The Virtual Workplace: Recent Episodes
Stimulus
Warming Up for Virtual Calls
Hi Chad here. Welcome back to the virtual workplace podcast.
[00:00:11]Today I wanted to share a couple of activities that have been really important for me to break up my workday. More and more we're sitting in chairs, staring at screens than we ever have before. With all of the virtual calls and video conferences that we find ourselves on. Many times back to back to back to back.
[00:00:33] It's probably not uncommon for some of us to be on six, seven or even eight of these calls a day. Probably more. That's not good for us. We're not meant to be sitting hunched over our laptops all day every day. Doing different warm up activities is how I've tried to combat the sedentary nature of our work. I can do this either before I join a call or if the team is up for it. we can do it at the beginning of the calls. And there's three different kinds of warmups that I like to do and you can remix them, together, do all of them or just choose one that sounds good to you. There's physical or active warmups, there's mental warmups, and then there's fun or playful warm-ups.
[00:01:23] The physical warmups I think are the easiest to introduce just because I think all of us want to be a little bit more active as where we're stuck inside on calls all day. I just like to do some simple stretching. You can do it, sitting, doing arm, stretches and neck stretches, or even better you can stand up from your chair to do some forward folds, maybe some air squats, raise your hands over your head and lean left and right, or do jumping jacks if you want.
[00:01:57] My friend Matt does 10 pushups every time he gets up from his computer to help himself try and stay active. So if you want to challenge yourself a bit more and be bold, maybe you can do pushups in between each of your calls.
[00:02:10]It's really fun for me to break the ice at the beginning of a call and just ask everyone if they want to take a few moments to stretch. I think you can see everyone, breathe a sigh of relief, in doing so. Even better if you can get in some real exercise in between your calls. I know a lot of us have tried to set up home gyms with maybe some, freeweights and jumping ropes, yoga mats, et cetera. But if you can't do that, maybe spend just 30 seconds or a minute doing some stretching before you start.
[00:02:41]The second warmup activities, the mental warmup activities, really are just questions that I like to ask at the beginning of meetings. It can be a bit awkward in those first few minutes when just a few of you are on the call, and so sometimes I just break the ice by asking question like what's something interesting that they're reading or watching, any podcasts that they might have discovered or even just, you know what the weather is like.
[00:03:08] There's probably hundreds of icebreaker questions, but just choose a few that you like, the most to ask to your colleagues or friends or just come to each meeting with a different one. Maybe you can pick a list of five or six icebreaker questions that are interesting to you and bring a new one into each of your, maybe daily standups or check-ins that you have with your team.
[00:03:31]The third activity are a fun playful or even game warmups. There are two favorite games that I like to play as warmups, both of these I've stolen from friends of mine. I was in a workshop with a friend, Daniel Stillman, and he stopped all of us and said, all right, everyone touch something blue and we all had to run around the room and find something that was blue. So my twist on this for a video chat, is name a color, and then have everyone bring an object of that color onto the screen and put it big and bright in front of the webcam.
[00:04:11] You'll be so surprised at the things that people will find around them to bring onto the web cam. I've seen giant red helium filled lobster balloons, and little rubber, dinosaurs. And everything in between. Of course you say the color green, and then everyone finds their house plants. but other colors like yellow and orange or purple, people find some really fun and interesting things.
[00:04:34] Once everyone has the object on screen, choose your favorite and then have that person name a color, and then you repeat that process Do it three or four times so that you have fun, diverse, group of objects that people are finding as they're running around, their home offices.
[00:04:50]The second game that I've tried a couple of times is a virtual rock paper scissors tournament. This one takes a little bit longer, so give yourself a good five to 10 minutes if you're more than six people, but everyone onscreen gets paired with someone else. And then it's single elimination, rock paper scissors, and it devolves into chaos really quickly, but this is maybe an activity, you know, for a Friday. but it's really fun because people begin to cheer, for others and after five or 10 minutes, you can crown that week's champion of rock paper scissors.
[00:05:30] It's also interesting to learn how you can go from complete chaos to some semblance of a bit more order in an emergent fashion. You don't have to be so dogmatic in how the rules work and what everyone's doing. It's so cool to see everyone kind of mime to one another, to, to get in there match, some people go really quick. Some people go slower. Some people nod their heads. Some people use their fingers to count. It's really cool to see, how everyone runs their games as they're playing one another.
[00:06:03]There's many other virtual games out there that you can play, but these are two of my favorites. The main thing that I wanted to share here is the importance of breaking up, the orkday and breaking up all of the virtual calls that were on each and every day.
[00:06:18] Instead of crashing from one into the other, always chronically five minutes late, think about how you can do some warmups either before you show up to the call or introducing warm-ups on the call with your team. I'm curious to know what warmups you have done, with your teams, which ones you've liked the most icebreaker questions, games, or physical activities that you've done with your teams.
[00:06:42] You can always get in touch with me directly at 917.719.3737. Text me. Leave me a voice message and let me know what warmups have worked for you.
[00:06:55] Thank you so much for listening until next time.
A/V Setups for Virtual Working
Hey, Chad here.
[00:00:06]Welcome back to the virtual workplace podcast, a podcast where we explore what it means to be working in this new virtual world. And today I wanted to talk about audio visual setups for virtual and remote working. I know many of you have probably stumbled upon these insights yourself or seen, other, videos or, you know, emails are shared about how to look your best while on Zoom, and so I wanted to briefly touch on some of the basics and then hopefully share less well known, things that you can do.
[00:00:47] The first and biggest difference that you can make while working virtually is to turn your camera on. I know for some of you that may seem quite a blasphemous or impossible to do, but, I can't tell you how different the working experience is in a virtual space with cameras on versus camera's off.
[00:01:13]It only takes maybe like three or four individuals to have their cameras on, I think as kind of critical mass to get everyone else to turn their cameras on. I would encourage and cheerlead all of you to be those people that turn their cameras on by default when joining the meetings.
[00:01:32]I know that means we have to, put. actual clothes on and, prepare ourselves in in a way that we've been a little bit lazy the past few weeks. Being able to see facial expressions and be able to express yourself, with body language adds so much to the meetings. As leaders of meetings, it also helps you understand when people are engaging or not and,
[00:02:00] It also, keeps people on their toes to be called on to contribute, and be more participatory in the meetings. That's a very hard and fast rule of mine. I always have my camera on. It's the single greatest thing I think you can do to enhance your virtual working experience.
[00:02:21]Many times, you know, we're stuck working with our webcams built into our computers . In order to make yourself look better, you can just raise your laptop or a computer screen. as high as is possible or is comfortable for you so that the camera's pointing a little bit more down,
[00:02:39] in the language of cinema, the villains are often shot from beneath, so the lower your webcam is the more you appear to be a villainous character
[00:02:49] The nice thing about raising the cameras. It just highlights, your best features, and diminishes, maybe some that don't look quite as good on camera.
[00:02:58] Lighting is also really important to make yourself look your best, and if you can be looking into a window, with the camera facing into the room, that can make a huge difference. if you are sitting with your back to a window or really bright light source, it can mess with the brightness settings of the camera, and just not make you look your best. Another thing you can do is just turn the lamp on on your desk, bounce it off the wall and that creates a nice soft light rather than the pointing a light directly in your face. Sometimes you can even use the screen brightness of your laptop to to increase your lighting.
[00:03:41] Using a set of headphones with a mic is the single best thing you can do to eliminate echo and noise on your virtual meetings. Yes, you can use Bluetooth, but you should always have a backup pair of wired headphones. Many, a times I've been on calls with people on Bluetooth headsets and right in the middle of talking, the Bluetooth headphones will cut out and they find themselves scrambling to figure out how to be heard again.You can use just the simple earbuds that come with most smartphones nowadays Nothing too fancy is necessary
[00:04:19] If you don't have a pair of headphones with a microphone, you can still use the headphones to listen to everyone speak and use your internal mic on your computer. J ust get really good at using the mute button because microphones on laptops, pick up a lot of clicking and keyboard noises.
[00:04:39]Those are some of the quickest and easiest, tips I have for you as far as, increasing the fidelity of your audio and visual setup, and these next tips are relying a little bit on you having access to pieces of technology. Some you can scrounge up from others and others you may have to purchase. My only advice there would be, you know, don't go overboard and buy everything all at once. Test out a new piece of gear, whether that's a a webcam or a microphone. There is no perfect setup. It's just whatever works best for you.
[00:05:14] I've had a lot of good luck with simple, a hundred dollar or less podcasting microphones with a USB interface. You just plug it into your computer via USB and nine out of 10 of them will show up automatically in your call or video chat software of choice. Some of them have, the ability to control the volume and the input volume, with knobs. Others, you have to go into your computers, sound settings to set those, but most applications will allow you to test out those settings before joining a meeting so you can troubleshoot.
[00:05:51]External webcams are also really great. It makes it easier to put it on top of a monitor or even a makeshift tripod to elevate the camera. And it also allows you to just stream your video in better quality, most, external webcams in the 50 to a hundred dollar range are, in HD, and all of them are better than the built-in webcams on your laptop.
[00:06:18] Two of my favorite USB microphone manufacturers are Rode and Blue Rode is spelled R O D E, any of their microphones in the 50 to $150 range with USB interfaces will be more than perfect for what you need. You can also look at picking up a small miniature tripod or a Gorilla pod, or, even a selfie stick sometimes can be rigged up to mount your your microphone. You just want to be able to set it on the table or clip it to something, while you're speaking.
[00:06:48] Rode also makes a wired level layer mic that you can clip onto your lapel. Something you might use if you're going on to stage to speak or doing a video interview. That's also a really good microphone that you can use to plug into your computer, for video chat meetings, you can also use, any of these microphones to record podcasts either on your phone or on your computers.
[00:07:16] Getting an external webcam is pretty easy as well. Most of your available options from Logitech will do great. Due to supply and demand issues. the prices of many of them have gone up and the stocks have gone down, but if you see anything coming to stock in the 50 to a hundred dollar range, from Logitech. Any of the options will be an improvement from your internal laptop cameras. You can also Mount those on makeshift tripods or or actual tripods, to give you a little bit more height and flexibility in your your video setups.
[00:07:51] I could do entire episodes on a sound for virtual meetings or video for virtual meetings. so let me know what you're most interested in. You can get in touch directly at 917.719.3737, and let me know tools or, Or pieces of hardware that have worked for you or maybe where you're getting a little bit stuck With your AV setup for virtual meetings.
[00:08:15] Thanks again for listening. Until next time.
Chad: Hey, Chad here. Welcome back to the virtual workplace podcast. A podcast in which we're going to be exploring, this new virtual workplace we all find ourselves in, here in the spring of 2020. But it's not just a virtual or remote workplace, we are all human beings living in real life and so I think there's some interesting human and technical elements to this virtual workplace that I'm going to explore here.
[00:00:36] So I'm going to be sharing some of my insights and learnings as well as bringing others, to share their experiences in this new virtual workplace as well. Today, I wanted to take some time to talk about setting up our in real life or in person virtual workplace.
[00:00:53]I have been on video calls with many people, in studio apartments, where they and their partners are, working from home, trying to share and manage that space. I am in a one bedroom with really only one door that can be closed, between the rooms, you're either in the bedroom or in the living room. And, others of us are very fortunate, maybe we have a basement that we can go to a separate office but I think setting up our in-person workspaces while working from home, is maybe often overlooked a little bit as, those of us that weren't working from home, before coronavirus have now been been forced to do.
[00:01:37]We've all kind of just, I've been making it work, but I wanted to take just a couple of minutes to share. some things that I've seen people do that I think are really cool. Some, some things that I have tried to do myself or, myself and my wife is, we're trying to both share, some work from home space. And, I'm coming to you on this podcast, in my closet. or I should say I'm facing into my closet because that's the most soundproof area of the apartment while, my dog and, trash trucks and sirens are outside.
[00:02:13] I think as all of us are just swept up into call after video call. we could just take some time to take a look around, see some of the things in our spaces that we want to bring into the virtual workplace and maybe some things that we want to keep separate .
[00:02:34]Kind of a fun mental activity that I do, is my quote unquote commute to work, and I know that may sound strange if you're just getting up and moving in to another room or maybe even from one part of a room to the other side of the room. But so many of us had commute to work routines. Packing our bags, maybe packing some food, saying goodbye to our partners or our pets, or our kids. And then venturing off whether it's on foot by bike, subway in our cars on the bus. so many different ways to get to work. Maybe some of you hop on planes to go to work. Some of that is lost in , commuting to our virtual workplace.
[00:03:22]Pick one of those parts of that routine in which you commuted and try and bring that back into your experience of commuting and the virtual workplace.
[00:03:31] A friend of mine, Daniel and his fiance have instituted Formal Fridays where, he puts on a button down shirt and a tie . Other people I know, take their dog out for a walk right before they start work.
[00:03:47] For those of you essential workers that are actually going into work, I just wanted to say thank you.
[00:03:54] Some of the things that I have done is, you know, making a really great pot of coffee, fixing some breakfast or even just a planning and preparing my lunch for the day. I think doing those things before I sit down and get started working, can be really helpful.
[00:04:13]As I mentioned before, I'm just in a one bedroom apartment and we've kind of turned it into a transformer apartment where each space in the apartment serves different functions at different times of day and different things come come in and out of that space, as we're working or not working there.
[00:04:34] So, for example, our dining table also serves as my wife's working desk. In the morning we bring out all of, the, The accoutrement for her to get to work like her, her mouse and her computer and in a, in a keyboard that she and that she took from work. and we roll out a little mat to put out on top of the table and put all those things on top before she gets started working. And then at the end of the workday we take all those things off, put them in storage in the corner, roll the mat up, and then we have our dining table back at the end of the day .
[00:05:15] I know that seems like a lot of work, but otherwise, I think our apartment, which has kind of exploded into this weird office workplace home, a disaster area and being really intentional about, bringing out the tools for work at the beginning of the day and then putting them away has been really helpful, for me and the two of us to kind of manage this small space together.
[00:05:46] in the same way that you like packed your bag and went off to work, maybe you can pack and unpack your bag at your at your work surface, whether that's your kitchen table or counter, whether that's in bed, on the sofa, the coffee table, et cetera. Maybe one day this week you can unpack and repack your workspace, to, to maybe better delineate, that work and not working, Time.
[00:06:16]one final topic about sharing these, small at home, what workspaces with multiple people is establishing kind of some ground rules or rules of engagement, with others in your household about, what it means when you're working, what you need from them to be productive. I understand if you have kids that it's a, it's, a whole different ballgame, but even just between you and your partner, understanding that one is working, the other is is tending to to the house or or to the family and then understanding at the same time that sometimes like you just need to be able to not have that structure and kind of throw it to the wind, and be okay with maybe losing a whole day. because you wanted to spend time with your family.
[00:07:09] I think those are realities that our employers and and organizations are gonna, have to navigate, I think as we, all have to come to terms with what it means to work in this virtual and remote environment.
[00:07:28]I'm really interested in passionate about, this idea of of, of what it means to now be working in this virtual workplace. and so I didn't want us to lose the sight of the fact that, yeah, there's tools like zoom and teams, et cetera that that we can use, but, I think the physical environment in which we're working, from home, can often be overlooked or ignored and that's that's to our detriment.
[00:07:53] I'm really curious how, all of your experiences have been working from home. What's worked and not worked for you? So get in touch. You can leave me a voice message or text at 917.719.3737 and I can't wait to hear from you about how you've set up your virtual workplace.
[00:08:12] Thank you so much for listening. Until next time.
What is a Virtual Workplace?
Hey, Chad here. Welcome to The Virtual Workplace in 10 podcast.
[00:00:16] I'm starting this podcast as a response to where we all find ourselves now here in spring of 2020. Being locked up. Or hold up. I should say in our homes, while those of us fortunate enough to work. you know, working from home has been a very, unstable, uncertain, shocking, surprising, difficult and also, I hope delightful experience for all of us. AndIn a concept that's really come to the foreground for me is this idea of a virtual workplace. In a [00:01:00] remote working context, what it means, to be working virtually, how we show up as individuals, how we come together as teams, how are organizations, look and feel and live in the virtual space when we can no longer get together in person.
[00:01:20] I think, we're, you know, about six weeks in into this, global experiment. It's been enough time for us to get over the initial shock, for us to adapt, get into or create a few routines and before we get complacent and just kind of, creating a remote or virtual culture by default, I wanted to start this podcast to have a conversation with you, the listener and others that I hope to bring on to this show about what it means to build a virtual culture or or build a [00:02:00] culture for your organization, virtually.
[00:02:03] And. Yes, I'll be talking about some tools that I've used and found effective and how you can best leverage them, but I also think it's about how we show up or want to show up in in this new virtual first way. So I, I thought I could just talk a little bit about my own experience and experience of my clients, the past few weeks and just some things I've noticed that have gone well that maybe we got a bit stuck in in how we can potentially do things differently going forward in a more intentional way.
[00:02:47] And I want to give a big shout out and thank you to all the clients that that have persevered with me through this time, and for those clients that couldn't, I completely understand, you know, I count myself amongst the [00:03:00] very fortunate in being able to continue to do my work from from home and to do it virtually. There's tens of millions of people that they can't do that.
[00:03:11] And that's another reason that I wanted to to show up here and do this podcast is to, to begin to question why or why not, can those functions, be done virtually or not? In some instances, of course it makes sense that there there needs to be people, congregating showing up in in doing work together, but there's others in which I think we maybe had a bit of a fixed mindset in in believing that we had to all show up in an office with our colleagues, five days a week, sometimes seven days a week, for very extended periods of time.
[00:03:52] I hope this podcast can help us learn and explore this new environment and situation. We find ourselves in.
[00:04:01] If you have a remarkable experience that you would like to share, get in touch. You can leave me a voice message or text me. At nine, one, seven, seven, one, nine, three, seven, three, seven. I'd love to bring people onto the show that have learned from this virtual working or remote working environment to make it a little bit better for, for all of us. And to hopefully bring more people into the flexibility that comes with with working virtually and remotely, to help us maybe reclaim a little bit of that freedom that, concentrated, distraction free, sometimes, work that we can do outside of the office. And I think just create a better work experience overall.
[00:04:49] So what do I mean when I talk about the virtual workplace? I think, simply put. It's how people come [00:05:00] together to do work when they're not co-located using using technology. And there's two kind of main tracks. to this, there's the technical side, but there's also the human side and I'm interested in both, and so I'm going to try and keep those two concepts and balance but I don't think it would be most helpful if I just simply talked about how to leverage a tool like Microsoft Teams or Zoom or chat applications like Teams or Slack because, I also don't want us to become beholden or even slaves to the technology to dictate how we do our work.
[00:05:46] And I think especially in this time of uncertainty and fear. We have to acknowledge the human side of what it means to be kept home, [00:06:00] to not know how our employment status is going to be effected, if and how we will continue to have jobs and work and for those of us that are fortunate enough to do the work, how we can best show up, individually in pairs and teams and as organizations.
[00:06:23] This first episode is really just meant to kind of speculate in in what this exploration or experiment might be. I don't have any answers. I just have observations and experience, and so what you can expect from me is going out and finding people that have interesting and remarkable stories to share around working virtually.
[00:06:49] And the best part is it's going to come to you in 10 minutes or less. That's my philosophy, with podcasting. So I'll guarantee that every episode is going to be 10 minutes or less. Sometimes it [00:07:00] will be just myself, other times I'll bring guests on to discuss the matters at hand.
[00:07:07] Most of all, I want to be sure it's interesting and valuable to you the listener, so you have a direct line to me. You can you can call in or text to nine, one, seven, seven, one, nine, three, seven, three, seven, and I would love to hear. you know, what questions do you have about how to work virtually what has worked well for you? Where have you gotten stuck? What are some tools, resources practices that have helped you in working virtually.
[00:07:36] So thank you so much for listening. I can't wait to further explore this concept of the virtual workplace with you. Until next time.