By the time you read this, the new year will have started. First, let’s acknowledge that 2022 is not a real year. It’s science-fiction. Remember Blade Runner took place in 2019. That aside, we are at the beginning of a new work year. We’ve survived the weird time of year when we are merely guessing who is working and who isn’t, and who is on vacation and who is supposedly on … [Read more...]
Inventing Fire and Getting People to Use Teams
Humans have a love-hate relationship with technology. We curse the need to be tethered to email and Slack for work while not being able to avoid our personal screens for more than a few minutes at a time. Everyone complains about the tools they have at their disposal, but shudder at the thought of learning even one more software package or remembering another password. As we … [Read more...]
The Remote Work Productivity Paradox
by Kevin Eikenberry Much has been written about the productivity of people working from home, and most of it posits that people have been more productive at home. In talking with hundreds of leaders and team members in virtual learning experiences, I would say that conventional wisdom is correct… but for far less than half of those working from home. The problem with … [Read more...]
The Problem with Checklists
As a leader, odds are you keep a lot of running lists. Without them, a lot of us wouldn’t be able to prioritize tasks, remember who is working on which projects, or whether we need to pick up milk before dinner. For those of us who are chronically absent-minded, they can be life savers. But there are times, especially when working with remote employees, when checklists can … [Read more...]
Help Others to Help You Succeed
Are you training your remote teammates to get in the way of your productivity? Of all the discussions we have in our classes with long-distance workers, one of the most fruitful is when we talk about how we teach our coworkers and manager to work with us and help us succeed. Sometimes, however, they learn behaviors that are counterproductive. It sounds crazy but stick with … [Read more...]