When everyone is working remotely
Suddenly, like it or not, we have all been thrown into remote working.
And there is a natural concern that we will not be as effective.
One of the big aha’s for me about remote working that I learned over the past several years, is that…
You don’t have to give up on quality, motivation, productivity, and team-y-ness, just because you are not in the same room.
Focus on the idea of presence
Think about what is happening when you are in a room with someone.
What does physical presence really mean?
First, you are both in the same room. You can see each other, you can see each others body language and facial expressions.
You can see the energy of the other person from the tone of their voice and how they express themselves as a whole person.
You can each see the same things in the room. You can look at the same work products. You can collaborate on a work product.
All of those things are benefits to good working rapport and collaboration, to building trust, to fueling creativity, and to increasing productivity.
The idea that I want to share is that when you are working remotely, in reality, you don’t have to give up most of those things!
Use Video
If you can’t be in the same room physically, what would be the very next level of presence that would offer the least loss?
Video.
If you have been following me, you know I am fierce advocate for using video.
One of the fascinating things people have been telling me recently about video is that…
Video actually makes conference calls LESS stressful, not more stressful.
…Because the video makes them feel a deeper connection with everyone, and what is happening. Less. stressful.
If you are not using video in your meetings you are losing the single most impactful thing you can do to re-capture the benefits you get from physical presence.
Voice-only does not come anywhere close.
Beyond video
But even beyond the use of video, how else can we maximize presence, and work more effectively alone and together to make the best of our current work-from-home situation?
Remote Working Strategies
This month’s webinar in my Executive Mentoring Group was on Remote Working Strategies.
If you missed it, you can WATCH THE REPLAY
In this webinar, I shared:
- Approaches and tools to increase presence, collaboration and motivation
- How to focus on people and humanity, and why that matters
- Ways to communicate differently and more intentionally to increase engagement
- How to clarify performance expectations in remote working situations to reduce anxiety and increase performance
GET THE EXECUTIVE PLAYBOOK
In addition to the webinar, I share more insights and how to put these ideas into action in the Executive Playbook on Remote Working Strategies.
Executive Playbooks include an HD streaming webinar, an MP3 download, along with tools, templates, worksheets and scripts to help you put these concepts into action in your own situation.
They are a key resource in my online professional development program, The Executive Mentoring Group.
You can take a look at the Executive Playbook on Remote Working Strategies:
You can get this playbook for free in April.
Members:
If you are a member of The Executive Mentoring Group, you have free access to the Playbook here.
Non-Members:
If you are not a member, you can get this playbook for free by starting a trial membership. No risk. Cancel any time.
Or you can purchase this one playbook.
Annual membership
If you’d like some support in developing your career, you can also consider an annual membership to the Executive Mentoring Group.
You can join for just $269 for a whole year, you can get access to all 24 Executive Playbooks in the Member Library, plus access twice a month to Live Group Coaching with me.
GET a 43% discount in April
Use code STAYHOME200 to get $200 off your annual membership (Normally $469) while we are going through this crisis.
I would love to welcome you into the program and would be honored to play a role in your career success.
Avanti,
Patty
What do you think?
Join the conversation about this on my facebook page.
Patty Azzarello
Patty is available to speak at your company, annual meeting, or customer event. She can also deliver a custom workshop on Leadership or Strategy Execution for your leadership team. Contact Patty.
MORE ABOUT PATTY:
Patty Azzarello is an executive, best-selling author, speaker and CEO/Business Advisor. She became the youngest general manager at HP at the age of 33, ran a billion dollar software business at 35 and became a CEO for the first time at 38 (all without turning into a self-centered, miserable jerk)
