Insights for Working, Leading, and Learning Remotely

Gratitude.

It's as important to discuss with your loved ones as it is with your colleagues, supervisors, and peers. And while gratitude is certainly a powerful word, it’s even more influential in action.

Like many things in life, gratitude is often better demonstrated than described.

As 2018 comes to a close, professionals across the U.S. will soon be firing up their ovens (and their appetites!) for the annual Thanksgiving holiday feast with family and friends. They’re likely thinking about all the things they’re thankful for this year, and may even mention these at the dinner table. (I know I will, before the tryptophan sets in, that is…)

In our ever-distracted era, this kind of direct connection and sharing is a truly beautiful thing. Don’t you think it’d be ever-more-inspiring if we all prioritized showing our gratitude not just in November, but throughout the year?

It’s a smart move in EVERY context, including at work. Small acts of...

Dozens of speakers delivered valuable advice to a couple hundred remote workers and digital nomads last week at Nomad City. 

It was an incredible learning experience—not just because of the facts, information, and processes that were so generously shared. It was because the content was relevant to the audience.

They told stories. They gave clear examples. They answered questions. They gave feedback. It wasn’t just speakers delivering information. It was a conversation. 

That makes all the difference between an interesting learning experience and a transformative one: 

Discussion. Conversation. Synchronous exchange of ideas.

But… you work remotely. And that means that conversation is not likely to occur organically. You have to make it happen.

How can you do that?

1. Plan. Decide what you want to get out of the discussion and who should be involved. Do you want to check and extend understanding of a concept? Incorporate new ideas into a...

Guest post by Linda Ginac, CEO of TalentGuard 

Any opinions expressed within the blog are those of the author and not necessarily held by Workplaceless itself.

The world of work is changing rapidly, thanks in part to the advances made in the technology marketplace. As companies continue progressing toward a more modern approach to operations, it is no surprise that an estimated 63% of businesses have remote workers among their ranks. What may be shocking is that half of these organizations have no remote work policy, including the absence of career pathing capabilities for those who work outside the confines of a traditional office. Remote workers deserve the same type of career development frameworks and opportunities as on-site employees, but the distance can make this task more daunting. The good news is that technology makes this less of a challenge for organizations with remote employees.

Here’s what companies need to know about the importance of career pathing among...

This is a guest post by Chanell Alexander of The Remote Work Life. 

In 2016, 43 percent of employed Americans said they spent some time working remotely according to a Gallup survey. This study also found that the opportunity to work from home is becoming a more substantial factor in where employees are deciding to work. So, it is safe to say that remote work is on the rise. However, the variety of jobs that are classified as remote are not as diverse as one would think. According to a study by Flexjobs, there are seven popular industries for remote work.

Where are Most of the Remote Work Jobs?

 Flexjobs outlined healthcare, information technology, education, sales, customer service, accounting, and hospitality as common fields for remote work. However, the common denominator for all the positions listed in these fields is the accessibility of the internet. Jobs like customer support, teaching, medical coding, transcription, auditing, and travel agency can be...

New Employer + New Employee = Fear of the Unknown 

A new hire. A new job. 

The word new in this context expresses unknown. 

In a situation where a new employee is brought onto a team, there are a lot of unknowns on both sides: 

The employee is not certain of what to expect of their new position and team; and 

The employer is not sure whether the employee will be a good fit or not.

Those unknowns can cause tension and anxiety, not to mention unmet expectations, dissatisfaction, disengagement, and employee turnover.  

In a remote environment, there are even more unknowns because you must rely only on virtual communication methods to communicate and understand expectations. 

How can you reduce unknowns?

There are several ways you can reduce the number of unknowns in a new hire situation. 

Remote Employers can: 

• Thoroughly vet candidates by going through various rounds of...

Learning and development doesn't just happen in a formal class setting—it can happen anywhere. And one of the beautiful things about the internet is that there is plenty of inspiration to be found for all sorts of topics—including how we work. There is no better example of a source of new ideas than TED. Here are 10 TED talks that will inspire you to work differently, or at least consider the possibilities. 

1. Jason Fried, Why Work Doesn't Happen at Work

2. Stefan Sagmeister, The Power of Time Off

3. Simon Sinek, How Great Leaders Inspire Action 

4. Arianna Huffington, How to Succeed: Get More Sleep 

5. Linda Hill, How to Manage for Collective Creativity 

6. Luis von Ahn, Massive Scale Online Collaboration 

7. Celeste Headlee, 10 Ways to Have a Better Conversation 

8. David Grady, How to Save the World or at Least Yourself from Bad Meetings 

...

Back in the fall we posted a list of remote work conferences... as is everything else in this space, things are always changing and there are more and more opportunities for connecting with other remote professionals! Here are three events that are coming up this summer. 

Rebel + Connect Remote Work Summit 

Dates: May 31-June 4, 2018 

Location: Lake Atitlan, Guatemala 

Audience: Remote leaders 

Website: http://www.rebelandconnect.co/remote-work-summit-2018/ 

Remote Work Summit is a leadership conference that addresses the specific needs of business leaders who oversee distributed teams. Hear insights from and connect with leaders from speakers from Dell, Microsoft, Buffer, Automattic, and many many more. 

The programming, sessions, and cultural and nature excursions will give you a well-rounded experience. 

Running Remote 

Dates: June 23-24, 2018 

Location: Bali,...

Let's talk networking events. You know that building a network is important to getting a job and moving up in your career, so you attend them, or at least, you've attended them in the past. 

You take your business card and you head over, ready to work the room and meet new connections. Sometimes it pans out, sometimes not. Sometimes, you have to explain what working remotely is all about. And sometimes, it's just a complete wash. 

Now tell me this: have you ever wondered why all these events are still done in person? Think about the time it takes to attend traditional networking events: getting ready, traveling to the place, and then the actual event itself, then traveling back. It seems silly to use all that extra commuting time when there are so many tools that are at our disposal now that make simulating face-to-face interactions so much easier. 

Well, now there is an event that uses these tools to network virtually. 

And you're...