by Kevin Eikenberry Ask most anyone to tell you why someone is a great leader, and you will likely hear that they are a role model. Ask most who are leading remotely, and they will wonder what it means to be a long-distance role model. After all, how can you be a role model if people can’t even see you? You Already Are a Long-Distance Role Model Let’s start here: if you … [Read more...]
Picking Alternatives to Email
Maybe the most divisive topic in remote work is whether email is a help or a hindrance to our productivity. It’s fast, convenient and pretty much free. On the other hand, there’s too much of it, our inboxes are inundated, and responding to all those notifications stops us from doing other, more productive, work. There is a whole cottage industry of experts saying we need to use … [Read more...]
Thinking About Feedback Backwards
Offering feedback to people who aren’t located with you can be complicated. Should you send an email or get on the phone? Do you need to set up a zoom call, or will a quick shout-out on Slack get the job done? And why do they act like you’ve never told them something before when you said it just the other day? Maybe we need to think backwards when we consider offering feedback … [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...]
Listening with More than Your Ears
We all know that active listening is the key to being a great communicator. But when you aren’t face to face, and have to rely on tools like email, chat, and webcams this can get tricky. After all, can you “listen” to an email? Yes you can, and you know it. Have you ever read a text message or email, and thought, “Man, she sounds ticked off.” Well she didn’t “sound” … [Read more...]