21st Century Work Life - Remote Working, Virtual Teams And Flexible Working

Maya and Pilar discuss some of the ways in which remote workers are networking. And very special guest Matt Ballantine shares his experiment “100 coffees”. Recorded on 21 March 2024. To get in touch, head over to https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/contact-us  Maya shares a recent event she ran as part of Remote Work Europe, with Ali Meehan on “speed networking”. Someone else organising networking-type events is Lisette Sutherland from Collaboration Superpowers, who is running virtual coworking sessions: https://www.collaborationsuperpowers.com/workshops/schedule/?type=1112 Maybe this kind of event is something organisations could run, instead of assuming the best way for people to connect is through face to face social events? 12.25mins Special guest Matt Ballantine tells us about his relationship building experiment: 100 coffees. Read about it here: https://mmitii.mattballantine.com/category/projects/100-coffees/ Connect with Matt on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattballantine/ Listen to his

In today’s episode, tech journalist Jennifer Riggins talks about the impact of generative AI on the world of software development, focusing on the challenges faced by DevSecOps teams in keeping up with the accelerated pace of code creation enabled by GenAI tools. She raises important questions about the potential risks posed by generative AI, such as the introduction of vulnerabilities and intellectual property issues, and emphasises the need for organizations to establish clear AI governance policies to mitigate these risks. You can read the full summary and show notes (created by GenAI) here: https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/ai-developers   Connect with Jen on LinkedIn. Read the article: Will Generative AI Kill DevsecOps? Read Jen’s other article: The AI governance policy engineering managers needed yesterday Check out the State of OpenCon 24 sessions on YouTube. You can also check out Pilar's post on her Spiralling Creativity blog, describing her recent experience with GenAI creating this

Today’s guest is Linda Redell, Head of Talents and Culture at the hybrid company Homelike. https://www.thehomelike.com/  With a diverse workforce spread across multiple countries, Linda and her team are responsible for maintaining the company culture and employee well-being. The shift to remote work has brought challenges and opportunities, with a focus on creating spaces for physical interaction, revamping onboarding, and fostering engagement. Connect with Linda Redell on LinkedIn. https://www.linkedin.com/in/linda-redell/  Find our more about Homelike nd what it’s like working there: www.thehomelike.com For a summary of the conversation, check out https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/homelike  

Today’s post is the audio companion to the Virtual not Distant monthly newsletter, which you can sign up to here. Every month, Pilar shares with readers articles she’s come across on the web, books she’s read (or is reading) and podcast episodes she’s listened to. And today, she’s joined by Marcus Wermuth, who is an Engineering Leader specialising in virtual leadership.| Marcus is back on this show, this time talking about his recent professional transition: laying himself off from his job as Head of Engineering. This has been a very difficult decision to take, but he’s followed his own principles, and stayed true to his identity as servant leader. Coffee Break Articles: First off, check out Marcus’ article on “laying himself off”, If you are interested in hearing another conversation about how to strike the balance between transparency and discretion, check out episode 69 of the Management Café. 18.30 MINS Deutsche Bank's 3-day-a-week return-to-office policy has been met with fierce criticism by staff w

In this episode, Production Designer Kate Rance shares her diverse career spanning theatre and film. She compares design approaches across industries, her affinity for hands-on craft versus managing teams, and learning new skills through her eclectic projects. Kate and Pilar used to work together on theatre productions (many years ago!) and Kate has designed www.virtualnotdistant.com , as well as www.adventuresinpodcasting.com  Check out Kate's website, www.katerance.com For detailed show notes, head over to www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/film-production

Maya and Pilar tackle the topic of "digital culture" in organisations, with this article as a springboard:  "What is digital culture? The teams best prepared for change use modern digital communication tools, feel comfortable learning new ones and continually adapt how they work." By the team at Slack, 29th July 2022 https://slack.com/intl/en-gb/blog/collaboration/what-is-digital-culture Pilar mentions the book "The Rise of the Frontline Worker"    35.00 mins In other news… “The winners and losers of London’s work from home economy” City.com 17 Sept 2023   39.00mins Personal updates: Remote Work Europe keeps growing, with new countries joining: Belgium, Cyprus and Turkey now have their own groups, check them out:. And if you want to join the premium community, go to https://www.remoteworkeurope.eu/connected And RWE even has a presence on TikTok! Pilar isn’t on TikTok but is doing a lot of podcasting - both hosting and guesting. She’s now doing a monthly version of the newsletter.  You can listen to her on

  In this episode, Barbara Mutedzi describes conscious leadership and its role in transitioning to remote work, with particular reference to her work in Zimbabwe. Throughout the episode, Barbara advocates for the need for leaders to embrace self-awareness, adaptability, and empathy to create more resilient, inclusive, and effective work environments. Find Barbara over on LinkedIn. Find out more about her conscious leadership practice and her coaching programmes. For a summary of the episode head over to: https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/conscious-leadership  

Today’s post is the audio companion to the Virtual not Distant monthly newsletter, and you can subscribe to it via email here. Every month, Pilar shares with readers articles she’s come across on the web, books she’s read (or is reading) and podcast episodes she’s listened to. The newsletter also has a digest of the Virtual not Distant content - but this podcast version has an update of Pilar’s own work. Coffee Break Articles: The dark side of remote work via Asynchronous Agile Remote work stifles innovation, a massive new study finds  via Gallant CEO, based on a study in Nature Apple knew AirDrop users could be identified and tracked as early as 2019, researchers say via CNN Business 'I had £3,000 stolen via WhatsApp job scam message' via BBC UK (This month’s articles are all a bit dark, but it’s just a coincidence!) Book Recommendation: This month’s book recommendation is "Four Thousand Weeks: Embrace your limits. Change your life. Make your four thousand weeks count" by Oliver Burkeman. It is NOT a bo

In today’s episode, Maya shares her challenges trying to embrace the “work from anywhere” spirit. Our co-hosts also talk about how the popularity of Chat GPT has opened up the need to reinvent education, how they’re using the bot and why we should all be vigilant when reading current research on the impact of remote work in organisations. Recorded on 29 January 2024. For the full show notes, head over to https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/ep346 If you have something to add to the conversation, please let us know: https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/contact-us   Other relevant links: https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/blog/remote-anytime-anyplace-anywhere  https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/blog/work-life-what https://chat.openai.com/g/g-x2K9hqH3L-healthy-happy-homeworking-advisor https://chat.openai.com/g/g-A51yp1KCy-beat-procrastination https://www.linkedin.com/posts/nick-bloom-86b79510b_wsj-news-exclusive-when-layoffs-happen-activity-7156670698369732608-6m2K/  https://www.linkedin.com/posts/jason-s

Hello dear listeners of the 21st Century Work Life podcast. This is a little bonus episode, what some would call, a piece of content marketing, as I’ve put it together to introduce you to our audio-first course, for managers and leaders of remote teams: Navigating Asynchronous Communication. And in this episode, I’ve selected three sections to share with you, to give you a flavour of the course - in case this is something for you, or your colleagues. If you want to check out the copy, head over to our website. https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/audio-first-course I’ve talked about the format before - but in case you’re new to the show, it’s a course to help you lay down the foundations of asynchronous communication in your team, and it’s narrated by my colleague Simon Wilson and myself. It has nine modules, formal modules with title and everything, and some reflection questions at the end, and then it has three informal conversations between Simon and myself, like those you might find on this podcast. Before I

In this episode, Pilar talks to Jeanna Barrett, founder and Chief Remote Officer at the fully distributed company FPS. Jeanna shares how she set up the company by following her values and aspiring lifestyle, as well as her approach to company culture, remote operations and how values influence her decisions. For detailed show notes, head over to https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/remote-operations Links: Find Jeanna over on LinkedIn. Check out the Remotely Cultured podcast. Learn more about FPS.

Pilar pops in for a quick solo show to let you know how the focus of the show is changing. 

A quick happy new year from Pilar, cradled by the sound of the sea.

It’s the last episode of the year, and it’s very hard to break tradition! Maya and Pilar talk through some of the recent stories around remote work and the world of work and try to make up their minds as to whether we’re moving forward or backwards… Just as they’ve been doing over the last three months, Maya and Pilar comment on this month’s guest, Valentina Thörner the Empress of Remote! What was particularly memorable was her tiara story (of course!) and the way in which she continues to advocate for experimentation at every level in the organisation. (To hear Valentina talking about the two axis of remote work (location and schedule), check out episode 342.) 09.25 MINS There is a danger of organisations being seen to be discriminating against certain employees if they make them go back to the office. Legally things are not that clear cut. This article from October showed the need for organisations to understand the implications fully: Case update: employers must do their homework before making ‘back to

In this episode, Valentina Thörner talks about the importance of defining what “remote” means in an organisation, particularly around the dimensions of time and location. For a really good summary, check out  https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/distributed-teams-matrix  Connect with Valentina over on LinkedIn. Subscribe to her newsletter “Remote that Works”.

Hi, Pilar here. This is a very short announcement to let you know that I’ll be releasing soon a book on time management for remote workers. This is an experiment. I am co writing it with Chat GPT, but I think it's wonderful. And I can say that because I’ve mainly been working on this as an editor and coach, and most of the writing has come from Chat GPT. I am now looking for Beta Readers. It's a short book, it's about 20,000 words long, which means about an hour of reading. I'll be able to offer it to you as a PDF or an EPUB. I would love to hear what you think, because although I do have the distance as an author, they’re not my words. I am thinking of publishing it definitely before the New Year, before January. So if you are interested in checking it out and just giving me a couple of feedback tips, like, did you like it? Did you not? Is it boring? Is it too basic?I just need to put it out there and get people's opinions on it.  Please email me (email in the audio) or use the contact form over at https://

Maya and Pilar share their thoughts on the last two episodes, both of which covered different aspects of asynchronous communication. While some organisations are still struggling with incorporating a “good” version of async, others are getting ready to introduce AI. Where will it all end? Links and mentions  They refer back to episode 339 and 340.  Talk about the recent Loom acquisition by Atlassian: https://www.atlassian.com/blog/announcements/atlassian-acquires-loom Pilar mentions the AI Marketing Show, and a listener sent in this article on Working Out Loud: https://www.reworked.co/collaboration-productivity/rehumanize-your-workplace-by-working-out-loud/  For a longer summary, check out  https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/more-async  

With the rise of online communities and digital platforms, the way we share, innovate, and co-create has evolved. Wietske van Osch, together with Burcu Bulgurcu recently published research, exploring the nuances of collaborative creativity in online spaces. Pilar came across the piece in the MIT Sloan Review, and invited Wietske onto the show. This episode is a great example of the power of online communities. Pilar read the article “The Profound Influence of Small Choices in Digital Collaboration” in the Fall 2023 edition of the MIT Sloan Review, and shared it in a Slack community hosted by previous guest Rachael Happe. One of its members, Lori, happened to know Wietske and she introduced her to Pilar. In this episode, Wietske van Osch talks about her recent research into enterprise social networks, exploring how a group's choice of private or public channels influences the type of creativity nurtured. Connect with Wietske over on LinkedIn. You can find the full show notes over at  https://www.virtualnotd

In this conversation, Pilar and Sumeet Gayathri Moghe delve into the intricacies of remote work, asynchronous communication, and the challenges of global collaboration. Sumeet also shares why he “worked out loud” as part of the process of writing the book “The Async-First Playbook”.  For the full summary of the conversation, head over to  https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/async-first  Links:  Connect with Sumeet over at LinkedIn. Read Sumeet’s work: www.asyncagile.org Delight your eyes with Sumeet’s other work: www.sumeetmoghe.com/ Find out more about “The Async-First Playbook: Remote Collaboration Techniques for Agile Software Teams”. Find out more about the Async-First Manifesto. *Special Offer:* For a limited time, listeners can avail a discount on the "Async First Playbook" by navigating to informit.com/async and using the coupon code "NOTDISTANT". At Virtual not Distant, we also consider asynchronous communication an essential practice of online collaboration. That’s why we’ve created an au

In our previous episode, our guests Tammy and Theresa discussed career progression in remote and global teams. In this episode, Maya and Pilar look at another sector of the working population: freelancers, and discuss what’s going on with remote freelancers and remote workers who want to access opportunities in a country different to where they reside. Maya and Pilar explore the world of remote freelancers. Maya's initiative, Remote Work Europe, supports those new to remote work, offering guidance and job opportunities. The boundaries between traditional employment and freelancing are blurring due to remote work's flexibility. Challenges arise from limited remote entry-level roles and complex international hiring processes. Early-career remote workers might initially need in-person training, but highlighting remote-specific skills can be advantageous. The rise of freelancing is evident, yet transitioning can be bureaucratic - and our special guest Sondre Rasch of Safetywing suggests countries simplify self-em