The KTS Success Factor® (a Podcast for Women) podcast

Leadership in the Era of Remote Work with Tamara Sanderson

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There has been a significant increase in remote work  since the pandemic. However, most of us fail to realize the power, accessibility, and opportunities remote work provides– for us, our colleagues or employees, and the business.

Tamara Sanderson is the co-founder of Remote Works, an organizational design and consulting firm with a mission to liberate teams from the nine-to-five and teach them how to do their best work anytime, anywhere. Along with Ali Greene, Sanderson has spent a combined two decades in distributed workplaces: Greene as the former director of people operations at DuckDuckGo and Sanderson as the director of strategic partnerships and corporate development at Automattic. Throughout their joint career history, they’ve worked in varied environments, including big tech (Google), startups (Oyster, LivingSocial), creative agencies (IDEO, Undertone), and management consulting and private equity (Oliver Wyman, Audax Group). Their new book, Remote Works: Managing for Freedom, Flexibility, and Focus (Berrett-Koehler Publishers; February 7, 2023), is the ultimate playbook for managing remote teams.

In this episode, Tamara talks with us about the benefits or advantages remote work has both for the business and the employees. She also shares her three nonnegotiables when it comes to remote work to ensure the best work with less burnout. Along with this, she also explains what are the 5 Ws and 1 H of remote work that can make remote work better for you and your employees. 

 

What you will learn from this episode: 

  • Discover how to maximize the remote work trend and feel more included in your work
  • Learn what are the 5 Ws and 1 H of remote work and how can you apply it to your work or business
  • Understand how rituals and having a transitional space are important in avoiding burnout in remote work

 

“Managers should be more thoughtful with how they're structuring work and what they want their team to accomplish.”

- Tamara Sanderson

 

Valuable Free Resource: 

Grab a copy of Tamara and Ali’s book and change how you work in your daily life: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1523003316?ref_=cm_sw_r_cp_ud_dp_EMRAFH621S3ZGSDQBWXN

 

Topics Covered:

04:15 - How was the remote work setup working for Automattic before

05:25 - How was Tamara’s remote work experience in DuckDuckGo

06:05 - Tamara shares how she and her co-author, Ali Greene, meet

07:03 - What made Tamara and Ali write Remote Works: Managing for Freedom, Flexibility, and Focus

08:19 - Tamara explains what is the overall advantage of the remote work trend

12:41 - Why knowing yourself more in remote work is important?

17:09 - Tamara talks about what are the three non negotiables in remote work

20:49 - Is it more possible to get burnout in remote work?

23:31 - Tamara’s life-changing tips on how to avoid burnout from remote work: You don’t always have to be on. Have digital wellness apps and rituals

27:28 - How can you develop confidence, trust, and autonomy in your employees in the remote work setting

31:14 - Tamara expounds on what are the 5 Ws and 1 H of remote work

32:10 - Connect with Tamara: https://www.remoteworksbook.com/

 

Key Takeaways: 

“Managers must lead with intentionality.” - Tamara Sanderson

“When remote work is done well, an employee can have so much more information on how the insides of the company are working and you can feel really connected to actually like, knowing what is going on.” - Tamara Sanderson

“Now that we have the technology, it kind of breaks apart the previous paradigms. Managers have to respect employees' autonomy and allow them to act more and take more agency in the organization.” - Tamara Sanderson

“There is potential for burnout if you're not clear on boundaries.” - Tamara Sanderson

 

Ways to Connect with Tamara Sanderson:

 

Ways to Connect with Sarah E. Brown:

 

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