Leading Virtual Teams with Dr Maren Deepwell

This episode is part of my free and flexible course: How to Lead Virtual Teams. Each course topic includes a podcast to listen to, prompts to help you reflect on your practice and inspiration to explore the topic further.  Topic: How we work and onboard new colleagues Listen: In this second course podcast, we discuss definitions of different ways of working and why it matters to be clear when it c...

This episode is part of my free and flexible course: How to Lead Virtual Teams. Each course topic includes a podcast to listen to, prompts to help you reflect on your practice and inspiration to explore the topic further.  Topic: Course Orientation Listen: In the first course podcast, I introduce the topics of the course and show you how to take part. For the orientation session, we'll be focusing...

At the moment, a lot of my work is focused on the upcoming  OER23 Conference . OER23 is the 14th annual conference for Open Education research, practice and policy is organised by ALT, the Association for Learning Technology, in partnership with UHI, the University of the Highlands and Islands. OER23 will bring together the strong Scottish Open Education movement and international participants to...

I read a lot and going to my local library has been a big part of my life as a child, throughout my school and student years. I was lucky to have access to wonderful libraries first in London and later in Oxford, where I sat in the Radcliffe Camera as I finished writing my PhD. In this episode I talk about libraries, reading and generally geek out about the joy of books! Read the first post about...

Recently I talked about Laura Vanderkam’s Tranquillity by Tuesday: 9 Ways to Calm the Chaos and Make Time for What Matters. Now that I have finished the book, and tried out some of the rules for time management, here is a follow up sharing how things went. Read the episode blog post. Find out more about: Virtual Teams Book Free online course starting Spring '23 Coaching with me Resources and blog...

Free taster course: Leading Virtual Teams If you are looking to develop strategies for managing people and projects in this complex, shifting landscape then this course is for you. This course is designed for emerging and established leaders and managers working in a hybrid or fully virtual setting in education and the not-for-profit sector. We will focus on how to develop effective home/hybrid wo...

I am always on the look out for new tools or resources for coaching, and I want to share this one I recently came across in a blog post by Laura Vanderkam: It’s called a ‘List of 100 Dreams’. Read the episode blog post Find out more about: Virtual Teams Book Free online course starting Spring '23 Coaching with me Resources and blog posts

At this time of year, it’s easy to focus on ever busy work schedules instead of activities that help with balance. Here in Cardiff the weather is dreary and grey, and not particularly inspiring even in the lightest hours of the day. Leaving my desk and screens in favour for a proper break feels much easier on sunny days. When I came across a book called Gone for Lunch: 52 Things to do in your lunc...

I’ve really enjoyed reading Laura Vanderkam’s Tranquillity by Tuesday : 9 Ways to Calm the Chaos and Make Time for What Matters. From an anthropological perspective, it’s interesting to read a book rooted in the experiences of a group of people putting the productivity and time management ideas into practice and I especially enjoyed reading why things did and didn’t work for particular individuals...

It’s long been my practice to regularly record what I am up to, and I update my personal archive with links to talks and podcasts and resources that I have contributed to or published elsewhere. I find it useful to have a list that covers most of what I do for reflection, the annual appraisal process and professional development. It’s also a great short-cut for compiling my monthly newsletter, whi...

In this episode I share more about the development of the leading virtual teams course  which is launching in spring 2023. This course translates key parts of my book into practice: Onboarding and setting expectations Fostering a shared team culture Managing people and processes Strategies for succeeding in hybrid workplaces in the long term I am working hard to design a course that offers a uniqu...

Do you travel or commute for work? Beyond the obvious, how does that shape your professional practice and your skills? In this episode I share my perspective on some of the things I value about travel as a hybrid worker, and what I find challenging. Read the post Find out more about: Virtual Teams Book Free online course starting Spring '23 Coaching with me Resources and blog posts

I recently blogged about blogging (always a good idea). Writing the post made me reflect on how important a part blogging of my professional practice. It also made me think about how hard it can be at time to get started and keep going. Even if you are writing, where do you write? For whom? In this episodes I share some of my strategies for blogging and how to make it work for you. Read the blog p...

In this episode I focus on the benefits of really having a break and the strategies I used to take a step back from a busy schedule.  Read more about taking a break  Find out more about: Virtual Teams Book Free online course starting Spring '23 Coaching with me Resources and blog posts

When I look back at what I wrote this time last year , I can’t quite grasp how much has changed and how much has been achieved in the past twelve months. It’s mind boggling. In a good way. At the same time, it’s been a mixed year for me personally. Great happiness and joy at home were overshadowed by a serious injury that required trips to the hospital for me, as well as much family upheaval and e...

In this episode I am talking to special guest, Lauren Hanks, Director of Operations at Reclaim Hosting. Lauren invited me to collaborate on a project, the Hacks for Hybrid Working flex course, which we successfully completed last month. We are debriefing about the course and hybrid working and what we learnt along the way as well as the reality of leading virtual teams and our intentions for hybri...

It’s December and for me, the quietest time of the year. That doesn’t really mean that things aren’t busy, but some of my biggest deadlines are currently a few months into the future, and there is no more major travel planned between now and January, so this is as ‘quiet’ as it gets. And I am keen to capitalise on that. As someone who actively tries to become less efficient and work less hard (loo...

In this episode I show you how to use a pie chart diary. Recently I have been working with a number of clients who are finding hybrid working habits hard to change. Busy days blend into each other, and at the end of a week or even a month, routine tasks like answering emails or attending meetings have taken up all the time and other priorities or more creative work have had to take a back seat. Se...

In this episode I welcome a special guest, Martin Weller, as we talk about writing books, virtual learning and virtual working and what we are learning along the way.  Leading Virtual Teams - the book Metaphors of EdTech Martin's blog From 1 December you can read and download a free digital edition, published as an Open Access publication by ALT in partnership with Open Academia. The Open Access p...

Recently, I reflected on feeling frustrated with a sense of never achieving enough. In order to change my perspective, I embarked on a month of celebrating daily success: every day I noted a success and shared it publicly to help hold myself accountable. In this episode I share some of the strategies I use and how it works in practice.  Read the blog post My bright spot this week: the launch of my...

In this episode, I talk about how to make working from home 1% more comfortable… and improve your work wellbeing in the process. If you'd like to try out any of the ideas for yourself, have a look at the list below:  25 ideas for home/hybrid working

In this episode, we explore what different terms we use to describe working away from the office mean, and why that's important. We also use a tool, the Hybrid Working Wheel, as a strategy for reflecting on what works and how you might look to change your own practice.  Different Modes of Working Hybrid Working Wheel   Read the blog post

In this episode I read an extract from the introduction of my book, Leading Virtual Teams.  Download your free digital edition   Leading Virtual Teams – Field Notes from a CEO by Dr Maren Deepwell, will be published 1 December 2022 as an open access publication by the Association for Learning Technology, UK. What is it like to manage a virtual team and to lead an organisation from home? How can yo...

Welcome to my podcast, Leading Virtual Teams. I'm Dr Maren Deepwell. I am a CEO in the not for profit sector and professional coach. Each week, I'll be sharing ideas and strategies for creative and fun approaches to help you succeed and lead in the hybrid workplace. In this episode: Leading Virtual Teams - introduction to the book Book launch , 1 December 2022 Hacks for Hybrid Working with Lauren...