WLP363 Building Engagement and Belonging

A special episode to celebrate the launch of the revised edition of The Long-Distance Leader, written by Kevin Eikenberry and Wayne Turmel, who returns to the show with another conversation that made host Pilar Orti laugh plenty of times.  The conversation takes a critical look at the “hybrid” workplace - is it a compromise, a hostage negotiation? Or is the problem that we’re all transitioning to a new era of knowledge work, and are uncomfortable with uncertainty? Wayne also covers the role of trust, building a culture fit for hybrid and proximity bias. Summary blog post: https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/challenges-of-hybrid   Find out more about the book here: kevineikenberry.com/products/the-long-distance-leader Check out Wayne’s website too: wayneturmel.com And if you’d like to hear more from the authors, listen to Wayne in episode 238 or hear from Kevin Eikenberry in episode 181.

In today’s episode, host Pilar Orti catches up with Frédérique Lloyd Bougreau, about how she transformed her career and lifestyle by setting up a Pilates studio in rural France. They talk about cultural adaptation, building a business in a new environment and the Importance of movement and exercise as we progress through life.  Frédérique’s contact details are over at her website: https://www.pilatesbienetre.com/contact.html As always, you can find Pilar over at www.virtualnotdistant.com 

For today’s Recommendations episode, Pilar is joined by Catherine Nicholson, co-founder and creative director of The Virtual Training Team. Before they move onto this month’s reading and listening recommendations, Catherine talks about her recent interest: the blend of generations in the workplace, and how to make the most out of them. Recorded on 7 August 2024 For the full set of show notes, head over to  https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/generations-workplace

In this episode Pilar talks to Justin Gignac, co-founder of Working Not Working, and Nicolina Jennings, the company's VP and Managing Director. Our guests share the origins and evolution of Working Not Working, and how what they’ve learned about engagement and belonging led to their new platform NTRNL. They make a strong case for increasing employee retention by creating an infrastructure that makes internal opportunities - and hidden talents-  visible to all. You can find a summary over at www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/working-not-working Check out Working not Working https://workingnotworking.com  and NTRNL  https://workingnotworking.com/ntrnl 

We are joined by regular guest Theresa Hollema who has been doing some thinking with host Pilar Orti on the topic of Bonding within remote teams, versus Bridging, where team members create bonds with other parts of the organisation. Plus, Theresa has her own reading and listening recommendations to add to Pilar’s. You can connect with Theresa on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/theresasigillitohollema/ And check out the resources on her website: https://virtualacrosscultures.com/ Let us know what you thought of the episode over at www.virtualnotdistant.com/contact You can find an summary of the first part, plus all the links we refer to here:  ww.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/bridging-remote-teams 

A new player has entered the field in the world of work: generative AI. As remote teams increasingly rely on asynchronous communication, have AI chatbots become go-to resources for quick answers and idea validation? What does this mean for our workplace relationships and social skills? Maya Middlemiss and Pilar Orti discuss! For more detailed show notes head over to www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/chatbots  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/ .

Host Pilar Orti talks to Henry O'Loughlin, founder of Buildremote. As he shares his journey from running a fully remote marketing agency to creating Buildremote, Henry discusses the pitfalls many companies faced during the pandemic and how his experience led him to develop a "remote operating system" playbook. The conversation evolves into a thought experiment looking into the future of work, exploring concepts like the four-day workweek, the growing trend of freelancing and the creator economy, ending in a not-too-distant future where traditional employment structures become networks of one-person businesses collaborating globally. Connect with Henry on LinkedIn linkedin.com/in/henry-olaughlin/ Check out the Remote Operating System at Buildremote buildremote.co For a summary blog post, check out https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/work-evolution  05:05: Four-Day Workweek and Remote Work Connection 08:03: Future of Work and Questioning Traditional Practices 17:49: Freelancing and the Creator Economy 26:12: Resistance to Change in Traditional Work Structures 28:22: Challenges of Managing Part-Time and Freelance Workers 30:18: Remote Work: Learning Curve and Comparisons

In today’s episode, Pilar Orti welcomes regular guest Mark Kilby onto the show, to find out how he’s using generative AI. They share their personal experiences, preferences, and cautionary tales surrounding various AI tools. Plus, they have plenty of reading, listening and tool recommendations for you this month! Recorded on 24 April 2024, so some of the tools have evolved since then. For the show notes, check out: https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/may-recommendations You can connect with Mark Kilby on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/mkilby/ Or message him through his website: www.markkilby.com And if you’d like to keep up with his thoughts and work, subscribe to Differability https://differability.works/ Connect with Pilar over at https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/contact-us 

Today’s show notes are a little bit different. We’d like to keep Jack’s story in his own words as much as possible, so we’re sharing a polished version of the transcript over at:  https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts /jack-nilles-telework  Talking to our host Pilar Orti, Jack takes us on a journey through the very early days of telecommuting, sharing the challenges and triumphs he experienced while pioneering this new concept. From convincing skeptical companies to adopt telework to exploring the societal benefits of reduced traffic congestion and pollution, Jack's story is a fascinating glimpse into the birth of a movement that continues to shape our world today. LINKS: Get in touch with Jack through his website (you can email him from there) https://www.jala.com/ Jack’s blog: https://www.jalahq.com/blog/ WORK DIFFERENT, the documentary https://www.nfb.ca/film/work-different/ You can connect with Pilar on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/pilarorti/ Or message her through https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/contact-us 

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