WLP319 Lessons Learned from Scaling a Remote Business

In this episode, Pilar interviews Jaap Linssen, the founder of OrangeTrail, a company that helps organisations navigate change and adopt new ways of working. Jaap has been helping people in organisations collaborate and communicate through harnessing the power of technology since 2011. Through Jaap’s examples, they talk about asking questions to drive engagement, developing team narratives to strengthen teamwork, the adoption of genAI in organisations and social learning. And building a business exporting farm cheese. Of course. Here are some links for you to check out: Find out more about OrangeTrail on their website. Connect with Jaap on LinkedIn. And don’t forget to watch the video New experiments in self-teaching by Sugata Mitra Plus, if you’re interested in using genAI for creative projects, you might want to check out Spiralling Creativity, Pilar’s new blog. For a full summary and show notes, check out  https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts /team-narratives

We’ve struggled this month to create a collection around remote work, so we’ve gone a bit “around the edges” - but it’s still all relevant to our audience. There is much content around hybrid work at the moment, and it tends to have more of a “how to” angle to it , so we often give it a miss. So, please send through anything you think we might add in future episodes. https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/contact-us   Coffee Break Articles 05.00 MINS The Pyramid Principle Via Sketchplanations  How Remote Workers Are Reshaping Corporate Travel Policies via Skift E-voice in the Digitalised Workplace. Insights from an Alternative Organisation via Human Resource Management Journal (Wiley) Grabbed from Eva Rimbau-Gilabert’s profile on previously-known-as-Twitter. Airchat Is Silicon Valley’s Latest Obsession via Wired.com Article + Documentary 15.50 MINS Work Different a documentary by Julien Capraro This was recommended by Jack Niles, reader of the newsletter, and author of Managing Telework: Strategies for Managing the Virtual Workforce published by Wiley in 1998. You can read about the documentary here: https://www.createastir.ca/articles/work-different-rendez-vous-french-film-festival and watch the documentary here: https://www.nfb.ca/film/work-different/ Books 18.12 MINS The Long Game: How to Be a Long-Term Thinker in a Short-Term World by Dorie Clark (You might also want to check out Entrepreneurial You.)   Hidden Potential: The Science of Achieving Greater Things by Adam Grant Slow Productivity: The Lost Art of Accomplishment Without Burnout by Cal Newport How To Know a Person: The Art of Seeing Others Deeply and Being Deeply Seen by David Brooks (thanks Bernie J MItchell for the recommendation!)   Audio Recommendations 30.25 MINS Deep Questions with Cal Newport 294: A Tactical Assault on Business1 April 2024 The Long-Distance Worklife podcast Episode: Press Start on SoWork: How Gamers are Influencing the Future of Remote Work 15 April 2024 Remote Work Life RWL203 From office manager to international remote work expert w/ Laurel Farrer, Founder Distribute Consulting 4 March 2024 What’s Going On with Maya and Pilar Check out our own work! Thinking Remote: Inspiration for Leaders of Distributed Teams, a collection of our blog posts. And Maya’s “Out Of The Office: Making the transition to working from home” and “Finding Your Edge: Establishing And Maintaining Boundaries When You Work From Home” Pilar is back on Twitter (X)! Maya’s mainly on LinkedIn, and… during RWE’s LinkedIn’s challenge, Maya posted about Getting Things Done, and got a comment from David Allen on it! Maya is speaking at Bansko Nomad Fest. Use her code for a discount! 𝗠𝗮𝘆𝗮𝗥𝗪𝗘_𝗯𝗻𝗳𝟮𝟰 Our newsletters: Pilar’s “Spiralling Creativity” https://spirallingcreativity.substack.com/ Maya’s “Remote Echoes” https://mayamiddlemiss.substack.com/ You can message Pilar through the Virtual not Distant website: https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/contact-us and get hold of Maya over at Remote Work Europe: https://www.remoteworkeurope.eu/ .

In today’s episode, Pilar Orti interviews Amale Ghalbouni, a former executive strategy director turned coach. Amale shares her experiences navigating career pivots, rediscovering purpose, and helping individuals and teams foster deep human connections. They talk about the changing nature of work, and the importance of preventing burnout. Find out more about Amale on her website. Connect with her on LinkedIn. Check out The Brick Coach website For a summary blog post, head over to  https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts /coaching-and-burnout

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 previous episode on this show: https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/collaboration-in-organisations Listen to the WB40 podcast, or even, book a coffee time with Matt: https://calendly.com/matt-ballantine 27.15mins What about online communities? Belonging to a public group and a private one, and a free one versus a paid one, are very different experiences. Remote Work Europe has a public, open group on Facebook, and a private community, over at https://www.remoteworkeurope.eu/connected Communities and relationships can exist both online and off: we mention Social Now as a conference about the digital workspace: 16th and 17th May in Lisbon, and also the online community Asynco. And relationship building can be synchronous or asynchronous. Virtual Team Talk, set up back in the day by Pilar and Lisette, is still around! 43.15mins And Social Media? How’s it going over on LinkedIn? If you want to become active on the platform, join the RWE challenge: https://www.linkedin.com/events/levelupyourlinkedinspring2024-a7175914652218834945/comments/ Or, you might want to join Alison Jones’ Book Proposal Challenge. And being part of a challenge itself is a great way of meeting new people with whom you have something in common! 52.30mins In the absence of people, can generative AI bots help? A cheeky transition into some resources we have around generative AI: Maya has created the course: Generative AI Secrets For Remote Work Search Success And Pilar is now blogging about her artistic projects with and without genAI over at Spiralling Creativity, where her latest post ponders on whether genAI is a Clown .

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 episode's show notes. https://spirallingcreativity.substack.com/p/gen-ai-helpful-assistant-or-clown  If you enjoy listening to the 21st Century Work Life podcast, you might also enjoy Management Café - look for it wherever you are listening to 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 who say there isn't enough space for everyone via Business Insider The title says it all, but worth looking at some of the detail to understand the risks of mandatory planning looks like. Right to disconnect: Implementation and impact at company level Recent research shows that having laws about the right to disconnect is not enough to prevent employees feeling like they have to be constantly available. Company culture and in-house companies are needed too. 10 Ways to Build Better Relationships Working Remotely A blog post that could have been a short ebook. A thoughtful article with specific advice on how to build relationships . Are Enterprise Social Platforms All Talk? Past guest Wietske Van Osch has just released research into why enterprise social networks need to be run differently to the social networks employees might be used to, for employees and the organisation to get the most out of them. Gifts and Greats for True Feedback via Mark Kilby A very useful post to guide us through formulating feedback on other people’s work, and how to structure it. Listening Recommendations: Podcast: The Rich Roll Podcast Episode: #815 CHARLES DUHIGG: HOW TO UNLOCK THE SECRET LANGUAGE OF CONNECTION Date: 22 February 2024 An interview with journalist/writer Charles Duhigg, talking about building strong relationships. Podcast: Tetragrammaton with Rick Rubin Long-form Interviews with a range of guests, from a range of industries. Podcast: Collaboration Superpowers Episode: Agile Retrospectives 2.0 with Esther Derby, Diana Larsen & David Horowitz Date: 5 March 2022 Lisette Sutherland talks to the authors of the new edition of Agile Retrospectives 2.0. Pilar hasn’t listened to it yet, but highly recommends it - she’s a great fan of David Horowitz, who guested on this show back in 2017, in episode 129 on Building a Distributed Business. Podcast: Sliced Bread Episode: Fitness Trackers (UK link, but look for it in your podcast app) 29 Feb 2023 Book Recommendations: Scaling People: Tactics for Management and Company Building by Claire Hughes Johnson Collabor(h)ate: How to build incredible collaborative relationships at work (even if you’d rather work alone) by Deb Mashek PhD Supercommunicators: How to Unlock the Secret Language of Connection by Charles Duhigg The Coming Wave by Mustafa Suleyman Can’t Hurt Me by David Goggings Make Your Art No Matter What by Beth Pickens You can connect with Marcus Wermuth on LinkedIn and check out his website: www.marcuswermuth.com Other episodes with Marcus: WLP291 Starting a New Role Remotely WLP219 OnBoarding (or Integration) in Remote Teams and Organisations WLP188 - From Maker to Manager in a Distributed Company SIgn up to the Virtual not Distant's newsletter here: https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/newsletter  

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 the Remote Work Life podcast with Alex Wilson-Campbell. And remember that we have a course on asynchronous communication for remote team managers. For the full show notes go to https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/digital-culture  

  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