21st Century Work Life - WLP176 Virtual Distance

WLP176 Virtual Distance

07/26/18 • 57 min

Really connecting with our core consulting work at Virtual Not Distant, today is all about virtual teams – we talk about the idea of ‘virtual distance’, and how there are many ways that distance and closeness can be created.

Also coming soon, look out for Pilar’s book, Online Meetings that R.O.C.K. – expanded and advanced and taking longer than expected due to fantastic insightful feedback from beta readers, find out what changed about the ‘C’! It’s going to be worth the wait.

07.15 What do you mean by that: Virtual Distance, with Dr Karen Lojeski

We really enjoyed this conversation with Karen Lojeski, founder and CEO of Virtual Distance International, and author of The New Rules of the Virtual Workplace.

Virtual Distance describes what gets lost, when the human is translated through a machine. Karen’s original research found out that this could be measured and understood – and that it definitely impacts on relationships and collaborations to a measurable extent.

But it is NOT dependent purely on physical distance – that is merely one dimension in a complex system, involving operational and affinity distance as well. When virtual distance is high we damage innovation, trust and performance. And it doesn’t only apply at work...

After all these are human factors, the technology is much less important. As Karen explains, "We often mix up the notion of the computer as a tool with the computer as somehow being smarter than the person and it just couldn't be further from the truth."

We are so much more complex and significant and interesting, the machines don’t come close.

Check out both of Karen’s inspiring books on virtual team leadership.

39.05 Recommended tools: Voicedream

A little while ago in episode 173 we discussed the medical affliction we affectionately described as ‘homeworkers bum’, a syndrome exacerbated by work which involves lots of reading and research.

It’s not easy to read whilst doing anything but sitting down, but Voicedream is an app which reads written text aloud. It’s not perfectly ‘human’ of course, but this is a technology which is rapidly evolving and will surely improve. But for now this is a nice app which can sync with Pocket (which we discussed in episode 172), so it helps you get through your reading queue more quickly, even when you’re out for a walk.

42.36 Oh No, my team’s gone remote, and I know we’ll grow more distant, but I don’t know how!

Instead of our usual talking head format, Pilar gives us a little exercise to complete, to help us plan or reflect upon the virtual distances within our teams – and perhaps lead to improvements in how you work together.

Here’s the diagram you will need, to work through the exercise whilst thinking about YOUR team. You can find Pilar’s diagram for this at https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/virtual-distance.

How do the different expectations and behaviours impact on your work, and how interdependent are your activities? You can score yourself on the many different dimensions of virtual distance, to see how you’re doing.

If you do this as individuals within a team, how do your ratings compare? How do you think they will evolve over time, if you are transitioning to new ways of working?

And can you see how little of the whole picture has to do with physical distance?

Remember to review, reflect and learn, from your exercise into virtual distance. Please let us know how it went for you, and make sure you’re subscribed for future episodes.

07.15 What do you mean by that: Virtual Distance, with Dr Karen Lojeski

We really enjoyed this conversation with Karen Lojeski, founder and CEO of Virtual Distance International, and author of The New Rules of the Virtual Workplace.

We are so much more complex and significant and interesting, the machines don’t come close.

Check out both of Karen’s inspiring books on virtual team leadership.

39.05 Recommended tools: Voicedream

A little while ago in episode 173 we discussed the medical affliction we affectionately described as ‘homeworkers bum’, a syndrome exacerbated by work which involves lots of reading and research.

42.36 Oh No, my team’s gone remote, and I know we’ll grow more distant, but I don’t know how!

If you do this as individuals within a team, how do your ratings compare? How do you think they will evolve over time, if you are transitioning to new ways of working?

And can you see how little of the whole picture has to do with physical distance?

Remember to review, reflect and learn, from your exercise into virtual distance. Please let us know how it went for you, and make sure you’re subscribed for future episodes.

Previous Episode

WLP175 Networks and Constellations

In today’s busy episode we look at the networks and constellations that surround us in our work, the human kind and the virtual respectively. Some great guests and conversations come your way, as we connect with unique expertise in the remote working space.

And special thanks to previous guest Gant Laborde for sending us some great new connections, as well his own podcast Building Infinite Red - we love to hear your feedback, so please connect with us over at Virtual Not Distant!

3.04 The Voice Behind the Book – David Burkus

It’s always a pleasure to talk with David Burkus, award-winning speaker, business school professor, and author of “ Friend of a Friend: Understanding the Hidden Networks that Will Transform Your Life and Your Career”. David is an old friend of this podcast, and joined us back in episode 137.

His latest book looks at the fundamental principles of network science, based on 50 years of experimental evidence, to analyse universal truths you can make use of in any setting. It’s definitely not yet another book about how to ‘do’ networking – but by better understanding the principles in play, you can enrich the way you connect with others and grow your social capital, whilst maintaining authenticity in your interpersonal relationships.

And as we keep saying, it’s not about the platform or the tool – but you can use various modes of technology to supplement your networking. Getting out of your comfort zone matters too – truly effective networking is always unscripted.

Finally, you need to know that David is a past master at networking a book launch, building a great marketing ecosystem and bonus product selection around the content, and being very clear about how people will benefit from it. (Sign up on the title link above, to observe this in action). And as he does point out, writing a book about networking is a great way to grow your network!

Make sure you check out David’s website for more information, and his TEDx talk, ‘How to Hack Networking’.

27.17 Satellite, Cluster and Nebula Teams: What do you mean by that?

And again it’s great to welcome another returning guest (from episodes 77 95 and 117!); our good friend from Virtual Team Talk Mark Kilby is an agile coach and author, and explains he needed better ways of describing different configurations of team set-up.

Satellite teams revolve around a central hub – like a main office, where most are colocated.

Clusters happen in larger organisations, with groups coalescing in different locations. Clusters may be near (perhaps even by floors in a building), or far distant from each other, perhaps by many time zones.

Nebulas are truly out in space – genuinely diffuse clouds of people, remote, collaborating and communicating completely virtually.

Mark and Joanna Rothman will explain more in their upcoming book “From Chaos to Successful Distributed Agile Teams”, and we’ll welcome then back to be future ‘voices behind the book’ to hear more.

33.19 Tools: Linoit

Lino.it is one of the simplest online planning tools, completely browser-based and no account necessary (though there is a mobile app). The beauty is in just being able to share a link and have everyone jump in and start collaborating. It’s very simple and frictionless to use.

It’s great for brainstorming, thought-dumping, idea capture – using virtual post-it notes, which you can move and pin and cluster at will, with intuitive drag-and-drop ease.

And it’s free – what’s not to like?

36.10 Oh no, my team’s gone remote... And I’m afraid we’ll lose visibility within the organisation!

Just as it’s important to stay visible to each other as you transition to an office-optional setting, you may also need to initiate and engineer opportunities for connection and collaboration between your team and the rest of the organisation, indeed, your wider industry and world.

You can become more conscious of your networks and connections, and use the tools and opportunities you’re given, both to make your own team’s activities visible, but also to pick up on what else is going on, and further potential for collaboration. How can you map your network, and see who is already connected to whom, formally or informally? As with much in the remote working world, intentionality is important.

Next Episode

WLP177 Facilitation and Being a Professional Facilitator - and wearing pyjamas when working from home.

Pilar is taking flexible working to the shores of Eastern Spain this week! A good viewpoint from which to reflect on facilitation, and the differences involved in this practice, from training and coaching.

We hope you agree, and we’re always curious to hear your feedback, but right now we’re asking you about it especially in a survey – please could you spare 5 minutes, to check out http://virtualnotdistant.com/hello.

07.12 21st Century Work-life: Andi Roberts PCC, CPF

The letters after Andi’s name stand for Professional Certificate of Coaching, and Certified Professional Facilitator (Pilar met Andi at an International Association of Facilitators meeting – so the networking is great, in these supportive professional communities, but more importantly they benchmark competencies and experience in both cases).

He explains that the expertise of the facilitator is to manage the process, of the meeting or project – not to be a subject matter expert, but to really understand and make the most of the human dynamics. His skills in training and coaching are valuable to combine and offer in combination, to ensure a client’s complex needs are comprehensively addressed. Listening, asking powerful questions, and knowing how to give feedback, are overlapping skills which can be engaged.

Andi has some great reflections about the different attributes of online and face to face facilitation engagements, and how to plan and make the most of hybrid projects – supporting change management over time, and making flexible use of emerging collaboration tools.

We also really enjoyed his thoughts about how leaders grow and develop changing skillsets within a team, and how the facilitation and coaching needs evolve with those different levels.

Check out Andi’s website at http://masterfacilitator.com/, and especially the Leadership Development model at http://masterfacilitator.com/leadership-development/. And of course you can connect with Andi at https://twitter.com/andi_roberts, where he is very active and engaged, demonstrating amazing networking skills in the new economy.

You can also explore the organisations behind Andi’s professional accreditations here: https://www.iaf-world.org/site/ and https://www.coachfederation.org.uk/.

27.09 The Voice Behind The Blog, Richard Chapman https://thefieldoffacilitation.wordpress.com/about/.

Richard recorded this segment for us to introduce the excellent set of resources he has created and shared on his blog, The Field of Facilitation, based on his more than 20 years of experience working with teams.

This comprehensive toolset is free to use under creative commons licence, reflecting Richard’s passionate belief in the importance of effective conversation and conversation to drive change, and the vital role of facilitation in enabling this.

It is a dynamic resource, and Richard welcomes feedback and suggestions to keep it updated and valuable to the community.

30-32 Article review: The First Rule of Working from Home: Never Wear Pyjamas!

https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2018/apr/11/rules-working-from-home-never-wear-pyjamas

Maya and Pilar discuss this article from a fashion(!) editor at The Guardian...

Whilst overlooking the mild irritation at the way working from home still has to be singled out as quirky and strange – even requiring its own dress code and instructions apparently – we enjoyed chuckling over this article, especially the lady who puts on party dresses to work from home to make herself happy. Because, why not!

The reality here at Virtual Not Distant is often more ‘webcam smart’ – as formal as you need to be from middle up! But of all the things to think about when planning an office-optional approach, this is probably not a big deal to get hung up about.