I had a great time joining Lisette Sutherland (@lightling – collaborationsuperpowers.com) and Pilar Orti (@PilarOrti – virtualnotdistant.com) this past week for some virtual coffee and a live Google Hangout to discuss the changing role of the manager and team leader in virtual teams. The key to successful virtual teams is a leader that can navigate the changing landscape of our current world of work.  What are the qualities and traits of a great virtual manager?  All three of us have varied experience managing and working on virtual teams so it was a fun, interesting exchange of ideas!

There are two ways you can review this information

• Watch the YouTube Video of the Google hangout
• Listen to the Podcast

I hope you enjoy the discussion as much as we did.  If you have any questions or would like to add additional thoughts please post a comment below!

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I am delighted to be joining Lisette Sutherland (@lightling – collaborationsuperpowers.com) and Pilar Orti (@PilarOrti – virtualnotdistant.com) this coming Wednesday for some virtual coffee and a live Google Hangout to discuss the changing role of the manager and team leader in virtual teams. The key to successful virtual teams is a leader that can navigate the changing landscape of our current world of work.  What are the qualities and traits of a great virtual manager?  All three of us have varied experience managing and working on virtual teams so it should be a fun, interesting exchange of ideas!

Join us Wednesday March 4th at 9:30 EST / 14:30 GMT / 15:30 CET. To join us and comment through Google Hangouts, register here: https://plus.google.com/events/cv2gj9g3ei206vqq8lar2odbrv4

Or you can watch from this page or right on YouTube.

We hope you can join us for this event.  If you have any questions you would like to ask about virtual leadership feel free to leave a comment below or send them to me on Twitter @philmontero and I’ll be sure to address it during the hangout!

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It was great to get a chance to talk with Lisette. She has over 10 years experience with web-based collaboration tools and online community management and her goal is to get the best people working together regardless of location. A woman after my own heart!

With both our varied experience we had no shortage of things to talk about! We had a great discussion about a variety of topics including The Anywhere Office – what we like about remote working, what the major stumbling blocks are to successful virtual teamwork, tips for managing remote workings, work-life balance, and how to choose the best technology for remote collaboration.

The interview was done via video with Google Hangouts but unfortunately about half way through we had some audio issues.  Lisette had the interview transcribed and posted it to her website today along with the YouTube video of the interview.  You can check out the interview here.

I urge you to sign up for her mailing list and pre-order her book as it will be filled with lots of great tips and best practices for remote collaboration.

The post Thoughtfully applying the right technology – an interview for Collaboration Superpowers: The Field Guide first appeared on The Anywhere Office.

If you’ve read the articles I post on this blog it should come as no surprise to you that I loved the NY Times Bestseller REWORK written by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson of 37 Signals (the company that created the popular  online collaboration and project management software  Basecamp). In REWORK they challenge the usual thoughts and paradigm about work, meetings and what you need to run a successful company. It really changes the way you think about running a business in today’s world of work.

Well it looks like Jason and David have done it again this week with the release of their new book called REMOTE – Office Not Required. This book speaks more directly to the concept of The Anywhere Office® that we discuss and celebrate here on this blog. This short blurb about their book says it all:

As an employer, restricting your hiring to a small geographic region means you’re not getting the best people you can. As an employee, restricting your job search to companies within a reasonable commute means you’re not working for the best company you can. REMOTE, the new book by 37signals, shows both employers and employees how they can work together, remotely, from any desk, in any space, in any place, anytime, anywhere.

While I haven’t had a chance to read the book yet I’m sure their attitude and sense of humor are firmly in place as they tackle the often taboo topic of letting people work where and when they want. If you want to be a company of choice and truly create amazing products (or deliver amazing services) you need to hire and work with the best people. This means not limiting yourself or your choices. I’ve long believed if you hire good people and show them the trust and flexibility to work in a way that is best for them – they will yield amazing results. I’m still amazed that so few companies realize this and still believe in the “command and control” style of management. It is just these outdated concepts that I challenge and address in our online workshop The Art of Virtual Leadership.

Thanks Jason and David for rising to the call and writing this important book. I look forward to writing a more in depth review once I’ve had a chance to give it a read.

Have you read REWORK or REMOTE yet?  Leave your comments below and share your thoughts!

The post REMOTE: Office not required – working in The Anywhere Office first appeared on The Anywhere Office.

This article, How to Avoid Virtual Miscommunication, by Keith Ferrazzi in Harvard Business Review (April 12, 2013) is a spot-on, powerhouse short-list of how to avoid miscommunication with a virtual team or project group.

Ferrazzi displays insight on challenges to virtual communication:

Think about the information you can glean just from the seating arrangement in a physical conference room — who sits next to whom, who’s at the head of the table, who has put a little extra distance between herself and her neighbor, and so on. All those cues are missing in a typical teleconference.

As well as unpacking a list of SIX best practices to achieve shared understanding in virtual communication. Here’s a favorite:

Avoid sloppy e-mailing. A new status symbol in today’s generally more egalitarian business environment has arisen: sloppy e-mails. One provocative study found that many executives have write terse e-mails with half-sentences, bad grammar, and atrocious spelling. The underlying message is that those individuals are far too busy to be bothered with writing perfectly polished text. Unfortunately, sloppy e-mails at best require wasting time trying to decipher them, and at worse cause workplace misunderstandings and costly errors. For offenders who claim they simply don’t have time to write better emails, researcher Jaclyn Kostnerdoesn’t mince words: “I tell them you have to find the time; otherwise, you’re not fit for the job and somebody else should be doing it. Or maybe you need to offload some responsibilities because there’s no excuse for sending people cryptic emails.”

If anyone gave attention to these 6 principles they would unquestionably avoid a whole lot of confusion, frustration, and unnecessary interaction. Do yourself a favor and read the full article here: How to Avoid Virtual Miscommunication – Keith Ferrazzi – Harvard Business Review.

[image courtesy of marketwitharedpen.com]

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In 2000, Wayne Cascio identified five disadvantages of virtual teams, none of which have been resolved by 12 years of technological advances. Overcoming these obstacles isn’t about high-definition video conferencing; it’s about effective leadership that accounts for the nuances of the virtual environment.

Read the article here: How To Beat The Five Killers Of Virtual Working – Forbes.

The post How To Beat The Five Killers Of Virtual Working – Forbes first appeared on The Anywhere Office.

According to Best Practices, LLC’s primary research study, “Building Global Capability: Creating and Maintaining Effective Global Teams,” even global teams with established common processes and online tools can still suffer from failures and disappointments. Despite this, virtual teams can ultimately provide a company access to diverse skill sets and expertise, knowledge and wisdom about emerging markets, and round-the-clock business hours for efficiency.

In order to determine which best practices global leaders are implementing in order to create successful virtual teams, Best Practices LLC drew from extensive primary research that was completed with 59 executives from 56 leading companies. The full 56-page benchmarking report contains more than 100 metrics and 10 executive narratives, providing executives with global responsibility the tools, practices and techniques to help virtual teams work better together and achieve strategically aligned objectives.

Key topics of this primary research include:

• Why companies establish global teams
• How companies measure progress toward globalization
• Tools and practices that accelerate progress
• Practices that facilitate working with other cultures, time zones and workplaces
• How progress of individual global teams is measured
• Top improvement objectives for global teams
• Key lessons learned for managing global teams
• The biggest pitfalls to avoid in global team management

To learn more about this report, download a complimentary excerpt at http://www3.best-in-class.com/rr1016.htm.

The post Work around the Clock: How Global Virtual Teams Are Re-Defining the Productivity Paradigm for Leading Companies first appeared on The Anywhere Office.

Take a good look at any company or corporation that has been successful at doing business for any length of time and you will undoubtedly discover that they all had their own particular set of systems and processes for managing the daily functions of business: payroll, inventory, invoicing, general bookkeeping, HR and so on. Look a little further and you might even find step-by-step processes and rules in place that govern how they develop and launch new products or services or market themselves to the world.

Systems are a necessary part of keeping control and assuring quality within a business that has more than just a few employees. But when systems are allowed to become etched in stone, forever unchanging, a company is in danger of missing out on emerging technologies that could quite likely improve their bottom line and make them more competitive.

Here are six basic rules that every company, no matter what size, should follow to foster and promote an atmosphere of creativity without sacrificing consistency and quality.

It starts at the top – A company’s culture reflects the ideals and beliefs of the owner(s). Those at the top must continually give the message that change is good and that ideas for improvement are welcome. When top management embraces such a philosophy, it’s a sure bet that those underneath will also espouse similar beliefs.

Banish forever “That’s the Way We’ve Always Done It” – Having teams of people responsible for developing dynamic new products and services is only one way a company shows its creative side. Companies must also recognize that the old, tried and true way of doing something is often made obsolete by a new machine, program or process. Stubbornly refusing to even consider any changes to a ten-year old ordering or inventory system is just ridiculous. As new people join a company, they often bring with them ideas and experience gained from former places of employment. Managers need to welcome new ideas for streamlining basic systems, and not view them as a threat to the status quo.

Encourage and promote brainstorming and problem-solving round-table discussions – The power of the group mind is incredible; by sharing frustrations and successes, employees often discover new and even better ways of doing things just by tossing ideas back and forth in a casual meeting. Energize the boring staff meeting by setting aside 15-20 minutes for a no-holds-barred discussion of what’s working and what’s not, and possible ways to improve.

Have a system in place for submitting and reviewing suggestions and ideas – When a clerk has an idea for improving the payroll system that will save the company both time and money, he or she shouldn’t have to move a mountain to get that idea in front of the appropriate decision-maker. Have a well-documented system that is easy to use and make sure everyone knows how to use it. It could be as simple as the time-honored suggestion box on a wall or as elaborate as a series of forms on the company website. Assign a person or a team to be responsible for reviewing suggestions on a regular basis. If there’s a genuine fear that there will be too many off-beat and impractical ideas, make it a requirement for those making suggestions to also provide some facts and/or figures as to the costs and benefits.

Provide feedback – If someone has gone to the trouble to present their ideas logically on the appropriate forms with backing data, then they deserve a response, even if it’s brief. Perhaps they weren’t aware of some key facts that prevent their idea from being implemented, or the cost would be far greater than they calculated. Most people are understanding, and will accept an answer even if it’s not the one they wanted. To just say “no” without comment, or worse – no answer at all – then word gets round quickly that top management isn’t interested in what the rank and file have to say, and morale plummets as a result.

Reward outstanding ideas – Apart from having their suggestions totally ignored, no one likes to see someone else take credit for their idea. If your shipping and receiving team came up with an idea that will literally save tens of thousands of dollars or triples the speed in which your clients get their products, then these people deserve recognition for their cleverness. It doesn’t necessarily have to be a monetary or other tangible reward; sometimes, just a positive mention in the company newsletter, on the website, or in a large meeting can be enough. There is tremendous power in those two words: “Thank You.”

By following these basic guidelines, companies will create an atmosphere where employees feel empowered to make suggestions that they know will be given an honest evaluation, and where proper recognition is given when earned. Such companies are the ones to watch – they have taken extra steps to make their employees feel valued.

Author Biography: Erin Schwartz is a regular contributor to the blog www.123Print.com. The website offers customizable print products for business and individuals. You can get everything required to market a business, including the ability to make your own business cards and design other promotional items.

[image courtesy of jfimages.net]

The post Six Rules to Foster Creativity While Maintaining Efficiency Within Your Business first appeared on The Anywhere Office.

Whitepaper: Effective Team Management A Challenge in the Virtual Workforce

Science-Based Behavioral Assessment Helps Managers Motivate, Develop and Coach Remotely

WELLESLEY, Mass., Feb. 21, 2013 /PRNewswire/ — The virtual workforce in the U.S. ballooned from 9.5 million in 1995 to 13.4 million in 2010, growing to an estimated 20-30 million people currently working remotely at least once per week. According to new whitepaper from global consulting firm PI Worldwide, despite more employees embracing—and even expecting—a distributed work environment, research indicates low levels of confidence in the ability of managers to adequately motivate, coach and develop employees within a virtual environment.

The whitepaper titled, Managing the Challenges of the New Virtual Workforce: The Use of Personality Data to Build and Develop High Performing Virtual Teams, examines the pressures facing leaders to manage and develop teams operating virtually and the benefits behavioral assessment data provides for enhancing communication, collaboration and efficiencies across different time zones and cultures.

“The most successful virtual teams are led by managers who understand what motivates and drives performance at the individual and team levels, assigning people to tasks in line with their natural behavioral styles,” said Nancy Martini , President and CEO of PI Worldwide. “Managers who apply behavioral insights produce teams that function with stronger working relationships, communicate more effectively and deliver on the team’s collective goals.”

According to a Forrester survey cited in the whitepaper, “effective communication” is a top concern for managers of remote teams (49%), followed by “managing projects and deadlines successfully (43%)” and “creating consensus during decision-making (43%).” Martini notes additional challenges of remote team management include:

• Difficulty in building a shared sense of purpose
• Over-reliance on electronic communications
• Low team cohesion and trust
• Less satisfaction with the team experience

In a remote working environment, it can be difficult for team members to build rapport or a sense of camaraderie which can jeopardize productivity. Through behavioral assessments (sometimes called personality assessments), Martini says, managers can uncover the natural behavioral characteristics of team members to better define high performance, facilitate workflow, reduce conflict and improve group synergy.

Read the rest of this article here: http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/whitepaper-effective-team-management-a-challenge-in-the-virtual-workforce-192330671.html 

See the whitepaper here: http://www.piworldwide.com/landing-pages/virtual-workforce-hmpg.aspx

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This guest post was submitted to The Anywhere Office by Jay Ackers of safetyservicescompany.com

Fatigue at the workplace isn’t just a health and safety issue for office managers – it drains productivity. When you are healthy and alert you are happier and motivated to give your best efforts.

I lived this when I lost 60 pounds in the last year through better nutrition, exercise and yes better sleep. After looking at my personal situation, I moved to a quieter neighborhood closer to my office, invested in a sleep mask, ear plugs, white noise machine, regulated my sleep-wake schedule (even on the weekends) and stayed hydrated. I even bought a special alarm clock that gradually wakes me up with light and a phone app that monitors my sleep cycles and waits to wake me up when I’m no longer in deep sleep.

What I learned was my entire day hinged on having a refreshing night’s sleep. I would start working early and was more productive , no longer nodding off at my desk. When my work was over I was more willing to meet friends for a group run; which led to weight loss, a better diet, less stress and even better sleep.

Each positive change made other changes easier and more effective. If you aren’t getting enough sleep, look at your own situation and decide what changes you need to make.

Sleep Problems Cause Disease

The science is behind my conclusions.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) calls insufficient sleep a critically under-addressed contributor of many chronic diseases and conditions such as: cardiovascular diseases, depression, and diabetes.

Not getting enough sleep contributes to the incidence of these diseases and makes them worse and harder to manage once you have them.

In fact 70 million Americans suffer from chronic sleep problems, which leads to deficient functioning during the day and even driving accidents.

Insomnia is difficulty getting or staying asleep or waking up hours early and not getting back to sleep. Insomnia can set in because of stress or be the result anxiety that you won’t be able to sleep.

Longer and better sleep can help diabetics control their blood sugar, contribute to metabolic changes preventing obesity and reduce symptoms of depression.

Recommended Solutions

Go to sleep and wake up at the same time every day in a dark, quiet bedroom without any distractions and with a comfortable bed.

It’s also helpful to eat well in advance of bedtime.

Keep a diary of your sleep habits to help find where sleep problems may occur. The diary should include when you go to bed and when you go to sleep, when you wake up and when you get out of bed. Also track naps, exercise and when you consume alcohol and caffeine.

Author Biography: Jay Acker’s Safety Services Company, is one of the leading providers of third party authorization services for prequalifiers like ISNetworld (TM) along with a complete set of safety training materials.

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