Is it okay to turn your webcam off in the middle of a team call? That seems like a reasonable question, but it always seems to get people worked up. It should be a binary answer: yes or no. But the real answers are "sometimes," and "it depends." We all know the pros and cons of using webcams: The human brain is wired for visual communication. We crave seeing the other … [Read more...]
Five Reasons for Zoom Fatigue
Imagine being the people at Zoom. Eighteen months ago, few people had heard of you. Then the COVID lockdown begins and suddenly you’re the most popular new software in the world. Then, just as suddenly, you’re the cause of something called “Zoom fatigue” and people hate you. Hardly seems fair. But to remote workers around the world, it is very real. A report from Stanford … [Read more...]
Planning for Remote Work in 2021
I don’t want to alarm you, but for most organizations we have entered the dreaded Q4, the Fourth Quarter. The Year-End. Crunchtime. If you didn’t have time to create a work from home plan before COVID hit, now’s the time to plan for next year. In our work with people and their organizations around the world, we are often asked what 2021 will bring. If the last six months has … [Read more...]
Remote Work Isn’t Real until the CEO Says So
Of all the people predicting doom and gloom when entire organizations began to work from home, none were doomier or gloomier than CEOs. Many had resisted implementing wide-ranging work from home options. They had to implement remote work in practically no time, often without a real plan, and hope the company didn’t implode in the process. What were they so worried about? When … [Read more...]
The Hundredth Monkey Works from Home
What do monkeys have to do with successfully working from home? A recent article from Harvard Business Review online studied how the COVID-19 inspired surge in working from home has impacted business. We’ll probably do a better examination in a future article, but one of the things that surprised the authors was this: Despite all the fears and past bad experience … [Read more...]