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...]
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...]
How to Create a Virtual Water Cooler
How often have you leaned across your desk or paused in an office doorway to ask a colleague a question? Or made eye contact with a team member and raised your eyebrows, a show of silent, supportive communication in the face of a tricky client? Along with water cooler conversations, these small confidences and day-to-day interactions are the building blocks of great working … [Read more...]
The Importance of Remote Team Building
by Kevin Eikenberry, co-founder Remote Leadership Institute The transition from leading from the corner office to leading from home has created a number of logistical and management challenges. We've already unpacked a number of those here on this site, in our book, The Long-Distance Leader: Rules for Remarkable Remote Leadership, and on our COVID-19 resource site. If you … [Read more...]
Why Social Distancing is an Unfortunate Choice of Words
by Kevin Eikenberry, Co-founder If you are like me, you had never heard the phrase "social distancing" a month ago. Now, it is something we hear almost every hour. And while I understand the purpose of and support the goal of the practice (doing things to reduce the possible spread of the coronavirus is the right thing to do) to me it's just the wrong choice of words. It … [Read more...]