How does your team make decisions? Are individuals empowered to make choices on their own, or does everything happen by committee? In remote life, clearly making and communicating decisions can make or break teams, enabling work or grinding its pace to a halt.

In this mini-episode, Alix looks at the different types of decision making that happen on remote teams and unpacks how to bring more clarity to your team’s approach.

Good documentation fuels remote teams, giving your team the info they need at their fingertips to get stuff done without having to ask a million questions. But documentation is a bit of a Goldilocks problem. Teams tend to have too little of it, or far too much.

So how can you perfect your approach to documenting your team’s work? In this mini-episode, Alix shares three strategies for getting your documentation juuuust right.

From email to Slack to video calls, we have a lot of ways to communicate at work these days. But what do you do when you prefer emails, but your team hates them? Or when your colleague communicates only in Slack, but you’re struggling to keep up with the constant pings?

In this mini-episode, Alix talks about how to understand and respond to your team’s communication preferences. TL;DR? You can’t make everyone happy all the time, but you can find common ground. Listen in for more.

In remote work, small decisions can have a big impact on the effectiveness of your team: how you document your work, how you share information, how and when you meet, and more.

That’s why it’s crucial to figure out your best way of working together. But it’s easy to keep your head down and avoid this work when there’s plenty to do and deadlines ahead.

In this mini-episode, Alix discusses strategies for figuring out the how of your team’s work together without derailing work or getting lost in process. Listen to learn how to make space and time to address the small but important challenges of remote work that can make or break teams.

Meetings should be a powerful way for your team to advance their work and build relationships. So why are they so often the villain when we talk about remote working? And does it have to be that way?

In this first of a series of shorter, solo episodes, Alix shares ideas to help you stop meeting when you don’t need to, find the right rhythm for your team, and meet more effectively to turn the energy you expend into real impact.

Remote organisations can hire the best person for the job, regardless of where they live. Well, that’s the theory. But the reality is that hiring around the world can lead to some tricky operational challenges, from scheduling calls to navigating employment law.

This week, Development Gateway COO Vanessa Goas joins Alix on the podcast to talk about what she’s learned from 15 years in operations at a growing global non-profit.

Listen in to learn from Vanessa’s expertise on wrangling meetings across time zones, communicating policies around the globe, and building real connection with colleagues who are continents away.

After you listen, you can find Vanessa and say hello here.

__

For more, check out our website or follow Alix on Twitter.

From Slack to Zoom to Google Doc comments, we have many ways of communicating at work. With so many channels at our disposal, why is communication on remote teams still so tough?

On this week’s podcast, Remote Culture Club Director Jake talks to Tem, head of Notion consulting firm Optemization, about using Notion and other tools to support your remote team to work together.

Whether you’re an individual trying to organise your digital life or a team leader looking to streamline and supercharge your team’s work, this week’s episode has tips and tricks for getting your digital house in order.

After you listen, check out the walkthrough of our own Notion workspace mentioned in the episode, and find Tem at optemization.com.

__

For more, check out our website or follow Alix on Twitter.

This week, digital rights researcher, consultant, and facilitator Soizic Pénicaud joins us to share remote wisdom from an organisational outsider.

Whether you’re a freelancer building your own remote practice or a team leader looking for a fresh take, listen in for Soizic’s guidance on managing calendars, information overload, and the benefits of treating full-time staffers like consultants.

After you listen, find Soizic and say hello on Twitter or LinkedIn.

__

For more, check out our website or follow Alix on Twitter.

First impressions count, especially when it comes to new hires. This week’s episode is all about setting the right tone for new team members through remote onboarding. Alix is joined by onboarding aficionado Dave Chan to dig into the dos-and-don'ts of remote orientations, from meetings to documentation and everything in between.

Passionate about getting remote onboarding right, Dave is currently helping build Sono, an all-in-one platform for creating engaging onboarding experiences in minutes. You can find him and say hello here.

*This interview was originally recorded as part of the 2022 Remote Culture Intensive, a course for remote teams to rebuild their culture, while Dave was working at Shopify.

__

For more, check out our website or follow Alix on Twitter.

Having a clear strategy can dramatically improve the way your team functions. But developing a clear strategy? It’s not always so easy. In this week’s episode, Alix sits down with social change strategist and facilitator Dave Algoso to demystify strategic planning. They discuss the elements of a good strategic planning process and identify common pitfalls to help you avoid going astray.

Whether you’re kicking off a formal strategic planning process or just trying to figure out a way to keep your remote team moving in the same strategic direction, Dave’s guidance will help you build a better, more intentional process to reach your goals.

After you listen, find Dave at algoso.org and say hello here.

__

For more, check out our website or follow Alix on Twitter.