Hello dear listeners of the 21st Century Work Life podcast. This is a little bonus episode, what some would call, a piece of content marketing, as I’ve put it together to introduce you to our audio-first course, for managers and leaders of remote teams: Navigating Asynchronous Communication. And in this episode, I’ve selected three sections to share with you, to give you a flavour of the course - in case this is something for you, or your colleagues. If you want to check out the copy, head...

In this episode, Pilar talks to Jeanna Barrett, founder and Chief Remote Officer at the fully distributed company FPS. Jeanna shares how she set up the company by following her values and aspiring lifestyle, as well as her approach to company culture, remote operations and how values influence her decisions. For detailed show notes, head over to https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/remote-operations Links: Find Jeanna over on LinkedIn. Check out the Remotely Cultured podcast. ...

Pilar pops in for a quick solo show to let you know how the focus of the show is changing. 

A quick happy new year from Pilar, cradled by the sound of the sea.

It’s the last episode of the year, and it’s very hard to break tradition! Maya and Pilar talk through some of the recent stories around remote work and the world of work and try to make up their minds as to whether we’re moving forward or backwards… Just as they’ve been doing over the last three months, Maya and Pilar comment on this month’s guest, Valentina Thörner the Empress of Remote! What was particularly memorable was her tiara story (of course!) and the way in which she continues to...

In this episode, Valentina Thörner talks about the importance of defining what “remote” means in an organisation, particularly around the dimensions of time and location. For a really good summary, check out  https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/distributed-teams-matrix  Connect with Valentina over on LinkedIn. Subscribe to her newsletter “Remote that Works”.

Hi, Pilar here. This is a very short announcement to let you know that I’ll be releasing soon a book on time management for remote workers. This is an experiment. I am co writing it with Chat GPT, but I think it's wonderful. And I can say that because I’ve mainly been working on this as an editor and coach, and most of the writing has come from Chat GPT. I am now looking for Beta Readers. It's a short book, it's about 20,000 words long, which means about an hour of reading. I'll be able...

Maya and Pilar share their thoughts on the last two episodes, both of which covered different aspects of asynchronous communication. While some organisations are still struggling with incorporating a “good” version of async, others are getting ready to introduce AI. Where will it all end? Links and mentions  They refer back to episode 339 and 340.  Talk about the recent Loom acquisition by Atlassian: https://www.atlassian.com/blog/announcements/atlassian-acquires-loom Pilar mentions the...

With the rise of online communities and digital platforms, the way we share, innovate, and co-create has evolved. Wietske van Osch, together with Burcu Bulgurcu recently published research, exploring the nuances of collaborative creativity in online spaces. Pilar came across the piece in the MIT Sloan Review, and invited Wietske onto the show. This episode is a great example of the power of online communities. Pilar read the article “The Profound Influence of Small Choices in Digital...

In this conversation, Pilar and Sumeet Gayathri Moghe delve into the intricacies of remote work, asynchronous communication, and the challenges of global collaboration. Sumeet also shares why he “worked out loud” as part of the process of writing the book “The Async-First Playbook”.  For the full summary of the conversation, head over to  https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/async-first  Links:  Connect with Sumeet over at LinkedIn. Read Sumeet’s work: www.asyncagile.org ...

In our previous episode, our guests Tammy and Theresa discussed career progression in remote and global teams. In this episode, Maya and Pilar look at another sector of the working population: freelancers, and discuss what’s going on with remote freelancers and remote workers who want to access opportunities in a country different to where they reside. Maya and Pilar explore the world of remote freelancers. Maya's initiative, Remote Work Europe, supports those new to remote work, offering...

Pilar welcomes back Tammy Bjelland, CEO of Workplaceless and Theresa Hollema, author of “Virtual Teams Across Cultures” to talk about career progression in remote and global teams. Tammy covers how organisations can ensure that remote employees don’t miss out on career development in hybrid settings, and Theresa talks about how hard it is for distributed employees to get the attention of HQ for resources and career opportunities and how that adds a type of stress, which has nothing to do with...

We’re trying something different for the next few months for the 21st Century Work Life podcast. Rather than commenting on recent news and articles, Maya and Pilar will look at What’s Going On by commenting and expanding on the themes brought up by the monthly guest-driven episodes. Please let us know what you think of this new format. In today’s episode, Pilar and Maya reflect on the previous episode where guest Jan Nieuweboer, senior consultant of the future of work at Rabobank, shared the...

In today's episode, Pilar talks to Jan Nieuweboer, senior consultant on hybrid work at Rabobank, and spokesperson for the Future of Work and Hybrid Working. He describes how plans for changing the ways of working at Rabobank were accelerated by the pandemic, and how the working model has evolved. For more details and to get in touch with us, head over to  https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts /hybrid-rabobank

We're taking a break from our regular schedule this summer, but Pilar couldn't help it and she's popping in to let you know about some of her plans - including some adapted Shakespeare, which you can follow below.  Please share your thoughts through our contact form. https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/contact-us Why should I love these tools so? 'Tis odds They never will affect me. I am simple, Each tool beckoning with promises untold, And I love all. To master all of them is futile; To...

In this episode, Pilar talks with Julieta Moreno, an international employment and mobility lawyer. Julieta shares her experiences working with employment of record (EOR) companies, which help businesses employ resources in countries where they don't have an entity, taking care of the administrative and legal aspects of maintaining an employee's legal employment status in their respective countries. For the full show notes, head over to www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/remote-termination  

In today’s episode, Maya and Pilar cover the State of the Global Workplace 2023 report by Gallup and the Forbes article Our Changing Psychological Contract at Work, by Keith Ferrazzi. Pilar introduces a concept from a book "No Hard Feelings," by Liz and Mollie, which discusses reasons why employees may lose motivation: lack of control over their work, absence of meaningful work, lack of learning opportunities, and disliking coworkers. (If you would like to hear more about the book,...

Lech Guzowski, a workplace culture facilitator, emphasizes understanding individual needs and responses to conflict for effective workplace communication. He uses the Thomas Kilmann conflict model to explain different ways people respond to conflict based on their levels of assertiveness and cooperativeness. Working remotely can allow for more thoughtful responses to conflict, but it can also hide simmering issues. It's therefore crucial to integrate conflict management into work processes...

This episode covers recent research on three different aspects of new and established ways of working: the effect of asynchronous work on folk music creation, the trends in use of online tools and productivity global productivity in the “work from anywhere” economy. (Oh, and we’ve thrown in some numbers from 2017, for you to compare whether anything has changed…) We refer to this content: Asynchronous work can fuel creativity. This episode from the Work from Home Forever podcast, Work...

In this bonus episode, Pilar introduces the Five Principles of Asynchronous Communication:  Team interactions work best when they have one focus: co-ordination, collaboration or connection. Teamwork happens in stages, and these can happen asynchronously or synchronously. Designing together our teamwork supports inclusivity. Asynchronous communication needs calendar time.  Approach new asynchronous practices as experiments: agree, test, and review.  If you are a new manager, or...

Our guest this month is Wayne Turmel, also co-host of Long Distance Work Life. Wayne has been studying remote work for almost 20 years. He now works within the Kevin Eikenbery group helping leaders in organisations. The word “remote” is becoming redundant as working with remote workers is now part of most knowledge workers. Wayne and Kevin have co-written three books: Long-Distance Leader and Long-Distance Team Mate (how to stay engaged and effective when we don’t share the space with our...

Coming out of the forced-remote period is getting messy: mandates to return to the office, forced working from home, diversity at a global level in how remote work is regulated, plus the ever-evolving technology! Recorded on 19 April 2023, this episode also includes guests Guy Van Leemput and Patrick Van Renterghem, organisers of the Brussels Digital Workplace conference.

Today we are joined by Sergey Fedorov (co-founder and CTO) and Tatiana Ivanova (Business Manager) from A1 SolarStore. This is an unusual kind of organisation for us to feature on the podcast because they deal with physical products, and real-world customer installations - but new ways of working are increasingly pervading every kind of industry, as this case study demonstrates. You can find the show notes here: https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/startup-spirit You can learn more...

A special episode, as it was inspired by a message from one of her listeners, who wanted to find out about more about the role of Head of Remote. Pilar reached out to Tyler Sellhorn, a teacher-oriented technologist who maintains the website headofremote.xyz. For the full show notes, head over to https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts /head-of-remote-position

In this What’s Going On episode, Maya and Pilar talk about the range of features in collaboration technology that could affect the way in which we work together, without us even noticing. Recorded on 23 March 2023, you can find the show notes over at  https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/control-the-tech 00.30mins Beware of the technology! 23.30mins Integration of AI 33.00mins Phones, phones, phones 35.50mins We love the tech, really! 40.40mins Other News 47.20mins ...