Estimated reading time: 7 minutes, 30 seconds   Teams are expanding not only in size and demand, but also across geographic area. Depending on how far apart team members are located, there could be several time zones to consider when scheduling, planning, and meeting together. Successfully working across time zones requires leaning into async practices and collaboration tools, as well as building and nurturing relationships across distances.  Developing a remote work culture that is effective and connected can be particularly tricky when you rarely see your teammates in person—o ..read more

Estimated reading time: 4 minutes   Incorporating async work is a critical component of successfully adapting to the future of work. Asynchronous communication helps teams save time, increase productivity, reduce burnout, and empower autonomy—just to name a few important benefits. However, the ease of shifting to async-first best practices can vary based on an individual’s role within an organization. The Placeless Taxonomy provides a framework for selecting synchronous and asynchronous communication channels depending on the goal of the work tasks. However, this communication hierar ..read more

Estimated reading time: 4 minutes   Since our founding in 2017, the world of remote work has dramatically changed. Remote-friendly opportunities have grown exponentially due to the ongoing impact of a global pandemic. While this rapid shift reflects the innovation and resilience of all professionals involved, the processes developed in a moment of crisis will need thoughtful adaptation going forward. Emergency and transient remote work don’t develop the habits needed to make remote work sustainable and equitable in the long term.  Our commitment to companies and professionals th ..read more

Effective communication is a critical tenet of successful teams. Fully remote and hybrid teams encounter unique challenges that result from the lack of in-person cues available in fully co-located teams. These communication challenges common to remote and hybrid teams include: Misaligned preferences, norms, and needs Information overload Overcommunication  Micromanagement Interruptions to productivity flow Communication gaps Misunderstandings There’s no shortage of communication tools that aim to solve these communication challenges. Yet an overabundance of tools can lead to new communi ..read more

Updated November 29, 2021   While we hope you’ve been showing appreciation to your remote teams throughout the year, we've reached the season where gifts can be a capstone token of appreciation for your employees’ contributions through what has assuredly been a difficult year. Our team has pulled together a robust list of gift ideas that are specifically for professionals who work from home or as a part of distributed teams. We’ve focused on physical gifts as well as virtual presents for teams. Since we’re a small business ourselves, we aimed to include fellow small businesses throug ..read more

Estimated reading time: 6 minutes   Myth: Working remotely inhibits innovation. Critics of remote work often make the claim that creativity and innovation are more effective when they occur in office settings.  However, this claim lacks evidence. Now that a global workforce has been experimenting with remote work for nearing two years, the research is in: remote work can be an advantage for innovation.  Scientific American reports “extensive research shows that hybrid and remote teams can gain an innovation advantage and outcompete in-person teams by adopting best practices ..read more

Estimated reading time: 4 minutes   It’s nearing the end of 2021 and professionals are searching for more flexible work, which is empowered by asynchronous communication. Yet employees also continue to feel overwhelmed by information, which can be exacerbated by ineffective async communication.  Teams often look to new tools to solve their communication problems. In some instances, a shift to or inclusion of a new async-focused tool stack is exactly what the team needs. However, it’s critical to also evaluate how your team uses and is aligned on the use of their existing communi ..read more

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes   Flexibility is the name of the game. Employees demand it. Companies know they need to embrace it. Yet, the way leaders are currently going about making changes are rushed, not thorough, and unsustainable. It’s no surprise, since much of the rapid shift has occurred during a global pandemic.  Friendly reminder: Emergency remote working is not sustainable remote working. However, two other powerful dynamics are roadblocks to a sustainable shift to flexible work. First, misalignment on goals and priorities for future hybrid teams at an organizati ..read more

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes, 15 seconds   The TLDR of “The Great Resignation” is that employees are demanding greater flexibility when it comes to their work requirements, and greater ability to bring a balance of health and other priorities to their lives. In response, employers have been quick to reconfigure roles to appear accommodating to flexibility, and specifically to remote location. However, not all remote roles are created equal and when we dig into these companies and teams, we uncover inconsistencies about what remote truly means. For example, the job posting might ..read more

Estimated reading time: 7 minutes   Effective remote and hybrid teams prioritize async communication and collaboration. This might look like: Sending direct messages with the expectation that the person will respond later, not immediately Reducing the number of synchronous meetings in a given week Structuring a blend of async and sync collaboration Autonomous work, powered by async collaboration, means employees can get work done at different times, across time zones, and with flexible schedules. While leaders and individual contributors know they need to work asynchronously, they ..read more