This is an extract from The Remote Worker’s Guide to Time Management, co-authored by Pilar Orti and GPT-4 under the pen name Sam Byte. To be released in January 2024. Pre-order the Kindle version here. Gone are the days when work and life were viewed as opposing forces, demanding an intricate act of juggling. Today, the narrative is shifting. It's no longer just about finding “balance” between these two worlds; it’s about exploring a spectrum of possibilities that range from integration and harmony to negotiation and fit.  (It’s not the first time we explore this topic at Virtual not Dist ..read more

In a recent podcast episode, Pilar spoke to both Tammy Bjelland and Theresa Sigillito Hollema about career progression of remote employees in hybrid organisations, and of virtual team members in global teams. Here’s a short summary of both conversations, which you can find in full in episode 337 of the 21st Century Work Life podcast published on 5 October 2023. If you would like to read an extensive summary of that conversation, follow this link. Remote Employees: Flexibility and Career Advancement In the modern work landscape, flexibility stands as a cornerstone of employee satisfaction and ..read more

This is a chapter from “All the World’s a Workspace”, where Pilar Orti and GPT-4 adapt Shakespeare’s work to present an overview of remote work today. If you would like to know when the book comes out, send us a message through the Contact Form with the message “Shakespeare please”. At some point, we’ll set up a proper way for registering your interest. In Act V, scene 1 of the tragedy Macbeth, Lady Macbeth delivers the very well known set of lines known as the "Out, damned spot" speech. (In the original text, a Doctor and Gentlewoman interject as they watch Lady M. have a nervous breakdown, b ..read more

This post has been written by Eva Rimbau-Gilabert, respected academic and advocate for remote work, and regular guest of the 21st Century Work Life podcast. She is an Associate Professor at the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (Open University of Catalonia) and lectures on a wide range of HR topics. You can read the original post, in Spanish, here. A culture of immediacy is characterised by immediate responsiveness and constant availability, and is often facilitated by communication technologies such as email, instant messaging and meeting tools.  In a workplace with a culture of immediacy ..read more

Oh, sweet asynchronous communication, Thou art the bane of time and place, For thou doth allow us to converse Regardless of distance or space. With thee, we can send messages at will, And await replies at leisure, For thou doth not require us to be still, But rather to take our time with pleasure. Thou art the savior of remote teams, Allowing us to collaborate and plan, Despite being miles and oceans apart, With thy help, we can work hand in hand. Thus, I salute thee, asynchronous communication, Thou art the backbone of remote teams, For thou doth allow us to connect and communicate, Regardle ..read more

Remote work based on having meetings back to back is not sustainable. Asynchronous communication is an integral part of online collaboration, and there are many benefits to adopting an asynchronous mindset. Find them in this post, written by Pilar and Simon, and let us know what you think of the cartoon! Many people have now experienced remote work. They like it. They enjoy the flexibility of being able to plan their day away from others. They enjoy choosing the location in which they work best. But teams are still struggling with what seems a utopian concept: online collaboration.  For m ..read more

In this post, Pilar shares a question we posed on LinkedIn about how to create a healthier balance between synchronous and asynchronous interactions in teams and the responses we received from our network. You might be old enough to remember writing letters with pen and paper. (You might even still do that on special occasions, or with special people…) You would write a letter to me, send it in the post, I would get it a few days later, read it, and then reply to it in my own time. That’s a perfect example of “asynchronous communication”. As our methods of communication have changed, and ..read more

I recently came across this piece of research, on psychological safety in virtual teams: How to create psychological safety in virtual teams by Alexandra Lechner, Jutta Tobias Mortlock The study took place BEFORE the pandemic, so it gives us an idea of what online teamwork might look like in a sustainable environment. With a small sample size of 16, the learnings are broad enough to give everyone insight and guidance into what to pay attention to. Here's a quick summary, with quotes from the paper in italics, and my commentary following them. The Challenges "Based on our interviews we first i ..read more

Back in 2018, we used to have a section in the 21st Century Work Life podcast dedicated to our favourite online tools for work and collaboration. This feels like ages ago, but most of them are still around, and are still relevant today. There are flashier versions of some of them, and most have very strong competitors, but we’re still fond of them. Here’s our original commentary, with some updates, and the accompanying episode timecodes. You can listen to the episodes from this post, or you can look for them in your favourite podcast app. 1. Pocket A neat little clipping/read later service ..read more

In this post, Pilar shares a question we posed on LinkedIn about how to create a healthier balance between synchronous and asynchronous interactions in teams and the responses we received from our network. You might be old enough to remember writing letters with pen and paper. (You might even still do that on special occasions, or with special people…) You would write a letter to me, send it in the post, I would get it a few days later, read it, and then reply to it in my own time. That’s a perfect example of “asynchronous communication”. As our methods of communication have changed, and ..read more