21st Century Work Life

Nearly 200 episodes in, we have seen plenty of our own transformations both at Virtual Not Distant and the 21st Century Work Life podcast - and today we explore how organisations are adapting and changing, as the digital landscape does the same. First, a quick follow up from previous episodes - we found this great article about one of our frequently-used collaboration hubs, so make sure you check...

In this episode, Maya and Pilar call for a halt to some of the remote madness! Where's that 'reset' button... But first to follow up on the ongoing Twitter conversation from our last episode, about whether remote is suitable for everyone - thank you Bart and everybody who joined in, and do check out Maya's recent article about this idea of challenging your own assumptions, on Medium - because it a...

Welcome, from the team at VirtualNotDistant.com Can you contribute to our 200-episode anniversary show? We'd like to hear about your celebrations, within your team/community… Please send your words or even audio to Pilar  so we can celebrate celebrations together!  We love to hear from our listeners and bring multiple voices and points of view onto the show whenever we can. We have some great conv...

It's Friday and we are Fickle! Pilar shares her conversation with Theresa Sigillito Hollema on creating task interdependence in virtual teams. Check out Theresa's culture cubes: http://www.interact-global.net/category/working-across-cultures/culture-cubes/ Over on Twitter, at @Virtualteamw0rk thanks to Tim for his feedback https://twitter.com/planetburgess/status/1116813859627520001 on Maya's arti...

21st century work-life has many differences from the traditional paradigm, and one of these differences is the many ways we can use technology to make our work visible to others.  Even when we're working remotely the internet can remove the walls, and we can decide consciously whether and at what point our work will be of value to others if we choose to share it.  It's all about visible teamwork –...

Welcome, to all listeners - our audience is a vital part of this podcast, so please stay involved, we love to hear from you. Don't forget to tell us about your favourite tools, how you use them, books and podcasts which have inspired you… email , or drop us a quick note , it's always great to have more listener voices on the show.  Remember how easy it is to share audio files, and they bring a new...

Welcome back A small correction to a recent discussion, when we look at Dr. Heejung Chung 's research about gender and remote work – we're glad to point out that the work we'd referred to as UK only actually had much broader scope, and we strongly recommend checking out the twitter thread with links to the original research:  https://twitter.com/HeejungChung/status/1106489489998991360 . We love ou...

Just Maya and Pilar's voices in today's episode, and a single 'voice behind the book' segment: because this marks the official launch of Thinking Remote: Inspiration for Leaders of Distributed Teams. All these posts are curated from our own Virtual Not Distant blog https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/blog, and Maya selected the initial content following a thorough review. She specifically sought out...

A slightly different show today, with some new sections – we look forward to your feedback. We love reading your comments and tweets, whether about Pilar's recent blog post on Visible Teamwork https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/blog/hello-visible-teamwork , or what you think of book Thinking Remote: Inspiration for leaders and managers of distributed teams (now available in paperback) https://www.v...

Today's episode is all about books! We're celebrating World Book Day ! Pilar gives you a few titles that others recommended on Twitter; she then speaks to Maya, who talks through her book recommendation, and the episode ends with an in-depth chat with Theresa Sigillito Hollema on "The Culture Code". SEGMENT 1 Here are the books recommended by others on Twitter: Company of One Deep Work The Start U...

Today's episode was the direct result of a Twitter conversation, in which Pilar mused about the distinction between collaboration and co-operation https://twitter.com/PilarOrti/status/1095252618941734914 , and Matt Ballantine was among the people who responded – thank you to everyone who joined in this fascinating discussion, and it's great to have been able to continue it on the podcast – how muc...

In today's episode we look at how the very traditional industry of accountancy services is adapting itself to the needs of 21st century clients, when we interview our own accountants! And we also bring you a Wellness segment, and a return to perennial favourite 'Oh No My Team's Gone Remote!"  Thank you for all the feedback on our recent special episode all about Twitter conversations and themes ht...

A bonus episode bringing you some interesting conversations we were involved with on Twitter. Connect with us @Virtualteamw0rk These are the tweets Pilar talks about in this episode: https://twitter.com/katerinabohlec/status/1090963791532212225?s=12 https://twitter.com/katerinabohlec/status/1091101706325245954?s=12 https://twitter.com/cagrisarigoz/status/1091268897179869185?s=12 https://twitter.co...

WLP189 Loneliness and the Remote Worker and Cultural Homelessness Remote work can potentially be lonely - but we have lots of voices on the podcast today for you to enjoy, as we explore this multifaceted topic. Let us know what you think, over at https://virtualnotdistant.com  or tweet @Virtualteamw0rk. And wherever you work, Twitter is always there for company – a great community of flexible and...

Welcome to our first show of 2019, whenever you are listening to this podcast. And don't forget to check out the full shownotes for this and all our other episodes, at https://virtualnotdistant.com/podcast  Do listen to the end today, for exciting updates about upcoming activities. Meanwhile recent episodes of this podcast generated lots of twitter dialogue which we really enjoyed – thank you so m...

Our final podcast of 2018 – Pilar and Maya reflect on trends and changes through the year, and what we're looking forward to in the months ahead, at virtualnotdistant.com. 2018 has been a year of many changes in the workplace and in this podcast too, as we moved to the successful new magazine-style format in May. And the year has brought many other changes, including in workplace culture - we disc...

Following yesterday's episode, Pilar saw a few tweets she wanted to share with you, after she reached out to @erimbau to ask her about this article (article in Spanish, tweets in English!):   https://mba.americaeconomia.com/articulos/entrevistas/eva-rimbau-de-la-universidad-oberta-de-catalunya-un-3-de-los-empleados Here are the quoted Twitter threads: On telework: https://twitter.com/erimbau/statu...

Today's unusual episode brings us an interview originally recorded for another show, but it's a great fit for our audience here, with whom we often share and discuss interesting research findings from the changing world of work. Journalism and scientific evidence have always had an uneasy relationship because results don't usually fit neatly into soundbites. Headlines can be very misleading. Libsy...

Today Pilar interviews her colleague and co-host Maya, who is wearing her 'non – Virtual Not Distant hat', and speaking in her role as CEO of BlockSparks OÜ. This business has some unique 21st Century Work-Life aspects, which we felt it was time to discuss. 06.30 21st Century Work-Life: Maya Middlemiss, CEO of BlockSparks ÖU – "your creative communications partner for the blockchain world" Apart f...

Former co-host of this show Lisette will be familiar to long-term listeners, who might have wondered where she'd got to – well, wonder no more! She was busy writing "Work Together Anywhere", which gave us a great excuse to catch up in our featured segment today. And don't forget to join us over on twitter (@PilarOrti or @Virtualteamw0rk), where one discussion this week has been all about what we c...

To mix things up from our usual magazine format we have just one long substantive interview for you today, where we really dig into the detail about how one organisation manages their communications using Slack. We're sure you'll find it interesting to go really in-depth into this example, and reflect on how you select and use tools within your own organisation. And a quick shout out to listener S...

A bit of a different show for you today. We share a glimpse behind the curtain, in the production of the 21st Century Work Life podcast, and also tell you about our new in-house podcasting service. 3.08 Helping organisations create their own podcast. Having an in-house podcast not only shares information and updates, it's a great way to ensure continuity in connectedness and communications, making...

Pilar shares her thoughts after attending a "jamming session" in London with other facilitators.  Reflections on how much to control the flow of conversation, the different expectations from an "online session", the imbalance that can occur between participants, moving the responsibility onto participants for staying engaged (if they want to be engaged!) and knowing why we're recording a session. ...

A packed show today, where we look at some of the issues concerned with leading and connecting over distances – as we must in the virtual workplace. Stay tuned for further developments, including our powerful new tool for 'learning out loud' – developing a team podcast together. Meanwhile, on with our own podcast! 3.07 The Voice Behind the Book: Kevin Eikenberry, The Long Distance Leader rules for...

Transitioning to an office-optional approach, creates new opportunities for everyone to contribute – including the vast talent potential on offer from people with disabilities.  Let us know what you think about this important topic, @Virtualteamw0rk, or our contact form https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/contact-us/  05.08 Interview: Jane Hatton, Evenbreak  Jane is the founder and director of Evenb...