to close out this series on how to get your organization primed for remote work, i’d like to explore some pitfalls of working remotely and share tips for avoiding them.
it can be easy for virtual meetings to get very tactical since participants are wary of conversations that are too long and fail to stimulate them. this can lead to several other issues that can derail a meeting. to avoid this pitfall, it’s important to have a strong facilitator that can bring people together to agree on a set of protocols and norms for any given meeting. such norms might include not having side conversations, so as to not distract others.
in addition to keeping all participants engaged and ready to make decisions, remote work is freeing up significant time on people’s schedules. while it might be tempting to use that time to sleep in, there is an amazing chance to use saved time to learn. to do this, you need to be determined to build the discipline to incorporate learning into your work and to share it with teammates.
most of the time, learning may be shared informally with colleagues you trust the most. however, remote work has opened the door to sharing information more rapidly and evenly across your organization. as a result, people who are already familiar with working remotely may be more inclined to share new information they’ve received. the amount of engagement that comes as a result is invaluable, especially for the person sharing information and receiving feedback.
missed the previous post in the series? check out part 6: harness the flow, let information go
your organization grows when your people grow. now is the time to take advantage of free resources and tools sharing the new information you are encountering.
one thing to remember as i wrap up this series on the practices you can implement to optimize your organization for remote work is to avoid sticking the 9-5 paradigm into a remote work environment. you can begin doing this by shifting how you approach organizing your calendar, meeting with your teams, sharing information, and decision-making. spending time rethinking your practices can help to reduce the inefficiencies your organization encounters.
check out my video "your organization grows when people grow" as part of the remote work series.
subscribe to my youtube channel to check out the rest of the series, and for more videos about learning organizations, team habits, and leadership.