21st Century Work Life and leading remote teams

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.

WLP356 April Monthly Reading and Listening (and Watching!) Recommendations 04/25/2024

WLP356 April Monthly Reading and Listening (and Watching!) Recommendations 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. Coffee Break Articles 05.00 MINS Via Sketchplanations via Skift via Human Resource Management Journal (Wiley) Grabbed from profile on previously-known-as-Twitter. via Wired.com Article + Documentary 15.50 MINS a documentary by Julien Capraro This was recommended by , 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: and watch the documentary here: 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 for the recommendation!) Audio Recommendations 30.25 MINS Deep Questions with Cal Newport 1 April 2024The Long-Distance Worklife podcastEpisode: 15 April 2024 Remote Work Life 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 . Use her code for a discount! 𝗠𝗮𝘆𝗮𝗥𝗪𝗘_𝗯𝗻𝗳𝟮𝟰 Our newsletters: Pilar’s “Spiralling Creativity” Maya’s “Remote Echoes” You can message Pilar through the Virtual not Distant website: and get hold of Maya over at Remote Work Europe: . /episode/index/show/wlpodcast/id/30930978

WLP355 Career Pivots, Team Connections and Work Life Identity 04/18/2024

WLP354 What's Going On: Experiments in Networking 03/28/2024

WLP354 What's Going On: Experiments in Networking 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 Maya shares a recent event she ran as part of , with Ali Meehan on “speed networking”. Someone else organising networking-type events is Lisette Sutherland from Collaboration Superpowers, who is running virtual coworking sessions: 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: Connect with Matt on LinkedIn: Listen to his previous episode on this show: Listen to the WB40 podcast, or even, book a coffee time with Matt: 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 Communities and relationships can exist both online and off: we mention : 16th and 17th May in Lisbon, and also the . And relationship building can be synchronous or asynchronous. 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: Or, you might want to join 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: And Pilar is now blogging about her artistic projects with and without genAI over at , where her latest post ponders on whether genAI is a Clown . /episode/index/show/wlpodcast/id/30506178

WLP353 Promises and Perils of Generative AI in Software Development 03/21/2024

WLP352 The Impact of Remote Work on Culture and Collaboration 03/14/2024

WLP351 Laying Yourself Off as a Manager and Reading and Listening Recommendations March 2024 03/07/2024

WLP351 Laying Yourself Off as a Manager and Reading and Listening Recommendations March 2024 Today’s post is the audio companion to the Virtual not Distant monthly newsletter, which you can 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 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 18.30 MINS 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. 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. A blog post that could have been a short ebook. A thoughtful article with specific advice on how to build relationships . 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. 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: Date: 22 February 2024 An interview with journalist/writer Charles Duhigg, talking about building strong relationships. Podcast: Long-form Interviews with a range of guests, from a range of industries. Podcast: Collaboration Superpowers Episode: 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 Podcast: Sliced Bread Episode: (UK link, but look for it in your podcast app) 29 Feb 2023 Book Recommendations: 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 and check out his website: Other episodes with Marcus: SIgn up to the Virtual not Distant's newsletter here: /episode/index/show/wlpodcast/id/30268133

WLP350 Being a Freelancer in Film and Theatre Production Design 02/29/2024

WLP349 What's Going On: Digital Culture 02/22/2024

WLP348 Nurturing Team Growth through Conscious Leadership 02/15/2024

WLP347 Listening and Reading Recommendations February 2024 02/10/2024

WLP346 What's Going On: Can We Really Work from Anywhere? 02/01/2024

BONUS: Our Course Navigating Asynchronous Communication is out 01/25/2024

BONUS: Our Course Navigating Asynchronous Communication is out 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. 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 /episode/index/show/wlpodcast/id/29083333

WLP345 Growing A Lifestyle-Centric, Values-Driven Distributed Business 01/18/2024

WLP344 How the 21st Century Work Life podcast is changing 01/12/2024

Happy New Year from the seafront! 01/02/2024

WLP343 What’s Going On? Are We Moving Forwards or Backwards? 12/21/2023

WLP343 What’s Going On? Are We Moving Forwards or Backwards? 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), ) 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: . 12.52 MINS One example of the world of work moving backwards is this 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 , 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 ( ), 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 . (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 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 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! /episode/index/show/wlpodcast/id/29059778

WLP342 Location and Schedule: Defining Remote Work in Your Organisation 12/07/2023

Would you like to give feedback on "Time Management for Remote Workers"? 11/27/2023

WLP341 Whats Going On: Will Asynchronous Communication Save Remote Work? 11/23/2023

WLP340 Public vs Private Online Groups: The Impact on Creativity 11/09/2023

WLP339 Going Async-First to Promote Inclusivity 11/02/2023

WLP338 What's Going On with Remote Freelancing 10/19/2023

WLP337 Career Progression in Remote Teams - the local and global perspective 10/05/2023

WLP336 What's Going On: Thoughtful Experimentation and Change in Organisations 09/21/2023

WLP335 Designing the Hybrid Model at Rabobank 09/07/2023

WLP334 Popping in for a quick hello... and some Shakespeare! 08/10/2023

WLP334 Popping in for a quick hello... and some Shakespeare! 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. 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. /episode/index/show/wlpodcast/id/27702768

WLP333 Handling Remote Employee Terminations 07/13/2023

WLP332 Whats Going On: Everyone's More Engaged... and More Stressed Out! 07/06/2023

WLP331 Navigating Conflict to Strengthen Collaboration 06/22/2023

WLP330 Creativity and Productivity: The Upside and Downside of Remote Work Trends 06/08/2023

21st Century Work Life and leading remote teams

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