilar mentions Podcasters Group Therapy podcast.)
Community management and Elsie's role in Libsyn. Listen to The Feed!
Connect with Elsie: @yogeek , She Podcasts and J & E Media Consulting
Check out www.virtualnotdistant.com for posts and podcasts on working in virtual teams.
Join the Blab debate on Social Collaboration, with Vanessa Shaw from the Human Side of Tech and Pilar on 23 Sept. Here's the link to the event. https://blab.im/ilbzla
Pilar introduces the show and the question: can team members working in the office also feel isolated?
Lisette shares how she's been receiving feedback on her book - another truly collaborative process! - and how she's been invited to speak at Agile Vietnam! (We mention the Virtual Coffee with Lisette promo, which you can check out at the beginning of one of the Collaboration Superpowers podcast.)
Lisette loves working on her own so she finds this issue puzzling...
Working from home, not alone...
Is socialising part of teamwork? Does social chat help make asking for help and feedback easier? http://www.lisettesutherland.com/2014/02/working-from-home-not-alone/
Social chat helps us understand each other and makes communication easier.
One-one relationships need to be strong to combat isolation: find a collaboration partner. We mention this article by Sebastian Bailey: How to Beat the Five Killers of Virtual Working. http://www.forbes.com/sites/sebastianbailey/2013/03/05/how-to-overcome-the-five-major-disadvantages-of-virtual-working/
We don't always need video.
The importance of having a process that brings you together.
You need a process OR an enthusiastic champion.
Can interdependent tasks prevent isolation? (Pilar mentions her Visibility in Virtual Teams Kindle book.)
There's no innovation if there's no communication.
The team can also become isolated from the business or organisation. Can this be prevented?
Working Out Loud.
How can we replicate not just the team talk around the water cooler, but also in the lifts, the canteen etc...
Team agreement.
Who's afraid of the big, new tools?
Making sure everyone knows how to use (and is comfortable with) communication technology.
Understanding your role in the team's achievements.
Tips to combat isolation for those working from home. (Pilar refers quite a bit to this podcast on working from home.)
What do we do when people just can't work from home?
Joke of the week: What's another word for Thesaurus?
Pilar talks to Andrea Darabos and Ryan Behrman form the London Management 3.0 Meetup Group.
00:10 Pilar recommends some podcasts.
09:55 Why they set up the meet ups. Link to meet up. Their favourite meetups. How the Meetups have evolved and the different formats they take.
21:10 Advice for people who want to start a Meetup. Meetups in other cities when you're traveling.
30:45 Agile moving into the mainstream. Using agile terminology with a range of teams.
36:50 Their own companies, their philosophy and why they set them up.
Andrea: Lean Advantage.
Ryan: Touch Think.
42:50 How do you become a Management 3.0 facilitator? If you want to listen to the interview with Jurgen Appelo, listen to Episode 4 of the 21st Century Work Life podcast.
Ryan and Andrea are running a course on 17 & 18 September 2015. leanadvantage.co.uk/?portfolio=management-3-0-2-day-course
Connect with Andrea and Ryan:
Andrea's Twitter: twitter.com/adarabos
Andrea's Linkedin: uk.linkedin.com/in/andreadarabos
Ryan's LinkedIn: uk.linkedin.com/in/ryanbehrman
Join the Management 3.0 London Meetup!
The Virtual not Distant episodes will be released daily for a week.
Today's episode looks at leadership in virtual teams. The introduction for this one is a bit long, so to get right into it, jump to 03:20.
For more information on the course for managers and leaders of virtual teams, check out www.virtualnotdistant.net
For any feedback on these episodes, use the contact form on that website.
I hope you enjoy the series!
Pilar
The Virtual not Distant episodes will be released daily for a week.
Today's episode looks at appreciation in virtual teams.
For more information on the course for managers and leaders of virtual teams, check out www.virtualnotdistant.net
For any feedback on these episodes, use the contact form on that website.
I hope you enjoy the series!
Pilar
The Virtual not Distant episodes will be released daily for a week.
Today's episode looks at learning in virtual teams.
For more information on the course for managers and leaders of virtual teams, check out www.virtualnotdistant.net
For any feedback on these episodes, use the contact form on that website.
I hope you enjoy the series!
Pilar
The Virtual not Distant episodes will be released daily for a week.
Today's episode looks at team identity and culture.
For more information on the course for managers and leaders of virtual teams, check out www.virtualnotdistant.net
For any feedback on these episodes, use the contact form on that website.
I hope you enjoy the series!
Pilar
The Virtual not Distant episodes will be released daily for a week.
Today's episode looks at team identity and culture.
For more information on the course for managers and leaders of virtual teams, check out www.virtualnotdistant.net
For any feedback on these episodes, use the contact form on that website.
I hope you enjoy the series!
Pilar
The Virtual not Distant episodes will be released daily for a week.
Today's episode looks at team identity and culture.
For more information on the course for managers and leaders of virtual teams, check out www.virtualnotdistant.net
For any feedback on these episodes, use the contact form on that website.
I hope you enjoy the series!
Pilar
The Virtual not Distant episodes will be released daily for a week.
For more information on the course for managers and leaders of virtual teams, check out www.virtualnotdistant.net
For any feedback on these episodes, use the contact form on that website.
I hope you enjoy the series!
Pilar
visit www.virtualnotdistant.com
Pilar talks to Laura Troyani, from TinyPulse, a company that helps to keep the conversation going within organisations to address employee engagement.
"Peers are the #1 motivator for going the extra mile at work."
00:30 Pilar thanks @BernieJMitchell , @DJ_Motorteufel, @gdbeaulieu @tonyjreeves
06: 40 Laura shares the story behind TinyPulse. Asking and pulsing your team every week, to see how happy/frustrated your team is.
12:55 People analytics and data.
14:06 How TinyPulse works in practice.
17:30 Anonymity in employee feedback. How it helps the employee and the manager.
21:10 The different organisations using TinyPulse.
27:10 Laura's role as Director of Marketing. Using TinyPulse in other areas apart from engagement.
30:30 The #1 reason for people going the extra mile at work. www.tinypulse.com/2014-employee-engagement-organizational-culture-report
If you're interested in engagement in teams, especially in virtual teams, check out the episode including a Virtual Coffee with Lisette on Engagement at Work.
Virtual teams: Higher levels of engagement in people working out of the office for 20% of the time. 39:15 Peer-peer recognition. Appreciation at work.
How can organisations foster a culture of honest, open communication.
Check out the TinyPulse blog for a range of articles on employee engagement and company culture.
Laura Troyani twitter handle: twitter.com/lauratroyani
Looking for a course on leading and managing virtual teams? visit www.virtualnotdistant.net
00:30 Pilar is experimenting with a new set up with the microphone and being more spontaneous (Post-podcast: It worked very well!).
10:30 Lisette shares her learning shot experience.
13: 50 Feedback on Twitter. Is it useful? (Pilar and Lisette got a tweet that brought up lots of points and questions.) Pilar learned loads from it.
How a group in FB dealt with conflict. Reflections on team identity, check out our previous episode.
24:50 Learning is not just about gathering information, need to get feedback regularly. Kolb's cycle.
Learning through discussing and by being accountable to others.
We introduce the Jurgen alert. (Listen for the special offer.)
33:15 How do we prioritise learning and share information? Individual vs Team learning.
Creating a bank of knowledge and then doing something with that information.
39:20 Conquering fear.
"Learning is uncomfortable."
41.50 Is "learning" work?
The role of personality in wanting to learn.
Learning together helps to build our team - we share common points of reference and language.
48:25 Can different ways of structuring and organisation help learning? Holacracy. www.thefutureorganization.com/holacracy-what-how-and-why/
Learning in the team: retrospectives.
52:35 Lisette has a book (Jurgen Appelo's Workout) to give away! #jalert
55:30 Lisette mentions the Celebration Grid http://noop.nl/2015/06/success-and-failure.html and Are we creating the right conditions for learning? Learning from failure and mistakes. Openly.
01:02:30 Wrapping up and some specifics for those people ready to be conscious of learning together. Creating learning guilds.
Lisette mentions the book Borrowing Brilliance.
"Learning is about adapting to change and being excellent in my own way."
Pilar speaks to Adam Isle, who shares how he adapted to working from home after many years of working in an office.
00:30 Is it more difficult to make the transition from office-based to home-based work than to start off in a virtual team? (And Pilar talks a bit about Virtual, not Distant...)
07:00 Adam shares his role at the CIPD, working from home, liaising with clients and meeting at head office.
"When you're staring at four walls, you don't get much feedback."
12:25 How you have to consciously make the effort to keep informal communication going and what Adam and his colleagues did to address this.
You need to consciously make the effort to stay in touch.
19:95 Changing your process and managing your time. Freedom and structure. Visibility.
22:55 Face to face adds depth to client relationships. The difficulty of knowing when to be formal or informal if you've never met someone face to face. Cues we take from in person interactions. Making virtual introductions more personal, before meeting them in person.
27:15 Adam and Change.
32:25 Career aspirations and working from home... Getting too comfortable.
37:35 Adam refers to episode 38 when he mentions how Social Media changed recruitment.
Connect with Adam on LinkedIn (he's not on Twitter... yet!).
Visit www.virtualnotdistant.com
In this episode, Pilar shares what she has observed a wonderful director she's working with at the moment as he directs an animation series. The team only comes together once every two months, for a couple of days.
Pilar also shares why she's decided to stick with helping virtual teams through Virtual, not Distant.
Get in touch through askingpilar@gmail.com
Tells us your team experience. www.virtualnotdistant.com/identity
00:30 Pilar introduces the topic of team identity, before we move onto how to address it in virtual teams.
16:00 Lisette and Pilar share their professional updates: tutoring, trademarks and "being copied".
24:13 What is team identity?
29:30 Team identification - when we identify ourselves with the team. Different identities.
32:00 What's in a name? Team identity and motivation.
43:58 Symbols and metaphors; the stories we tell in the team.
49:20 How we view the outside world - being careful that teams working together or offices working as one team, don't fall into 'us' vs 'them'. We talk about this interview with Hugo Messer. Being deliberate about growing team identity and creating the one that will be helpful.
55:00 What do we do if our team is turning into a team we don't like? What happens when we don't feel part of our team?
01:00:00 Creating a team history by sharing stories. Team identity allows us to be vulnerable and trust others.
00:30 Pilar talks a bit about how mindset is changing in recruitment. (Script below.)
She mentions a past blog post on social media and recruitment.
How a young person's cv went viral.
and an article about companies that are currently hiring remotely.
09:05 How Matt ended up working in Digital Recruitment
16:00 How social media can help you recruit talent.The importance of paying attention to social media and mobile in recruitment.
19:20 Why recruitment is no longer just the responsibility of HR
20:55 Understand where your audience are.
23:30 Is recruitment through social media working? You need to know your culture – Glass Door
“Dealing at the intersection between technology and people is really interesting.”
28: 25 How are people looking for work and how is work looking for people? The importance of an online presence.
The power of our extended networks.
Has Hr practice changed now that we can access a global talent pool?
32:12 Where are we heading to? Matt talks about platforms where you can hire people on projects – Hugo.
Connect with Matt:
Recruiting Future Podcast
www.metashift.co.uk
Linkedin, Twitter
Check out www.virtualnotdistant.net
00:30 Pilar has a new email address for you to send your comments and questions: askingpilar@gmail.com
If you enjoy this episode, check out the ones on Remote Work: Blessing or Curse? and the one on Productivity.
03:10 Lisette shares her new way of writing in online collaboration with her editor and her up coming workshop which she's delivering through a robot! Tele-presence, here she comes!
09:00 Why we’re talking today about When Does Your Day End.
14:10 We get nostalgic about the Crackberry days… The plus and minuses of mobile devices for work.
16:06 Are work and life different things?
We talk about this HBR Survey about late-night email. https://hbr.org/2015/04/survey-how-does-late-night-emailing-affect-you?
21:10 The problem with hierarchy and emails.
Is sending and replying to emails the main way of signaling that we are available to other people?
The importance of making clear that you don’t require an immediate response when you’re in charge.
The team agreement!
40:10 Can we take breaks during the day? Why is it ok to stop in the evening but not during the day?
“Can you craft your day based on your needs?”
We need to set boundaries for ourselves and other people.
Define for yourself what’s important for you. We mention this interview from Lisette's podcast with Alexandre Pellaes.
Is this how I want to lead my life?
“Learn to know thyself.”
How about you?
Do you separate your time into work and life?
How do you stay focused and unstressed?
How do you make sure, especially if you’re in a management position, how do you make sure that you don’t impose your own way of working on everyone else?
Do send your thoughts, and any questions (and any advice for Lisette!) to askingpilar [at] gmail.com.
I’ve created this very short extra episode of the 21st Century Work Life podcast, just to let you know that registration is now open for the course Virtual not Distant and that I have a little discount for listeners of this show.
Virtual not Distant, which is an online course for managers and leaders of virtual teams, and indeed anyone who wants to improve how their virtual team works, will run on 21 September, until 22 November. The course is timebound because I want us to have quality online discussions and quality online events and also, because I firmly believe that you have a greater chance of completing and, more importantly, applying what you’ve learned if you’re timebound and in a small group.
So, there are only 12 places available.
Plus, if you want to obtain a certificate endorsed by the ILM, you will need to complete a small number of assessments, which have actually been designed for you to help you think about how to apply what you’ve discovered to your own team or your own situation. You will have until February to submit the assessments and, if you don’t think you’re going to have time to take the assessed option, you can opt for a Development Certificate.
Now, I’ve already talked about the course content in the podcast before, so if you want more details, do head over to virtualnotdistant.net,
And if you like what you see there, then, the code PODCAST you can get 10% off both the normal price £450 or around $690 US Dollars, or, if you book before 31 July you can get that same discount off the early bird price which already has a 20% off. If you don’t feel like doing the maths right now, Just head over to www.virtualnotdistant.net and on the registration page, you can enter the code PODCAST and the system will calculate the exact amount for you.
So that’s my little thank you for spending an hour, more or less, with me and my guests every week.
If you are not quite ready to commit to a nine week course, with hangouts, online discussions and coaching, then feel free to try out a mini-course I’ve created which incorporates some of the materials of the module on Visibility. You can just register on that straightaway by going to the same website www.virtualnotdistant.net/free
If you do register on that course, make sure to drop me a line at some point and tell me what you think.
And talking of getting in touch, I’ve decided to set up an email address for you to get in touch about this podcast. I’ve decided to go down the gmail route because I find it incredibly useful in many ways, including the fact that it can then link to Google Drive, a calendar etc So, the new email if you want to get in touch with me, is askingpilar@gmail.com
So you can use that address to ask any questions about anything you hear on the podcast, about anything related to virtual teams etc. I think it’s time for me to open up a bit more the podcast, now that I feel like I kind of know what I’m doing. So, if you want to get in touch, askingpilar@gmail.com
And there’s always twitter, which I love, my handle there is PilarOrti
So, many thanks for listening. If you check out virtualnotdistant.net and have any questions, however small, or however big actually, about the course then do get in touch.
Have a lovely rest of the day.
Pilar speaks to Hugo Messer about leading remote teams and the importance of values in creating a culture that works across nations.
Hugo is the CEO of Ekipa, the global market for software teams and owner and founder of Bridge Global.
00:30 Pilar talks about how she met Hugo through social media. She reflects on how these conversations evolve on the podcast and the importance of devoting our full attention to the person on the other end of the line/skype etc. No distractions (we need a quiet environment for recording) and the focus on connecting with the other person.
Pilar mentions Hugo's article on LinkedIn The World's Best Tool for Remote Leadership.
11:20 Hugo shares how and why he set up Bridge in 2005, when outsourcing was not that common.
16:00 The model/framework that Bridge has developed to match teams and clients. The role of the "process manager" who looks solely after communication.
"Virtual work forces you to create structure and use the right tools.”
22:50 Bridge's core values.
29:50 Moving on from Bridge and setting up Ekipa.
35:50 What are the major problems faced by people running virtual teams? Links to another article by Hugo: Six Experts Reveal Insights on Remote Team Management.
45:50 How can we help people to develop in remote teams? Hugo's own development, why he works with a coach. Are we allowed to be confused as leaders?
52:00 How do we know people are doing the work? Hugo's article about this on LinkedIn.
"The moment I start wondering about somebody’s hours, something is definitely wrong."
Check out Hugo's books on remote team management: ekipa.co/ebooks
If you're leading a virtual team, why not check out the Virtual not Distant online course, starting in Sept 2015? virtualnotdistant.net
00:30 Pilar is thinking of creating an episode about the podcasts she listens to. For now, she recommends this episode from the Fizzle show. How to Deal With a Job You Loathe.
04:45 Teambuilding as a process and how the VIRTUAL not Distant model supports teambuilding in virtual teams.
11:18 Pilar talks about the new course on leading virtual teams. (Skip this part if you're not interested.)
18:05 How to get in touch with LIsette and Pilar.
18:30 Pilar and Lisette talk about the weather - can you believe it?
19:40 Lisette talks about her Work Together Anywhere Learning Camp in Stockholm with Knowit.
23:05 What do we mean by teambuilding? It's not just a one-off activity but an ongoing process.
Is it easier to find time to spend time together online, in virtual teams than organising quality face to face time in colocated ones?
29:20 Making room for teambuilding - for intuition and things that happen organically in the co-located space.
Knowing how to talk to each other when we have a problem.
Sometimes it's sharing vulnerability that it allows us to get to know each other better.
Sharing personal information vs being personable and allow yourself to be known.
35:26 Virtual team building activities: Lisette talks
Have a group chat tool. Have a channel for non-work related conversations - check out the episode on Onboarding.
Have a social network, like Yammer, if you want have longer and multiple conversations.
Create Personal Maps and revisit them after you update them, every few months. Revisit your teambuilding activities and tools when the team changes, eg when someone joins.
Your team dynamics will change depending on the work arrangements in your team.
Try tools out but don't overburden your team.
Can we use moaning to build our team?
48:55 Lisette's experience with a great virtual manager.
Who's responsible for teambuilding? Everyone!
53: 40 Value stories - values in virtual teams drive how we make decisions together. Lisette tells a great Jurgen story. Leading by example.
Teambuilding is also about paying attention to the individual and building connections between individuals.
Has the word "teambuilding" lost its meaning?
Lisette talks about some activities to accelerate teambuilding. What's the point of doing them?
Online meetings are an opportunity for teambuilding.
01:09:35 The End! It was a long one...
In today's podcast, Pilar talks to Matt Rogish, CEO of Reactive Opps, the consulting arm of RailsMachine. We talk about how he works with a distributed team and we chat about Results Only Work Environment (ROWE).
00:30 Pilar talks about the episode of Podcasters Roundtable on she took part in, on Co-hosting and the parallels with co-hosting a podcast and other collaboration ventures.
04:40 Should we still be paying people per hour, instead of per job done? The ongoing dilemma... How do we know whether people are working? Do more hours mean better work? She mentions her blog post Virtual Work is Already Broken
10:02 Contact links and Virtual not Distant the course for managers and leaders of virtual teams is now endorsed by the Institute of Leadership and Management in the UK
Most companies are now distributed in practice.
11:55 Pilar talks to Matt Rogish, who explains what his company does: "High touch outsource" - breaking down the barriers between the team and their clients.
My job as CEO is mainly to support the team.
21:05 Matt talks about how his team works. T-shaped people.
23:30 Ruby on Rails. Pilar was curious to learn more about what this.
28:00 Creating the right work environment. How Matt is creating this for his team.
32:40 "Hiring the best people wherever they happen to be and building systems that facilitate efficient communications.Results Only Work Environment. ROWE.
"Managing by side-effect" as opposed to focusing on results, which is not always easy.
42:45 Pilar and Matt talk about what could have been behind Best Buy ditching ROWE, which evolved in that company.
Why Best Buy abandoned ROWE
Goodbye to flexible work at Best Buy (HBR)
"Everything around you that you call life, was built by people who are no smarter than you". Steve Jobs.
47:20 Why Matt does public speaking and what he speaks about.
Don't forget to visit www.virtualnotdistant.com
00:30 A very short intro from Pilar today as our virtual coffee is quite long...
02:20 What happens when not everyone speaks English? We talk a bit about his on Lisette's return from the Happy Melly Learning 3.0 camp. When language is a barrier to communication.
11:40 We talk about this article http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-05-21/slacking-off-can-office-chartrooms-makes-us-more-productive-time-wasters-?
and about how the intranet reflects the culture of the company.
16:40 Introduction to the use of tools should form part of the onboarding process.
18:35 Who's role is it to look after the onboarding process?
19:25 Setting expectations, it starts with recruitment. We mention this other podcast on recruiting for virtual teams.
22:40 Create a team agreement: how are you going to communicate and share information?
Does anyone need training on some of the communication tools.
29:45 Jeremy Stanton "You've got to fail people as fast as possible."
(Lisette talks about this interview with Jeremy Stanton: www.collaborationsuperpowers.com/deliberate-onboarding-culture-jeremy-stanton/)
Giving extensive feedback at the beginning of the process.
38:30 Creating a sense of community.
40:00 Giving a personal welcome.
41:00 Personal maps. Pilar cringes at some of Lisette's suggestions for getting to know each other, but sometimes the simple, informal questions can get people who have problems with language engaged. Personal preferences vs what's good for the team.
51:44 Meet face to face.
Teambuilding needs to be ongoing, but especially important at the beginning.
56:10 Learning about the company. Alignment around goals. Ongoing feedback helps with alignment.
Keeping the onboarding plan alive and visible.
Time invested in onboarding increases the potential of your team flying!
Today's episode is dedicated to Cinter, a creative design and engineering company and consultancy, based in North London. We talk about why they've designed one of their latest products, XYZ, the importance of building a community around their products and business and how they work together.
You can have a look at their products on the show notes: http://virtualnotdistant.com/cinter/
00:30 Pilar introduces Cinter and this episode. (Script below.)
07:20 Welcome to Cinter's offices. Clayton, Charlotte and Chris tell us about what they do, who they work with and a bit of their history.
11:50 XYZ, one of their products, "an exciting construction experience taking the world of play to another level." Find out more on www.xyzbuilds.com/
18:20 Chris talks about the packaging design for Julie's Gin.
20:25 How Cinter uses 3D printing to help them "get to a design quicker".
23:05 Cinter's connection to 3DHubs.
26:30 Cinter's educational programme.
31:30 How Chris, Charlotte and Clayton work together.
00:30 Pilar introduces the subject of engagement at work and brings up the difficult subject of dealing with mistakes at work.
Pilar mentions this article which I don't think we touch on in the conversation:
www.hrzone.com/engage/customers/interview-danielle-harmer-chief-people-officer-metro-bank
07:15 Lisette shares her updates, talking about the workshops she's delivering throughout the world!
10:50 We start our "buzz word heavy episode", talking about Engagement. Lisette's most popular article to date has been
Six Strategies to Increase Engagement and Retention
www.lisettesutherland.com/2013/02/six-strategies-to-increase-engagement-and-retention/
What do we mean by "engagement"?
13:50 The locus of engagement, what aspect of the organisation do we connect with?
Locus of Engament: understanding what employees connect with at work.
www.cipd.co.uk/hr-resources/research/locus-engagement-understanding-connect.aspx
15:20 What Lisette has learned from communities built around rock bands.
Definition of community: a group of people aligned around a topic or solving a specific problem.
What can we learn from communities?
19:55 Playfulness. Building a safe and tolerant atmosphere where experimentation is encouraged.
The celebration grid. www.happymelly.com/celebrating-success-and-failure/
26:05 Sharing resources and spreading information.
http://virtualnotdistant.com/trust/
Locus of engagement.
What do individuals look for from companies to help them stay connected?
YouEarnedIt How the Cool Kids Attract and Retain Talent in 2015
youearnedit.com/blog/how-the-cool-kids-attract-and-retain-talent-in-2015/
33:10 Connectors. The importance of connecting people.
42:00 Give people equal attention. Know your people so that you can shape job descriptions around your people.
Lisette mentions her interview with Ralph Van Roosmalen.
www.collaborationsuperpowers.com/managing-remote-offices-3-places-ralph-van-roosmalen/
47:55 Virtuosos in the group. Recognition.
50:52 Office perks: care or control?
This episode is dedicated to Coworking, specifically, to the Impact Hub in King's Cross, London. I speak to Maria Trindade, Will Cardy and Letizia Custodero from Impact Hub and to Luca Turconi, from Accelerance.
00:30 Pilar's introduction. Reflections on her attempt at a Writing/Work Holiday. (Pilar mentions Episode 1, on Work Holidays.)
Why coworking spaces can help with motivation. (Self-determination theory.)
Deskmag's 3rd Global Co-working survey. www.deskmag.com/en/1st-results-of-the-3rd-global-coworking-survey-2012
08:30 Impact Hub. www.impacthub.net and Impact Hub King's Cross.
13:57 A tour with Maria Trindade, General Manager of Impact Hub King's Cross.
19:25 The story and ethos of Impact Hub.
21:20 A chat about the membership with Will Cardy, Communications Manager.
23:45 Letizia Custodero, Operations Manager, talks about the different events organised and hosted by Impact Hub King's Cross.
29:30 Pilar talks to one of the members, Luca Turconi, founder of Accelerance. Luca describes his organisation and shares how coming together for a couple of days has helped his global team.
41:10 The new Virtual, not Distant online course for managers and leaders of virtual teams.
Today's episode is made up solely of a Virtual Coffee with Lisette. Lisette Sutherland and I have a long conversation covering the main problems of working in teams across nations. Have you got anything to add?
(If you're interested in leading global teams, you can also listen to this previous episode with Mariano Tufró, on leading global teams.)
01:29 Lisette gives us a very quick update of what she's up to.
02:22 Pilar gives us a longer update, talking about the UCExpo she visited in Olympia, London. (Unified Communications and Collaboration Event) Marianne Calder, CISCO. "Value, People, Process." We've maximised individual productivity and now we're onto maximising team productivity. We talk about an article in the Wall Street Journal "This Startup's Bold Experiment Failed and They're a Better Company for It".
14:40 The dangers of hyper-connectivity. Lisette talks about The Circle a scary book...
"'Collaboration' does not mean using a collaboration tool."
18:50 Kahootz, a company providing online workspaces, working mainly with the UK's public bodies. The UK's government approach to cloud security.
23:10 Becoming a digital citizen in Estonia. "Life in a networked society." Lisette refers to this video, it's embedded below.
25:30 We finally come to the topic of Working Globally and Culture. A definition of "culture". Pilar refers back again to Yael Zofi's A Manager's Guide to Virtual Teams.
Culture: "The shared mental programmes that conditions individual's responses to their environment."
27:15 How conscious are we of our assumptions about other people? Countries, industries, companies, sectors...
33:34 Off-shoring and near-shoring. Do we need different strategies to deal with people from countries near to us and those very far away from us?
37:47 Breaking down the differences between us as people, and differences between cultures.
42:08 The "us" vs "them" mentality.
Beware the Us vs Them mentality...
47:25 "Assume positive intent."
53:10 How to introduce changes without it looking like you're imposing from the top down and other "pro tips" from Lisette.
For more on 21st Century Work Life and working in virtual teams, visit www.virtualnotdistant.com
00:30 Pilar talks about her own experience running a theatre company and how she ended up helping virtual teams. (You can check out Theatrefolk's podcast where todays guest, Lindsay Price interviews Pilar. http://www.theatrefolk.com/podcast/devising-physical-theatre/)
08:45 Lindsay Price, Partner at Theatrefolk, talks about how and why the company was set up and how they built a global business. www.theatrefolk.com
14:40 How Theatrefolk works and how they provide support to drama teachers, especially those isolated.
17:00 The importance of not remaining anonymous in an online business. How Theatrefolk communicates with its community.
20:00 The Theatrefolk podcast. http://www.theatrefolk.com/podcast/
22:25 The Drama Teacher Academy. www.dramateacheracademy.com
28:50 Lindsay shares those projects that didn't work out. The importance of failing and making time to rest.
32:18 The future of Theatrefolk and Lindsay's own writing.
34:00 Lindsay's thoughts on how the new way of doing business presents many opportunities for artists to make a living from their craft.
36:06 Pilar shares her thoughts on writing on paper and gives a short overview of the course on managing virtual teams VirtualnotDistant.net
http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/feb/23/reading-writing-on-paper-better-for-brain-concentration
Do send your feedback and connect via Twitter @PilarOrti
This episode includes Virtual Coffee with Lisette.
00:30 Pilar's introduction. She recommends Pocket, UCExpo15. (For the script visit, www.virtualnotdistant.com/results.)
07:01 A story about the different reasons why people might be underperforming. 10:45 Lisette shares how her focusing time working on her book is going and the power of reaching out. The "being-busy syndrome" and when it's way too much.
16:00 Pilar mentions the UC Expo 2015 and the London Management 3.0 Meetup Group.
17:00 The importance of tracking progress and results. Why do we collect metrics, why do we need to track?
20:50 Defining how success looks like. The importance of multiple perspectives. Pilar mentions Yael Zofi's A Manager's Guide to Virtual Teams
23:20 Organisation's objectives and personal objectives.
26:36 Who's role is it to stay on top of these tracking systems? Motivation.
31:22 Visualising data.
37:20 Progress, problems and plans.
40:55 Start with the basics and make sure your metrics evolve.
The team should be involved in looking at metrics and deciding how we're tracking.
46:51 "Don't shoot the messenger!" Or the perils of reporting bad results.
00:30 Pilar talks a bit about how online communities have helped her build relationships and how many businesses are now relying on communities to sell their products.
07:30 Sally describes what Tripbod is and how the company evolved.
12:25 The role of trust and building the Tripbod community. The Responsible Tourism Networking group.
21:00 How Tripbod has changed as a result of becoming part of TripAdvisor and how Sally's role has changed. Here is the article Sally wrote for Tnooz about her experience of selling Tripbod to Tripadvisor. www.tnooz.com/article/startup-biggest-travel-brands-planet/
24:05 Two new products: find out more about Neighborhoods and TripAdvisor Travel Guides - check out this Madrid travel guide: www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Travel_Guide-g187514-Madrid.html
29:18 How is the travel industry changing.
32:55 How Sally's own way of working has evolved.
35:00 Becoming a Tripbod.
Please visit www.virtualnotdistant.com/blessing
00:30 Pilar's short intro.
04:55 Lisette's off-piste adventures and her next speaking event.
11:20 We begin our conversation. How organisations are becoming more networked, less hierarchical.
13:30 The curse of "being always on". How technology is helping people taking charge of their own development. (Check out the episode on Yammer, 42:03). The origins of Working Out Loud.
17:40 Pilar mentions the book The Antidote: Happiness for People Who Can't Stand Positive Thinking (affiliate link.)
18:55 Prioritising.
19:45 Work-life balance, work-life fusion and choosing the location where you want to live, not where you want to work. Feeling "boxed in".
The down-side of non-location specific, the freelance aspect. Pilar mentions a "housing crisis in London" - it's actually in the UK. Here's an article about it Article in The Guardian.
27:30 The curses. Is communication more difficult or easier when we're working with others remotely?
What to do when you get stuck. Lisette mentions the podcast Entrepreneur on Fire and the book Borrowing Brilliance: The Six Steps to Business Innovation by Building on the Ideas of Others (affiliate link)
35:40 How Lisette has created her own feedback loop. OKRs in teams and accountability partners. Lisette mentions this meetup in Holland: http://www.meetup.com/Het-Nieuwe-Werken-Meetup/
46:55 Lisette's interview with Teo Haren.
54:10 Pilar mentions an episode from The Bottom Line on Going Global 12 March 2015.
This is the Zapier article Pilar talked about: How to Avoid Burnout in a Remote Team.
Lisette mentions Cocoon Projects in Italy
00:30 Pilar introduces the podcast, talking a bit about her own experience dubbing e-learning and corporate videos. She has a few tips for you if you're creating products/training to reach your global employees. (For script visit www.virtualnotdistant.com/language-localisation) If you're interested in the world of voiceovers, you should listen to Episode 16 Mike Russell and Music Media Creative and if you're interested in expanding your business globally, listen to
The Bottom Line episode on Global Business.
12.50 David welcomes Pilar into the studio and we go on a short tour, including meeting Adrian, one of the engineers.
15:50 David tells us his story, how and why he set up Golocalise.
23:10 Does a good demo always mean the voiceover talent is good?
26:00 What is localisation and how is it different to translation?
29:50 The different clients and products that Golocalise works with and how their services have developed.
32:35 Corporate learning and localisation. Some tips towards succesful localisation.
41:30 The benefits of bringing the voiceovers into the studio.
43:45 What's next for Golocalise? David shares some of the ways in which he's marketing his business: content marketing and building your marketing funnel.
*Technology is at the heart of the work revolution. We wouldn't be talking so much about virtual teams if we couldn't easily access many, many tools to help us work with others many miles away. But, there are so many collaboration tools out there: how do you choose one for you and your team? Lisette and Pilar hope this episode will help you make a start.
For the full show notes, visit www.virtualnotdistant.com/tools*
00:35 Pilar's very short introduction.
03:30 Lisette and I were quite chatty this week. We talked about:
Happy Melly’s dance party and Muse cubes.
07:45 Hired an online personal trainer through FitOrbit.
11:30 Pilar got a nice message from one of her connections – podcasting with integrity.
13:45 Pilar is now listening to the Fizzle Show. Lisette enjoyed the Adam Corolla show, Entrepreneur on Fire, This American Life: Serial , Start Up
17:20 We finally get down to talking about collaboration tools.
How the tool LIsette was using went bust overnight, a cautionary tale….
We start talking about tools, which Lisette divides into six categories.
22:50 Visualising and Brainstorming –
28:45 Project Management
36:40 Task Management
37:50 Knowledge-based Tools
44:20 File Storage
47:50 Informal Communication and Meetings
54:45 Best practices when using collaboration tools with your virtual team:
01:02:30 Pilar's afterthoughts
For more thoughts on this festival and to see the slides from the talk Virtual, not Distant,
visit http://virtualnotdistant.com/no-pants-festival-reflections/
Today's guest covers a wide range of subjects: why he set up his blog The Couch Manager, why everyone should set up a blog for professional, personal and financial reasons and we even talk about failure. He's very recently (yesterday!) set up Ganttopia.
Hassan Osman is an entrepreneur, author of the Amazon Kindle bestseller Influencing Virtual Teams: 17 Tactics That Get Things Done with Your Remote Employees and works as Senior Manager at Cisco. I've kept my introduction extremely short today because our conversation was very meaty and I had little to add on the subject.
Here are the links and show notes.
00:30 Pilar's short intro.
04.20 The conversation starts. Hassan and Pilar catch up.
05:50 Hassan talks about why he set up his blog The Couch Manager where he blogs about virtual work and productivity.
Do something small and just launch. Everything else will be easier after that.
Hassan recommends David Allen's Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-free Productivity and Tim Ferriss' The 4-Hour Work Week
12:00 How the basics of working in virtual teams can be applied to corporations.
13:30 How we can now influence beyond our workplace. Growing your career as a start up. Hassan recommends The Start-up of You: Adapt to the Future, Invest in Yourself, and Transform Your Career and talks about being in "permanent beta".
16:00 Hassan explains why he believes every company is now virtual and why we should not lose the face-face connection.
"The fact that you can hire someone virtually opens up a huge talent pool that you can pick from."
22:00 How virtual team working changed in the last four years.
25:30 How writing Influencing Virtual Teams came about and why everyone should start a blog from a professional, personal and financial perspective. (If you are interested in this, check out Mariano Tufro's interview, where he talks about raising your profile through social media.)
29:20 Hassan talks about the popularity of his blog post about how to design the ultimate home office encouraged him to start creating e-books and how he tests the potential of his new products.
35:00 "Making money is a muscle too" and, be ready to fail. Pilar mentions her blog post on "Think Like a Freak".
38:00 Using illustrations to present concepts. Hassan recommends Back of the Napkin: Solving problems and selling ideas with pictures. Check out his post on How to Create Hand Drawn Pictures to Explain Anything Even if You Don't Know How to Draw.
42:30 Ganttopia: Hassan's new project where he offers templates for gantt charts to project managers.
And don't forget that Hassan has a very popular course on Udemy, full of video tutorials on managing virtual teams: How to Manage and Influence Your Virtual Team.
In this episode, we tried something a little bit different. Lisette and I "hanged out" with Phil Montero from The Anywhere Office and talked about the role of the leader and the manager in virtual teams. Most of the conversation involved identifying what teams need to operate and whether it's always the responsibility of the person with the official title to provide this.
Virtual teams are turning organisations into flatter hierarchies and we need to consciously adapt our leadership style to what the team needs.
04:40 Different virtual teams need different forms of leadership. The different types of relationships we have with our team. Lisette introduces the role of "wrangler" (as in person "rounding up", not disputing).
08:30 Does someone always need to be in charge? Someone needs to take care of the process - in this case the team leader or manager needs to take on the facilitator role. Or is it always the person with the official title, or the top of the organisation, that needs to look after the process, or to enable (or remind) the group that the process needs to be looked after?
13:30 An important part of the person in charge is to Ask Questions - of course, as in all teams, the person in charge should be asking questions. In the virtual setting, there is more autonomy and flexibility, so people might expect to be more involved in the decision-making. The importance of outlining the constraints.
16:00 The "boss" role. Someone is financially responsible for the outcome and will need to take the tough decisions and hold people accountable. Is it always the official leaders' responsibility to remind us of the constraints and rules? Balance between what's good for the individual and what's good for the team?
The new way of work has completely shifted and has a more network feel to it.
22:50 We need to be more "conscious communicators" and make sure the processes are in place for people to talk to each other. How can we create an environment where team members are able to have uncomfortable conversations? Creating feedback cycles for the team - this process can be decided by the team, not necessarily by the person in charge. But the team leader has to make sure this decision is taken and implemented.
31:00 Task, process and relational conflict can be avoided by continuously sharing information across the three domains. What about the co-ordinator role? A broker between people so that the relationships between the team members are happening?
33:00 What's the role of the team leader in solving conflict? We agreed that it's their role to make sure it's solved, but not necessarily to solve it.
40:15 Phil quotes Star Trek - the leader who has enough humility to ask those around him for their opinions. Collaboration vs Competition.
48:35 The relationship of the team with the wider context - be it the organisation or wider context? The role of the team leader as advocate, how do we strengthen the relationship of the team with the rest of the organisation?
Make sure that the conversations that need to happen, happen.
Let us know your thoughts about the role of the official leader or manager in a virtual team.
Today's episode includes a Virtual Coffee with Lisette, where we talk about how to organise and lay down the foundations for useful team retrospectives. (We are borrowing the main aspects from the Agile world.)
00: 30 Pilar has some updates, including the live online virtual coffee with Phil Montero and Lisette, next week on Virtual Team Leader: Boss or Facilitator?
04:40 Lisettes's updates. Standing desks, focusing saying "no" and feedback from @guidostevens
11:30 Pilar talks about two people she's met recently who energised her.
14:40 What are agile retrospectives? (the basics) How they're different to away-days or staff meetings.
22: 30 "As soon as one person is remote, the team is remote." Practical considerations for succesful virtual retrospectives.
24:25 The use of the sticky board: what's going well, what could be better, questions, suggestions. The importance of language in processes.
Luke Hohmann: Co-located teams talk first and then swarm to the whiteboard later; virtual teams swarm first, then talk about it.
(Listen to Luke and Lisette's chat.)
Sticky boards mentioned: Linoit, Ideaboardz, Groupmap, Google Docs Template.
Taking responsibility of the team process.
Lisette's tips:
31: 05 (1) Have an organiser (best if it rotates).
33:05 (2) Don't go on too long and risk "virtual fatigue".
34:30 (3) Take breaks. (Listen to Lisette's talk with NASA here.)
How do people get to the point where they can speak out?
How do we lay down the foundations for successful retrospectives?
The importance of having them regularly.
41:40 (4) Try new sticky notes.
(5) Try new types of retrospectives. Luis Gonçalves' "Agile Retrospectives". The importance of play.
44:45 (6) Share results between offices. (Listen to Lisette's talk with Ralph Van Roosmalen.)
46:50 (7) Plan for chat time. (Listen to Lisette's talk with Tom Howlett.)
48:15 (8) Capture the conversations and actions. What do we do about those things that keep coming up?
"Take the temperature in the team." (Pilar recommends "The Skilled Facilitator" by Roger Schwartz.)
00:30 Pilar recommends a TED talk by Ricardo Semler. (transcript can be found in wlpodcast.com)
09:30 Mariano talks about Agility, Mindfulness, Global Teams and Connectivity as four crucial aspects of modern leadership development.
14:20 Reassesing leadership development in the context of global teams.
17:55 Looking for local talent.
20:40 Mariano talks about his own practice in leadership development.
27:00 Positional authority versus respect.
38:00 Making the move from the corporate world to setting up on your own.
Check out www.wlpodcast.com and Mariano's company www.leadershipminds.co.uk
This podcast focuses on working productively from home.
00:30 Pilar introduces the theme of productivity and some blogs. (Transcript in wlpodcast.com.)
04:13 Kirstin ODonovan, Productivity Coach has a few words to say.
07:15 The importance of clarity.
08:50 Lisette's updates including update on the Happy Melly team and what do we mean by "working well together". Pilar's updates.
18:15 Productivity - Top Five tips
26:00 Have great equipment.
30:55 Move your body.
34:40 Plan your day the night before.
38:40 Pair collaboration.
43.10 Collect metrics - evaluate your happiness.
For more links, look for episode 17 in www.wlpodcast.com
The guest in today's episode is Mike Russell, Creative Director of Music Radio Creative, amongst other things.
00:30 Pilar talks about how the world of voiceover has changed and she has some updates. virtualnotdistant.com/leading-virtual-teams-course/
09:50 Mike talks about Music Radio Creative and how they help podcasters, djs and other broadcasters.
18:30 New Media Europe 12-13 Sept 2015. What's happening there?
23:05 Mike talks about how he started 'Youtubing' about Adobe Audition.
27:45 Mike's journey as an audio professional.
35:45 Working with people you can't see: trust and letting go.
40:45 The different uses of social media. Personal vs personable
Links:
New Media Expo
New Media Europe
Music Radio Creative and his personal website.
@imikerussell
Mike's Udemy course Adobe Audition Tutorial CC Audio Production Course Basics to Expert
Mike's YouTube channel
UK Podcasters Group
00:45 Pilar talks about "the problem with trust" at work and the Trust Equation, created by the Trusted Advisor. (for transcript check out wlpodcast.com)
10:36 Virtual Coffee with Lisette.
11:20 Pilar and Lisette plug the No Pants Festival. http://www.nopantsfest.be/
13:00 Lisette talks about her Collaboration Superpowers workshop.
14:30 Trust at work
19:15 Why does video help to build trust? Likeability and the power of small gifts.
27.40 Should we use "tricks"?
30:48 Trust starts with ourselves.
33:40 Propensity to trust and our own experiences.
39:40 Retrospectives and addressing the breakdown of trust.
LINKS
http://www.thefutureorganization.com/future-work-podcast-episode-4-charles-h-green-trust-future-work/
http://www.apaexcellence.org/assets/general/2013-work-and-wellbeing-survey-results.pdf
http://trustedadvisor.com/articles
Pilar talks to Marta Texidor, Customer Success Manager for Microsoft, about how organisations are using Yammer. For the full show notes and pics of both guests, go to www.wlpodcast.com and search for episode 14.
00:30 Pilar shares an event she's taking part in on 25 January 2015.
02:30 Pilar talks about some of the features of Yammer and things to look out for when you're thinking of introducing a new tool. (Transcript can be found in wlpodcast.com)
11:45 Marta talks about Yammer and her role in Microsoft.
15:35 What kind of organisations are using Yammer at the moment and the problems they're trying to solve.
25:21 The importance of having Leadership present in the network. How do we involve the CEO and Senior Management? Who can introduce the tool?
35:30 We need to change our mindset to get the most out of these tools.
42:03 - 45:04 We move onto Alan, who's just integrated Yammer into their communications process
00:30 Pilar talks about why meetings might be going wrong. (
08:30 Virtual Coffee with Lisette. Lisette talks a bit about her book Collaboration Superpowers.
12:55 Facilitating Online Meetings and distributing responsibility to make the meeting succesful.
15:30 What can we do to make online meetings succesful?
24:36 Having a back channel to communicate.
32:11 Why are people not "present" in meetings? Engagement.
40:50 Does everyone read the handouts?
We mention a very funny video from 2014. Here's a link:
http://virtualnotdistant.com/why-you-should-keep-conference-calls-down-to-a-minimum/
http://www.collaborationsuperpowers.com/about-the-book/
http://virtualnotdistant.com/using-yammer/
https://www.rcseng.ac.uk/surgeons/surgical-standards/professionalism-surgery/gsp/documents/good-surgical-practice-pdf
00.30 Pilar talks about MOOCs and the use of technology in learning.
12.43 Shannon introduces Udemy and the story of its founder.
16.30 What people are seeking to learn and how the way in which we interact with online learning is changing.
26.00 Udemy for Business and how corporate learning is evolving.
39.50 Pilar introduces her own Udemy course on Leadership and Change.
For show notes, visit wlpodcast.com and look for episode 12.
Welcome to a tiny episode of 21st Century Work Life. I was actually just going to release a note saying that there wouldn’t be an episode today, but as I was about to do that, I got thinking about some work life related stuff and I thought, why not share some of it with you and make a mini-episode out of it.
I’m currently away from my usual base but I’m still able to have a presence in social media for example, thanks to the way that some of these applications allow us to create content one moment and release it the other. Blog posts can be scheduled, podcasts can be pre-recorded and scheduled in advance so that they come out when I want them to, I can automate my tweets so that it looks like I’m active, when I might actually be completely unplugged and doing something completely different… To be honest, I didn’t schedule many tweets during the Christmas period, and that also made me think, I don’t really celebrate Christmas, I’m self-employed, and the kind of work I do means that I can pretty much set my own hours, and yet I still seem to follow conventional working patterns.
If I don’t do any work over these days, I don’t feel that guilty and I just say to my employees, that’s myself, it’s fine, take a break, everyone else seems to be taking time off. What’s even more baffling to me is that even though I’ve been living in the UK for more than half my life now, I still take the Christmas period as ending on the 6th January, which is when it ends in Spain, on epiphany. So for me, I think it’s all right to take a break until then. Again, even though none of my clients expect me to work all the time, and even if I schedule a lot of my own work, there is this voice in my head that keeps saying, there’s a time to work and there’s a time when it’s ok not to work.
Maybe it’s because still, the majority of the workforce works for 8 hours a day, on 5 days of the week, that the self- employed also seek some kind of structure by following the more conventional timetable. For example, yesterday I was listening to a podcast, the Rocking Self Publishing podcast (which by the way if you’re a writer or inspiring one, is well worth a listen) and the guest, Libby Hawker, said that every day, she sits down and writes for eight hours, as it’s her job. Very interesting that she didn’t say, I aim to write 5,000 words a day as that’s my job. Or, I work 2 hours in the morning, 2 in the afternoon and 2 in the evening.
And it’s true, that I’ve heard many writers, especially those who’ve moved from full time employment, saying this kind of thing. There are also those who have a more flexible approach of course and in the end, everyone finds different patterns that work for them, but I find it interesting that even when you follow what might be considered a less conventional career, you still, or should I say, I still, follow the more conventional work patterns. I suppose, it’s still what I grew up with and it’s still how most of the world works, so it’s easier to find some kind of structure to adapt to it.
So this is probably as much as I’m going to say today. I just wanted to say hello as it’s Friday, and I do like following a schedule with my podcasts, as in, the podcast comes out on Fridays, as is the case with this one, or Tuesdays, with the Spain Uncovered. This gives me a deadline, and so gives my work structure which is even more important when you’re organizing your own work. It also means that you listening and looking forwards to the podcast, know when to expect it. Of course, last week was a bit different as I didn’t want to release a podcast on boxing day for some reason (I suppose I’m going back again to conventional schedules) and so I released the retrospective on Tuesday. And talking of this episode, which by the way was great fun to record as it was only myself and Lisette talking about certain aspects of work and the future of work that had caught our eye during 2014, talking of this episode, thanks very much to David Roswell for the comment on the blog and also, thanks to Robert Svenson for the lovely tweet about that same episode. He described it as “an engaging conversation on workplace dynamics and trends” – I really liked the way you summarized that, Robert, thank you.
So, see you next week. If you don't fancy popping onto this site every week to listen to the podcast, just look for the 21st Century Work Life on your podcast app, iTunes, Stitcher, whatever you use and Subscribe. Over the next few weeks, look out for interviews with Marta Texidor from Yammer and Shannon Hughes from Udemy, and of course, for more virtual coffee with Lisette.
Have a great start to 2015!
Join Pilar and Lisette for a much longer virtual coffee than usual, recapping some of 2014's work stories and picking some of the trends. Our starting point was a series of articles, which you can find in www.wlpodcast.com. Do share with us your thoughts by commenting on the post with episode 10 or connecting via Twitter: @PilarOrti for myself and @lightling for Lisette.
We wish you all the very best for 2015!
00:30 Lisette shares with us what she's been up to and her plans for next year.
04:50 Some buzzwords and concepts that became mainstream this year, including Working Out Loud.
12:25 Work-life fusion. 19:00 Telepresence and using video in training. 30:48 Networked organisations. 36:23 Flexible working goes mainstream. 47:19 Third space workplaces. 56:00 Jacob Morgan's article about whether the workplace can keep up
In this episode, Lisette shares her experience of recruiting four new people onto the virtual team of Happy Melly, of which she is part of.
00.30 Pilar gives a brief intro to the podcast, with some reasons of why this episode might also apply to co-located teams.
03.50 Virtual coffee starts. Lisette talks through what she's up to, including her workshop at the NoPants Festival, 9 March 2015.
10.18 Lisette talks through the recruitment process for Happy Melly.
23.37 The onboarding process.
For the show notes, visit wlpodcast.com
What is a coach and why is coaching an important skill to have at work? Pilar talks to Phil Hayes, Chairman of Management Futures.
00.31 Pilar talks a bit about coaching and how our new attitude to work has enabled this profession to grow. (Transcript below.)
09.10 Phil explains what coaching is.
14.30 How leadership in organisations has changed in the past years and how coaching can become an integral part of management.
21.50 Social value in organisations and inclusivity.
24.35 The importance of self-awareness and values.
For more show notes, visit www.wlpodcast.com
00.30 Pilar talks a bit about why sharing our values might help us work better together.
07.46 What is 'ethical blindness'?
13.45 Virtual coffee with Lisette Sutherland
14.28 Lisette reports back on her experiment on Feedback.
18.45 What do we mean by "values"? Why is this important for virtual teams?
31.50 Cognitive dissonance.
How can digital skills be employed in the workplace? Sinead MacManus talks about the work that Fluency is doing in London and globally to help young people improve their digital skills.
00.30 Pilar talks a bit about Sinead' s work (transcript below)
08.00 Sinead talks about her work with Fluency and the blended learning approach
17.23 Sinead explains what .io stands for
20.35 Are schools (in the UK) addressing this shortage of digital skills in young people?
For the show notes visit www.wlpodcast.com
Today’s show includes virtual coffee with the lovely Lisette Sutherland and during our chat we talk about feedback, about giving and receiving feedback and more importantly, about ensuring that feedback is a conversation that all team members have, not just a top down stream of information.
01:09 Pilar introduces the podcast and the feedback loop.
03:40 How technology is helping us to give feedback and what it's addressing.
11:05 A story from Paul Matthew's Capability at Work illustrating the need for feedback across the organisation.
16: 45 Virtual Coffee with Lisette. Why the annual appraisal is not the best place for feedback, especially in virtual teams.
22.25 Written feedback (and some non-written specific points!).
28.25 Team retrospectives.
31.30 360 degree team feedback.
For longer show notes, visit http://www.virtualteamleadership.co.uk/giving-feedback/
Jurgen Appelo is the author of Management 3.0 Workout. I talk to him about motivation in organisations and the story behind the organisation Happy Melly.
Jurgen shares with us a couple of the tools he describes in his book, like the Delegation Boards and the KUDO cards.
His interview starts around 8:20 mins and before that, I share some thoughts on motivation, which you can also read on the episode4 notes on www.wlpodcast.com
Today the focus is on teams – more specifically on communication in teams. My coffee with Lisette focuses on virtual teams and the things you can do to tune in to each other and keep the conversation going.
00:30 Introduction and the opportunity to change the way we work.
06:00 Sandy Pentland and team's research into High Performing Teams
16:12 Virtual Coffee with Lisette - Tune-in your virtual team
Enjoy!
For extensive show notes visit www.wlpodcast.com
Pilar Orti blogs at www.virtualteamleadership.co.uk
In this second episode of the 21st Work Life podcast, I visit CreateSpaceLondon, a place for artists and makers in the West of the UK capital. So, today’s episode consists of Rory Gallagher (founder)’s tour and I also I stopped via Atila’s studio and asked him to explain how he made his first guitar. Finally, I chat to Kevin about 3d printing and what the possibilities are and how it might impact the consumers. He also talks us through the 3d printing process in a small consumer 3D printer and also the different machines around.
00:30 Introduction to CreateSpaceLondon and hackspaces.
11:20 Tour around the space and a chat with Rory, founder.
23:20 I talk to Atila about making guitars
31:20 Chat with Kevin Koekkoek, 3d modeller and designer. We talk about 3d printing.
For extensive show notes and photos, visit www.wlpodcast.com
Pilar Orti blogs at www.virtualteamleadership.co.uk
Welcome to the first episode of the 21st Century Work Life podcast, a show created to look at how the world of work,and our attitudes to work are changing.
In this first episode, I reflect on how much how we talk about work has changed - we are now ok with placing the words "happiness" and "work" in the same sentence!
I also share with you Mark Trezona's thoughts and some tips on how we can move towards Happiness at Work. (Mark has made this subject his mission and he now delivers a Happiness at Work newsletter weekly.)
For the second part of the episode I have virtual coffee with Lisette Sutherland. I met Lisette on the Internet, when she interviewed me for her site (and now podcast!) Collaboration Superpowers. Lisette will be making an appearance in this podcast every other week and in today's episode she shares her tips on how to create the best Work Holiday. Yes, you heard right.
00:30 Introduction
02:50 Changes in attitude to work - talking about happiness at work. What does happiness at work mean?
11.15 I read Mark Trezona's view on happiness at work and Martin Seligman's PERMA principles.
20:40 Virtual coffee with Lisette: Work Holidays
Pilar Orti blogs at virtualteamleadership.co.uk