When it comes to working remotely, one of the biggest differences between successful leaders and those who burn out, making themselves (and everyone else) crazy, is how much time they spend worrying about “if people are working.” It’s not that we’re not concerned about how people spend their time, it’s just usually the wrong question. If we break that question down to what … [Read more...]
Don’t Let Long-Distance Performance Reviews Ruin Your Holidays
Tis the season… Relax, this isn’t another “prep for the holidays” blog post. It’s worse. Because while everyone around you goes into holiday mode, you have to prepare for the worst thing about the end of the year—performance reviews and development plans for yourself and your people. If you lead a long-distance or dispersed team, this can be even more stressful. As with most … [Read more...]
Make Virtual Coaching More Effective
Of all the jobs a manager/leader has, the one that we often feel we could do better with is coaching. Study after study shows that’s the part of the gig we often feel gets ignored or isn’t done as well as we’d like. Your employees, especially those who work remotely, agree with you. So what can we do about it? Here are some things you can do to make your coaching more … [Read more...]
Why Remote Workers Need to Be Continual Learners
by Chuck Chapman, Content Strategy Coordinator Are we there yet? This anxious question from the impatient child doesn't really go away once we grow up. Instead of the family vacation and wondering whether you've reached Disney World, as adults we apply this question to our careers. We want to know if we've arrived, if it's time to relax. Maybe once upon a time workers … [Read more...]
How to Make That Meeting an Email Instead
Ah, the wittiness of the internet. How many memes, pictures and snarky comments have you seen from people complaining that the latest assault on their precious time was “a meeting that could have been an email"? Especially when we work remotely, it’s easy to complain about the time spent in unproductive meetings. I feel your pain but here’s a question for you: Exactly what … [Read more...]