WLP300 Part 3: The Evolution and Future of the 21st Century Work Life podcast

This is the third part of episode 300. Find part 1 here, and part 2 here.

In episode 300, some of our guests return to the show to share how they see the world of remote work changing (part 1), how their own ways of working have changed (part 2) and what they'd like this podcast to cover over the next 100 episodes (or is it next 300!).

And if you loved our guests and want to hear more from them, you can find them all in a new show: Work Life Changes and Remote Work in Organisations.

In this episode, we focus on the 21st Century Work Life podcast: how it’s evolved and what it could cover in the future. And our guests have come wise words for you, our listeners.

00.00 mins Pilar shares how the show has evolved over the last 100 episodes. Some of the episodes she mentions are: episode 209 The Journey of the Remote Leader, episode 263 “Remote” is not the Only Challenge, episode 282 Asynchronous Facilitation and Online Collaboration, episode 286 The Challenges of Adopting Asynchronous Communication.

09.05 mins Bree and Pilar talk about the Connection and Disconnection in Remote Teams series and how the conversations around remote work in general changed during the pandemic.

15.39 mins We hear some general suggestions from guests about what they’d like a podcast like ours to cover in the future. Tim Burgess is first, he’s been leading a distributed company for a few years - he would like to hear more “secrets” from people who are in the remote space. Then we hear from Theresa Sigillito Hollema, who as a guest has talked about leading global teams, her speciality. She’s interested in the psychology of working away from each other.

Theresa refers to My Pocket Psych, so its from its host, Dr. Richard MacKinnon, who we hear from next. He’s also appeared on this show as guest, and as part of the Connection and Disconnection series. He would like the show to cover the “how to” for those new to the space (especially if it’s evidence-based). He’s followed by Mark Kilby, who’s also been on this show a lot, (and who Pilar got to meet in person, in London!) and would like a mix of the “how” and the “why”. Then we hear from Pinar Akkaya, it’s the first time she’s guested on this show. She’s looking for inspiration and “what if” scenarios.

24.49 mins Other guests have more specific suggestions. Simon Wilson kicks this bit off. He’d like to hear more - and be involved in conversations - about what asynchronous communication looks like in those teams embracing it, plus deep conversations about organisational culture. We then hear from Ross Winter, our podcast polisher, who would like to hear answers to questions like, Why are we spending so much time looking for connection online? Eva Rimbau Gilabert suggest we cover the transition to hybrid (of which there are many versions), especially when we can back it up with academic research, while Bree encourages us to continue with the diversity of perspectives and deepening the conversation about the future of work.

31.32 mins Finally, the guests have some final words for listeners of the show, and Pilar. We hear from Maya, Simon, Eva, Pinar, Richard, Tim, Ross (and cat!), Bree, Mark, and Theresa, who leaves us with an inspiring aspiration.

And thanks to Anish Hindocha, for contributing to the two other parts of this episode! (By the way, Pilar has “podcastinitis” and hosts many shows!)

And we have some outtakes from 40.03mins for your amusement after our MANY THANKS to all of you!

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Did you enjoy our guests’ contributions? You can hear more from them in a our new show Work Life Changes and Remote Work in Organisations.

And if you would like to connect with our guests, click on their names and the links will take you to their websites or profiles.

Pinar Akkaya
Tim Burgess
Bree Caggiati
Anish Hindocha
Mark Kilby
Dr Richard MacKinnon
Maya Middelmiss
Eva Rimbau-Gilabert
Theresa Sigilito Holema
Simon Wilson
Ross Winter

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