We’re trying something different for the next few months for the 21st Century Work Life podcast. Rather than commenting on recent news and articles, Maya and Pilar will look at What’s Going On by commenting and expanding on the themes brought up by the monthly guest-driven episodes. Please let us know what you think of this new format. In today’s episode, Pilar and Maya reflect on the previous episode where guest Jan Nieuweboer, senior consultant of the future of work at Rabobank, shared the bank's journey in implementing a hybrid work model. (If you want to listen to or read the summary of the conversation between Jan and Pilar, look for episode 335 on your favourite podcast app, or follow this link.) For the show notes/summary, visit  https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/commenting-on-hybrid

In today's episode, Pilar talks to Jan Nieuweboer, senior consultant on hybrid work at Rabobank, and spokesperson for the Future of Work and Hybrid Working. He describes how plans for changing the ways of working at Rabobank were accelerated by the pandemic, and how the working model has evolved. For more details and to get in touch with us, head over to  https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts /hybrid-rabobank

We're taking a break from our regular schedule this summer, but Pilar couldn't help it and she's popping in to let you know about some of her plans - including some adapted Shakespeare, which you can follow below.  Please share your thoughts through our contact form. https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/contact-us Why should I love these tools so? 'Tis odds They never will affect me. I am simple, Each tool beckoning with promises untold, And I love all. To master all of them is futile; To delete them is senseless. Out upon’t!   What trials are we workers driven to When remote work has claimed us! First, I saw Slack, I, seeing, deemed it a worthy app; It has as much to charm a worker in it (If it please to bestow it so) as ever These eyes yet look’d on. Next, I yearned over Trello, And so would any mind o’ my conscience That ever dream’d, or pledge’d time management To a fresh and appealing task. Then, I lov’d the whiteboard, Extremely lov’d it, infinitely lov’d it; And yet it had its flaws, as all do too;   But in my heart was Google Suite, and there, Lord, what a coil it keeps! To see a multitude of apps All accessed with one click, what a heaven it is! And yet its name’s a fleeting ones, and scarce lasts One generation of remote.   Then, there is Dropbox, a cloud aloft, A refuge for files, a sanctuary for documents. Its sync, its share, its version history, Did cause my heart to leap, my mind to marvel. Yet, it too had its flaws, its limits, its expenses, Its conflicts, its deletions, a horror to behold.   And now, there's Notion, a novelty it used to be, With its pages, its databases, its all-in-one workspace. It promises the universe, it promises the moon, But oh, what a learning curve, what a mountain to ascend! Yet, I cannot resist, I cannot deny, The allure of these apps, the promise of productivity.   Oh, what a world, what a world of apps! A blessing and a curse, a delight and a burden. To navigate this sea, to master these tools, Is a task Herculean, a labor of love. Yet, I am but a worker, a humble knowledge worker, Lost in the sea of apps, adrift in the ocean of remote work. And yet, on the horizon, a glimmer of hope, The promise of AI, the dream of automation, To lighten our load, to ease our burden, A new dawn for the remote, a new era for work.

In this episode, Pilar talks with Julieta Moreno, an international employment and mobility lawyer. Julieta shares her experiences working with employment of record (EOR) companies, which help businesses employ resources in countries where they don't have an entity, taking care of the administrative and legal aspects of maintaining an employee's legal employment status in their respective countries. For the full show notes, head over to www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/remote-termination  

In today’s episode, Maya and Pilar cover the State of the Global Workplace 2023 report by Gallup and the Forbes article Our Changing Psychological Contract at Work, by Keith Ferrazzi. Pilar introduces a concept from a book "No Hard Feelings," by Liz and Mollie, which discusses reasons why employees may lose motivation: lack of control over their work, absence of meaningful work, lack of learning opportunities, and disliking coworkers. (If you would like to hear more about the book, check out episode 57 of Management Cafe.) There is also reference to https://www.developingleadership.co/episode/episode-34-managing-an-engineering-team-in-a-remote-first-world-with-alexandra-sunderland For the full show notes, go to  https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/stress-engagement-gallup2023  

Lech Guzowski, a workplace culture facilitator, emphasizes understanding individual needs and responses to conflict for effective workplace communication. He uses the Thomas Kilmann conflict model to explain different ways people respond to conflict based on their levels of assertiveness and cooperativeness. Working remotely can allow for more thoughtful responses to conflict, but it can also hide simmering issues. It's therefore crucial to integrate conflict management into work processes and provide spaces for open discussion, especially in a remote setup. This practice helps to prevent artificial harmony and fosters authentic communication. Conflicts are an integral part of collaboration, and when managed well, can fuel a team's growth. However, remote teams can become conflict-avoidant, overwhelmed by conflict, or disconnected from issues. Leaders need to facilitate conflict management within teams, and tools like Lech's culture micro practices can be used to initiate these conversations. The hybrid work model, combining office and remote work, can also breed conflict, particularly regarding personal work preferences and decision-making about workspaces. Lech suggests running separate rules for each setup rather than merging them. He values in-person workshops but believes that office work needs to evolve from its traditional form. Lech hosts the "We Got This" podcast to inspire listeners with insights from Heads of People and CEOs about implementing people initiatives in their organizations. For the full summary, go to www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/navigating-conflict

This episode covers recent research on three different aspects of new and established ways of working: the effect of asynchronous work on folk music creation, the trends in use of online tools and productivity global productivity in the “work from anywhere” economy. (Oh, and we’ve thrown in some numbers from 2017, for you to compare whether anything has changed…) We refer to this content: Asynchronous work can fuel creativity. This episode from the Work from Home Forever podcast, Work Trend Index Report by Microsoft “Stop the Meeting Madness” published in HBR July-Aug 2017 New Research Reveals We’re on the Precipice of the Next Global Productivity Boom. And for the full show notes, check out: https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/new-trends

In this bonus episode, Pilar introduces the Five Principles of Asynchronous Communication:  Team interactions work best when they have one focus: co-ordination, collaboration or connection. Teamwork happens in stages, and these can happen asynchronously or synchronously. Designing together our teamwork supports inclusivity. Asynchronous communication needs calendar time.  Approach new asynchronous practices as experiments: agree, test, and review.  If you are a new manager, or new to managing remote teams, you might be interesting in our new audio-first course on asynchronous communication. Sign up here to register your interest.

Our guest this month is Wayne Turmel, also co-host of Long Distance Work Life. Wayne has been studying remote work for almost 20 years. He now works within the Kevin Eikenbery group helping leaders in organisations. The word “remote” is becoming redundant as working with remote workers is now part of most knowledge workers. Wayne and Kevin have co-written three books: Long-Distance Leader and Long-Distance Team Mate (how to stay engaged and effective when we don’t share the space with our team) which are focused on the individual, and the new book, Long-Distance Team - probably the last book in the series, written to help create the environment where long-distance leaders and team mates can thrive.  In this podcast episode, Wayne Turmel discusses the evolution of remote work culture, and how organizations are adapting to new work setups, like hybrid models, and the need to intentionally shape their cultures. He delves into the meaning of 'culture,' the difference between macro- and team-cultures, and the challenges of maintaining organizational culture in hybrid setups. He emphasizes the need for discussions around the formation of new work cultures, especially in light of significant lifestyle changes during the pandemic. As organizations gravitate towards a 'hybrid' model, defining it remains a challenge due to factors like time management and synchronous/asynchronous work. Wayne underlines how the diverse geographical cultures contribute to varying perspectives on returning to the office. For more detailed show notes, head over to  https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/hybrid-culture-is-messy

Coming out of the forced-remote period is getting messy: mandates to return to the office, forced working from home, diversity at a global level in how remote work is regulated, plus the ever-evolving technology! Recorded on 19 April 2023, this episode also includes guests Guy Van Leemput and Patrick Van Renterghem, organisers of the Brussels Digital Workplace conference.