21st Century Work Life

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. https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/audio-first-course 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

Founder of FPS, Jeanna Barrett, shares insights on setting up a values-driven distributed business, remote hiring challenges, balancing time freedom, and adapting to a lifestyle-centric work culture. She discusses company culture, use of EOS system, and podcasting for networking in the remote work era.

Pilar pops in for a quick solo show to let you know how the focus of the show is changing. 

A quick happy new year from Pilar, cradled by the sound of the sea.

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), check out episode 342.) 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: Case update: employers must do their homework before making ‘back to the office’ decisions. 12.52 MINS One example of the world of work moving backwards is this guidance by the UK government against a four-day work week in local authorities. 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 Buffer's "State of Remote Work 2023" report, 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 (https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/artificial-intelligence ), 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 More than Half of Generative AI Adopters Use Unapproved Tools at Work. (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 Kindle version is already out for pre-order. 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 Remote Work Europe Connected 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!

In this episode, Valentina Thörner talks about the importance of defining what “remote” means in an organisation, particularly around the dimensions of time and location. For a really good summary, check out  https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/distributed-teams-matrix  Connect with Valentina over on LinkedIn. Subscribe to her newsletter “Remote that Works”.

Hi, Pilar here. This is a very short announcement to let you know that I’ll be releasing soon a book on time management for remote workers. This is an experiment. I am co writing it with Chat GPT, but I think it's wonderful. And I can say that because I’ve mainly been working on this as an editor and coach, and most of the writing has come from Chat GPT. I am now looking for Beta Readers. It's a short book, it's about 20,000 words long, which means about an hour of reading. I'll be able to offer it to you as a PDF or an EPUB. I would love to hear what you think, because although I do have the distance as an author, they’re not my words. I am thinking of publishing it definitely before the New Year, before January. So if you are interested in checking it out and just giving me a couple of feedback tips, like, did you like it? Did you not? Is it boring? Is it too basic?I just need to put it out there and get people's opinions on it.  Please email me (email in the audio) or use the contact form over at https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/contact-us  Next week, we've got a cracking episode with Valentina Thorner, talking about the two axes of distributed work: time and location.  

Maya and Pilar share their thoughts on the last two episodes, both of which covered different aspects of asynchronous communication. While some organisations are still struggling with incorporating a “good” version of async, others are getting ready to introduce AI. Where will it all end? Links and mentions  They refer back to episode 339 and 340.  Talk about the recent Loom acquisition by Atlassian: https://www.atlassian.com/blog/announcements/atlassian-acquires-loom Pilar mentions the AI Marketing Show, and a listener sent in this article on Working Out Loud: https://www.reworked.co/collaboration-productivity/rehumanize-your-workplace-by-working-out-loud/  For a longer summary, check out  https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/more-async  

With the rise of online communities and digital platforms, the way we share, innovate, and co-create has evolved. Wietske van Osch, together with Burcu Bulgurcu recently published research, exploring the nuances of collaborative creativity in online spaces. Pilar came across the piece in the MIT Sloan Review, and invited Wietske onto the show. This episode is a great example of the power of online communities. Pilar read the article “The Profound Influence of Small Choices in Digital Collaboration” in the Fall 2023 edition of the MIT Sloan Review, and shared it in a Slack community hosted by previous guest Rachael Happe. One of its members, Lori, happened to know Wietske and she introduced her to Pilar. In this episode, Wietske van Osch talks about her recent research into enterprise social networks, exploring how a group's choice of private or public channels influences the type of creativity nurtured. Connect with Wietske over on LinkedIn. You can find the full show notes over at  https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/public-private At Virtual not Distant, we consider asynchronous communication an essential practice of online collaboration. That’s why we’ve created an audio-first course for managers new to leading remote teams, and new managers. Find out more about the course here or get in touch with Pilar through our contact form.

Sumeet Gayathri Moghe, a Technologist at ThoughtWorks and author of 'The Async-First Playbook', dives into the realm of remote work and asynchronous communication. He shares insights on fostering inclusivity in globally distributed teams and the significance of experimentation in product development. Sumeet discusses the transition from a meeting-centric culture to async-first approaches that enhance well-being and productivity. He emphasizes building trust through collaborative problem-solving and the importance of a knowledge-sharing environment in modern workplaces.