Remote Space

The sudden shift to remote work has forced many executives and their assistants to adjust their working dynamic to fit today’s demands.

In this episode of Remote Space, Doug Thomas is joined by Laura Belgrado, a project coordinator and executive assistant to the President of KIND International at Mars, INC. Laura has been working remotely since 2003 and is no stranger to the assistant environment. Laura’s held executive assistant roles for several companies, including 10 years at Microsoft. Not only is she a champion for remote working, but she also trains executives and their assistants in remote communication and has been a touchstone for many as businesses move to a remote environment.

Laura tells us all about “communication shift,” why it’s important for assistants to speak up, how to liven up your team video calls, the importance of embracing technology, and so much more.

Resources:

Laura Belgrado - LinkedIn

Doug Thomas - LinkedIn

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“We've got a good mixture of modern buildings with modern workstations, but when you're in the Palace of Westminster is like traveling back in time. One thing that I like to do if I am working on the estate is actually just have a walk round just to remind myself [that] this is where I work, and admire the the walls, the wallpaper, the carpet, the lighting, the paintings that are on the wall and the general architecture that is so historic and hundreds of years old.” – Winnie King

How are some of the world’s oldest institutions transforming themselves in the digital age?

In this episode of Remote Space, Doug is joined by Winnie King, Personal Assistant to the Director General of the House of Commons, and Chair of Parliamentary Admin Support Network. For more than a decade, Winnie has seen the ins-and-outs of Parliament including working at the historic estate, meeting with various officials, and even meeting the Queen! Now, as most of Parliament works remotely, Winnie shares with us her challenges in trying to gratify her personal need for human interaction while providing the same level of support to the Director General and her colleagues.

Listen in and learn how the British government is reimagining work life in the remote space.

Resources:

LinkedIn: Winnie King FEPAA | LinkedIn

Email: [email protected]

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"Talk about flipping somebody's world upside down and just shaking them, because that's exactly what happened … And once you flip it and you go online, you have to kind of learn how to, to interact with people completely differently." - Ethaniel Sinclair

The retail market has changed drastically. From online retail stores to virtual personal shoppers, consumers can purchase products without ever having to leave their home. But how has the move to a virtual environment changed the way consumers interact with sellers? Can customers and sellers achieve the same kind of human interaction remotely?

In this episode of Remote Space, Doug chats with Ethaniel Sinclair, a retail store specialist with over 16 years of experience. In the last 5 years, Ethaniel has worked at the Microsoft store in Washington, D.C. and has recently experienced the quick move to a full virtual space. By focusing on the different ways people are communicating their needs and emotions remotely, Ethaniel shares with us his experience in developing new skills to better understand his customers. He also shares with us Microsoft’s introduction of a personal shopping appointment to help bring the in-store experience into your home. 

Resources:

LinkedIn: Ethaniel Sinclair | LinkedIn

Article: Emergency plan has Microsoft store employees helping people in new ways

Article: Personal online shopping appointments with Microsoft Store associates

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What is the future of customer service in the remote landscape?

Try and imagine simulating the experience of interacting with a customer in-person while working remote. You might think that interaction could be quite simple, but even with today’s technology, people are realizing that customer experience is more than just a service; it’s everything the customer experiences.

In this episode of Remote Space, Doug Thomas speaks to Shep Hyken, a customer service and experience expert, an award-winning keynote speaker, and a New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestselling author. Shep discusses how the customer service field has changed in the last 30 years, and how people are using remote applications to try and accomplish customer service success. Additionally, Shep shares on ways to make online presentations more visually interesting and also makes a case for pre-recorded online presentations.

Listen in and find out how technology is finding ways to bring about positive customer experiences.

Resources:

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/shephyken

Website: www.hyken.com

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @hyken.com

Media: See more than 500 video lessons on customer service and CX on Shep’s YouTube channel: www.ShepTV.com

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Congratulations, you’ve landed a new job! Minus filling out HR paperwork, your first day will be exciting as you shake hands with your teammates, get introduced to your new workspace and office equipment, and (most importantly) make the acquaintance of the coffee machine. But what if you couldn’t physically meet your coworkers to shake hands? What if your new workspace was actually your living room?

In this episode of Remote Space, Doug Thomas chats with Emily Hacker, a Threat Analyst at Microsoft. Emily recalls her first day on the job--the week Microsoft sent everyone home--from remotely participating in her new employee orientation, to meeting her co-workers over online chat. Emily describes that while her tech career started a bit differently from others, she was still able to navigate new waters and adapt to her role in helping to protect businesses from cyber criminals.

Listen in to find out how an experience in remote onboarding could be the thing of the future.

Resources

Emily Hacker – LinkedIn

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With the mass migration to remote work earlier this year, companies quickly found themselves changing their work model and mode of communication, sometimes overnight. But for other companies, the shift to remote work came before the environmental necessity to work from home.

In this episode of Remote Space, Doug Thomas converses with Chad Gniffke, CEO of briteCITY, an IT services company focused on improving companies through cyber security services, cloud and various IT solutions. Chad shares with us his success story of how his company tried out in 2019, a work-from-home model for 90 days that proved so effective, they never name back to the office! Chad also shares his method for keeping his team focused and accountable to support over 200 businesses with their security concerns, as well as what simple steps you can take to protect yourself from a cyber-security threat.

Listen in and find out how an experiment in remote work became a permanent change for a local IT solutions company.

Resources:

Chad Gniffke - LinkedIn

briteCITY - Website

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Who didn’t dread the commute to work? Getting dressed, scarfing down breakfast, the traffic, the crowds, the anxiety. And that’s on a good day. In a different world where we can go to work in our pajamas and work entirely from home, a lot of us are actually missing the commute to work.  

In this episode of Remote Space, host Doug Thomas chats with Natalie Singer-Velush & Lukas Velush, both former reporters and who now work as a Senior Marketing Communications Manager and a Content Program Manager at Microsoft. As two busy parents with careers in tech, Natalie and Lukas help remind us that commuting was not all that bad. In reflecting on how they used their travel time to chat, plan family events or coordinate logistics, travel time created a buffer of personal time before officially starting their workday. In addition, Natalie chats about how recent data around commute time is encouraging technology to focus in on wellbeing and productivity.  

Listen in and find out how a dreaded daily occurrence has now become a reminisced pastime.  

Resources

Natalie Singer-Velush – LinkedIn 

Lukas Velush – LinkedIn

Microsoft analyzed data on its newly remote workforce – Article

Introducing insights in Teams to power wellbeing and productivity – Article 

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In today’s tech world, remote work is part of an overall remote lifestyle. From smart home devices that can lock doors, turn on lights, and set your thermostat, to digital apps that help your entire household stay organized, remote work is a welcomed addition to life in the digital age.

In this episode of Remote Space, host Doug Thomas chats with tech guru Sarah Kimmel, a digital parenting coach and owner of Family Tech. Drawing from her 16 years of experience in supporting companies as an IT manager, Sarah talks to us about the benefits of upgrading your entire space into a smart home to fit a remote work lifestyle. Sarah also discusses her views on using tech to stay in shape, the positives of introducing children to cell phones at a young age, the importance of unplugging from our devices every night, and even tech gift ideas!

Resources

Sarah Kimmel - Website, LinkedIn

Family Tech – Website

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The quick transition to remote space has got us rethinking our approach to work. The same issues surrounding company productivity, employee engagement, and work and life balance are now met along with an urgent push towards working remotely. While this sudden change has got a lot of our heads spinning, we can be assured that support staff are ready to meet the challenges.

In this week’s episode, we are joined by Bonnie Low-Kramen, a best-selling author, trainer, speaker, and former personal assistant to celebrity Olympia Dukakis. In her more than 30+ years of experience as an assistant and training administrative staff, Bonnie shares with us her views on the new ways Personal Assistants and Executive Assistants are propelling the change to remote work. Bonnie offers her insights on how support staff are building partnerships with those they support, to foster a productive and engaged remote workforce. From a love and hate relationship with technology, to the quick shift from open space to remote work, listen in and stay informed on how administrative support staff are encouraging us to rethink old ways, and adopt new rules.

Resources

Bonnie Low-Kramen – LinkedIn, Website, Twitter

Email: [email protected] 

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The transition to remote work, while having its challenges, has also brought unexpected positive changes to the new way that we work. Now more than ever, workers from different locations around the world, who may have found it difficult to connect remotely before, are able to connect fairly throughout remote space.

In this episode, host Doug Thomas speaks with Hanna Wallach, Senior Researcher at Microsoft. In addition to her work in artificial intelligence and machine learning, Hanna also leads a group of summer interns in Microsoft’s Research program. In this episode, Hanna describes the unique ways she has connected with interns through virtual social events including yoga, painting classes, and even a cocktail making lesson. Additionally, Hanna explains how the full shift to remote work has propelled a more inclusive effort in scheduling meetings, video conferencing, and even large-scale virtual conferences.

Resources:

Hanna Wallach – MSR Bio  | LinkedIn

FATE: Fairness, Accountability, Transparency, and Ethics in AI

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