WLP224 What’s Going On and Do Online Meetings Matter?
In today’s episode we bring you news of a publication that regular listeners have been waiting a long time to receive - and we promise, it will reward your patience in waiting.
But first of all:
02:04 What’s going on?
Coronavirus Forces World’s Largest Work-From-Home Experiment - This article reflects a moving target in a fast-moving situation, as it was published 2nd February, but it indicates an ongoing phenomenon. Virtual Not Distant do not advise waiting for a global health crisis as a strategy for transformation, but it’s great if technology can rise to the occasion and encourage people to try new things - so long as they don’t judge the remote-first approach from the outcome of an ad-hoc reactive solution.
Google's Plan to Reduce Its Carbon Footprint - For us, this piece triggered lots of reflection about the carbon footprint of digital ‘things’ in general. We think of remote as very ‘green’, but data, tech and storage does have a cost in terms of energy, when you scale up. Or even how they suck power on your own laptop… See also: Why Irish data centre boom is complicating climate efforts.
Flexible Workers Held Back by Tech Trouble - Some interesting research about how people feel about the tech they use, and when they’re remote they’re typically less ‘supported’ with this than in a colocated office. Do we need better training, or better tech? Possibly both, and there’s a degree of convergence. And we also need a strategy about how we use them to support our collaboration (PSA: Virtual Not Distant can help with this!)
You really need to lock down your Trello boards... right now - Oops. Public Trello boards are just that, meaning search-indexable. And this researcher from Wired found things in some public boards which definitely should not be there. And in other apps too, it’s easily done - so this is a timely reminder to check that you understand how the apps you use are secured, who you are making content visible to at all times, the implications. It might mean digging into some settings and instructions… which is time well spent.
The annual 'State of Remote' research from Buffer - This comprehensive annual report has just been released. Please take part in research like this, policymakers need it! Comparative data now shows that the more remote you are, the happier you are, on balance - including ‘how remote’ your organisation is (hybrid set-ups are more mixed in satisfaction, and this segment is fastest-growing). The challenges and downsides identified will not surprise any of our regular listeners… But there is SO much to dig into in this research, we urge you to check it out and read it in detail.
Don’t forget to share with us ‘what’s going on’ for you, and there’s more news, of course, in our newsletter.
(This topical segment was recorded on 12th February 2020)
25.26 Virtual Not Distant news and feedback (as well as “What’s Coming Up”)
We’re enjoying the feedback for the new series with ShieldGEO on connection and disconnection - segueing beautifully from the Buffer research findings about loneliness. We particularly loved this conversation around the first episode on ShieldGEO founder Tim Burgess’ LinkedIn.
Pilar is running a meetup with Judy Rees for IAF, which is about hybrid conversations - and it’s a hybrid event! So you can attend in London or online, and there’s still time if you’re listening to this early (it’s on February 27th).
The recent event on Remo that Pilar hosted was fully online of course, (thanks Caroline Nicholson). Pilar’s friend Kathe reminded us that remote work does give us the chance to hide away when we want it (yay for us introverts!).
Which brings us to Maya’s recent blog post about Sharing our Moods in Remote Teams (which also led to some really deep LinkedIn discussions about how we think about this stuff, and another quick shout for Chris Coladonato who is also talking about this essential issue of mood.)
Maya will be at this event on February 28th in London about Microsoft Teams - so interesting, the branding of ‘Fall in Love with Teams’ - more evidence for the mainstreaming of the appeal of collaboration.
Don’t forget that you can keep up with us on our business LinkedIn page, as well as connecting with Pilar and Maya there directly, to join in all of these interesting conversations yourself.
46.31 “Online Meetings That Matter” is now available
Pilar’s book is out!
Regular listeners will know this has been a long time in its development, and the final product reflects the authorial choices Pilar made to create a lasting and evergreen resource about the purpose of online meetings, the objectives they serve within the team and its relationships.
Aimed at managers and leaders at all levels, the book also reflects how the role of meetings has evolved within teams (not just online teams), and what kind of conversations and collaborations actually need to happen in meetings (or not). So much can happen in other strands of visible teamwork, that meetings can focus more intently on specific kinds of connection and communication. Technology has enabled this - but the book is very specifically not about the technology.
It’s all about purpose, and the role of meetings within the entire remote collaboration ecosystem. How can meetings unstick lingering problems, what different kinds of meetings do you need? Above all we don’t need to replicate the offline world and its traditional structures. We can use the functionality of the tools available to connect and communicate flexibly, such as through breakout rooms. And we can design the interaction to switch up ownership and roles within the meeting itself, just as we make use of different media and modes.
So, there’s plenty for anyone working with groups in any capacity to learn from and consider in Online Meetings That Matter. Look out for more book updates and reviews, and we can’t wait to hear what you think of it.
And do keep your feedback coming, we really enjoy it - please contact us, or you can tweet Virtual Not Distant, or Pilar and Maya directly, with any of your thoughts and ideas.
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