hybrid-remote - Differability

When Hybrid-Remote, Help Community Care For Community

Many experts recommend that hybrid remote events succeed when we separately handle the needs of colocated individuals and the needs of dispersed individuals. This may get you through the event, but it introduces long-term problems in the organization. Any sense of us-vs-them becomes amplified when we take care of the

hybrid-remote

Who Takes Care of the Caretaker?

Many organizations continue to move forward with plans to bring people back into the office. Sometimes, this “move forward” feels more like one step forward and three steps back. This stumble forward cannot be completely the fault of the organization. Not many of them planned to go remote. Also, the

hybrid-remote

Return Gently to the Office - Not Everyone Can or Will Return

In my last two posts, I shared that returning gently included taking small steps and returning with reflection. Someone shared with me that some large consultancies see similar opportunities to reflect and re-architect the work. I see a bigger impact coming in the post-covid rush to go back to the

hybrid-remote

Return Gently to the Office - Rebuilding with Reflection

I hope many of you are reflecting on “returning gently” to the office. We might want to rush back to “normal”. However, in my last post, I shared how an unexpected shoulder injury reinforced my need to take small steps to get back to some kind of normal. This epiphany

hybrid-remote

Return Gently to the Office - Rebuild Routines Slowly

Can you feel it? We are so close to going “back”. Or are we? Whenever I faced something major that disrupted my normal routines, I’ve found that it takes much longer to get back to “normal”. That Sudden Jolt A few years ago, I experienced a shoulder injury. Walking

hybrid-remote

The key to better hybrid-remote work environments

In my prior posts, you may get the impression I don’t see hybrid remote as a viable path. You would be partially correct. As I stated in a past blog post, many people now see hybrid remote as THE solution to moving back into offices after the pandemic. They

hybrid-remote

Is hybrid-remote going backward or forward?

As new vaccines emerge and political transitions move forward (deep breath), I still hear many talking about “going back” to the way things were. Instead, I suggest we might look at what opportunities 2021 will provide us. Are you hearing “going back” conversations? The “going back” conversations take many forms.

hybrid-remote

Your Next Workplace - Any, all or inclusive remote?

We are all ready to go back to the office. Or are we? As mentioned in my previous post on resilience, your next workplace may adjust work hours and workspaces to help “keep our distance”. Hygiene may influence office schedules and space layouts next. But what will teamwork look like?

hybrid-remote

Buddy System, Copilots, and Async for Hybrid Remote Work

You may have heard of the working agreement that “when one is remote, all should be remote”. This agreement applies to remote hybrid teams where some team members may be in the office and some team members are either working from home or other locations. Such working agreements encourage all

hybrid-remote

Your Next Workplace - Office, Remote, or Resilience?

2020 presented many twists and turns for all of us, and there are more to come. In August 2017, I began to co-author a book on successful distributed agile teams with Johanna Rothman. Our first chapter was titled “Distributed Agile Teams Are Here to Stay.” We did not realize how

hybrid-remote

Remote Amplifies

Over this first half of 2020, most of the world now knows what long-time remote workers have known for years: Remote amplifies. Remote does amplify some obvious things like distance. But until the last few months, only a few realized that distance is a lever, not the outcome of being

Coaching

A Distributed Team Stroll Through Agile2019

Agile2019 showed a subtle theme of supporting distributed teams this year. As you may have heard in some of the podcasts I’ve joined, our book on successful distributed agile teams was inspired by a stroll on the last day of the Agile2017 conference. On that day, Johanna Rothman and

Agile

Why my Distributed Agile countdown for Agile2018 is 8-3-2-1

I know it’s been quiet on this blog, but much has happened behind the scenes. In fact, there has been a countdown happening as I prepare for Agile2018 next week. * 8 chapters are now available in the pre-release beta version of my book with Johanna Rothman * 3 podcasts are

hybrid-remote

Create your Distributed Team’s Workspace with These Six Tools

Many people ask me what is the best tool for distributed agile teams. It’s the wrong question. What many people miss is that a distributed agile team needs a common workspace and a collection of tools that work together in that space. While the team members may not be

hybrid-remote

Is there a better way to talk about distributed teams?

There is an enormous amount written about distributed teams and I find most of it very frustrating. It’s not that the observations or the ideas are bad. The problem lies with the primary tool we have for exploring the principles and practices of distributed teams: the English language. Terms

Choice

What's the Secret Joy of Working Remote?

While speaking recently at a conference, I realized two important things about the nature of remote work. First, I choose to work remotely. Second, many of the people who work remotely, particularly in large organizations, did not choose this way of working. I had roughly 200 people attend my talk

hybrid-remote

For distributed agile teams, tools come last

Having worked with a number of distributed agile teams over the years, I’m often asked what is the best tool to use. Many people want to find the one tool that will allow their distributed team to work just like a co-located team. I find that there are usually

Facilitation

Why You Want a BackChannel in Distributed Meetings

When I started facilitating my first distributed meetings, I ran into a problem that many encounter: my primary collaboration tool would fail. It usually involved one person “losing connection” or in some cases the whole collaboration software system crashing for everyone. Regardless, it meant that someone in the conversation was

hybrid-remote

Remotely Agile: The Buddy System

Over the last 10 years, while learning how agile methodologies can work in different industries and organizations, I also discovered how I could help distributed teams work as if they were face-to-face teams. So I am starting a series of posts where I hope to share some practical tips for