Are your people taking the time off they have coming to them? Are you? Something happened over the end of December this year that highlighted the importance of that question, and why organizations and their leaders need to be vigilant on behalf of their people who work from home. This all arose because I noticed something unusual at the end of December. A larger number of … [Read more...]
A Letter from a Long-Distance Teammate
by Chip R. Bell Dear Long-Distance Leader. If you will provide a partnership-like relationship with me, it will free you up from having to “snoopervise” me. Here are my aspirations for how we might work together in the future. I will work harder, longer, and with greater zeal when I am convinced my work matters. I am not a human form of a capital asset; I need a purpose. … [Read more...]
Thinking About Your Health as a Remote Worker
As we come to the end of the year, you’ll be swamped with blog posts telling you what your New Year’s resolutions should be. While we hate to pile on, this is one of the few points in the year when most of us actually take time to think about what’s next. For that reason, we want to remind you that your health matters, and as a remote worker there’s a pretty good chance you’ve … [Read more...]
5 Ways to Ruin a Virtual One-On-One
As leaders, we know that one-on-one communication with our team is critical. When we can’t just look out and survey the cubicle-farm to see how people are doing, the little time we get to spend with each employee becomes more precious. That’s why conducting these meetings is perhaps the most important skill a long-distance leader can have. In many ways they are just like … [Read more...]
10 Tips for Better Meetings
Entire books have been written about doing better virtual meetings. Heck, I’ve written two of them myself, but if there was a simple list of things you can do better, it might look like this: Clearly identify your objective and desired outcome. Form follows function, and knowing what you want to achieve will determine which tools you use and what form your meeting will … [Read more...]