21st Century Work Life

In this episode, Pilar talks to Craig Wealand about how he uses different types of technology to engage with his students learning English.

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?"

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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/

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.

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/

09:28 Why using video in your meetings is important and what to do if you're restricted to audio.

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.

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

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

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.

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/

10:30 - 14:45 Say 'No' to Collaboration. How much time do YOU spend on collaborative activities?

Pilar recommends 'Team of Teams'.

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/

Happy New Year!

Join me on the 15th January for the first episode of the year.

Pilar

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/

Lisette and Pilar reflect a bit on the last year, on their personal highlights.

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

"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.

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