Remote Resources during the Corona Virus

Dear reader, I hope you are safe and keeping yourself informed about this awful virus sweeping our world.

My inbox has been FLOODED with people asking for help. This resource was created to help you face sudden remote working as well as possible.

And please… stay safe and healthy.

You can DOWNLOAD THESE TIPS (as a PDF) – and pass it on.

(last updated: 19 Mar 2020)

 

Suddenly remote? Start with this!

If you and your team are suddenly remote, start here:

  1. Find a dedicated place in your house. Make this an area where you can be productive and is separate from your private life. Here are examples of what others have done.
  2. Use video. It’s important that your team members can see and hear you well. Have plenty of light and wear a headset.
  3. Create a team agreement. Talk about expectations for how to work together. Templates available here.
  4. Set goals and be enthusiastic. Working remote is all about trust and communication. How will you know what each other are doing? 
  5. Get familiar with the tools. There are great tools available for online collaboration like Zoom, Slack and Retrium. Check out what’s available: tools for remote teams.
  6. Lean in. Start without big expectations, experiment and grow your skills. Put feedback loops in place to evaluate progress. Regular retrospectives on how the team is doing will inspire continuous improvement and trust.

 

Look for inspiration and try new things

There are some fun ways to spend time online! Get inspired by these ideas, and let’s see what we can do together:

Just remember, it’s not likely going to be as good as in-person, but it’s WAY better than nothing. And in these days of social distancing, I’m certain that we can find new ways of being close.

Train your team

Join a Workshop

 

Get your team trained on how to work online together. In these online workshops we explore how to better collaborate online, and the various tools and techniques for building trust and increasing camaraderie in the virtual workplace. You’ll finish the workshop with a Super Action Plan of how to make your team rock remote working.

Contact one of our licensed facilitators and schedule an online workshop for your team. Or join a public workshop –  check out our workshop schedule.

Advanced tips for successful remote working

 

Perfect your game and practice good self care

If you’re working from home for the first time, common advice is to shower and get dressed like you normally would for going to the office. Try and separate your working space from your living space.

Most people tend to overwork instead of underwork. Burnout is a real problem and should be taken seriously. Make sure to take enough breaks and move your body regularly.

 

Managing your remote team

For a remote team to succeed, its manager must both believe that remote teams can succeed and trust that each member will come through as expected.

Focus on making communicating easy and removing your team’s impediments!

 

Team spirit, online? Yes! It’s possible.

There are tools that can help simulate a working environment or even simulating the physical on-site office. Since casual, personal time spent together is so effective at bonding, it’s important that team members also interact socially – separate from their work activities. This view is widely shared.

 

Get good at online meetings

Great online meetings are a combination of great infrastructure and good facilitation. Make sure everyone can be seen and heard. Turn on your webcams and get a good headset: a standard phone headset will do, but if you have a noisy background, it’s worth it to invest in a noise-canceling headset. I know it might seem expensive, but please trust me. It’s worth every penny.

 

Resources for virtual conferencing

Many people are asking how to convert their in-person conferences to remote.

Tools for virtual conferences

  • Digitell is popular for virtual and hybrid conferences
  • Remo
  • VirBELA – supports formal gatherings, but also spontaneous collaboration (video chat supports scheduled meetings but isn’t conducive to other kinds of interactions).
  • Zoom using breakout rooms
  • Try any of the virtual offices for your next virtual conference or gathering

Examples of virtual conferences

  • Remote Forever Summit. “World class experts in agile, leadership and remote work share their best strategies and techniques to help you sharpen your agile coaching skills, become a better leader and get equipped to improve your remote teams and distributed organizations.” (https://remoteforeversummit.com)
  • Remote Future Summit. “The biggest online conference about remote work, where 50 top experts and influencers will share their best practices on how to effectively tackle the remote revolution.” (https://remote-future.com)
  • Running Remote. “World’s largest remote work event.” (https://runningremote.com)
  • The Remote Work Summit. “World’s largest remote work conference” (https://www.theremoteworksummit.com/)

 

The Work Together Anywhere Handbook

There is no one right way to work well remotely. It’s a matter of experimenting and finding what works best for you. There are tips from over 100 remote teams in this book to inspire your journey.

“Sharing powerful advice gleaned from professional experience, extensive research, and interviews with workers and manager/owners around the world, the Work Together Anywhere Handbook sets out a complete blueprint for optimizing team success.”

 

Working Remotely… Successfully, The Webinar

Free webinar on how to perfect your own game – and how to work with others online.

Even more community resources

Thank you to everyone in the remote working community who are contributing to helping as many people as we can make the best of an awful situation.

TEDx Kaunas – Work Together Anywhere

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  • What the pros are doing
  • Best practices / tips for being location independent
  • How to feel comfortable working from anywhere
  • How to build camaraderie on your remote team