It’s almost been a year since we launched the Remote Pathways podcast and little did we know how 2020 would the YEAR of REMOTE!

Our most recent episode brings on special guest Kristin Winkle-Beck to talk about her experience of pivoting a high profile in person event to the virtual space. With in person events being shelved for the mid-term, what type of virtual events are you exploring?

Catch up on our conversation with Kristin a few weeks ago as part of our October 1st Community Call 

You may also want to catch up on Episode 21 – Virtual Co-Working, where we explore several different types of virtual co-working experiences. You will find the podcast here and then the related Community Call here (30 minutes).

What are your most important tips about remote work and virtual events?

Enjoy the conversation!
​Jennifer

Welcome back to another Monday Effective Virtual Conversation. This week’s tip is all about Mirror Neurons, neurons which have been found to “mirror” those we are in conversation with. This is also related to the concept of synchrony, which has found to create stronger bonds and cooperative behavior. Take a look at this article from Scientific American on the concept of Synchrony here.

Or for more about mirror neurons, check out Psychology Today's blog here.

As one researcher indicated, quoted by Joshua Freeman, “Mirror neurons seem to be a bridge between our thinking, feeling and actions – and between people.”

In times of social distancing, cultivating connection is critical for conversation.

As a facilitator or leader, what is it that your behaviors and conversations are activating? If we do start to “mimic” those we are in conversation with, is this an important lever we can be leaning into to support change?

This week, consider what’s going to support you as a team? What’s the environment you want to create? What are the behaviors you want mirrored? What are you surrounding yourself with?
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Enjoy the conversation,
Jennifer

Many teams globally are needing to continue to redefine how they operate, and one thing is clear; collaboration is essential. Part of collaboration is learning how to synergize. How to blend skills and fuse them together. How to break things down into different packets and weave them together.

This week, I wanted to reach back to a post I originally shared in 2019 – Teamwork in Uncertainty – Synergy. Let’s take a look at what I wrote then:
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When situations are complex and uncertain, it may be difficult to bring all the skills required for success. Therefore, being able to focus in on leveraging the skills that are available to you as a group or team can help maximize your skill base as well as what is available to you.

As I wrote in yesterdays’ post, knowing our strengths is important on the individual and team levels.

In synergy, we are looking at how 1+1 equals more than 2.
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If you have completed some strengths-based work, some additional questions to explore as a team are:

1. What the core strengths we bring as a collective?
2. What can we harness as a team?
3. Where might we be over-developed?
4. What is missing?
5. Where are the gaps?
6. When we think about current projects what strengths would benefit them?
7. Who is best suited to support which project?
8. What else is important to note?

​In situations of uncertainty, it can be important to consider risk, and also contingencies. Given that contexts may be changing rapidly leading from strengths allows us to do things quicker and with less energy expended, freeing up focus and energy for other items.
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What is important to note around synergy?

All the best,
​Jennifer

2020 – the year of the bubble. Physical isolation has led to many to feeling more isolated than ever. Just last week we released episode 21 of the Remote Pathways podcast, where we touch on the topic of Virtual Co-Working. You can check it out on your favorite podcast player OR here.

One thing I really love as a podcaster is hosting our twice a month breakfast calls. It’s open to all and I hope you will drop in for one before the end of the year!

In the most recent Remote Pathways community call on September 17th, Michelle and I talked about the many different forms virtual co-working can take.

Here’s a quick overview of the different types we talked about. What’s interesting is that between us both of us support programming virtually all these different types of co-working. Which ones might work best for you?

• Zoom Call - Working real time for short blocks of time on Zoom
• Virtual Retreat - While Michelle focuses on virtual retreats for personal development in her Anchor Your Heart Retreats, I focus more on virtual business planning sessions.
• Lunch and Learn - Professional development opportunities abound for many professionals and breakfasts, lunches and dinners are very common. As I share in the call, it’s not uncommon for me to speak to a group of 20 or even 200 virtually over lunch. Contact me if you are looking for a speaker for your lunch and learn.
• Social Time - Quarantinis became a popular 5 pm activity in the early days of the pandemic. Today that’s morphed into many different formats. What are you doing to create more social time with colleagues and friends and family, virtually?
• Design (Studio Time) - For many of the clients I work with, design or studio time is important. Getting together with others can create more focused work and impact. What are you wanting to design and how might some virtual studio time support you? Again, contact me for upcoming virtual studio days AND sprints.
• Conversations - What are the conversations you want to have this month? Who have you not reached out to recently?
• Get it Done! - Getting things done are critical for success. One of the favorite activities with the annual lab programs I run is the Get It Done Days. What could 4 hours of focused work get off your list?
• Games/challenges - Challenges are one of my new favorite activities. I kicked off the Stand Out Virtually Challenge in August and more than a hundred joined me. I’ll be hosting my next challenge in October so stay tuned and join us at the Virtual and Remote Visionaries Hub to keep posted.
• Team Time – Finally, what is the time you have earmarked for your team for team development?

What are the types of co-working experiences you want to engage with?
 
Be sure to check out the September 17th Breakfast Community Call for more on Virtual Co-Working – You can view the 30 minute call here.

Best,
​Jennifer

A key part of learning can occur when we learn with others. Consider the impact of peer learning in workshops, group coaching, masterminds and other collaborative learning experiences. Collaborative social learning experiences are something many are hungry for, especially in times of social distancing. What can that look like in your work, virtually?

One of the theories that have influenced social learning was Arthur Bandura’s Social Learning Theory.  This has implications for how we design and lead learning conversations.

Bandura’s Social Learning theory is grounded in four main areas:

• Observation (environmental) – Observing and learning from the context in which we operate?
• Retention (cognitive) – How do I remember this?
• Reproduction (cognitive) – How do I reproduce this? Use this?
• And motivation (both cognitive and environmental) – Noticing what is motivational and not

                                 (https://www.psychologytoday.com/ca/basics/social-learning-theory)

What can that look like when we are working with people virtually?

Environmental – When you are working with groups, what is the context the client is operating in? What is the culture the team is creating? What adjustments need to be made?
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Linked to the discussions we’ve been having at the LLDS, this might include work around “Enshrining the team agreements and values” in something that is tangible.

A focus on retention gets us to focus in on the question of “HOW DO I REMEMBER THIS?”  What are you doing to create different engagement touchpoints and adjust the pace?
This might include:

• Breakouts so peers can connect together
• Using annotation
• Having group members verbally articulate “what I’ve learned and what I am going to do”
• As well as writing it down
• Selecting a card/image/icon around next steps

 
A focus on reproduction is HOW DO I DO THIS AGAIN? It may involve peer teaching and sharing as well as thinking about application in other areas.

Finally, a focus on MOTIVATION could lead to many conversations across the group or team, with a focus on intrinsic and extrinsic motivators for the team, group and/or individual members.  Consider what are the motivating factors for each person.

What is important for you to take note on?

All the best,
​Jennifer

How did your week go? What were the key focus areas for you? What was your key learning?

This week we’ve covered a wide range of topics during the week here including:

• Saturday’s Weekly Journaling Prompt is “My focus is…”
• Friday’s Flashback’s Five Key Relationships for Professionals
• Thursday’s Focus on the areas of expectations in making remote work, work well
• Wednesday’s focus on Collaborating Virtually
• Tuesday’s focus on 5 Tips for Virtual Meetings
• Monday’s focus on Follow Up

 
What was your favorite post this week?
Share with us below!

Best,
​Jennifer

Virtual Collaboration is a core topic for all types of remote professionals. Whether we have to build something within our team, or expand our network, it’s key to build capacity to collaborate across distance and time. I address this topic in Chapter 12 of Effective Virtual Conversations. In a very practical way, you will want to consider the following areas for exploration:

#1 – Why are we collaborating? Many writers assert that it’s important not to collaborate just to collaborate. In fact, it’s key that we are clear on why we are collaborating. Is it because our skills are better when we fuse them together? It is because we bring a different insight into a core topic? Be clear on why you are collaborating.

#2 – What’s your core stance and common ground around the topic? What is the common stance you hold around the topic? Perhaps you are both passionate about educating around a topic. Perhaps you want to create a new approach to looking at an issue. Being clear on where you both align, and where you are different, is important.

#3 – What’s different between your work? Consider where your work is not only the same, but complimentary. Partnerships can get weakened if both partners are too similar. Consider exploring not only what’s the same, but also what’s different.

#4 – Consider what your end result is. Results in the remote space need to be specific? Clear? Focused? What are your end results? What are you looking to achieve?

#5 – Provide feedback. Feedback is critical to any partnership and collaborative experience. Be clear on what’s working. What’s not. What changes are needed and how things can proceed.

How often are you meeting? What type of feedback are you both providing and receiving?

Collaboration will continue to be a “pain point” for many professionals. What’s going to help your partnerships flourish in the remote space?
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Enjoy the conversation!
Jennifer

Earlier this month in the September 2020 Remote Pathways podcast community call, I shared the 8 Layers of Remote Work. These are nuanced areas which can be important to learn more about as it relates to your colleagues, stakeholders and work.

In yesterday’s Teams365 blog post, I covered the first four of eight layers of remote work – Digital, Decisions, Delegation and Distractions.

Today’s post is going to explore the final four layers – Design, Dialogue, Do and Depth.

Let’s look at each one of these in turn:

Design – Design skills are increasingly needed by remote professionals of all kinds, given that the way we present our information and ideas may be even more visual and graphical. Likewise, in the remote space it may be likely that you are designing more meetings and programming and presentations. We will be looking at the elements of exceptional virtual design tomorrow, September 17, at the one-day Stand Out Virtually Studio Day Masterclass. Learn more and join us here. 

Dialogue – Talking at people is not communication. With collaboration being an essential, and overlooked, skillset in the remote space, dialogue is critical for success and partnering. The word Dialogue comes from the ancient Greek world of dialogus – which means two way. Dialogue is a two-way conversation. With many remote professionals feeling like they are constantly being communicated to, but not being talked with, fostering a culture of dialogue is critical. This may mean earmarking certain calls for discussion as well as focusing more on using breakouts and other key strategic areas.

Do – The 7th layer of remote work is simple. DO. Get things done. There’s not a lot of time or space for procrastination in the remote space. If you create and lead programs, what can you do to build in more time for people to get things DONE during your time together? Will they pay you to do things for them?

Depth – The final layer is Depth.  As broad as the remote working space is, it is important to have depth in terms of your relationships, levels of trust, connection and clarity around your goals and results. Spending time going deep around agreements, processes, and how you are going to operate is also important.

Be sure to check out the September 1st Remote Pathways Podcast Community Call – you can find it here.

Enjoy the conversation!
Jennifer

Happy Saturday! This week’s Weekly Journaling Prompt is “Collaboration Means”. As you get back to a fall routine (sort of…), what does collaboration mean for you? In fact, in the virtual space, collaboration is even more important and can be trickier. As I share in Chapter 12 of Effective Virtual Conversations,

“Knowing when to collaborate and when not to is an art form.”

• What does collaboration mean for you?
• Where will collaboration lead to a result where 1 + 1 does equal more than 2?
• What skill sets are important to add on to what you can provide?
• Where is partnering (another type of collaboration) key in your work?

Take a look at these past blog posts for more information:

• Audio – Five Ingredients for more Successful Collaboration 
• Six Barriers to Collaboration – Teams365 1165

Enjoy the conversation!
Jennifer

A few months ago, I did a series of posts on “What’s Different When Working Remotely”. There was a series of several of them, which I thought would be interesting to revisit as remote working has been happening for many for many months and may be extended into the future for many more months. My invitation is for you to do a pulse check in your next meeting around these items:

1. Autonomy
2. Skills
3. Connections with others
4. Matrix relationships
5. Focus
6. Motivation
7. Inner drive
8. Relationship building
9. Visibility
10. Boundaries

 
Here’s what I wrote in Teams365 #2242 - 

Yesterday’s Teams365 post explored four key differences when working remote – Autonomy, Skills, Connections with others and the Matrix.

In today’s post, I wanted to share four additional differences when working remote – focus, motivation, and inner drive, to relationship building and visibility.

In general, many things get magnified in the remote space – from clarity, or lack of clarity, around communication, processes, roles, goals; to what we actually see on the screen. This means that we may need to be more intentional in sharing information, checking assumptions and confirming that our messages were understood in the way they were communicated.

Motivation - When working remotely, a lot of us need to rely on our own inner motivation and self-direction to get things done. For those who like to work autonomously, it’s great! Being clear on what we need to excel as a team member, leader or business owner is key.

As I wrote yesterday, “No person is an island” and we do want to make sure we are clear on our strengths, and style preferences. It’s also key to note that when we over leverage our strengths, that they can become a blind spot. In the remote space this may mean that they get over magnified. So, if I have a love of learning I may keep learning, rather than getting work done. What are the strengths you are able to leverage? What’s important about your work? What drives you? What do you need to be aware of in case it gets over magnified?

For more on Motivation and Remote Work, check out some of the episodes of the Remote Pathways Podcast. 

You’ll also want to check out Week 6 of the 52 Weeks of Remote Work.

What is important for you about motivation in the remote space?

Context - One of the major challenges in the remote space is that we see each other usually only through the small window of the screen. As I write in Effective Virtual Conversations, a great activity to undertake is “what’s outside your screen”? What can we do to share more about the context of our work? That might include:

• Sharing a little more about your desk
• Sharing what’s outside your window
• Talking about what is a priority in your work
• Sharing more about the way work is done, or preferences are in your location (especially if you are a virtual team)

What context pieces are important to share?

Visibility and proactivity - Visibility and proactivity is key in the remote space. Some remote workers feel that their careers get stuck because they aren’t visible like those in an office space. I would invite a perspective that visibility is less about where you are, but how you approach work. What are you doing to be visible, to bring people together, to connect with peers and other stakeholders, to be proactive in connecting on a regular basis with your boss and team?

Regular co-working sessions may provide an opportunity for learning more and connecting with your peers, as well as hearing what you are working on. These sessions may run for an hour, half day or more. 

What is important for you to explore around visibility? What do you need to be more proactive about?

Focus - For many remote workers, productivity can actually increase when moving to work in the remote space. A study by Stanford Business School, headed by Professor Nicholas Bloom found a 13% increase in productivity by those who WFH (Work From Home). You will find a copy of the original publication here at Prof. Bloom’s site.
 
For another interesting article on the same topic check out Scott Mautz’s Inc article.

Even though there are differences with remote work, it’s still important to focus in on the basics of high performance. Be sure to check out the posts I have written on the Six Factors of High Performing Teams. How are we being clear about the ROLES, GOALS, PRACTICES of our work, in addition to connecting in with our vision and mandate, and being clear bout what success will look like?

Tomorrow, we’ll explore another remote working ingredient for success – managing boundaries! (LINK to 2243)
Where are you as a team as it relates to clarity around these ten areas? BE sure to do a pulse check and focus in those areas that need attention.
 
July in Review
Thanks for Joining us this month! This month’s posts have continued to take us through the landscape of remote work , and have included these posts:

Monday’s Effective Virtual Conversations Tips – Messy Middle, Remote Skill: Working Across Differences; Appreciations; Six Factors

My Tuesday Back to Basics Posts around Feedback, Listening and also the Energy of Virtual Calls

Wednesday’s focusing on Stand Out Remotely; Digitize and Virtualize; (LINNK) and Remote Team Builders (LINK)

Thursday’s Team Building Tips – with questions to spark you around getting grounded as well as what you need to say no to, and what needs to be collapsed.
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Historically July has been a month of taking some time to pause and renew. What are you focusing on right now? What’s the support you need to keep doing your best work, and having your best conversations?

Best,
Jennifer