One of the unintended consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic on teams is that even people who have worked together for a long time are seeing differences in how they work together now. And they seem surprised by that. We’re not. In The Long-Distance Leader, rule number 3 is this: “Know that working remotely changes interpersonal dynamics, even when you don’t want it to.” While … [Read more...]
How Remote Work Can Help Your Outside Sales Business
by Austin Stevenson The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted every one of us, transforming both personal interactions and business transactions. Not only is it heart-wrenching to worry about the safety of friends and family, but it can be incredibly difficult to watch your business suffer for months on end. For sales teams, a shelter in place order presents its own set of unique … [Read more...]
What If You Just Want to be Left Alone?
You hear a lot of negative things these days about working separate from everyone else on your team. We’ve all heard the complaints (heck we’ve written enough about them here). Remote workers sometimes feel isolated. They don’t interact with their team members enough. People who work remotely sometimes go down the wrong trail and spend a lot of time on tasks that don’t add … [Read more...]
Why Technology Fatigue Sets in So Fast
When we work remotely, technology is our lifeline. You’d think we’d be grateful for the ability to see each other when we’re not in the same office, or send our written messages around the world at the speed of light. Instead we tell anyone who’ll listen that the volume of email is interfering with our work. Most of us have only been using Zoom for three or four months, and … [Read more...]
Going Back to Normal? Why It’s Neither Possible nor Enough
If you lead a team, odds are you’re exhausted. Helping your people stay productive when working from home or under other kinds of constraints hasn’t been easy. Add to that here in the US (and in large cities around the world) more than a week of protest and civil unrest and the flood of news and social media that goes with that, and it is no wonder your stress level is … [Read more...]