21st Century Work Life

In this episode, we tried something a little bit different. Lisette and I "hanged out" with Phil Montero from The Anywhere Office and talked about the role of the leader and the manager in virtual teams. Most of the conversation involved identifying what teams need to operate and whether it's always the responsibility of the person with the official title to provide this. Virtual teams are turning organisations into flatter hierarchies and we need to consciously adapt our leadership style to what the team needs. 04:40 Different virtual teams need different forms of leadership. The different types of relationships we have with our team. Lisette introduces the role of "wrangler" (as in person "rounding up", not disputing). 08:30 Does someone always need to be in charge? Someone needs to take care of the process - in this case the team leader or manager needs to take on the facilitator role. Or is it always the person with the official title, or the top of the organisation, that needs to look after the process, or to enable (or remind) the group that the process needs to be looked after? 13:30 An important part of the person in charge is to Ask Questions - of course, as in all teams, the person in charge should be asking questions. In the virtual setting, there is more autonomy and flexibility, so people might expect to be more involved in the decision-making. The importance of outlining the constraints. 16:00 The "boss" role. Someone is financially responsible for the outcome and will need to take the tough decisions and hold people accountable. Is it always the official leaders' responsibility to remind us of the constraints and rules? Balance between what's good for the individual and what's good for the team? The new way of work has completely shifted and has a more network feel to it. 22:50 We need to be more "conscious communicators" and make sure the processes are in place for people to talk to each other. How can we create an environment where team members are able to have uncomfortable conversations? Creating feedback cycles for the team - this process can be decided by the team, not necessarily by the person in charge. But the team leader has to make sure this decision is taken and implemented. 31:00 Task, process and relational conflict can be avoided by continuously sharing information across the three domains. What about the co-ordinator role? A broker between people so that the relationships between the team members are happening? 33:00 What's the role of the team leader in solving conflict? We agreed that it's their role to make sure it's solved, but not necessarily to solve it. 40:15 Phil quotes Star Trek - the leader who has enough humility to ask those around him for their opinions. Collaboration vs Competition. 48:35 The relationship of the team with the wider context - be it the organisation or wider context? The role of the team leader as advocate, how do we strengthen the relationship of the team with the rest of the organisation? Make sure that the conversations that need to happen, happen. Let us know your thoughts about the role of the official leader or manager in a virtual team.

Today's episode includes a Virtual Coffee with Lisette, where we talk about how to organise and lay down the foundations for useful team retrospectives. (We are borrowing the main aspects from the Agile world.) 00: 30 Pilar has some updates, including the live online virtual coffee with Phil Montero and Lisette, next week on Virtual Team Leader: Boss or Facilitator? 04:40 Lisettes's updates. Standing desks, focusing saying "no" and feedback from @guidostevens11:30 Pilar talks about two people she's met recently who energised her.14:40 What are agile retrospectives? (the basics) How they're different to away-days or staff meetings.22: 30 "As soon as one person is remote, the team is remote." Practical considerations for succesful virtual retrospectives. 24:25 The use of the sticky board: what's going well, what could be better, questions, suggestions. The importance of language in processes.Luke Hohmann: Co-located teams talk first and then swarm to the whiteboard later; virtual teams swarm first, then talk about it. (Listen to Luke and Lisette's chat.)Sticky boards mentioned: Linoit, Ideaboardz, Groupmap, Google Docs Template. Taking responsibility of the team process.Lisette's tips:31: 05 (1) Have an organiser (best if it rotates).33:05 (2) Don't go on too long and risk "virtual fatigue".34:30 (3) Take breaks. (Listen to Lisette's talk with NASA here.)How do people get to the point where they can speak out?How do we lay down the foundations for successful retrospectives?The importance of having them regularly.41:40 (4) Try new sticky notes. (5) Try new types of retrospectives. Luis Gonçalves' "Agile Retrospectives". The importance of play.44:45 (6) Share results between offices. (Listen to Lisette's talk with Ralph Van Roosmalen.)46:50 (7) Plan for chat time. (Listen to Lisette's talk with Tom Howlett.)48:15 (8) Capture the conversations and actions. What do we do about those things that keep coming up?"Take the temperature in the team." (Pilar recommends "The Skilled Facilitator" by Roger Schwartz.)

00:30 Pilar recommends a TED talk by Ricardo Semler. (transcript can be found in wlpodcast.com)09:30 Mariano talks about Agility, Mindfulness, Global Teams and Connectivity as four crucial aspects of modern leadership development. 14:20 Reassesing leadership development in the context of global teams.17:55 Looking for local talent. 20:40 Mariano talks about his own practice in leadership development. 27:00 Positional authority versus respect.38:00 Making the move from the corporate world to setting up on your own. Check out www.wlpodcast.com and Mariano's company www.leadershipminds.co.uk  

This podcast focuses on working productively from home. 00:30 Pilar introduces the theme of productivity and some blogs. (Transcript in wlpodcast.com.)04:13 Kirstin ODonovan, Productivity Coach has a few words to say.07:15 The importance of clarity.08:50 Lisette's updates including update on the Happy Melly team and what do we mean by "working well together". Pilar's updates.18:15 Productivity - Top Five tips26:00 Have great equipment.30:55 Move your body.34:40 Plan your day the night before. 38:40 Pair collaboration.43.10 Collect metrics - evaluate your happiness.   For more links, look for episode 17 in www.wlpodcast.com

The guest in today's episode is Mike Russell, Creative Director of Music Radio Creative, amongst other things. 00:30 Pilar talks about how the world of voiceover has changed and she has some updates. virtualnotdistant.com/leading-virtual-teams-course/09:50 Mike talks about Music Radio Creative and how they help podcasters, djs and other broadcasters.18:30 New Media Europe 12-13 Sept 2015. What's happening there?23:05 Mike talks about how he started 'Youtubing' about Adobe Audition.27:45 Mike's journey as an audio professional.35:45 Working with people you can't see: trust and letting go.40:45 The different uses of social media. Personal vs personable Links: New Media Expo New Media Europe  Music Radio Creative and his personal website. @imikerussell Mike's Udemy course Adobe Audition Tutorial CC Audio Production Course Basics to Expert Mike's YouTube channel UK Podcasters Group

00:45 Pilar talks about "the problem with trust" at work and the Trust Equation, created by the Trusted Advisor. (for transcript check out wlpodcast.com)10:36 Virtual Coffee with Lisette.11:20 Pilar and Lisette plug the No Pants Festival. http://www.nopantsfest.be/13:00 Lisette talks about her Collaboration Superpowers workshop. 14:30 Trust at work19:15 Why does video help to build trust? Likeability and the power of small gifts.27.40 Should we use "tricks"?30:48 Trust starts with ourselves. 33:40 Propensity to trust and our own experiences. 39:40 Retrospectives and addressing the breakdown of trust. LINKShttp://www.thefutureorganization.com/future-work-podcast-episode-4-charles-h-green-trust-future-work/http://www.apaexcellence.org/assets/general/2013-work-and-wellbeing-survey-results.pdfhttp://trustedadvisor.com/articles

Pilar talks to Marta Texidor, Customer Success Manager for Microsoft, about how organisations are using Yammer. For the full show notes and pics of both guests, go to www.wlpodcast.com and search for episode 14. 00:30 Pilar shares an event she's taking part in on 25 January 2015.02:30 Pilar talks about some of the features of Yammer and things to look out for when you're thinking of introducing a new tool. (Transcript can be found in wlpodcast.com) 11:45 Marta talks about Yammer and her role in Microsoft. 15:35 What kind of organisations are using Yammer at the moment and the problems they're trying to solve. 25:21 The importance of having Leadership present in the network. How do we involve the CEO and Senior Management? Who can introduce the tool?35:30 We need to change our mindset to get the most out of these tools. 42:03 - 45:04 We move onto Alan, who's just integrated Yammer into their communications process

00:30 Pilar talks about why meetings might be going wrong. ( 08:30 Virtual Coffee with Lisette. Lisette talks a bit about her book Collaboration Superpowers. 12:55 Facilitating Online Meetings and distributing responsibility to make the meeting succesful. 15:30 What can we do to make online meetings succesful? 24:36 Having a back channel to communicate. 32:11 Why are people not "present" in meetings? Engagement. 40:50 Does everyone read the handouts?   We mention a very funny video from 2014. Here's a link: http://virtualnotdistant.com/why-you-should-keep-conference-calls-down-to-a-minimum/ http://www.collaborationsuperpowers.com/about-the-book/ http://virtualnotdistant.com/using-yammer/ https://www.rcseng.ac.uk/surgeons/surgical-standards/professionalism-surgery/gsp/documents/good-surgical-practice-pdf

00.30 Pilar talks about MOOCs and the use of technology in learning. 12.43 Shannon introduces Udemy and the story of its founder.16.30 What people are seeking to learn and how the way in which we interact with online learning is changing. 26.00 Udemy for Business and how corporate learning is evolving. 39.50 Pilar introduces her own Udemy course on Leadership and Change. For show notes, visit wlpodcast.com and look for episode 12.

Welcome to a tiny episode of 21st Century Work Life. I was actually just going to release a note saying that there wouldn’t be an episode today, but as I was about to do that, I got thinking about some work life related stuff and I thought, why not share some of it with you and make a mini-episode out of it. I’m currently away from my usual base but I’m still able to have a presence in social media for example, thanks to the way that some of these applications allow us to create content one moment and release it the other. Blog posts can be scheduled, podcasts can be pre-recorded and scheduled in advance so that they come out when I want them to, I can automate my tweets so that it looks like I’m active, when I might actually be completely unplugged and doing something completely different… To be honest, I didn’t schedule many tweets during the Christmas period, and that also made me think, I don’t really celebrate Christmas, I’m self-employed, and the kind of work I do means that I can pretty much set my own hours, and yet I still seem to follow conventional working patterns. If I don’t do any work over these days, I don’t feel that guilty and I just say to my employees, that’s myself, it’s fine, take a break, everyone else seems to be taking time off. What’s even more baffling to me is that even though I’ve been living in the UK for more than half my life now, I still take the Christmas period as ending on the 6th January, which is when it ends in Spain, on epiphany. So for me, I think it’s all right to take a break until then. Again, even though none of my clients expect me to work all the time, and even if I schedule a lot of my own work, there is this voice in my head that keeps saying, there’s a time to work and there’s a time when it’s ok not to work. Maybe it’s because still, the majority of the workforce works for 8 hours a day, on 5 days of the week, that the self- employed also seek some kind of structure by following the more conventional timetable. For example, yesterday I was listening to a podcast, the Rocking Self Publishing podcast (which by the way if you’re a writer or inspiring one, is well worth a listen) and the guest, Libby Hawker, said that every day, she sits down and writes for eight hours, as it’s her job. Very interesting that she didn’t say, I aim to write 5,000 words a day as that’s my job. Or, I work 2 hours in the morning, 2 in the afternoon and 2 in the evening. And it’s true, that I’ve heard many writers, especially those who’ve moved from full time employment, saying this kind of thing. There are also those who have a more flexible approach of course and in the end, everyone finds different patterns that work for them, but I find it interesting that even when you follow what might be considered a less conventional career, you still, or should I say, I still, follow the more conventional work patterns. I suppose, it’s still what I grew up with and it’s still how most of the world works, so it’s easier to find some kind of structure to adapt to it. So this is probably as much as I’m going to say today. I just wanted to say hello as it’s Friday, and I do like following a schedule with my podcasts, as in, the podcast comes out on Fridays, as is the case with this one, or Tuesdays, with the Spain Uncovered. This gives me a deadline, and so gives my work structure which is even more important when you’re organizing your own work. It also means that you listening and looking forwards to the podcast, know when to expect it. Of course, last week was a bit different as I didn’t want to release a podcast on boxing day for some reason (I suppose I’m going back again to conventional schedules) and so I released the retrospective on Tuesday. And talking of this episode, which by the way was great fun to record as it was only myself and Lisette talking about certain aspects of work and the future of work that had caught our eye during 2014, talking of this episode, thanks very much to David Roswell for the comment on the blog and also, thanks to Robert Svenson for the lovely tweet about that same episode. He described it as “an engaging conversation on workplace dynamics and trends” – I really liked the way you summarized that, Robert, thank you. So, see you next week. If you don't fancy popping onto this site every week to listen to the podcast,  just look for the 21st Century Work Life on your podcast app, iTunes, Stitcher, whatever you use and Subscribe. Over the next few weeks, look out for interviews with Marta Texidor from Yammer and Shannon Hughes from Udemy, and of course, for more virtual coffee with Lisette. Have a great start to 2015!