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...]
Help Your Remote Team’s Productivity with Attention Management
by Maura Nevel Thomas Some managers judge the productivity of their team members by what can be observed during time in the office. Are they staring intently at their computer? Constantly running to meetings? When did they arrive and leave? It’s true that “knowledge work” has intangible outputs, like analysis, relationships, and creativity, and these things … [Read more...]
Is Business Communication Evolving or Devolving?
Has communicating over distance, especially since so many of us work remotely now, really changed over the past few years? Last week’s post about the use of emojis at work raised some hackles among readers. Some fell into the camp of “They’re cute and help create an informal, friendly relationship, stop being such a fuddy-duddy.” The other group (and I’m paraphrasing) believes … [Read more...]
Are You Taking Too Many for the Team?
As leaders we know we are expected to work at least as hard as the people we work with. That’s a given. But today we want to talk about costs of constantly sacrificing yourself. This is relevant to any leader, but when you lead remote teams, there are additional stressors and reasons managers wind up burning out by “taking one for the team.” Ironically, those who take the role … [Read more...]
Don’t Blame Your Boss for Your Poor Work-Life Balance
Are you having trouble maintaining a healthy work-life balance when you work from home? You’re not alone. It’s one of the most common complaints by remote workers. But if you’re tempted to blame your ogre (or ogress) of a boss for this, guess again. Many of these challenges are self-imposed. Over years of working with remote teams, we hear a lot of the same complaints: “I’m … [Read more...]