21st Century Work Life - Remote Working, Virtual Teams And Flexible Working

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

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 con

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 difference

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 globa

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 d

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

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

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

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

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 w

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

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-thin

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 ma

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

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-

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

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 J